Laura Silva has more than 30 years’ experience in various roles including chemical process engineering, technology development, intellectual property strategy and commercialization, entrepreneurism, and senior executive management. She was recently appointed as the Senior Licensing Manager for the College of Science at the University of Arizona, where she works with researchers to identify, protect, and license technology. She previously served as Vice President, Legal and IP at Velocys, a company she co-founded to commercialize innovative chemical process technology for conversion of low value gas and waste to renewable fuels and chemicals. Her experience in intellectual property and licensing spans the lifecycle of innovation: from initial concept development and protection to mature commercial offering and patent enforcement; from company start-up to executive legal and IP management of a publicly-traded company. She has negotiated and completed alliance transactions with diverse companies worldwide, ranging from Fortune 50 to small private companies in various industries, including in energy, chemicals, consumer products, construction, and manufacturing. Prior to Velocys, she served as Commercialization Manager for Battelle Memorial Institute, and has also served in various technology development and engineering assignments at Chevron and Battelle.