Our interns often move on to pursue careers in intellectual property law and technology transfer; some interns, like Sharon Ngwenya, do both. In this two part series, we caught up with Sharon to find out about her current career path and how a tech transfer internship has helped along the way. If you missed the first part of this series, click here where we learn about Sharon’s experience in IP law and tech transfer jobs. Today we turn our attention to her experiences as an OTT intern and what she has learned looking back.
What skills did you gain as an intern do you feel were most valuable to your professional development/career?
The most valuable skill that I gained as an intern was the ability to perform prior art and marketability searches. The criteria and mindset when performing these searches are different from the searches that I performed as a researcher because you are looking for information that could present problems during the prosecution of a patent application, not information that supports your hypothesis. If your search results support the hypothesis too closely, you may have found prior art that may necessitate killing the technology.
What were your favorite and least favorite aspects of your internship?
I don’t have a least favorite aspect. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Emory OTT. I learned so much during my internship about other fields other than my research field. I felt as if I was really using my scientific training and being challenged with each new case that I took on. And oh, the friendships that were made during the internship were also a plus!
Looking back, what is something you wish you knew while researching careers and/or during your internship?
I wish I’d known about the IP or tech transfer career tracks earlier in my career. I may have skipped the postdoc and gone to law school or business school instead. I may even have taken a few business classes while in grad school (I could have done it for free!!).
What is one piece of advice you have for our current & future interns?
In addition to your skills, networking is key to getting your next position. Use the opportunity as an intern to begin building a professional network that you can turn to at any time in your career. Get involved in Georgia Bio events and any other networking events available to you. My network that I began building at Emory OTT has played a big part in my making the connections that eventually led to a job offer.
Do you miss us? (just a joke 🙂 )
Yes, I do miss you all and always look forward to seeing you all at AUTM, BIO or any other industry events that we attend!