Stacy Mills has been a technology business specialist in the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), 711th Human Performance Wing (711 HPW), Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA) since December 2021. A recreational runner, Mills says her favorite part of a race is the final sprint to the finish line – and she has applied this same tenacity to her work in the 711 HPW ORTA. 

The 711 HPW has a broad intellectual property (IP) portfolio, and amid a period of heavy staff turnover in the 711 HPW ORTA, the IP portfolio grew even more from the integration of another AFRL ORTA. During that time, Mills helped revitalize the management of the 711 HPW IP, integrating different sets of records for a more accurate and complete picture of the lab's IP portfolio. Mills compiled a new repository of lab IPs, coordinating with and compiling records from the lab, Air Force T2 and legal offices, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  

To get a clearer picture of license fee terms, timelines and patents to maintain, Mills also conducted a review of 60 patent license agreements within the previous year. Mills leveraged resources from partnership intermediaries – the Wright Brothers Institute and TechLink – to ensure the review was comprehensive. Mills updated ORTA tracking tools, conducted follow-ups with licensees to re-establish communication on licensing fee and royalty payment amounts and due dates, and coordinated with AFRL finance and accounting departments to ensure payments were being dispersed. 

Mills also improved standardized reporting of data and metrics on the IP portfolio and T2 activity required by the lab, Department of the Air Force, Department of Defense, leadership and other stakeholders. She instituted more regular communications to lab inventors and leadership on patent maintenance fee due dates, where previously they were sporadic and only partially covered the IP portfolio. Since the beginning of FY23, $80,000 of outstanding royalties and fees have been collected, and over $160,000 of additional royalties and fees have been identified for collection. 

Mills led 711 HPW ORTA efforts to assess a series of Educational Partnership Agreements (EPA) and reestablish collaboration under new agreements. Working with the lab's legal and contracts departments, Mills examined the applicability of a consortium CRADA, consortium Cooperative Agreement and individual CRADAs as alternate vehicles to continue 18 academia partnerships. After the team determined that none of these options fit the nature of the collaborations, Mills developed a new EPA template specifically to facilitate the bioeffects research to be conducted under these collaborations. Mills worked to terminate the active EPAs and execute new individual EPAs with university partners using the new standardized template that she had created. 

In her short time at the 711 HPW ORTA, Mills' efforts have had a tangible impact on the lab. Mills led the development and execution of over 50 technology transfer agreements and over 25 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreements. Additionally, 711 HPW has been able to plan better for patent maintenance fees, improve its collection of patent license fees and royalties, and identify non-performing licenses for termination.