Mary Motyka, currently of the McKean Defense Group, was an integral member of the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane Technology Transfer Program, as well as a member of the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) for the last 12 years.

She has been involved in all aspects of technology transfer, including her work with patent counsel, as a technology transfer expert and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) coordinator, as well as serving as an FLC Member-at-Large.

During her time working with NSWC Crane, Motyka assisted with the creation of many processes and programs with a focus to shaping the culture of innovation and all aspects of technology transfer. She was integral in the development of the innovation discovery (ID) events and invention mining processes now used widely throughout laboratories across the Department of Defense (DOD). In addition, NSWC Crane and the University of Southern Indiana (USI) developed a process for “mining” innovation out of projects and development being done in the lab.

The origin of the ID process was NSWC Crane’s need to create a culture of patenting and protecting government-funded intellectual property. The ID process established a procedure to identify and document inventions so they could be protected by patents, commercialized, and marketed outside of NSWC Crane to potential partners. This process increased awareness inside the lab about the function of the technology transfer program, the value of patents, and the commercial potential of work being done by the scientists and engineers. 

During her time working with NSWC Crane, Motyka assisted with the creation of many processes and programs with a focus to shaping the culture of innovation and all aspects of technology transfer.

The ID process was highly successful and of great interest to other laboratories and agencies. It is estimated that during the first six events, 46 inventors gave presentations on 26 previously unmined projects. These presentations identified approximately 114 potential patent disclosures from which 22 patent applications were filed.

Motyka’s work in shaping the intellectual property mining strategy has not only benefited NSWC Crane and the U.S. Navy, but also the DOD as a whole, with its TechLink partnership intermediary making available on its website resources that can teach a lab how to conduct a successful Innovation Discovery event.