McKinney helps develop Division of Agriculture intellectual property
Jan. 17, 2008Contact Information:
Nathan McKinney, Technology Licensing Officer, 479-575-6951 / nmckinne@uark.edu
Lisa Childs, Patent Attorney, 479-575-6833 / lcchilds@uark.edu
By Fred Miller, Science Editor
479-575-5647, fmiller@uark.edu
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Nathan McKinney joined the University of Arkansas System's statewide Division of Agriculture in January as technology licensing officer.
McKinney's primary role is to help division scientists identify intellectual property and guide them through the process of protecting, marketing and licensing new technology to commercial industries.
"Our focus is Arkansas first," McKinney said. "We want to help create jobs in Arkansas and make a positive impact on the state."
McKinney added that patented and licensed technology also creates a revenue stream back to the Division of Agriculture that supports ongoing research that may have continued economic benefits for Arkansans.
Lisa Childs, patent attorney for both the Division of Agriculture and the University of Arkansas' Fayetteville campus, said the mission of the Office of Technology Licensing is to manage intellectual property from preconception to patenting, marketing and commercialization. "We want to educate the scientists about how and when to begin protecting intellectual property even before they begin a project," she said.
The Division of Agriculture's catalog of recently patented technology includes:
-- Supersaturated dissolved oxygen (SDOX) systems, an environmentally friendly technology developed by biological engineers Marty Matlock and Scott Osborn, that increases water treatment capacity. It is currently being installed in Fayetteville's wastewater treatment facility.
-- Arkansas Clearfield rice, a variety developed by rice breeder Karen Moldenhauer from Arkansas' high-yielding Wells variety and Clearfield, developed by Louisiana State University and marketed by BASF. The new variety is adapted to Arkansas growing conditions and offers growers a system for combating red rice, a weed related to domesticated rice.
-- A technology developed by poultry scientist Billy Hargis to produce vaccine against avian influenza in poultry. The technology can also be used as a platform to develop vaccines for other poultry illnesses, including Salmonella and Coccidiosis.
"There is a wealth of talent at work in the Division of Agriculture," McKinney said. "In only a short time, I am close to being overwhelmed by the amount of cutting edge research and technology that exists here.
McKinney earned bachelor's and master's degrees in agronomy from the University of Arkansas in the 1980s, and a Ph.D. in agronomy at Kansas State University.
He spent six years as an extension agronomist in Mississippi, primarily working with soybeans. In 1990, he came back to Arkansas as a Cooperative Extension Service agronomist in the Division of Agriculture working with wheat and feed grains for six years.
In 1996, he left the extension service to enter the family business in Fayetteville — McKinney Real Estate and is now returning to the Division of Agriculture.
"I see my role as a servant who can help develop their research and educational programs," McKinney said.