Fuentek Internal Communications Confidential — Do Not Share

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Sweet Tweets (10/2015)

Here are a few of our favorite Fuentek tweets!

Accomplishments & Accolades (10/2015)

Here are a few notable highlights from some recently completed projects.

NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center

The TTO is reporting a marked increase in licensing interest in AFRC technologies, due in large part to Fuentek’s efforts to screen, assess, and market the Armstrong portfolio. We are currently providing negotiation support for several technologies, and the TTO is hopeful they’ll have at least a couple licenses in place in the coming months.

Create the Future logoFuentek also helped Armstrong with an impressive showing at the 2015 Create the Future Design Contest. Out of a record-setting  1,150 entries, AFRC technologies came up with 2 of the top 22 winning entries! The Real-Time Fiber Optic Sensing System won in the Electronics category, and A Proven System for Preventing Ground Collisions of Aircraft was an Honorable Mention in the Aerospace & Defense category.

These entries, along with three other AFRC technologies– sonic boom display, cryogenic fiber optic sensing, and ADS-B-based sense and avoid system— landed in the contest’s Top 100, recognized for receiving the highest overall scores from the judges. Congrats to all the consultants who helped with this project!

Georgia Tech Research Corporation

GTRC logoThe Office of Sponsored Projects continues to be thrilled with Fuentek’s website support. We’re also conducting some training for associates in the Industry Engagement group and are helping new staff hone their IP management skills.

University of Vermont

We received very positive feedback on our first set of projects for this new client. In particular, inventors appreciated our analysis and next-step recommendations, which made this client quite happy. We’re looking forward to continuing to work with UVM!

And now for a few Accolades….

“You often nudge me to go places I initially am resistant to pursue; however, once I get there, I am really glad we took that path because the results are amazing.” – David Voracek, NASA Armstrong

“The briefing was highly successful and the follow up led to many inquiries for patent licenses and one executed license… The briefing material and its production were outstanding and worthy of this exceptional rating.” – NASA Johnson Space Center’s contractor performance evaluation

“Love, love the new blog post!” – Kerry Swift, University of Vermont

“I’m really pleased with the entire team’s work.” – Michelle Powell, Georgia Tech

“Thank you for your excellent job and providing it as scheduled.” – Arundhati Banerjee, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Company News (10/2015)

AUTM (and Other Marketing) Opportunities

At the recent AUTM Eastern Regional Meeting in Raleigh, Fuentek moderated a lively session on technology scouting that focused on how to achieve greater success in establishing university-industry collaborations.  We also hosted a networking reception at the famed Jimmy V’s Osteria, where local Fuentekians chatted up hipster tech transfer professionals while enjoying wine and craft beer.

TechScouting slidesFeedback was excellent from a Technology Transfer Tactics webinar Laura recently moderated. As its title suggests, Best Practices for Coaching Researchers on Pitching to Investors, Licensees, and Partners provided excellent advice to TTOs at universities, government labs, other research institutions, even private companies.

Finally, a couple nice marketing opportunities came our way this month. Laura was in Knoxville for the Fall General Meeting of the University Industry Demonstration Partnership where she participated in a service provider panel that discussed tools and approaches for advancing collaborations.  She also was in Chicago for the Wellspring User Group Meeting to learn the latest on best practices and updates in the database community.

Sophia Spotlights (10/2015)

Invoice Feature

Sophia has a nice feature that allows you to see the amount of a paycheck at any time by using the “Consultant Invoice” function.

Scroll to the bottom of the home screen and look for:

Sophia Tips_1

 

 

Click, and you’ll then see this:

Sophia Tips_2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fill out the date range to see billing information for year-to-date, weekly, or monthly time segments. Remember that you’ll only see time that has been logged, though it does not yet have to be submitted for approval.

Help Center

Wellspring has renamed its “Contact Wellspring” link to “Help Center.” This is now the only way to access the help center, where you can submit a ticket (in the top right corner) for assistance with Sophia-related issues. You can also submit a ticket by emailing support@wellspringsupport.zendesk.com.

Personal Personnel (10/2015)

Here’s what a few of our consultants have been up to recently:

Michelle Ormond (Market Research) and her family live in Hawaii. As some of you know, her husband Ray works with the Federal Bureau of Prisons and gets transferred….a lot. They started out in North Carolina and have lived in West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, and now Hawaii. Michelle was actually born in Honolulu and has family on Oahu and Maui, so says is a bit like a homecoming. She enjoys hiking, running, and paddle boarding and says she drives her daughters (Emma and Ella) crazy by constantly exclaiming, “I can’t believe we live here!”

