Have you ever wondered how technology that’s developed in universities and other academic institutions gets translated into a product to benefit the public? This process is known as technology transfer, and research organizations all over the world utilize teams of tech transfer professionals to evaluate new inventions, protect intellectual property through a patenting process, and license the technology to third parties, such as start-up companies or corporations, for further investment in development and commercialization.

The Technology Licensing Office (TLO) supports MIT inventors throughout this process and plays a vital role in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

You'll hear from Technology Licensing Officers Lauren Foster and Deirdre Zammit and learn the strategic approach MIT takes to move innovations from the research bench to the marketplace.

About the speakers:

Lauren C. Foster is an Associate Director at the MIT TLO, focusing principally on licensing and commercialization of technologies in the biomedical, biotechnology and medical device fields. She also serves as Director of Intellectual Property and Strategic Alliances at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT where she is involved in the strategic management of the Koch Institute’s industrial partnerships and intellectual property portfolio. Prior to joining MIT, Lauren was Senior Director, IP and Technology Acquisition, at Antigenics, Inc. and also a Technical Specialist at Lahive & Cockfield LLP. Lauren is a registered Patent Agent.

Deirdre Zammit joined the MIT Technology Licensing Office as a Licensing Officer in 2017, working on the physical sciences team. Deirdre began her career as an engineer in the semiconductor industry and moved into intellectual property management and licensing roles having had intellectual property positions at Lucent Technologies, Agere Systems, the Naval Research Laboratory, and Massachusetts General Hospital. She transitioned from intellectual property licensing work to Corporate Venture Capital within Saint-Gobain and later held a position as a Global Market Manager.

This session is part of the 2021 Intellectual Property Speaker Series co-sponsored by the MIT Technology Licensing Office and MIT Libraries. Please check out our other sessions in this series! http://mit_tlo.eventbrite.com