Administration

New hires will focus on industry-University research development

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Office of the Vice President for Research recently announced two hirings that bolster industry-University research development: Jeffrey B. Fortin as the associate vice president for research and director of industrial partnerships, and James L. Delattre as the assistant vice president for research and industrial partnerships. 

Fortin was appointed to his newly created position in October and will lead the office of research and industry partnerships. Responsible for developing and nurturing corporate relationships with potential and existing partners, Fortin’s goal will be to further advance industry sponsored research at Penn State.

Before coming to Penn State, Fortin spent 15 years at General Electric, beginning his career there as a research and development scientist in GE’s Global Research Center. Shortly thereafter, Fortin assumed a management role working closely with a variety of GE business units on technology and product development. He then moved into one of GE’s Oil and Gas business units as executive engineering director in charge of product development, leading large global engineering organizations in developing new technologies.

Fortin received his bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Southern Maine and an master of science degree in physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). He also holds a doctorate in engineering science from RPI. His technical expertise includes materials, thin films, microelectronics, microsystems, non-destructive testing, sensors and other related areas. Fortin holds more than 25 U.S. patents, has published multiple peer-reviewed journal articles and co-authored 2 books.  

Delattre’s responsibilities will be to further grow a burgeoning ecosystem aimed at expanding and enhancing corporate relationships, with a predominant focus on medium- to small-sized businesses and new startup companies capitalizing on Penn State Intellectual Property. This position is directly tied to Penn State’s renewed focus on technology transfer and economic development.

Prior to joining Penn State’s Office of the Vice President for Research, Delattre served as vice president of global marketing at NanoHorizons Inc., a nanomaterials manufacturing startup company spun out of Penn State. He joined the research team at NanoHorizons as product development manager in 2005 after working in the Low-k Dielectrics Group at Novellus Systems Inc. in Santa Clara, California. James received his bachelor of science degree with honors in chemistry from Penn State, where he studied inorganic, high-pressure chemistry and Russian language. He earned his doctorate in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, with a focus on processes for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from semiconductor manufacturing and the development of new synthetic techniques for the solid state, and completed postdoctoral work investigating the plasma treatment of polymers at the University of Bari, Italy. James has served as principal investigator on small business innovation research awards, authored several peer reviewed scientific articles and holds a number of patents.

For more information, contact Fortin, 304 Old Main, at 814-865-6042 or jbf17@psu.edu and Delattre, 304 Old Main, at 814-865-1751.

Last Updated December 1, 2014