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K-State Today

August 15, 2016

Director of corporate engagement co-presents at Network of Academic Corporate Relations Officers national meeting

Submitted by Sarah Hancock

Richard Potter, director of corporate engagement, co-presented Breaking Barriers, Building Trust: Creating Corporate-Faculty Partnerships That Succeed and Endure at the Network of Academic Corporate Relations Officers, or NACRO, annual conference Aug. 3-5 at Washington University in St. Louis. His co-presenter was a colleague from the University of California, Davis.

The goal of NACRO is to engage industry in a setting that allows for open discussion while sharing best practices with peers. The conference agenda included sessions on cross-campus partnerships, innovation generation, data analytics and metrics, and case studies of corporate partnerships.

Potter said the NACRO conference is a great venue to showcase K-State's capabilities. His presentation focused on positive outcomes and lessons learned from the 2015 Working With Industry Boot Camp and the K-State Research Showcases in 2015 and 2016.

K-State is earning a reputation of being on the leading edge of a strategic, comprehensive approach to university-industry collaboration, Potter said. Other universities are developing similar programs based on the K-State model.

This year's conference was filled to capacity and set attendance records, with more than 330 corporate relations professionals participating. A mastery series for experienced professionals allowed Potter to gain insights from peers with regard to the upcoming K-State Research Showcase, which will be on the K-State Olathe campus in May 2017.

A peer at Oregon State University has facilitated a similar event in Portland, which is a 90-minute drive from the Corvallis campus, Potter said. He learned some valuable tips that will help K-State maximize its Kansas City connections for the 2017 Research Showcase.