New Personnel for IP and Tech Transfer

The Sponsored Programs Office is pleased to announce the appointment of individuals responsible for intellectual property development and technology transfer activities. Beginning fall semester 2010, Stephanie Sisco, Proposal Manager in SPO, will advise faculty, staff, and students on matters of copyright or patent disclosure. Wil Davis, newly named Interim President of the Ball State Innovation Corporation and Innovation Management Services (BSIC/IMS), will support commercialization efforts, including interactions with the private sector, licensing, and company formation.

Interim President of BSIC
As Interim President of BSIC, Wil Davis assumes responsibilities as the principal officer for the management of works of intellectual property created by Ball State University employees and students. Davis will provide assistance to Ball State inventors, authors, and entrepreneurs, facilitating marketing, licensing, or the development of new businesses springing from University-owned technology.

Davis is chairman and co-founder of Ontario Systems, a software development company headquartered in Muncie that focuses on the receivables management industry. Founded in 1980, Ontario Systems became one of the largest software companies in the state of Indiana. The company’s success led to many honors including Techpoint’s CyberStar Award in 2001 as Indiana’s outstanding technology product company. Also in 2001, Davis received Ernst and Young’s Indiana Heartland Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In demand as a keynote speaker and seminar leader, Davis has published his first book, entitled Creating a Culture of Excellence: Changing the World of Work One Person at a Time.

Davis earned his undergraduate and MBA degrees from Ball State University and received an honorary doctorate from Indiana Wesleyan University. The Ball State University Alumni Association named Davis a 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, and he has also received the Miller College of Business Award of Distinction. He succeeds Michael Halbrook at the Ball State Innovation Corporation and will maintain an office at the Innovation Connector and in the Sponsored Programs Office.

Manager of IP Disclosures
Stephanie Sisco (formerly Klinger), in addition to serving as Proposal Manager for the Miller College of Business, Teachers College, and Building Better Communities, will provide Ball State personnel with information and guidance regarding the Ball State Intellectual Property Policy and IP disclosures. Sisco’s service in SPO dates to 2003, when, as Grants Specialist, she managed the University’s intellectual property accounts, tracking expenditures and income. Following a tour of duty as grant writer in the Center for Media Design, Sisco returned to SPO as Proposal Manager in 2008. Earlier in her career she served as grant writer for the Cincinnati Museum of Art. She holds the B.A. degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.