Release date: June 24, 2025
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Today's guest is Stephen Auvil, Chief Federal Engagement Officer at TEDCO, where he fosters connections and supports collaboration between industry and federal labs throughout Maryland.
Stephen’s path began when an MBA class ignited his interest in combining science and business, shaping a career that took him from Johns Hopkins to University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and eventually TEDCO. He's always been deeply curious, drawn toward opportunities to turn innovation into something tangible whether it's startups solving real-world problems, or groundbreaking medical treatments that change lives. In our conversation, Stephen highlights the human side of technology transfer, from building trust to creating meaningful incentives for researchers to take risks.
We also dive into the tougher side of tech transfer: navigating the conservative cultures at federal labs and overcoming hurdles that keep great ideas from reaching their potential. Stephen talks about how initiatives like DefTech and the Maryland Innovation Initiative are tackling these challenges head-on. Plus, he gives down-to-earth advice for small businesses interested in partnering with federal labs, reminding us all that sometimes the biggest breakthroughs start with a simple conversation.
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In This Episode:
[01:49] In college, Stephen had the chance to do an opportunity analysis for the federal labs when he was in an MBA program. Then they worked on business plans. Combining business and science peaked his interest.
[03:09] In 1993, he started working at the Office of Technology Licensing at Johns Hopkins.
[04:23] He was also really interested in startups and spin-off companies. At TEDCO, he has the opportunity to work with multiple universities.
[08:38] As Chief Federal Engagement Officer, he focuses on federal lab transfer and looking at federal grants.
[10:48] The idea of having dual missions for Federal Labs and getting Innovations into the commercial sector.
[12:33] How the culture has evolved since he started working with Federal Labs.
[14:28] Commercialization helps the technology that these people develop help people. There is satisfaction in helping patients with what you develop in the lab.
[15:10] Supporting tech transfer in Maryland. They've had a lot of interesting companies and technology that has spun off.
[17:34] Commercialization challenges and opportunities and how they differ between university tech transfer and federal labs.
[18:28] He'd like to see federal labs take more risk.
[21:28] Trends in federal tech transfer and how it's shaping the future.
[25:05] There are little things inventors can do to help create impact and commercialize things that will help people.
[26:07] The challenge of matching the Innovation with the problem that it's going to solve.
[28:40] Upcoming TEDCO initiatives including DefTech and grants.