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Case Western Reserve University has made three new appointments
to its Office of Technology Transfer.
photo by Mike Sands
From back to front: William Szczepaniak,
Michael Haag and Nick Frollini
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Dominick R. "Nick" Frollini has been named director of engineering
and physical sciences, Michael Haag has been appointed licensing
manager for life sciences, and William Szczepaniak has been named
senior licensing manager for life sciences.
Catherine "Casey" Porto was named associate vice president of
technology transfer earlier this year.
"We are continuing to assemble a dynamic and knowledgeable team,"
said Mark Coticchia, CWRU vice president for research and technology
management. "With this solid group of professionals in place the
University is making good on its commitment to its researchers
and the Cleveland community to have a world-class operation which
can identify and evaluate the full range of research taking place
here and seek opportunities for licensing and new company formation."
"This team represents more than 30 years of experience in licensing
technology and structuring equity deals," Coticchia added.
Frollini, Haag and Szczepaniak will report to Porto.
Before joining CWRU Porto spent six years in technology transfer
at Carnegie Mellon University, including the two years as director
of the office. CMU's Tech Transfer office processed 110 invention
disclosures per year, and managed a portfolio of about 200 patents.
Prior to that she was with the Pittsburgh Supercomputer Center,
where she managed educational programs for researchers using the
supercomputer, and led a National Science Foundation initiative
to bring computational science to high schools. She began her
career at Digital Equipment Corporation as an account manager
for technical resellers.
Porto has served on the boards of several start-up companies
and non-profit corporations. She holds a B.S. in psychology and
an M.S. in information science from the University of Pittsburgh.
She is a member of the Association of University Technology Managers
and the Licensing Executive Society.
Frollini had been a consultant to CWRU's technology transfer
program since October 2001, working on issues such as docket management,
disclosure evaluation, faculty/researcher relationship development
and license/option issues. Before coming to CWRU he had been director
of the internal mergers and acquisitions group of Redleaf Group
Inc., an early-stage venture capital firm in Pittsburgh, and held
several positions with PNC Financial Services Group, most recently
as chief technology officer of the VentureBank@PNC business unit.
He received a B.S. in industrial management and economics from
Carnegie Mellon University.
Haag had been with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in various
positions since 1998, beginning as a research assistant and most
recently as a biotechnology analyst for the office of CCF innovations.
At CWRU he will be responsible for identifying, evaluating and
marketing invention disclosures by University faculty, staff and
students. Haag holds a B.S. in biology and chemistry from John
Carroll University.
He is a member of the American Chemical Society, the Licensing
Executives' Society, and the Association of University Technology
Managers.
Szczepaniak had been a licensing officer specializing in biotechnology
in the technology transfer office of Carnegie Mellon, and before
that director of technology development for Prolume Ltd. in Pittsburgh,
a biotechnology company. He had also been a visiting faculty member
at Carnegie Mellon's Center for Light Microscope Imaging and Biotechnology.
He is the primary author of more than a dozen peer-reviewed scientific
articles and published abstracts. Szczepaniak is a member of the
American Academy for the Advancement of Science, the Tissue Engineering
Society International, the Licensing Executives' Society and the
Association of University Technology Managers.
He holds a B.S. in neuroscience from the University of Pittsburgh
and completed post-graduate work at The University of Texas at
Dallas.
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