Demonstrating Technical Leadership with Patents

A Panel discussion with: Maria Thompson Indira Saladi Anne Marie Johlie

Society of Women Engineers and Argonne National Laboratory Professional Development ConferenceOctober 4, 2014

Maria B. ThompsonSenior Director, ITW Global Innovation FrameworkMantra: “Identify & Tackle Gnarly Problems”

www.linkedin.com/in/mariabthompson

EDUCATION• BS, Computer Science & Statistics; MS, Mathematics & Computer Science

CERTIFICATIONS• Facilitation, Organizational Assessment & Improvement, Accelerated Innovation, Six Sigma Yellow Belt

WORK EXPERIENCE• 10 yrs. AT&T Bell Labs; 23 yrs. Motorola; 9 mos. ITW • Software Engineer -> Manager -> Process Engineer -> Quality Engineer -> Operations Management ->

Creativity Coach -> Inventor Mentor -> Innovation & Change Management

PASSIONS• Methods & tools, technology, creative problem solving & inventing, STEM Education• 8 filed patents• Equestrian sports, Adventure travel & Scuba Diving• Wife and Mother of 2 budding scientists & Proud to be a GEEK!

• Experience– 5 years at Motorola (Increasing responsibility from entry level to team lead engineer)– 3 years at a Chicago area law firm (Associate attorney)– 8 years at Motorola and Motorola Solutions (Increasing responsibility from Director to Manager

with people responsibility to Senior Director)– 2 years at Zebra Technologies (Vice President, Chief IP Counsel)

• Education– JD, University of Chicago– MS EE & CompE, Illinois Institute of Technology– BSEE, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Passions– Helping technologists identify, protect, and leverage their work– Running (slow), philanthropy, and relaxing with family– Wife and mother of 3 (a PhD candidate son, a college student daughter, and a 10 year old daughter)

Indira SaladiVice President Chief Intellectual Property (IP) Counsel

• Experience– 25 years at Motorola Solutions; 3 years at Northrop

• Education– MS EE & CS – University of Illinois at Chicago, BSEE – University of Dayton– Project Management Certified, PMI; Masters Certificate in Project Mgmt, GW University– Six Sigma Green Belt, expected certification Dec 2015

• Life Member of SWE. Member since 1986. Work Life Balance Award winner. • Passions

– Leading and mentoring teams to achieve individual and corporate goals.– Launching new products, streamlining process, integrating complex products. – 2 patents – Biked a Century! Also love running, gardening and going to kids games– Wife and mother of 3

Anne Marie JohlieDirector of OperationsCentral Services OrganizationMotorola Solutions, Inc

Directed Innovation + Inventor Mentoring

GOAL: Invent in High-Value areas of sustainable differentiation for your customers

1. Discover underserved customer needs, outcomes, insights2. Define the characteristics of the Ideal Final Solution (see TRIZ)3. Reframe the original high-value problem (Assumption and

Problem Storming)4. Transform problem statements into open-ended, thought-

provoking questions (Question Banking)5. Engage both divergent & convergent thinkers6. Generate novel concepts & patent disclosures7. Project Manage ideas to closure

Maria Thompson

Skills & QualificationsDirected Innovation

• Effective group facilitation & meeting management• Problem identification & analysis - Analogous & adaptive thinker• Broad technical knowledge of your company’s verticals and adjacencies• Process-oriented & Disciplined Time Manager• Well-read: trend watcher & technology scout• Excellent communication & presentation skills• Motivational & enthusiastic• Tutoring/ instructional background a plus

Inventor Mentor• Creative, tenacious problem solvers• Collaborative coaches• Competent investigators• Flexible, resilient & adaptable• Technical experience in the relevant field• Address relevant art barriers to novelty• Address enablement / reduction to practice issues• Advocate/shepherd promising Inventions

Maria Thompson

Innovation as Intellectual Property

Engineers work in an organization on innovative products and solutions. Such innovation is a valuable and strategic

organizational asset that is legally termed “intellectual property (IP).” It exists in a variety of forms, including patents,

trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and other proprietary rights, and exists in a complex, global environment.

Understanding IP helps you assist your organization achieve its business purposes.

Indira Saladi

The Value of Patents to Your Organization

Patents provide the organization the ability to

• Sell differentiated products at a premium• Deter others

• Insurance against competitors• Pursue violators

• Prevent competitors from selling certain products• Prevent competitors from copying

• Generate revenue• License for a fee

• Use in cross-licensing• Use in standards• Establish technology leadership

Protection

Revenue

Leverage

Margin

Indira Saladi

Top 10 Reasons to Work on Patents and Innovation

1. You like solving problems2. Be known as a technical authority3. Respect from your peers4. Respect from your managers and senior leaders5. Add diversity of ideas to technical solutions6. Career advancement7. $ MONEY $8. Resume building (put on your LinkedIn profile too)9. Network with like-minded inventors/peer technologists

at other companies10. You can be the next speaker on Patents at a SWE event

Anne Marie Johlie