As the Director of the Technology Transfer Office at Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific), Brian Suh’s passionate advocacy for technology transfer has delivered far-reaching results in just a few years.

Within SSC Pacific, his championship of technology transfer has dramatically increased awareness among scientists and engineers of the critical role it plays in SSC Pacific’s mission, leading to a full pipeline of patented SSC Pacific technologies. Suh’s success beyond SSC Pacific is just as impressive. From his leadership executing the lab’s first Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA) to his high visibility creating technology transfer conduits with industry and academia, Suh is building an infrastructure that will serve and support SSC Pacific, as well as the Navy and the Department of Defense, well into the future.

The SSC Pacific PIA Suh negotiated provides a vital link for creating as well as nurturing partnerships. Established in 2011, the agreement with the San Diego State University Research Foundation was made in support of the San Diego Advanced Defense Technologies (SDADT) regional cluster. The SDADT offers unprecedented opportunities for building collaboration with local small businesses involved in Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR). Suh serves as a military liaison on SDADT’s executive board, working hand-in-hand with top industry and academic leaders to identify collaboration opportunities in support of local economic development and furthering the SSC Pacific research and development mission.

Suh serves as a military liaison on SDADT’s executive board, working hand-in-hand with top industry and academic leaders to identify collaboration opportunities in support of local economic development and furthering the SSC Pacific research and development mission.

Under his leadership, the Technology Transfer Office has facilitated 12 Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), along with 16 Limited Purpose CRADAs, which combined committed more than $750,000 in funding to SSC Pacific. Suh is directly responsible for $3.4 million in royalties to SSC Pacific from nine executed Patent License Agreements. In addition, he is leading an executive Lean Six Sigma team review of SSC Pacific’s CRADA process to make it as efficient and effective as possible Suh’s passion for promoting technology transfer stems in part from his own experience.

An engineer, Suh worked for the Navy for several years before learning of the benefits technology transfer offers for all involved—from the government inventors to the warfighters and their industry partners. Determined to bridge that gap for other scientists and engineers, Suh launched a Patent/Technology Transfer Road Show in 2010, traveling throughout SSC Pacific to educate Navy inventors about patents, licenses, CRADAs and more. Those visits, combined with other internal awareness efforts, including the “Unleashing the Entrepreneurial Spirit” workshop—resulted in more than 100 invention disclosures in 2011, the highest in SSC Pacific’s history.