The University of Arizona has named Douglas Hockstad to fill the position held by David Allen, vice president of Tech Launch Arizona, effective April 28. Allen, who announced his retirement as of that date, was appointed in 2012 to reinvigorate the UA’s research commercialization activities. 

“The progressive growth of Tech Launch Arizona over the last five years has been a direct result of the expertise Dave Allen brought to the organization,” said UA President Robert C. Robbins. “Doug Hockstad, who has been at TLA from virtually its inception, has been invaluable in its success and provides continuity as we expand our efforts. We have outstanding potential here at the University of Arizona, and TLA is vital to unlocking it to create growing impact on our region and state. I look forward to working with Doug as he leads our continuing efforts in commercialization and tech transfer.”

TLA is the commercialization office of the UA, taking new technologies that primarily have their beginnings in research performed by UA faculty and staff and transforming those inventions into patents, which the University then licenses either to existing companies or startups. The office provides multiple services, from helping faculty identify and evaluate the commercial potential of inventions to providing expert resources and mentoring to help launch successful startups. 

During the 2016-2017 academic year, TLA achieved record-breaking numbers with 261 invention disclosures, 334 U.S. patents filed, 105 total executed licenses and options, and 15 startups formed. 

Hockstad is currently assistant vice president of Tech Launch Arizona. In this role over the past five years, he has provided leadership to the TLA team as it has developed a variety of services for faculty and staff to protect intellectual property, streamline the technology commercialization process, support the creation of startups based on University technology and find impactful commercial applications for University research. 

Hockstad joined the UA with more than 25 years of experience in high-tech markets, primarily in the software market, including both established company and startup experience. Prior to the UA, he worked for 10 years at the University of Michigan as an assistant director of technology transfer. 

Allen brought more than 30 years of experience in technology-related research, instruction and practice to the UA. Before his arrival, he served as associate vice president for technology transfer at the University of Colorado from February 2002 to August 2012. Prior to that, he was an associate vice president at Ohio State University and Ohio University and a professor at Penn State University.