Jeff Carpenter, Ph.D.

Serving as DCN’s Senior Portfolio Manager, Jeff is responsible for the management and execution of commercialization training, coordination of intellectual property (IP) and patent strategy, obtaining appropriate market information and reports, coordination of mentors and reviewers identified by the specified research areas of the grant, as well as review of all draft and final commercialization plans submitted by his personal portfolio of grantees. As DCN’s Senior Portfolio Manager, Dr. Carpenter is also responsible for the recruitment of mentors and reviewers supporting NSF SBIR Phase I grantees. Jeff has over 15 years of experience in various facets of early-stage technology evaluation and commercialization. In his more than 9 years with the University of Minnesota Technology Transfer Office, he was responsible for evaluating the licensing prospects for well over 100 inventions across a wide range of technology areas, and then patenting and licensing the most promising. His areas of expertise include commercial opportunity assessment (e.g., market and competitor analysis), managing patenting strategies, analyzing patent landscapes to determine portfolio strengths and weaknesses, patent valuation, and license evaluation and negotiation of partnering opportunities. Prior to joining the University of Minnesota, Jeff worked for a start-up company for over 4 years as director of product development, and for a year as a Congressional Fellow in the U.S. Senate.

Based in Minneapolis, MN, Dr. Carpenter holds a PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology, supporting programs in Genetics and Biochemistry from the University of Minnesota; a Masters of Science degree in Forestry, from the University of Minnesota; a Bachelors of Science degree in Forestry/Range Resource Management from the University of Minnesota.

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