Tennessee Inventors Association (TIA) Meeting Newsletters
The Tennessee Inventors Association sends a monthly newsletter to members and visitors. The newsletters contain notes on the previous meeting and information on other items of interest. Some newsletters include pdf copies of the handouts. To view these handouts, Adobe Acrobat or other pdf file reader/viewer program must me installed on your computer.
| Month | Meeting Description |
|---|---|
| February |
February 2012: TradeshowsThe February 18 meeting of the TIA will feature a panel discussion about tradeshows. Carl Papa, Joe Martin, and others will discuss their experiences participating in tradeshows of various sizes and types. |
| January |
January 2012 Patent updateThe January 21 meeting of the TIA featured local patent attorney Tom Kulaga. He spoke about the recent Patent Reform Act as it affects the patent process and inventors. |
| Month | Meeting Description |
|---|---|
| December |
December 2011 General MeetingThe December 17 meeting of the TIA is our annual general meeting. Held one week before Christmas, the meeting will provide a forum for members and others to present updates on their inventions. We will also have a roundtable discussion of future activities for the TIA. |
| November |
November 2011 Elections and manufacturing at the Michael Dunn CenterThe agenda for the November 20 TIA meeting included our annual elections. Our featured speakers were from the Michael Dunn Center. Mike McElhinney, the President and CEO of Michael Dunn, spoke about overall operations, and Melanie Harmon spoke about assembly, packaging, and the other things the Center does. |
| October |
October 2011 Computer securityThe October 15 meeting of the TIA featured Professor J. Douglas Birdwell of the UTK Electrical Engineering Department. The topic was Computer Security. Professor Birdwell is a Past-President of the Control Systems Society. |
| September |
September 2011 Books, Bucks, and Databases: Business support at the LibraryThe September 17 meeting of the TIA featured Catherine Moirai, the Business Reference Services Manager at Knox County Public Library. Her presentation was Books, Bucks, and Databases: Business support at the Library. Ms. Moirai earned her Master of Library Science degree at Emory University and has served Knox County Public Library for over 20 years as a reference librarian and as coordinator of the Foundation Center Cooperating Collection. |
| August |
August 2011 Innovation in our High SchoolsThe August meeting of the TIA featured Bob Gant, a science teacher at Morristown-Hamblen High School East. Bob discussed the Bioenergy Research Program at the high school. He also discussed how students are being motivated to innovate. |
| July |
July 2011 Dr. H. Lee MartinThe July meeting of the TIA featured Dr. H. Lee Martin. Lee holds 16 US Patents and has numerous publications in robotics, image processing, and electric vehicles. He started the company TeleRobotics International, Inc. in 1986, which went public on the NASDAQ exchange as iPIX in 1999. He is the author of the book Techonomics. Currently, he teaches engineering entrepreneurship at the University of Tennessee. |
| June |
June 2011 David Bolt and Solar EnergyDavid Bolt was our featured speaker for the June 2011 TIA meeting. David is very active in the local development of solar energy and he spoke of his company: Sustainable Future. |
| May |
May 2011 Inventor resourcesThe May meeting of the TIA featured a discussion on resources available for inventors. Those resources include on-line resources and local organizations that offer support and advice to inventors. There was also a round-table type discussion of issues facing the TIA, including member participation, collaboration with the Entrepreneurs of Knoxville, and future meeting topics. |
| April |
April 2011 Entrepreneurs of Knoxville EOKOur featured speaker for the April meeting was Leo Knight, founder of the Entrepreneurs of Knoxville (EoK). Leo discussed the EoK and how inventors can benefit from an organization devoted to entrepreneurship. Also, the TIA received copies of Stephen Key's new book, "One Simple Idea." Copies of the book were distributed to those in attendance. |
| March |
March 2011 Innovation in Manufacturing: A Success StoryLocal innovator Jeff Bohanan was the featured speaker for the March 19 meeting of the TIA. In 1997 Jeff founded Protomet Corporation, an Oak Ridge design and manufacturing company. Jeff spoke about how he started Protomet and how he helps other companies develop innovative products that his company then manufactures. |
Page last updated February 6, 2012
