AUTM, hosted their 2021 Essentials of Academic Technology Transfer Virtual Course on September 20 through September 24.

AUTM “is the non-profit leader in efforts to educate, promote and inspire professionals to support the development of academic research that changes the world and drives innovation forward.”

This course focuses on “the fundamental skills and resources necessary to evaluate inventions and negotiate license agreements.”

This year’s course featured nine instructors from around the United States. Among them was Brian Shedd, Ph.D., the Director of Technology Commercialization for the University of Houston Office of Technology Transfer and Innovation.

Shedd has been on the development committee for essentials for four years now. This year he taught the Marketing (Reaching Potential Partners) and IP Valuation sections.

“I love teaching it! It’s a great group of instructors, with tons of experience who are all passionate about teaching, sharing our experiences, and mentoring technology transfer professionals just coming into the field,” Shedd said. The course this year had over 90 attendees from around the world which is a new high for enrollment in the course.

Other sections of this year's course included: Intellectual Property Management, Innovation Assessment and Market Research, Functional Framework of a License, Tools for Transferring, Introduction to Valuation, Basics of Negotiation, and Beyond the Deal, where attendees are taught how to support technology transfer agreement relationships.

Shedd also serves on the Negotiations Committee that host of 4-section series and they deliver two courses a year.

More details on AUTM’s Professional Development Courses including Essentials and Negotiations can be found here: https://autm.net/careers-and-courses/professional-development-courses