E-mail: rayf {at-sign} montana.edu
Phone: 406-994-7726

Ray Friesenhahn is the SBIR and Technology Transition Manager for TechLink, a Defense-wide Partnership Intermediary at Montana State University, under the auspices of OSD’s Office of Technology Transition (DUSD(AS&C)).  In this position, he serves effectively as a “Technology Scout” for the Department of Defense, leveraging DoD SBIR and other programs to assist client companies in developing and transitioning innovative technologies to support the Warfighter.  Under Ray’s guidance, TechLink’s DoD SBIR assistance programs now cover 12 states, utilizing expert team support with a focus on rapid transition/commercialization of new technologies, and promoting strategic partnerships with Prime Contractors and DoD laboratories.  He also leads innovative state-supported programs to assist Montana companies with all agency SBIR/STTR, focusing on university partnerships in Phase I, and emphasizing commercialization planning for all phases.  TechLink’s SBIR assistance has become one of the premier SBIR assistance programs in the nation, with Ray’s work recognized with a prestigious 2007 National Tibbetts Award for Individual Achievement, for “Outstanding Contributions to the SBIR Program.”  With its distinct regional and state-wide components, TechLink’s programs have directly helped client companies win over 212 Phase I, II, and III awards valued at $90 million, including $36 million in Montana alone.  Montana companies participating in TechLink’s assistance programs have award rates more than twice the national averages, benefitting from professional assistance focused on preparing them for future commercial success in production and sales of innovative new technology products. 

Ray's twenty-plus years of experience includes ten years of Defense industry RD&E in HPM weapon systems and radar components, including development and production of the advanced high-power TWT that enabled the upgraded Patriot Missile System radar. He provided Technology Transfer support for NASA for several years, and has been involved in private sector start-ups.  Ray has a B.S. in Physics and an MBA (entrepreneurship & marketing) from UT Austin, with graduate studies at Penn State, where he was appointed Lecturer in Physics.