About OTC

Mission Statement | Welcome from the Director | Technology Transfer | OTC's History | OTC's Recent Successes | OTC Partnerships | OTC Leadership

|OTC Contacts | Directions

The Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) is the technology transfer office at the University of Maryland College Park. OTC facilitiates the transfer of cutting-edge technologies to business and industry for intellectual property developed at the University of Maryland. Under agreement, OTC also manages the technology transfer for smaller campuses within the University system of Maryland. OTC develops and manages a high-quality portfolio of diverse technologies, ensures intellectual property rights through patents or copyrights and negotiates and executes licensing agreements in order to provide benefits to the university and the local economy.

Mission Statement

The Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) mission is to facilitate the transfer of intellectual property to business and industry through the development and management of a high-quality portfolio of diverse technologies; ensure intellectual property rights; negotiate and execute licensing agreements; and, when feasible, assist in the formation of start-up businesses that utilize the university’s technology in order to provide benefits to the university and the regional economy.

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Technology Transfer

As the state's land grant university and sea grant college, the University of Maryland, College Park, is the most comprehensive institution of higher education, research and service in Maryland and is the primary statewide center for graduate education and research.

The University of Maryland receives more than $400 million per year in total sponsored research and development expenditures. In addition, the university's location - less than 10 miles from the nation's capital and about 23 miles from Baltimore - places it right in the middle of one of the country's largest areas for research and development, along with the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Located in a technology hotbed, the University opened the Office of Technology Commercialization in December 1986 to transfer the high quality technologies emerging from its campus to industry. In addition to servicing the University of Maryland, College Park, OTC also manages technology transfer, under agreement, for Salisbury University.

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OTC's History

OTC has recorded more than 1,700 information, life and physical science invention disclosures; secured more than 300 U.S. patents; licensed more than 900 technologies to business and industry, which have generated more than $16.3 million in technology transfer income; and assisted in the creation of more than 50 high-tech start-up companies founded on the basis of technologies developed at the University of Maryland.

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OTC's Recent Success

OTC's licensing rate has more than doubled since 1992. Continued rapid growth is expected well into this decade, as the university builds on its strengths in engineering, information technology and biotechnology.

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OTC Partnerships

OTC was instrumental in initiating the Maryland Technology Transfer Offices Partnership (MDTTO) to increase collaboration between technology transfer offices in Maryland . Members include technology transfer offices at the University of Maryland Baltimore , the University of Maryland Baltimore County, the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, The Johns Hopkins University, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and Morgan State University . Through this partnership, the MDTTO Newsletter was created, is published quarterly, distributed by email, and highlights news and successes of member offices during the preceding quarter. For more information or to subscribe to the newsletter, place contact OTC at otc@umd.edu. Also see MDTTO .

To highlight the wide range of technologies developed at the university, OTC hosts technology showcases and symposia for government and industry representatives, venture capitalists and angel investors. These activities, along with OTC's technology transfer experience, have resulted in close ties with many companies in Maryland , throughout the United States and around the world.

OTC has developed close ties with university offices such as the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (MTECH), the Technology Advancement Program (TAP), the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship. These partnerships demonstrate the University of Maryland 's broad range of technology transfer services, R&D funding, partnering opportunities and entrepreneurial capabilities to the local community, industry and government.

OTC serves as a source of innovation and an education resource on intellectual property and the technology transfer and commercialization process. To serve its needs for tracking the technology transfer process at the University of Maryland , OTC has developed a unique enterprise database system, the Technology Transfer and Commercialization System (TTRAC). This software package has also been licensed to three other University technology transfer offices.

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OTC Leadership

Dr. Gayatri Varma was appointed Acting Executive Director of the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) in May 2007. Dr. Varma joined the OTC team in 1997 as a graduate student who assisted with the evaluation and marketing of the life science technologies and has advanced through the ranks of technology associate, senior technology manager, and associate director to her current appointment.

Dr. Varma holds a bachelor's degree in microbiology from Bombay University , Bombay , India ; a master's degree in microbiology from M.S. University in Baroda , India ; and a doctoral degree in molecular and cell biology from the University of Maryland . She is a registered Patent Agent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Working with the College of Life Sciences , Dr. Varma has been instrumental in instituting bi-weekly informal sessions for faculty, staff, or students to discuss their research; the technology transfer, commercialization, and patenting processes; or alternative careers. With the success of this program, plans are underway to create similar programs in other University of Maryland colleges.

As a member of the Association of Technology Managers (AUTM), Dr. Varma participated as a panelist for a workshop on licensing university technology and startup companies. She is also a member of the Licensing Executives Society (LES).

Dr. Varma is responsible for managing a budget of more than $1 million.

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