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Meet Our Team

Assistant Vice President for Technology Transfer

Patricia Stepp, Ph.D.

Administrative Operations Specialist

Sharnae Gilmore, MA

Intellectual Property Team


Assists Rice researchers with the invention disclosure and review process. Also assists with patent prosecution and Intellectual Property (IP) Portfolio Management.

Assistant Director, Intellectual Property

Neha Malik, Ph.D.

Intellectual Property Manager

Megan Schutzbach-Horton, Ph.D.

Patent Docket &
Compliance Admin

Tamara Ross

Patent Docket & Compliance Assistant

JeQuan Smith

Intellectual Property & Licensing Associate

Andrew Baines

Intellectual Property Specialist

Peng Wei, Ph.D.

Licensing Team


Negotiates license, option and inter-institutional agreements as well as markets available technologies to potential partners. For more information regarding licensing at Rice University tap the button below.

Assistant Director, Licensing

Andrew Castillo, Ph.D.

Sr. Licensing Associate

Mike Cato, Ph.D.

Licensing Associate - Physical Sciences

Sean Bittner, Ph.D.

Industrial Contracts Team


Negotiates various agreements to support research at Rice including; confidentiality, materials transfer, data use, collaboration and industry-sponsored research agreements.

Assistant Director, Contracts

Matthew Patterson, Ph.D.

Industrial Contracts Specialist II

Karen Bannerman

Industrial Contracts Specialist I

Ingrid Capera, LL.M

Industrial Contracts Specialist II

Sam Kirchhoff, J.D.

Database Administrator

Aaron Daniels

Finance Team


Manages the office budget, license compliance, patent expenditures, and distribution of licensing revenue.

Finance Manager

Nicole Corali, MBA

Finance & Compliance Administrator

Robin Bryant

OTT T3 Program Interns