Cecile Pham (Fed)

Cecile Pham is a Patenting and Licensing Manager in the Technology Partnerships Office (TPO) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and oversees the protection and commercialization of intellectual property (IP) generated by NIST. Ms. Pham’s role involves evaluating inventions for patentability, managing the patent application process, and maintaining an organization’s IP portfolio. Further, Ms. Pham negotiates and executes licensing agreements, ensuring compliance with regulations, while fostering partnerships with industry, academia, and government to bring innovations to market. Additionally, Ms. Pham provides guidance to researchers on IP strategy, monitors market trends to identify licensing opportunities, and assists with developing policies to support innovation and technology transfer. 

Ms. Pham has supported high-profile initiatives, including providing technology transfer support and input regarding collaborative agreement under the CHIPS Act to strengthen U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, the RaDAR Program to combat the opioid epidemic, and the investigation of the Champlain Towers collapse to enhance structural safety. Additionally, Ms. Pham has successfully enabled the transfer of approximately $2.2 million from industry to NIST through the execution of collaborative agreements, enabling critical partnership and fostering innovation. 

Ms. Pham holds two Bachelor of Science degrees from Wichita State University, one in Chemistry with a Business emphasis and the other in Business Administration. She also earned a Paralegal Certification and a Master’s degree in Biotechnology from Georgetown University, and an Executive MBA from the Quantic School of Business and Technology.