October 28
1 – 2 PM (CDT)
Robert D. Villwock, Ph.D., serves as Senior Technology Licensing Specialist for the Office of Technology Commercialization at The University of Texas at Austin.
In this role, Dr. Villwock is responsible for working with faculty members to manage their intellectual property portfolios by evaluating the commercial potential of inventions, marketing technologies to prospective licensees, negotiating IP licenses and enabling startup formation.
Dr. Villwock joined OTC in 2016 as Program Director – Strategic Researcher Liaison, where he focused on the facilitation of transfer of research into intellectual property. Previously, he served as Associate Director of the Center for Electrochemistry at UT Austin, where he developed research funding from government, industry, and private sources, and facilitated researchers in the commercialization process. Prior to that, he was principal in his own consultancy specializing in chemical engineering, process development, and intellectual property management. He has held senior-level research positions in startups Golden Bear Ceramics and Mobius Technologies and has conducted product and process development for several different groups within Dow Chemical. Dr. Villwock is an inventor on nine U.S. Patents. He holds a B.S. in polymer science and engineering from Case Western Reserve University and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.