Released: May 1, 2024
(WASHINGTON, DC – May 1, 2024) The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) held its 2024 National Meeting and 50th anniversary celebration in Dallas, Texas, from April 9 to 11. The annual conference of federal, research and business professionals is the premier educational and networking event for the federal technology transfer community.
This year, the event drew record-breaking attendance with over 550 registrants, including international attendees from three continents. Previously, the highest attendance for an FLC National Meeting was set in 2023 with 523 registrants.
“The National Meeting is the biggest professional development and networking event in federal technology transfer, bringing together top leaders and ideas in the field,” said Paul Zielinski, executive director of the FLC. “The connections, conversations and relationships that take root at the National Meeting are critical to advancing tech transfer.”
After early arrivers enjoyed a cloudless view of the total solar eclipse, the National Meeting opened with a full day of training courses. Nine half- and full-day courses taught skills in a range of career pathways and experience levels, and nearly every course received above a 90% satisfaction rate from attendees. The following two days offered nearly 20 concurrent sessions, also covering a range of topics led by world-class presenters.
The National Meeting also featured two distinguished keynote speakers. The first was Carmen Medina, a retired Senior Federal Executive with 32 years of experience in the Intelligence Community who was the first CIA executive to conceptualize many IT applications now used by analysts. Medina authored Rebels at Work: A Handbook for Leading Change Within, and her keynote focused on how to be a change agent in the federal government.
Pam Henderson, PhD, is the founder and CEO of NewEdge and author of You Can Kill an Idea, But You Can’t Kill an Opportunity! She advises companies across every industry, including over 75 Fortune 500 and 50 startups and nonprofits. In her keynote, she shared simple principles that can lead to bigger opportunities and more efficient tech transfer.
“From scientific advances to changes in the market, the tech transfer landscape is always changing, so T2 professionals have a constant learning curve,” said Jeff DiTullio, technology transfer officer at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center and chair of the FLC’s Educate Committee, which steers the event’s programming. “We strive to provide courses and sessions that are interesting and valuable across a range of topic areas and expertise levels.”
The headlining event of the National Meeting was the 2024 FLC Awards Ceremony and 50th anniversary celebration, which honored 32 awardees from eight federal agencies. The FLC Awards recognize professionals, teams and projects that exhibit excellence, inspire innovation, and create valuable impacts to the public and society. Click here for more information on the 2024 FLC Award winners or browse a gallery of past award winners here.
About the FLC
The Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC) is a formally chartered, nationwide network of more than 300 federal laboratories, agencies, and research centers that foster commercialization best practice strategies and opportunities for accelerating federal technologies from out of the labs and into the marketplace. To learn more, visit www.federallabs.org.
Media contact: Carolina Olivieri, FLC Marketing Director [email protected]
Originally published at https://federallabs.org/about/media/flc-press-releases/celebrating-50-years-of-innovation-at-the-2024-flc-national-meeting
