Meet Your Board: Dick Paul

Meet Your Board is a regular series spotlighting each member of the FLC’s Executive Board, the governing body responsible for carrying out the organization’s mandated mission to promote, educate and facilitate federal technology transfer.

Dick Paul: Chair, FLC National Advisory Council

1. What has drawn you to a career in federal technology transfer?

My primary connection with federal T2 was when I was commander of AFRL* during my active-duty days in the USAF. There, I learned about our ORTA and the importance of the T2 mission along with AFRL’s primary mission of transitioning technology (primarily via industry) to meet warfighter needs. I also experienced T2 from the industry perspective while working in Boeing’s Research & Technology organization after my Air Force career.

2. What motivates you to volunteer your time to serve on the Board?

l strongly believe in the importance of the federal labs and their T2 mission. In that vein, I am delighted to work alongside dedicated T2 professionals on the FLC Executive Board to increase awareness of the federal labs as a national resource and help support their respective T2 missions, which leverage US taxpayer dollars to provide hugely significant socioeconomic benefits to our nation.

3. What strength or skill do you bring to your position on the Board?

I’ve been fortunate to gain T2 perspectives from multiple organizations: the federal government during my USAF career, large industry through my Boeing follow-on career, and small businesses/start-ups through serving on NSF’s SBIR/STTR Advisory Committee for several years. The blend of those perspectives has been of immeasurable value as I’ve served on FLC’s National Advisory Council.

4. As you and the Board guide the FLC’s future direction, what do you anticipate will have the most significant impact on the landscape of federal tech transfer in the coming years?

Finding innovative ways to connect with industry and making them aware of the federal labs and their T2 mission seem paramount to me, particularly in our increasingly virtual and resource-constrained world. It’s a task that is never complete and requires sustained and systematic effort. You can’t transfer technology without non-federal partners, and connecting with industry — and especially start-ups and small businesses — is at the crux of succeeding in the federal T2 mission.

5. What is one little-known fact about yourself?

I enjoy traveling and have had the opportunity to visit all seven continents.

*Acronyms, in order of appearance:

AFRL – Air Force Research Laboratory

USAF – United States Air Force

ORTA – Office of Research and Technology Applications

NSF – National Science Foundation

SBIR/STTR – Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer