Cathy Innes is Director of the Office of Technology Development at UNC Chapel Hill. The office manages all intellectual property owned by UNC Chapel Hill and seeks industry partners to commercialize innovations arising from university research. Prior to this role, Innes spent seven years at the University of Washington, where she most recently held the position of Director, Policy and Strategic Initiatives for its technology development office. In that role she developed programs and publications on intellectual property laws, policies and practices related to technology commercialization and coordinated events for entrepreneurs and the venture capital community to increase their interaction with UW’s commercialization efforts. Innes also held positions as Director, Office of Technology Licensing and Copyright Information Officer at the University of Washington.
Innes also spent six years at the University of California, Berkeley, and central Office of the President, in software licensing and copyright policy advisor roles. She has a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and operations research from the University of California at Berkeley and spent 10 years in business development and engineering in the aerospace and computer industries before joining the field of academic technology transfer. Innes previously served on the board of trustees for the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) as Vice President for Communications. In addition, she is a frequent speaker at AUTM meetings and regularly speaks on intellectual property and licensing issues at other meetings throughout the country and internationally
