Jennifer Hammaker is a pro at internet matchmaking. After all, its part of her job as the Innovation Transfer Networks director of business development. The tech transfer agency representing 13 public universities across Pennsylvania has a blog, sponsors webinars, Tweets updates weekly and hosts an online forum for business owners and researchers to find each other. So Hammaker couldnt have been too shocked when a reporter from the national publication Technology Transfer Tactics called to say they were writing an article about the agency and that he had found ITN through a series of internet searches.
Still, the ever humble Hammaker says the call was somewhat out of the blue, saying that the publication was not on ITNs radar. But with an innovative technology transfer model that connects a system of universities with the statewide business community, ITN wasnt going to stay a secret for long. While she may be humble, Hammaker says shell take the compliment.
This definitely raises the visability of ITN and puts us on a national scale, says Hammaker. We might be able to create partnerships and other opportunities and this will give us the opportunity to present the ITN model to a larger forum. Its just a great door-opener for us.
And it certainly didnt take long. Since the article came out on June 6, agencies in Massachusetts and Connecticut have reached out to ITN for consultation on creating a similar model for their states. While schools like Harvard and MIT have huge, well-funded tech transfer divisions, Hammaker says the benefits to a more statewide effort are vast. And now that ITN is being recognized nationally, its an effort Hammaker is glad to be a part of.
Usually, you are looking at the big schools and their tech transfer operations, says Hammaker. Because we are a dozen schools, unrelated outside of ITN, its a very different model than most people have seen. And its getting a lot of attention.
Source: Jennifer Hammaker, ITN
Writer: John Steele
Photo:
From left:
Malcolm Furman
Faculty Liaison
Jennifer Hammaker
Director of Business Development
Yvonne Dunst
Administrative Assistant
Jill Edwards
Director of Operations