News and Events >TTO Introduces its Newest Interns

TTO Introduces its Newest Interns

February 14, 2005

The TTO welcomes the opportunity for student interns to share their background and experience while learning about the university technology transfer environment. If you are a student looking for a unique experience, contact the TTO.

System Administration:

Legal Extern
Rita Sanzgiri is a second year law student at CU-Boulder. She has a PhD in genetics from Iowa State University and as post-doctorate research experience at Brandies University where she undertook research in calcium-dependent potassium channel in fruit-flies. She also has worked as a Summer law clerk for the Denver office of Fagre and Bensen. Her scientific background and legal reasoning skills have been put to task in the TTO to assess recent patent decisions affecting university intellectual property, undertake contract review and interpret university and federal policy. The TTO is lucky to have her for the Spring semester.

Undergraduate Intern
Toni Newville (BA 2005) is a Senior, majoring in Mechanical Engineering at CU-Boulder. She will be attending law school in the Fall, most likely at CU-Boulder or University of Texas-Austin. After hearing a presentation in her Senior Design class by Kristin Diamond (Assistant University Counsel who supports Tech Transfer) and Liza Eschbach of the TTO, she offered to volunteer in the office for the Spring semester. Thus far, she has analyzed patent correspondence and document as a part of a due diligence process, reviewed the TTO website and is assisting Lisa Eschbach in a patability and marketability project. We greatly appreciate her contributions while she is learning about the TTO.

Boulder Office:

MBA Intern
Chris McReynolds is working with the Technology Transfer Office this semester to develop business plans for concepts based on university intellectual property. His first assignment is to work with Sentina Systems, a business concept for an improved collision avoidance system for automobiles. The Sentina Systems product is based on sensor management technology from Dr. Lucy Pao and Dr. Vishwesh Kulkarni in the CU Boulder Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Chris is currently a first year student studying Entrepreneurship in the MBA program at the Leeds School of Business. Prior to the MBA program, Chris spent two years as an Advanced Technologies Engineer at the BMW Technology Office in Palo Alto, California where he was involved with evaluating new automotive technologies from the automobile manufacturer's perspective. Chris also spent just over two years at Cellport Systems in Boulder, where he became Director of Product Management and learned the perspective of a small auto parts supplier. At the Technology Transfer Office, Chris has been able to use his industry experience to shape the business strategy of Sentina Systems as the company plans its entry into the automotive technology market.