The Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach (CEO) at the University of Missouri-Rolla will kick-off a three-part series on the transfer of viable technologies from universities to industries with a seminar on Wednesday, August 10.

The free seminar, “Moving University Discoveries from the Lab Bench to the Market” begins at 3 p.m. and will be held in the Meramec and Ozark Rooms of the Havener Center on the UMR campus.

“The seminars are designed to give the UMR community and others the opportunity to learn about the processes of technology transfer with respect to viable technologies,” says John Parfet, technology business development director at CEO. “We want to inform UMR technologists about the steps involved in transferring research results from university laboratories to the commercial sector.”

All Science, Technology and Entrepreneurial Partnership (STEP) events offered by CEO, including the seminars in this series, are open to the UMR community and the general public.

“University-Owned Intellectual Property: Effective Protection, Marketing and Licensing,” the second seminar in the series, will be held Wednesday, August 24. The third seminar, “University Technology-Based Start-Up Challenges, Opportunities and Risks,” is scheduled for Wednesday, September 7.

Receptions follow the seminars, which all begin at 3 p.m. in the Havener Center.

“I urge UMR faculty and staff, small-business owners and the general public to attend if they would like to explore the potential growth of university and industrial technology transfer opportunities,” says Dr. Arlan DeKock, dean of UMR’s School of Management and Information Systems.

CEO is a partnership of UMR and the University of Missouri Extension in conjunction with the Missouri Small Business Development Center, the Missouri Federal and State Technology program, the Missouri Procurement Technical Assistance Centers and the Economic Development Administration’s University Center program. The Small Business Administration’s Rural Outreach Program at CEO is a seminar sponsor.

Admission to the seminars and receptions is free, but seating is limited and online registration is encouraged at www.umrceo.net/step.html. For more information, email umrceo@mst.edu or call (573) 341-4690.