Business Development Specialist - Hardware and Software

Mission of Discovery to Impact:

Discovery to Impact stands at the heart of transforming academic research into real-world solutions, serving as the pivotal bridge between campus innovators and the industry. Our mission is to harness the power of over 130 campus programs dedicated to entrepreneurship and intellectual property, guiding groundbreaking research from concept to commercial success. Through fostering strategic partnerships with corporations, investors, and entrepreneurs, we ensure that the University's innovations transition from labs and studios into services, solutions, and products that profoundly benefit society.

Join us in our quest to change the world, one innovation at a time.

This position will be responsible for generating a pipeline of potential new partnering opportunities for the University of Texas (UT) at Austin’s research in computational technologies, through marketing of intellectual property for licensing, and generating new connections for corporate-sponsored research, with the objective of advancing UT research in the fields of AI, computer science, networking and communications, and semiconductors.

• Cultivate new and foster existing relationships with companies to identify solutions to industry’s needs: introducing UT-owned AI, computer science, and electrical engineering intellectual property available for licensing, promoting and highlighting UT Austin’s research capabilities and infrastructure, and marketing and supporting growth of other resources available throughout the institution.
• Collaborate with counterparts in Intellectual Property Development to evaluate market opportunity for new technologies and the appropriate commercialization pathway for intellectual property – via licensing, new venture formation, or corporate-sponsored research. Solicit insight from corporate partners to provide supporting information to the Intellectual Property Development team with an industry perspective when evaluating potential patent filings and prosecution strategies as well as development and commercialization potential for copyrighted works, including software.
  
  Engage and collaborate with the Discovery to Impact team to help prepare and develop marketing materials for intellectual property that is available for partnering.
• Engage inventors as key contributors for identifying partnering leads and keeping inventors aware of and involved in commercialization efforts.
• Collaborate with Licensing team and Collaborative Research team on potential deal development. Provide input about relevant market forces, and suggest opportunities for the most effective and valuable deal terms based on market intelligence and the path to market while maintaining a unified message to potential corporate partners.
• Raising industry awareness of the entire Discovery to Impact team, including all services and capabilities offered by the team and across UT Austin.
• Other duties as assigned by the Director of Business Development.

• Bachelor’s Degree in computer science, data science, electrical engineering, or any other science/engineering field with a focus on AI, computation, large language models, or semiconductor materials, devices, and manufacturing.
• Minimum of one year of industry experience in a technology sector (developing or supporting commercialization of software, AI, semiconductor, or large language model or machine-learning-enabled assets at a company or University).
• Basic understanding of early-stage technology development.
• Knowledge of basic principles of intellectual property and licensing.
• Working knowledge of open-source software licensing
• Demonstrated ability to translate early-stage research into solutions for industry needs, including articulating a software or technology's potential commercial impact to industry and communicating complex scientific concepts clearly and concisely to audiences with and without technical expertise.
• Must be a highly self-motivated professional with exceptional ability to identify priorities and complete projects. Capable of simultaneously managing multiple projects within a portfolio at different stages in…