After eight years, the annual Technology Showcase isn’t showing any signs of slowing. In fact, according to members of the planning committee, there are still abundant opportunities to do more.
“We do experiment with this event,” said Maggie Scully, Ph.D., a showcase organizer and the director of the Partnership Development Office at Frederick National Laboratory (FNL). “Now that we’ve done it a number of years, we feel like we’re confident in knowing that we can still run the event but add a [new] feature.”
Creativity feels like a fitting approach given the showcase’s emphasis on technological innovation and partnerships. The event brings together scientists from NCI, FNL, and private organizations; company representatives from businesses large and small; entrepreneurs; biotech and biomedical employees; and local government representatives. United by a common interest, attendees network, discuss inventions, and—of course—learn how they can collaborate in biomedical research. Several years also featured a special or new component.
The 2024 Tech Showcase, the eighth annual, will be held at FNL’s Advanced Technology Research Facility (ATRF) on September 4. Organizers say it’ll continue the tradition of trying new things.
“We’re going to kick off the Tech Showcase this year with a new offering: a fireside chat,” said Michele Newton, a communications specialist and lead event organizer from NCI’s Technology Transfer Center. Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) Chief Executive Officer Troy A. LeMaile-Stovall will moderate the new 45-minute session with Helen Sabzevari, Ph.D., CEO and president of Precigen, Inc., an NCI industry partner. One of the prime goals is to set a conversational tone that organizers hope will pervade the event.
To foster that tone further, they’ve also designed and launched an app that allows attendees to connect and arrange one-on-one partnership meetings. It’s the sort of tool one would see at a bigger conference, said Victoria Brun, a partnership project manager in the Partnership Development Office, but it fits neatly with the showcase’s interactive nature.
“It’ll just be a really easy way for them to network and meet companies,” Brun said, adding that the idea emerged during discussions with event co-sponsors.
Past Attractions Continue
Several staple sessions will also return this year, such as the Voice of the Patient, which aims to remind attendees of their shared purpose in working to help people living with cancer. There will also be the customary panel on how to partner with FNL and NCI, featuring successful past partners.
“It’s really important that we are accessible” as a national resource, Brun said. “I think this event is one way that we let people inside the ATRF to meet us and our scientists and showcase our capabilities.”
The event also illuminates what a public–private partnership with NCI or FNL can do. The opportunity goes well beyond simple collaboration or funding, Newton said.
“We have these inventions from our own intramural research labs that companies can look to form their own startup around,” she said. “They could work with some of the top researchers in the world.”
Still Going Strong
Executing the Technology Showcase is a massive undertaking that spans 10 months of planning. Through a co-sponsorship between FNL, NCI, the City of Frederick and the County of Frederick, TEDCO, and the Federal Laboratory Consortium, the planning team is able to combine efforts and resources and deliver a free event with minimal internal expense. If their successes are any indicator, they’ve more than hit their stride.
Despite their different affiliations, the co-sponsors share a belief in the event’s value. It’s a chance to benefit patients, transfer technology for continued development, and cultivate partnerships that can stimulate the regional economy.
The organizers return year after year because they believe in this opportunity to make a difference and to create a space where others can do so. According to Michael Salgaller, Ph.D., Technology Analysis and Marketing Unit supervisor in the Technology Transfer Center, the showcase is NCI’s only public event targeted to potential partners and licensees from industry. A gathering where scientists can speak with company innovators, entrepreneurs, and business representatives is uniquely valuable.
“I really enjoy the partnership that we have with all of our co-sponsors, identifying these mutually beneficial goals, and how we could each bring elements of our teams together to make this type of an event possible,” Newton said.
FNL’s Scully agreed. Even after seven years, she says she isn’t surprised the event is going strong. There’s still so much to talk about.
“There's always new technologies that we want to get out there. What other way than to put it in a meeting and celebrate that?” she said.
More information about and registration links for the 2024 Technology Showcase are available on the Technology Transfer Center’s site. A link to register for the independently sponsored after-hours networking event is also available on the site.
Samuel Lopez leads the editorial team in Scientific Publications, Graphics & Media (SPGM). He writes for newsletters; informally serves as an institutional historian; and edits scientific manuscripts, corporate documents, and sundry other written media. SPGM is the creative services department and hub for editing, illustration, graphic design, formatting, multimedia, and training in these areas.
