Leadership Team
Mike Paulus
Director, Partnerships
Mike Paulus has led the ORNL Partnerships Office since 2023, which includes Strategic Partnerships, Technology Transfer, Innovation Crossroads, and several support functions. He led the ORNL Technology Transfer Office from 2009 to 2023. He and his team collaborate with industry leaders and laboratory scientists to translate ORNL inventions into commercially successful products. Prior to joining the ORNL Technology Transfer Office, Mike served as Vice President of Product Management with Siemens Molecular Imaging, where he and his team were responsible for defining the product portfolio for this world-wide market leader in clinical PET and SPECT diagnostic imaging. He also served as co-founder and CEO of ImTek, Inc, an ORNL spin-out and market leader in laboratory animal x-ray CT imaging. Mike holds a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee, a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Dayton and a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee.
Jennifer Caldwell
Director, Technology Transfer
Jennifer Caldwell is Director of Technology Transfer. Previously, Caldwell led the Technology Commercialization Group in the Partnerships Office at ORNL, which is operated and managed by UT-Battelle, LLC. She manages the Technology Commercialization Group which is responsible for intellectual property portfolio management, licensing, and technology transfer. Prior to joining ORNL in 2006, Caldwell commercialized technology at Research Corporation Technology, Inc. (RCT) located in Tucson, Arizona. RCT is a technology management company that licenses technology and invests in promising early-stage biomedical companies and innovations. She managed and licensed a technology portfolio concentrating in life sciences, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals. Caldwell earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Florida State University in 1994 and a Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (with emphasis in Biochemistry) from the University of Florida in 2000. Before pursuing a PhD, she was employed by EG&G Florida, Inc. at Kennedy Space Center as an Environmental Health Specialist.
Dan Miller
Program Director
Dan Miller serves as the Program Director for Innovation Crossroads, where he coordinates the review and selection process for new cohorts, leads efforts to help innovators develop and execute Cooperative Research and Development Agreements with ORNL, and leads effort to connect innovators with potential customers and investors throughout the region. Prior to Innovation Crossroads, Dan started and led several public-private partnerships focused on commercializing ORNL technologies. Prior to ORNL, Dan was a licensing associate at Rice University and a mechanical design engineer at Wright Industries. Dan has a Master of Business Administration Degree from the University of Tennessee and worked in technology transfer at Rice University before joining ORNL in 2010.
Kelly Wampler
Program Manager
Kelly Wampler has been with the Innovation Crossroads program since its founding, previously supporting ORNL’s Industrial and Economic Development Partnerships Office. As Program Manager, she draws on her extensive knowledge of ORNL’s processes and procedures to oversee operations for Innovation Crossroads; including establishment of program policies and procedures, fellow recruitment, logistical oversight of the rigorous selection and on-boarding process, coordination of program curriculum, oversight of fellowship experience, and event coordination. Kelly takes great pride in ensuring entrepreneurial fellows receive needed mentorship and technical support to get the most out of their ORNL experience. In addition, Kelly serves as the program communications lead. She provides communication, marketing, and digital media support for internal and external initiatives. She enjoys engaging with the broader Knoxville-Oak Ridge entrepreneurial ecosystem. Kelly holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Tennessee Technological University.