One free resource for people in the materials field that may grow in significance is the nearly year-old ARPA-E “University.” The university concept grew out of ARPA-E’s 2012 Innovation Summit held in the spring, and is basically a collection of live and recorded webinar presentations. The first offering was posted in May 2012, and since then the agency has been been ramping up the content. Although the sessions are being organized with ARPA-E teams in mind, the learning opportunity is open to anyone.

For example, today (April 3), from 1:00-1:30 pm, the university is offering the first installment of what is being promised as a free “Office Hours” series, where participants can interact in a live Q&A with an ARPA-E program director on a particular technical topic.

This first Office Hours features access to ARPA-E’s Ilan Gur and is meant to focus on the agency’s AMPED (Advanced Management and Protection of Energy Storage Devices) program. The goal of AMPED is to “reduce the cost, volume, and weight of electrified vehicle battery systems by as much as 20-50 percent while retaining or improving lifetime, safety, and performance.” To prepare for the discussion and to learn more about AMPED, the agency suggests participants watch this webinar recording and check out the newly christened AMPED community newsletter. Advanced registration is required in order to participate.

ARPA-E University also has a different opportunity next week. On Wednesday, April 10, the agency is offering a free webinar on licensing intellectual property led by Karina Edmonds, Technology Transfer Advisor for the Department of Energy. According to the ARPA-E website, “Edmonds will review the impact of the America Invents Act on licensing, what to expect in a license agreement and their typical monetary terms, and how to meet the licensing needs of start-ups and academics. It builds on the Energy Innovation and IP Strategy session of ARPA-E University that was held in December 2012.” Anyone who wants to participate in the live webinar must preregister.

Edmonds’ webinar is the seventh in a series of Technology-to-Market presentations offered through the university portal. Others have included

  • Preparing and Conducting Effective Negotiation;
  • Energy Innovation and IP Strategy;
  • Winning Technical Pitches;
  • Telling Your Story: Successful Presentation Techniques;
  • The Scientific Method for Getting Technology to Market; and
  • Demystifying Money: The Many Sources of Capital.

Materials from these sessions, and, in some cases, recordings of the webinars are available at no charge.

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