TECHdotMN: News about Minnesota Startups

Get to Know #6: Justin Porter and the U of M – OTC

March 6, 2010 | by Jeff Pesek Comments

Justin Porter is a Venture Center Analyst with the University of Minnesota’s Office of Technology and Commercialization (OTC).  The OTC oversees all aspects of technology commercialization, including patenting and licensing of intellectual property, development of start-up companies, and the providing of resources for researchers.  In other words, they are the mechanism by which IP developed from within the University’s research field (3,500 strong) is packaged and released into the market.  This process is generally known as “tech transfer” amongst other Universities and research institutions around the world.

In 2009, the OTC generated around 95 million dollars in gross revenue on behalf of their IP portfolio which (not surprisingly) is predominantly medical & life science-but does include IT,  hardware and software.  For detailed information and statistics on how the OTC compares with its peers, The Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) provides a comprehensive assessment of the tech transfer market at large.  Here is a glimpse of the IT/Software the shelf here at the U of M.

Join us as we chat for 20 minutes with Justin about his role with the OTC- where they’re at, where they’re going and why they want to partner with entrepreneurs and startup companies.