 

This is Koko Head Crater Trail, one of Michelle’s favorite hikes. The view is from the top of the crater looking down to Hanauma Bay.

 

 

Roy_1Roy Fauber (Technology Transfer Consultant) is rebuilding the second floor of his house in Asheville, NC. Counting all the planning and demolition of the old second floor, he is two years into the project. He says he has some help from friends on weekends, and it really helps that one of them is a licensed plumber and electrician :).

“There have been some stressful times, particularly those weeks and months with only a temporary roof overhead,” muses the understated Roy, adding the process has been moving more slowly of late as he is selecting specific bathroom fixtures, tile, fRoy_2looring, and lights. “If anyone is good at interior design I would love to talk!” With several months to go, he’s hoping to install insulation before the (really) cold weather sets in.

 

 

 

TateMcCullochDanielle McCulloch (VP and Client Lead) and her family moved from the East coast to Spokane, WA in 2013, when her husband became a professor at Gonzaga University. So now they cheer for that basketball team people only hear about during March Madness. (It’s pronounced Gon-ZAG-ah, like zig-zag).

McCullochsA bonus of living in the Pacific Northwest is the many outdoor activities. A favorite this past summer was seeing a silver mine with live working equipment. The whole family also enjoys triathlons. Danielle completed Ironman Coeur d’Alene in 2014 and she is training for another in 2016. Her 8-year-old son Tate is now getting into the act and has completed three races already!

 

 

 

 

July 2015 Team Essentials

Timesheet Reminders

Lois Kurtz offers a gentle reminder to enter your time daily into Sophia. Not only do many of our contracts require this, but also if you wait til Monday afternoon to open a timesheet and then forget to submit for some reason, she doesn’t know to wait to close out her report.

Thank you for your cooperation!

July 2015 Useful Tips

Where’s the Password List?

All of Fuentek’s password lists (Box.net, Istock photos, our Intranet, and more) are just a few clicks away on Sophia. Team member Lois Kurtz says she receives lots of requests about this. Just “search” for her name to download the latest list.

Laura’s Letter (10/2015)

laura-zoe-150px1

Hello, team!

Welcome to the new Fountainhead. We’ve made the leap to a blog-based format that’s not only easier to publish but also allows team members to add questions and comments to articles. Because this set-up is more secure, we’re also able to share more proprietary information about various projects and topics. Another nice feature is the ability to view archived articles; for instance, you can view all Sophia Tips in one place (by going to the Quick Links section (at right) and accessing the drop-down menu) rather than search through your email for past issues. We hope you enjoy this more interactive format and encourage you to use it to engage with fellow Fuentekians you might not otherwise get to interact with very often.

We’re also going to be rolling out a new Intranet in the coming weeks. [insert info about why this is a good thing and include any particularly cool features.]

This fall we’re busy wrapping up tasks for new and existing clients. Thanks to all the great work you do on every project, we’ve received some unsolicited and stellar praise from some of our clients, which we share in “Accomplishments & Accolades” below.

Laura

July 2015 Company News

Late Summer Luncheon

If there’s a chance you’ll be in the NC Triangle in early August, please come to our staff luncheon. We’re meeting at Doherty’s Irish Pub in Cary on August 6, at 11:30 am. The food is awesome and we’ve picked a yummy menu. This will be a great chance to catch up with our local (and not to local) folks. Please RSVP to Lois.

July 2015 Laura’s Letter

Happy summer, team!

laura-zoe-150px1I hope you are all enjoying the warm weather and perhaps a bit of travel.

In addition to our client work this summer, we are looking forward to participating in AUTM’s Eastern Regional Meeting. Held right in our backyard this year in Raleigh, we’ll host a workshop on corporate technology sourcing from universities. The goal of these regional meetings is to share best practices and strategies for establishing industry-academia partnerships, which is precisely our baileywick. We’re looking forward to connecting with current clients and cultivating new relationships.

We’re also busy working to assemble two webinars. Tech Transfer Tactics and Licensing Executive Society both approached us to develop substantive webinars for tech transfer professionals, innovators, and researchers. These activities are good examples of how our reputation for producing quality work along with our active social media campaign have successfully positioned us as experts in the field and sought-after speakers.

Finally, we’re making plans to transition this newsletter into a blog-based format that’ll be easier to publish and will enable secure team member interaction as well as easy access to previously published information. We’ll let you know more about this later in the summer.

Thank you for your excellent work!
– Laura