Over the past five years, the Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) has been honored to host several accomplished professionals on detail assignments. For our first installment in this new series, we were lucky enough to catch up with Commercialization Executive Erick Hunt, a dedicated specialist OTT has been fortunate enough to host on detail for the past nine months. As Erick finishes up his tenure at OTT, we wanted to sit down with him and chat about his time in the office, his STEM and workforce development endeavors, and what’s next in his future.

Office of Technology Transitions: Hi, Erick! Happy to have you with us today for our first installment in our new series, Meet an OTTer. You’ve been with OTT on assignment for about nine months now, correct? Tell us a little bit about where you’re joining us from.

Erick Hunt: I'm honored to be the first lab IPA rotation participant at the Office of Technology Transitions. I am on a temporary detail assignment from Brookhaven National Laboratory, where I managed the lab's partnership activities.

OTT: You joined OTT as a Commercialization Executive, a role that can take on many different forms.  What does your specific role entail?

EH: I have been involved in a number of diverse projects. As Commercialization Executive, my primary role at OTT is to lead the office's university partnerships, workforce development, and STEM outreach endeavors.

OTT: It’s important for people to know that OTT not only engages and assists today’s professionals, but also aims to inspire the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs by bringing exposure and awareness to the vast connection opportunities and resources the Department has to offer. How have your efforts supported this goal?

EH: To accomplish the office's goals in this subject area, we stood up the Innovation Workforce Team. In the early stages, the team worked to define the role of OTT and made a series of recommendations to OTT's leadership to maximize the office's impact in this space. The Innovation Workforce Team seeks to augment DOE’s existing workforce development and STEM programming efforts by leveraging OTT's connections with industry, higher education, and not-for-profit organizations.

OTT: The Department as a whole is a big supporter of STEM outreach. Where do OTT’s STEM efforts fit into the Department’s narrative?

EH: We view our outreach efforts as supplemental and complementary to the outstanding work of DOE's STEM programs. By utilizing OTT's strengths in relationship building in its core lab to market mission, the office seeks to translate those skills to amplify and magnify DOE's ongoing STEM efforts.

OTT: A main initiative of yours and the team was creating the OTT University Toolkit and Resource Packet. Tell us a little more about what the Toolkit entails.

EH: Thank you for the question. Our team's activities are centered on promoting the Toolkit. It captures the information of many of the STEM programs of DOE and it’s National Laboratories in a single location. The Toolkit could be of interest to students, faculty, and administrators. We want our stakeholders to be able to get access to information relating to all the great workforce development and STEM opportunities available.

OTT: What other outreach has been successful for you and the team?

EH:  In an effort to increase impact, the team has partnered with various organizations to host webinars aimed at socializing the Toolkit to their membership. As part of the rollout, our Innovation Workforce Team has had the pleasure to be guests at virtual events to promote OTT and the Toolkit to a variety of audiences. We enjoy interacting with various groups to introduce them to the Department of Energy.

OTT: What were some challenges you faced as you promoted outreach? How did you overcome?

EH: We are all adopting to a virtual environment. The million dollar question is-how does one build trust, rapport, and relationships without being able to sit directly across the table from someone and look them in the eye? Our Innovation Workforce Team has diligently worked to build credibility with our partners so they can be comfortable working with us. We've done an amazing job to adapt to the obstacles of collaboration. In the end, professionalism will carry the day.

OTT: What have you learned about tech transfer? Any surprises?

EH: The caliber of my colleagues at OTT is very impressive. My biggest takeaway is that high functioning and high performing teams can thrive in an assortment of work environments. I firmly believe that tech transfer is the way of the future and can be an enabler of economic growth. I have also learned that a lot of work takes place behind the curtain on the policy front. When it comes time for execution it looks so seamless, almost like magic, but there is great deal of hard work behind the scenes to make all of this happen.

OTT: Favorite technology transfer success story?

EH: It's difficult to narrow down to a single one but I would have to say GPS. I find it hard to envision a world without it. It's truly been transformative.

OTT: Now that you’ve finished your time with OTT, what does the future hold for Erick Hunt?

EH: While I imagine I will be spending some time in DC, I am looking forward to returning home for a little bit and getting a decent bagel <laughs>. I have absolutely loved my time at OTT but I am excited at the prospect of working with my colleagues at BNL again.

Hope you enjoyed meeting Erick! Stay tuned for the next installment of Meet an OTTer!