Iowa State will begin a national search for a replacement for the director of the Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer (OIPTT) and executive director of the ISU Research Foundation (ISURF).

Alan Paau, resigned his position effective Dec. 31. Paau will assume a similar position at the University of California at San Diego.

Paau said he is looking for a new challenge in his work but credits ISU for its long tradition in making technology available.

“ISU has a good commitment to making technology accessible here from the president on down to the deans and so on,” Paau said. “It has been good but my job at ISU is done.”

Paau helped to shape intellectual property management and “made sure intellectual property is managed properly.”

“I implemented a property management policy and I made sure is was accessible to the public,” he said.

Paau came to ISU in June of 1994. He received his Ph.D from the University of Houston in biological sciences.

Prior to coming to ISU, Paau worked in the industry business for 12 years and was associate director of the Ohio State Biotechnology Center at Ohio State University at Columbus.

Patricia Swan, ISU’s vice provost for research said “the work of OIPTT and ISURF has prospered” under Paau’s direction.

“I have reluctantly accepted Dr. Paau’s resignation,” Swan said in a press release. “We are sorry to lose him.”

OIPTT works with the faculty and with the ISU Research Foundation to obtain appropriate protection for ISU’s intellectual property.

According to a press release, in fiscal year 1997, ISURF/OIPTT received 155 invention disclosures and received 38 patents on ISU technologies. It has also signed 143 agreement with companies to use ISU technologies and earned $7.65 million in royalties.