Colleagues,
Russell Carrington, the Lab’s Chief Technology Transfer Officer and head of the Intellectual Property Office (IPO), has decided to leave the Lab effective August 31, 2021, to pursue opportunities in entrepreneurship.
In October 2019, Russell became the Lab’s Chief Technology Transfer Officer and led the Intellectual Property Office’s multi-disciplinary team of science, business, and law experts to commercialize Berkeley Lab’s research. He initiated robust outreach within the Lab community to increase the number of Lab invention disclosures and raised awareness of the availability of Lab-originated intellectual property throughout various industry sectors. He led efforts to catalyze entrepreneurship among Lab PIs, including the Energy I-Corps entrepreneurial training program. He also increased the visibility of the Lab’s tech transfer capabilities across the University of California and beyond, including briefing Congressional staff on the role that federally funded research plays in UC commercialization, innovation, and startup activities. Russell formed a strong collaboration team within IPO, successfully reducing the turnaround time on Non-Disclosure Agreements and Material Transfer Agreements, implementing a strategy to focus IPO efforts on technologies with a high commercialization probability, and improving overall IPO operations.
He joined the Lab in 2015 as IPO’s Technology Commercialization Associate and Entrepreneurship Lead and learned and mastered the tech transfer business in our DOE/University environment. Before joining Berkeley Lab, he was co-founder of a startup and worked as a business consultant in the energy and health care fields.
Todd Pray will head IPO while a search is undertaken for a permanent replacement and while continuing to lead the Strategic Partnerships Office, which is positioned to continue its progress with a strong and experienced management team and staff.
Please join me in thanking Russell for his significant contributions to the Lab. We wish him well in his new undertaking.
Best regards,
Mike