Nestor Franco

Background and Experience

Nestor Franco is a technology transfer professional with ten years of successful experience in IP licensing, marketing and program development. Until very recently, he was a Senior Technology Commercialization Manager in the Technology Transfer Office at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). In this role, he managed technologies originating mostly from Environmental Sciences, and Material Science and Technology Divisions. In addition to his core licensing role, and through a variety of initiatives (e.g., translational funding, entrepreneurial training/support, and partnership & project management). His role helped establish technology-based partnerships with industry where companies, via a variety of mechanisms, acquired access to ORNL’s inventions and use these as the basis for new innovative products and services.

Prior to ORNL, Nestor held technology licensing, and technology analyst positions at Johns Hopkins University where he was charged with licensing and marketing inventions from schools of medicine, and engineering that included medical devices, medical imaging, surgical robotics, software, small molecules and materials. He also held Marketing and Business Development manager position at University of Miami where his role was to support licensing growth by identifying high quality licensee prospects and qualifying their interest in licensing University’s technologies.