Date: 20 Apr 2023 (Thu) 

Time: 9:30-10:30am (HKT)

Venue: Zoom

Speaker: Ms. Lita Nelsen, Former Director of MIT Technology Licensing Office

Register Now: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=86915

(Zoom link will be sent to registrants prior to the webinar)

Abstract

Open Innovation has become a watchword for large corporations and an opportunity for startups and academia. The concept is that knowledge and technology are expanding so rapidly and are so widely distributed that no company can access what it needs from only its internal R&D. Companies are becoming less secretive about their strategies and needs and are reaching out to develop partnerships with sources of new knowledge and new products. This session will explore how universities fit into this model as a source of new knowledge, IP, and new products. Several routes of the partnership will be discussed, including research collaborations, consulting, and startups, as well as the potential use of trade secrets in such partnerships.

About Lita Nelsen

Lita Nelsen served in the Technology Licensing Office of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for 3 decades, 25 years of which as director of the office. Throughout the period, the MIT TLO has licensed over 500 startup companies based on MIT research technology. She is the author of various articles and book chapters on technology transfer. During her tenure at MIT TLO, she has been invited to lecture and consult in tech transfer and university-based entrepreneurship in over 20 countries. She was also a co-founder of Praxis (now Praxis-Auril), a UK non-profit-making company for training tech transfer professionals, which earned her the title of a Member of the British Empire (MBE). Having retired from MIT, Lita is now a consultant on university licensing technology for young startups. She volunteers as a mentor in the MIT Sandbox Program, mentoring undergraduate students on kick-starting companies.