Admittedly intellectual property rights and polymer science aint my area of expertise. But if you are an inventor, it should tickle your fancy. And, more importantly, we have some great news for you. Georgia Techs Enterprise Innovation Institute and the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) have joined forces to to provide a four-week, four-session workshop series covering topics and best practices of licensing, marketing, financing and manufacturing your ideas and inventions. Is your mouth watering yet?
Lucky for us, they’re doing 3 out 4 workshops at the TCCa/SEDA offices!
THE GOAL?: To provide education, increase the awareness of available resources, and demonstrate the importance of inventors to the overall economic growth of Georgia.
So, if you fancy yourself an inventor, hop across the river and get your learn on:
Who: Matthew C. Henderson, HunterMaclean, and Robert E. Schwerzel, Technology Guidance Services, LLC.
What: Licensing for Inventors
When: Friday, October 17th from 12:00 4:00 pm
Where: The Creative Coast Alliance, 131 Hutchinson Island Road, Fourth Floor
Who: Jim DeBetta, Slingshot Productions, LLC
What: Fundamentals of Marketing
When: Friday, November 7th from 12:00 4:00 pm
Where: HERTY Advanced Materials Development Center, 110 Brampton Road
Who: Lynn Vos, University of Georgia-Savannah Small Business Center, and Raymond Wenig, Ariel Savannah Angel Partners, LLC
What: Financing Your Invention
When: Thursday, November 13th from 12:00 4:00 pm
Where: The Creative Coast Alliance, 131 Hutchinson Island Road, Fourth Floor
Who: Joel Wittkamp, Joel Wittkamp Design and Savannah College of Art and Design, and Dr. Donald McLemore, HERTY Advanced Materials Development Center
What: Prototyping/Manufacturing Your Ideas
When: Friday, November 21st from 12:00 4:00 pm
Where: The Creative Coast Alliance, 131 Hutchinson Island Road, Fourth Floor
How to sign up
The workshops are $25 ($20 for TAG members) and include lunch. Interested participants may register online for workshops at www.tagonline.org, under Calendar of Events. For additional information, contact Jason Chernock (404-385-0829); e-mail (jason.chernock@innovate.gatech.edu).
About the presenters
Matthew Henderson is an associate in the Savannah offices of HunterMaclean and practices in the business litigation area representing physicians practice groups, subcontractors, contractors, developers, financial institutions, national and international companies in cases involving contract and intellectual property disputes.
Dr. Robert Schwerzel is an inventor, research scientist, teacher and management consultant. He has 11 U.S. patents issued and for the past five years, and has focused on helping clients become more profitable by helping them improve the speed and effectiveness of their product development efforts to bring successful new products to market.
Jim DeBetta has helped hundreds of inventors and startups learn how to get their products developed and sold to major retailers. He recently merged his firm with the renowned Slingshot Product Development Group which employs a team of nearly 40 engineers, designers and marketing experts who help individual inventors and Fortune 500 firms alike. He has written articles for numerous industry publications and is a staff writer for Inventor’s Digest.
Lynn Vos has more than 14 years experience working with small businesses in Georgia. In addition to providing assistance to small business owners and potential business owners through the Small Business Development Center Network, she has a strong background in accounting.
Ray Wenig is the administrative and operational officer of a regional angel capital group in the low country, serving coastal South Carolina and coastal Georgia. The group, Ariel Savannah Angel Partners, LLC, consists of 70 accredited investors and has invested more than $2 million in small startup companies.
Joel Wittkamp, owner and CEO of Joel Wittkamp Design, brings more than 30 years of product development and design experience, having worked on products that have grossed over $50 billion in sales. He has worked on more than 200 patented products, including those for IBM, Rubbermaid and Dow Chemical.
Dr. Donald McLemore spent 21 years with the Dow Chemical Company and was later named director of Technology and Business Development for Dow Venture. After leaving Dow in 1997, McLemore went on to work with Raychem and later Microtek Medical (formerly Isolyser Co.). In recent years, Dr. McLemore has formed a private consulting business and accepted an appointment to work with Georgia Tech to lead an initiative in developing a nationally-recognized center of excellence in polymer science and engineering.
