Billy Houghteling, Director

NC State Office of Technology Transfer

Mr. Houghteling will also moderate our panel.

Dr. Hardin's duties include developing and justifying legislation related to defining statewide research capacity and structure; implementing science and technology-related economic development policy and resource allocations; research, analysis, and review of substantive policy issues and proposals; preparing public policy and budget analyses; preparing and presenting high-level state policy briefings, assessments, and reports to policy makers and external constituencies; conducting strategic planning and making recommendations for technology-based economic development; directing and overseeing strategic initiatives with impact at the state level; and overseeing the administration of grant programs to support technology commercialization by North Carolina small businesses.

Dr. Steven Leath serves as Vice President for Research, University of North Carolina General Administration, Chapel Hill, NC. Dr. Leath promotes research and sponsored programs across the full spectrum of academic disciplines and interdisciplinary activities carried out by UNC's sixteen university campuses and constituent high school.  He helps advocate for increased levels of external support from federal, state, and private sources, and works closely with the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and campus research administrators to develop research and sponsored program activity in support of each campus's mission.  Since 2004, UNC campuses have annually attracted more than $1 billion in competitive research grants and contracts. Effective March 2009, Dr. Leath serves as Chief Executive Officer of the David H. Murdock Research Institute, Kannapolis, NC.

As the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies at NC State University, Terri Lomax is responsible for state, federal, industry, and foundation-sponsored programs (total NCSU research and development expenditures are approaching $315 million per year); university regulatory compliance, sponsored program support, university project development, technology transfer and commercialization, Centennial Campus and NC State University graduate school (over 7,000 graduate students in 10 colleges).