BOZEMAN, Mont. - The MSU TechLink Center announced on August 15 that Will Swearingen will become the new executive director of TechLink. He replaces Peter Perna, who has been named chief executive officer of the Science and Technology Corporation, Albuquerque, N.M.

Swearingen will assume his new duties August 16. He is a founding member of TechLink, which was established at MSU in 1996 with support from NASA. TechLink assists companies in the Northwest with technology transfer and commercialization services. TechLink also is supported by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and other federal agencies.

Swearingen holds a PhD in geography from the University of Texas at Austin. Following postdoctoral research at Stanford, he became a researcher at the NASA-sponsored Earth Data Analysis Center at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and taught at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. He joined the MSU faculty in 1991 and directed a large USAID-sponsored program for biocontrol of grasshoppers and locusts in Africa. He also directed MSU's Program for Development of Applied Biotechnology, which partnered Montana biotech companies with university researchers. At TechLink, Swearingen has served as team leader for all NASA-sponsored technology transfer initiatives in TechLink's seven industry focus areas. In the last four years, he also has led TechLink's efforts to form partnerships between NASA or DoD and regional industries involved in developing and commercializing environmental technologies.

"I'm excited to be given this opportunity," Swearingen said. "Peter has done an outstanding job of creating a successful organization. We are providing a unique service to high-tech companies in the region and to our NASA and DoD sponsors. I believe that we have the opportunity to become a nationally recognized model for technology transfer and commercialization."

Perna supported MSU's patenting and licensing activities before his successful proposal to NASA resulted in the founding of TechLink. He was appointed executive director the same year. Through his leadership, TechLink has established 40 agreements partnering regional companies with NASA and DoD labs for the purpose of developing, licensing and commercializing federal technologies. This year, he initiated the creation of a new technology business incubator, TechHatch, with seed money from TechLink. TechHatch is a non-profit corporation focused on the incubation of software and e-commerce ventures. "I'm happy to have had the good fortune to work with such a capable group of people," Perna said. "They're the ones who have made TechLink successful."

At the Science and Technology Corp., Perna will direct efforts to commercialize technology emerging from the University of New Mexico.

Back to Top