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TIA: Tennessee Inventors Association in Knoxville Tenn and Oak Ridge TN
Oak Ridge and Knoxville, TN  

Tennessee Inventors Association (TIA) Meeting Newsletters

The Tennessee Inventors Association sends a monthly newsletter to members and visitors. The newsletters contain notes on the previous meeting and information on other items of interest. Some newsletters include pdf copies of the handouts. To view these handouts, Adobe Acrobat or other pdf file reader/viewer program must me installed on your computer.

2012 Meetings

Month Meeting Description
July

July 2012 Tennessee Small Business Development Centers (TSBDC)

Tennessee Small Business Development Centers (TSBDC) The program for the July 21 TIA meeting included a presentation by Jutta Bangs from the Tennessee Small Business Centers office in Oak Ridge. She discussed some of the business aspects of inventing. Joe Martin gave an update on the planning of the upcoming Tennessee Inventor Expo scheduled for January 19, 2013.

June

June 2012 Inventor progress and TIE planning

The June 16 meeting of the TIA featured a presentation by Carl Papa about marketing his inventions. Carl has two inventions that aid golfers in improving their swing. The second half of the meeting was a discussion of the upcoming Tennessee Inventor Expo scheduled for early 2013.

May

May 2012 Mike Thompson and a TIE update

The May 19 meeting of the TIA features speaker Mike Thompson, a teacher, inventor, and author, and further discussion of the Tennessee Inventor Expo (TIE). The TIE committee has mapped out the TIE program, identified vendors and partners, and assigned responsibilities to several volunteers.

April

April 2011 Crowdsourcing and the TIE

The April 21 meeting of the TIA was a presentation by inventor Rusty Jay. Rusty updated the group on his invention and the changes he made when the TIA crowdsourced his invention and marketing ideas. The second half of the meeting was an open discussion of the Tennessee Inventor Expo (TIE).

March

March 2012 Neal Caldwell of Dalen Products

The March 17 meeting of the TIA featured Neal Caldwell, a local inventor and owner of Dalen Products, a company located in West Knoxville.

February

February 2012: Tradeshows

The February 18 meeting of the TIA featured information on the proposed Tennessee Inventor Expo (TIE) and on Tradeshows.

January

January 2012 Patent update

The January 21 meeting of the TIA featured local patent attorney Tom Kulaga. He spoke about the recent Patent Reform Act as it affects the patent process and inventors.

2011 Meetings

Month Meeting Description
December

December 2011 General Meeting

The December 17 meeting of the TIA is our annual general meeting. Held one week before Christmas, the meeting will provide a forum for members and others to present updates on their inventions. We will also have a roundtable discussion of future activities for the TIA.

November

November 2011 Elections and manufacturing at the Michael Dunn Center

The agenda for the November 20 TIA meeting included our annual elections. Our featured speakers were from the Michael Dunn Center. Mike McElhinney, the President and CEO of Michael Dunn, spoke about overall operations, and Melanie Harmon spoke about assembly, packaging, and the other things the Center does.

October

October 2011 Computer security

The October 15 meeting of the TIA featured Professor J. Douglas Birdwell of the UTK Electrical Engineering Department. The topic was Computer Security. Professor Birdwell is a Past-President of the Control Systems Society.

September

September 2011 Books, Bucks, and Databases: Business support at the Library

The September 17 meeting of the TIA featured Catherine Moirai, the Business Reference Services Manager at Knox County Public Library. Her presentation was Books, Bucks, and Databases: Business support at the Library. Ms. Moirai earned her Master of Library Science degree at Emory University and has served Knox County Public Library for over 20 years as a reference librarian and as coordinator of the Foundation Center Cooperating Collection.

August

August 2011 Innovation in our High Schools

The August meeting of the TIA featured Bob Gant, a science teacher at Morristown-Hamblen High School East. Bob discussed the Bioenergy Research Program at the high school. He also discussed how students are being motivated to innovate.