Agenda

sbir week

Monday, July 19th

Tuesday, July 20th

Wednesday, July 21st

Thursday, July 22nd

Friday, July 23rd

Monday, July 19th

Tuesday, July 20th

Wednesday, July 21st

Thursday, July 22nd

Friday, July 23rd

For more information please contact us

SBA’s participation in this activity is not an endorsement of the views, opinions, products or services of any other person or entity. All SBA programs and services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis.

Elizabeth Dougherty

Eastern Regional Outreach Director

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

As the Eastern Regional Outreach Director for the USPTO, Elizabeth Dougherty carries out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, and she is responsible for leading the USPTO’s East Coast stakeholder engagement. Focusing on the region and actively engaging with the community, Ms. Dougherty ensures that the USPTO’s initiatives and programs are tailored to the region’s unique ecosystem of industries and stakeholders.

A 27-year veteran of the USPTO, Ms. Dougherty previously served as the Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. In this role, she worked closely with agency leadership to implement USPTO policies and priorities. She began her career at the USPTO as a patent examiner after graduating from The Catholic University of America with a bachelor’s degree in physics. While a patent examiner, she went on to obtain her Juris Doctor from the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America and served as a senior legal advisor in the Office of Patent Legal Administration for a significant part of her career. Over the years, she has also served in the USPTO’s Office of Petitions, the Office of Innovation Development, and the Office of Government Affairs.

Ms. Dougherty has dedicated much of her career to the USPTO’s outreach and education programs focusing on small businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs. In this effort, she has developed, implemented, and supervised programs that support the independent inventor community, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and the intellectual property interests of colleges and universities. Similarly, Ms. Dougherty has spearheaded a number of special projects with federal, state and local governments, and private organizations to promote and support invention and innovation in the United States.

Ms. Dougherty is a member of the Virginia Bar, the Giles S. Rich American Inn of Court, the Pauline Newman American Inn of Court, the American Bar Association, the Federal Circuit Bar Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Patent and Trademark Office Society, the Supervisory Patent Examiners and Classifiers Organization, Women in Science and Engineering, Federally Employed Women, and the Network of Executive Women.

Dr. Matthew P. Willis

Director for Army Prize Competitions & the Army Applied SBIR Program

Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Technology

Dr. Matt Willis leads the Army’s portfolio of private sector engagements through prize competitions and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, comprising over $275,000,000 in annual research and development investments. Through his tenure, Dr. Willis has delivered a deliberate and strategic portfolio management approach that centralizes oversight and synchronizes execution of the Army’s SBIR program and prize authority to meet Congressional economic intent and Army technology gaps; he also identified and promulgated the highest technical quality, best emerging tech business partners providing the most effective technical solutions to overcome Army challenges, while reinforcing the national industrial base in face of great power competition.

Previously, Dr. Willis served as the Army Director for Laboratory Management, leading policy development for STEM, Technology Transfer, and workforce initiatives across the Army science and technology ecosystem. Prior to DASA(RT), Dr. Willis was the Chief for Acquisition at the Joint Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear Program Analysis and Integration Office, providing independent oversight, guidance and cross-cutting policies for the Chemical Biological Defense Program (CBDP) and laboratories. Dr. Willis also served as the Deputy Director for Special Projects in the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research, providing alignment for DoD’s S&T investments amongst the Services. Dr. Willis started his Army career as a Research Chemical Engineer at the US Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center.

Dr. Willis received a BS in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University, a MS and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and is the author of numerous manuscripts, technical reports, and patents. He has received several awards including the Achievement Medal for Civilian Service in 2014 and 2015.

11:45 AM – 12:00 PM	Sign into virtual lobby
12:00 PM – 12:30 PM	SBA Welcome
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM	Panel: Getting Started with SBIR/STTR New to the world of SBIR/STTR? This panel will answer questions about how to get started, agency pre-requisites, required registrations, nuances between granting and contracting agencies, etc. Moderator: Brittany Sickler, Senior Innovation Policy Advisor, SBIR/STTR Panelists: Manny Oliver, Director, SBIR/STTR Programs Office, DOE Melinda Coffman, SBIR Program Coordinator, USDA Susan Celis, Acting Director, Small Business and Technology Partnerships, OUSD SBIR
1:30 PM – 2:00 PM	Break
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM	Agency One-on-One Meetings

9:00 AM – 1:30 PM	Agency One-on-One Meetings
1:30 PM – 2:00 PM	Break
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM	Panel: Inside the Head of an Evaluator
3:30 PM – 5:00 PM	Agency Roundtables

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM	Agency One-on-One Meetings
1:00 PM – 3:30 PM	MBDA InVision Tour	Federal Laboratory Consortium Presentation	Entrepreneur Success Stories	Partnering with Minority-serving Institutions

1:00 PM – 1:45 PM	Panel: History/Policy
1:45 PM – 2:30 PM	U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Resources
2:00 PM – 5:00 PM	Agency One-on-One Meetings

Visit us online at sbir.gov

Presented by

sbir week

AGENDA

Elizabeth Dougherty

Eastern Regional Outreach Director

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

Dusty Lang

SBIR Program Director

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Ben Schrag

Senior Program Director for SBIR/STTR

National Science Foundation

Dr. Matthew P. Willis

Director for Army Prize Competitions & the Army Applied SBIR Program

Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Technology

Erick Page-Littleford

Senior Technology Policy Advisor

U.S. Small Business Administration

Susan Celis

Acting Director, Small Business and Technology Partnerships

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering

Melinda Coffman

USDA SBIR Program Coordinator

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Manny Oliver

Director, SBIR/STTR Programs Office

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

Brittany Sickler

Senior Innovation Policy Advisor, SBIR/STTR

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)