Inventions

Richard Cahoon is an Adjunct Professor in Global Development as well as a practitioner with over three decades of experience in the areas of invention, intellectual property (IP), new technology development and implementation, entrepreneurship/intrapreneurship, and innovation. He has significant experience in the management of R&D, invention and IP, partnerships, technology commercialization, venture creation, licensing, business development, negotiation, and mediation.

Professor Cahoon has worked on a variety of new technology projects with universities, government agencies, and companies in various countries. His work has included project design and management along with high-level advisory and mentoring roles for institutions, ministries, and companies in over 25 countries and the United Nations. Professor Cahoon has been an advisor to World Bank; the governments of Qatar, Canada, Thailand, Philippines, Serbia, and the State of Michigan; USAID; and the U.S. Department of Commerce; as well as universities, companies, and NGOs in Turkey, Argentina, Chile, Japan, Jamaica, Philippines, South Africa, India, Korea, Bahrain, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Iran, Colombia, Brazil, the U.S., and the European Union.  

Professor Cahoon has served as an expert in numerous IP litigations and conducted many IP/technology valuations. His emphasis includes the implications of invention and IP assets for individuals, public sector institutions, and private sector actors that comprise the innovation ecosystem. An inventor and a U.S. patentee, Professor Cahoon has founded or participated in the creation and launch of numerous startup companies. He spent 20 years as the director of Cornell’s IP management/technology transfer office and teaches these several subjects at Cornell as well as in numerous webinars and workshops for various institutions around the world.

Jay Bennett is a science writer based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Mr. Bennett previously worked as a science editor at National Geographic, Smithsonian, and Popular Mechanics.

Kathryn Hulick is a freelance science journalist and author of books for young people or anyone who is curious. Her new book, “The UFO Files” (Quarto, 2025), combines a sci-fi story with scientific explanations of the marvels found on board an alien spacecraft. Her previous two books, “Welcome to The Future” (Quarto, 2021) and “Strange but True” (Quarto, 2019), are both nonfiction for young readers. Ms. Hulick also writes news and features for Science News, Science News Explores, and Front Vision.

Ms. Hulick’s favorite part of writing about science is getting to speak with researchers in many different fields. She’s met roboticists, fusion energy experts, rocket scientists, inventors, and more. Ms. Hulick’s Substack is called Wow! Tech & Nature. She enjoys hiking with her family and dog, painting, reading, and growing unusual orchids.

Rebekah Oakes serves as the agency historian for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In this role, Ms. Oakes seeks to inspire innovation by telling the stories of past and present inventors, entrepreneurs, and trailblazers, as well as maintaining a robust repository of institutional history.

Prior to the USPTO, Ms. Oakes worked for the National Parks Service in the field of historic interpretation. She holds a B.A. in History from Gettysburg College and an M.A. in Public History and 19th-Century U.S. History from West Virginia University, and specializes in the long Civil War era.

Jan Björn Potthast (Ph.D., M.A.), born 1973, studied Modern and Ancient History and Theatre Studies at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the University of Edinburgh. His Ph.D. thesis dealt with Nazi “Gegnerforschung“ (enemy research) and memory politics, focusing on the SS project of a “Jewish Central Museum” in Prague.

Dr. Potthast worked for the Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism; as press spokesman for the Bavarian Administration of State-owned Palaces, Lakes, and Gardens; and as a journalist. Since 2016, Dr. Potthast has been an editor at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office, where he writes stories and articles on the history of inventions, trademarks, and designs, among other topics.