Holly Victorson has demonstrated exceptional service performing technology transfer at the Phillips Research Site (PRS) of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). With less than one year of technology transfer experience, she assumed the lead position of the joint Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) for the Directed Energy and Space Vehicles Directorates in 2010, and has led a diverse team of contractors from industry and academia to increasing successes for AFRL in the areas of technology transfer and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) outreach.
Victorson has been the driving force behind some of the most creative and cutting-edge technology transfer activities at PRS. In 2011 she conceived, led, and enabled the award of a fi rst-of-a-kind “collaborative activity ability” through a Partnership Intermediary Agreement with New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. This innovative technology transfer method was seized by AFRL scientists and engineers immediately upon its creation, and the fi rst collaborative event was held in September 2011 when the Space Vehicles Directorate formed a board of high-level satellite design experts from state and local governments, academia, and the private sector to assist with formulating a sound maturation and transition plan for the Space Plug and Play Architecture technology.
Victorson utilized tech transfer mechanisms to create and expand the Advanced Sciences and Technology Research Institute for Astrodynamics (ASTRIA), an institute consisting of 15 university education partnerships spanning research areas in four AFRL directorates. Additionally, when the legal authority that allows AFRL to perform K-12 STEM activities through the AFRL La Luz Academy came into question, Victorson independently developed four different legal paths that would allow the continued performance of the La Luz mission. Without her analysis and tireless advocacy for STEM outreach, the AFRL La Luz Academy, a program named by the Secretary of the Air Force as a flagship STEM program, would have had to cancel all FY11 student fl ights, a move that would affect more than 5,000 students. Even while Victorson has pursued innovative and creative solutions for technology transfer and STEM outreach at PRS, she has also served as the lead ORTA for two AFRL directorates. Under her leadership, the number of active Cooperative Research and Development Agreements at PRS increased over 11 percent. Education Partnership Agreements have also accelerated due to the increasing reach of the AFRL La Luz Academy. All the while, she trimmed the overall budget for the technology transfer office from
$883K in FY09 to $521K in FY11, a reduction of more than 40 percent—funds that go directly back to the cutting-edge research performed at the directorates.