Mr. Paul Zielinski - Director, Technology Partnerships Office, NIST

Paul Zielinski is the Director of the Technology Partnerships Office (TPO) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). TPO serves as the Office of Technology and Research Applications for NIST and is responsible for NIST technology transfer activities including patents, licenses, cooperative research, and small business innovation research.

Paul has coordinated the Interagency Workgroup on Technology Transfer (IAWGTT) for more than ten years. The IAWGTT addresses technology transfer policy issues across the federal government including over $150 billion of research across 11 federal agencies. Paul was elected to two terms as Chair of the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer (FLC). In this role he was he was the Chief Executive of the FLC and its mission to serve technology transfer professionals across over 300 federal laboratories.

Prior to joining NIST, Paul worked at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in multiple roles.  He was the Staff Chief for Cross Agency Programs, including Technology Transfer, the Regional Science Program, the Tribal Science Program, Environmental Justice research, and the Science and Technology Technical Liaison Program.  Paul also served as the Staff Chief for Planning for the EPA Office of Research and Development where he was instrumental in implementing a multi-year planning approach for EPA research programs.

At the Department of Energy, Paul worked in the Office of Nuclear Energy, Global Nuclear Energy Program, and in the Office of Environmental Management as a senior program engineer and scientist.   Paul served on active duty as a commissioned officer in the United States Army Military Police including duty in Korea, Panama, Germany, and in the United States.

Paul has a bachelor’s degree in Biology, Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering, and Master of Business Administration degree.