Dr. Karina Edmonds Named New Technology Transfer Coordinator for DOE, Job to Accelerate Lab to Private Sector Innovation Transfers

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu has named Dr. Karina Edmonds as the Department of Energy’s new Technology Transfer Coordinator.  Dr. Edmonds will be responsible for working with the Department's National Laboratories to accelerate the process of moving discoveries from the laboratory to the private sector, ensuring that America’s scientific leadership translates into new, high-paying jobs for America’s families. Dr. Edmonds is scheduled to join the Department starting in April 2010.

 “I am pleased to have Karina join our team at the Department of Energy,” said Secretary Chu.  “Having Karina oversee a coordinated, strategic effort on behalf of the Department will help increase the rate of successful technology transfers, creating clean energy jobs and providing more solutions to our energy challenges.”

Created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, this is the first time that the Department has appointed a full-time person to fill this role.  An aeronautical engineer, Dr. Edmonds is presently the Director of Jet Propulsion Laboratory Technology Transfer at the California Institute of Technology.  In that position, she is responsible for licensing technologies developed at both JPL and Caltech to industry and start-ups, managing the JPL patent portfolio, assisting Caltech Start-ups and managing Caltech's current patent filings.

Dr. Edmonds will also be a featured guest speaker at the inaguaral ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit in to take place March 1-3, 2010 in Washington D.C.  The ARPA-E Summit will bring together leading members of the business and scientific communities to discuss their game-changing ideas for transforming the way we use and produce energy.

Dr. Edmonds is also a registered patent agent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.