CTTEC Internship Program
Overview
The Center for Technology Transfer and Enterprise Creation (CTTEC) is looking for the next cohort for the CTTEC Internship Program. This Internship Program is an exciting opportunity for CMU graduate students to gain exposure to the process of commercialization of academic technology. The Interns will assess the commercial viability of innovative University technologies and aid in the process of moving research from the bench to the outside world. This will enable CTTEC to provide faster and more thorough feedback to innovators while giving the Interns a chance to expand their resume and build skills in technology commercialization and intellectual property protection.
Highlights
- Learn about the field of technology commercialization and intellectual property management, and gain first-hand experience in market opportunity, competitive landscape, and prior-art research
- Gain valuable marketable skills that complement your scientific training for alternate careers in allied fields from technology commercialization to management consulting, patent law, and business development
- Get compensated for your time! $20/hour with 40 hours of work per week during the summer, and 10 hours of work per week during the school year - expected to be outside of lab working hours, in a remote setting, and flexible on timing
- Rigorous training in conducting literature searches, market and competitive landscape research, and preparation of marketing materials for CMU technologies
- Expanding Skills: Opportunity for graduate students and post-docs to expand skills beyond the classroom and lab and understand the business side of science
- Play an important role in the CMU innovation ecosystem by providing in-depth analysis to move ideas to market
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Eligibility & Expectations
- Open only to CMU graduate students¹
- All Ph.D. students are welcome to apply, but preference given to those who have completed their qualifying exams (or prelim, as applicable)
- Ability to commit up to 40hrs per week from mid-May 2023 to August 2023, and 10hrs per week from September 2023 to mid-May 2024.
- Visa-holders: Some restrictions apply²
- Evaluate University technologies on criteria such as prior-art, market size, academic and competitive landscape, and potential licensing partners. Final submission will be a written report detailing the above
- Write abstracts for marketable technologies that will be displayed on the CTTEC website for potential industrial collaborations
- Attend 3-4 scheduled training seminars and group workshops per semester
¹ Masters students eligible, but it is recommended they complete their first year and obtain permission of their advisor. Ph.D. students will need their advisor’s permission.
² F1, J1 students and F1 OPT post-docs are eligible. H1B and J1 post-docs- please contact the Office of International Education to see if you are eligible for a paid internship on campus.
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Application Process
- Applications for the 2023-2024 CTTEC Internship have closed.
**General inquiries can be directed to Scott McEvoy, at mcevoy@cmu.edu or smcevoy@andrew.cmu.edu
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Additional Information
What do CTTEC Interns do?
CTTEC Interns are a team of up to 4 graduate students from various areas of expertise, who will work remotely and have the following main responsibilities:
- Tech Assessment of CMU technologies (literature search, technical and competitive challenges, potential licensees). This will be delivered as a 5-8 page report with detailed sections on each area. Feedback will be provided by the Associate Director, the Licensing Managers, as well as the CMU creators to revise the report as necessary. Freedom to operate searches as well as deal comparables may also be requested. Each assignment is triaged and assigned to the Intern based on their background and area of graduate research.
- Marketing Reports for CMU technologies (unmet need, tech description and advantages, potential licensees). These tech summaries may be displayed on our website as a passive marketing strategy for our various technologies in need of a licensee. They may also be sent to individual company contacts as part of marketing campaigns.
Training Provided
In the first month, Interns will be required to attend the following training sessions:
- 1 hour meet-and-greet, with introductions between the cohort and CTTEC
- 3 hour training on how to read invention disclosure forms, use relevant databases, and research the market in order to complete Tech Assessments
- 3 hour training on how to perform patent searches to examine prior art for inclusion in the Tech Assessments
- 3 hour training on market analysis in order to complete Marketing Reports
One-on-one feedback and training sessions will be provided as needed, as determined by the Internship Program Manager.
Team Concept
Ideally, Intellectual Property Disclosures (IPD) submitted to our office by a CMU creator will have a Licensing Manager, a CTTEC Intern, and a representative from the CMU creator’s lab all working to move the technology from disclosure to dissemination.
Licensing Managers:
Guide commercialization strategy, patent process and handle marketing and license negotiation at the appropriate time.
CTTEC Interns:
Provide a written Tech Assessment on the prior art and competitive landscape as well as market opportunity. Sometimes, they will also create a Marketing Report for the invention in addition to or instead of a Tech Assessment.
Internship Program Manager CTTEC:
Leads training seminars, provides supervision of the written deliverables, coordinates with internal CTTEC ecosystem and triages technologies according to Intern's background, directs overall administration and running of the program.
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