Mark Coticchia will become CWRU's new vice president for research and technology management, effective October 1.
Interim President James Wagner made the appointment, which the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees approved at its September 5 meeting.
"Mark brings not only substantial experience in research and technology management," said Wagner, "but also a sense of the importance that these activities have for our faculty and students, for the University, and for the community. I think he can help us advance the University's positions in both research and commercialization."
Among Coticchia's duties at CWRU will be supervising the Office of Research Administration and the Office of Technology Licensing. He will report to the provost as a member of the University's senior management group.
As vice president for research and technology management, Coticchia will have senior responsibility for coordinating CWRU's research agenda and priorities. He will work closely with the president, provost, deans, and department chairs to identify areas of investigation and research that will most effectively represent the University's direction and reflect the faculty members' areas of inquiry and innovation.
To advance the University's leadership role in technology transfer and commercialization of inventions and intellectual property developed here, Coticchia will look to mechanisms such as licensing, enterprise development, joint ventures, and partnerships with private, government, and nonprofit organizations. The University also will look to Coticchia to cultivate a culture of entrepreneurship and risk-taking throughout campus.
For more than 20 years, Coticchia has held progressively responsible technology management positions at several institutions in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. He currently is senior director of tech transfer at the Redleaf Group Inc. in Pittsburgh.
Redleaf is a technology operating company that provides services and capital for pre-seed and seed-stage technology companies. Redleaf is one of the world's largest seed-level venture capital firm.
Coticchia is a co-founder and former board member of Lycos Inc., a company that provides products and services to find information on the Internet. He continues to serve on the boards of directors of several other high-tech companies.
From 1988-2000, Coticchia worked at Carnegie Mellon University. His positions were manager of program development at CMU's software engineering institute (1988-92), senior licensing officer (1992-96), associate director of technology transfer (1996-97), and finally director of technology transfer (1997-2000).
He also was manager of business development at Orbital Systems Inc. in Pittsburgh from 1986-88. He also worked as markets manager and senior corporate engineer at Westinghouse Electric Corporation from 1981-86, as and engineer and business management technologist at Boeing Vertol Company in Philadelphia from 1979-81. He began his career as a student assistant engineer at Westinghouse from 1976-79.
Coticchia received his bachelor of science in civil engineering in 1979 and his master of science in industrial engineering in 1988, both from the University of Pittsburgh.
CWRU's external research support from all sources was $210 million in the 1999-2000 fiscal year. During that period, the School of Medicine accounted for 75 percent of external awards. The University ranks 12th among the nation's private research universities in federal awards to support research and development.
