Derek Parks is the Commercialization Manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Technology Partnerships Office, which oversees the Small Business Innovation Research grant program and NOAA’s Technology Transfer and Cooperative Research and Development portfolios. Mr. Parks is a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Department of Commerce with experience in intellectual property and technology transfer, cooperative agreements, international trade, marketing and communications, and project/program management.
In his current role, Mr. Parks is supporting the transition of federally-funded research and development into revenue-generating commercial products, services, and businesses. Mr. Parks also sits on the board of the Federal Laboratory Consortium and has represented NOAA on a number of interagency committees including the Interagency Committees for Technology Transfer and Bayh-Dole and the Lab-to-Market Sub-Committee of the National Science and Technology Council.
Mr. Parks received his degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in International Affairs and Italian language studies.