Experiences with Tech Transfer from the Perspective of a Foot-Soldier in OAR

Dr. Reeves leads the transportation applications team at OU/CIMMS and NOAA/NSSL. Her team is responsible for developing impacts-based decision support tools in partnership with the FAA, state DOTs, and partners within the NWS. She and collaborators work jointly on the Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor system and the emerging FACETs program within the NWS. One of the most common attributes to the success stories they have encountered with their tech transfer activities is early and frequent interaction with end users. Involving end users in the research from the point of generating an idea all the way through to the final product insures not only that the product is desired, but also that it works elegantly with other products the forecasters use to detect and anticipate threats and can fit into the forecaster's workflow. One of the greatest challenges they encounter is the limited amount of funding for early-stage development of products.