Bill Farris Vice President for Commercialization and Technology Transfer National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Bill Farris is the Vice President for Commercialization and Technology Transfer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). He leads NREL’s efforts to accelerate commercialization and the transfer of laboratory technologies to the marketplace.   His organization is comprised of the Licensing, Sponsored Research Agreements, Enterprise Development, and Innovation Management functions at NREL. His recent initiatives include the establishment of The Colorado Center for Renewable Energy and Economic Development (CREED) which seeks to catalyze the expansion of the renewable energy economic cluster in Colorado and beyond, the creation of a clearinghouse for intellectual property developed at the nation’s National Laboratories and the streamlining of NREL’s transaction processes for licenses and sponsored research agreements.

Prior to joining NREL, he was responsible for the Commercialization, Economic Development, Business and Competitive Intelligence, and Commercial Relationships offices at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). In addition, Mr. Farris managed the new venture activities at the Pacific Northwest Division of the Battelle Memorial Institute and was a primary point of contact for interactions with Venture Capitalists. Bill has a B.S. in Geological Sciences and a M.S. in Radiological Sciences from the University of Washington and a M.S. in Management of Technology from NTU. He is a member of the Association of University Technology Managers and the Licensing Executive Society.