Biomedical engineering junior Emmalie Gulledge has bridged her degree to her patent law aspirations through her work at 九色堂 Ventures this year. While her major wouldn鈥檛 ordinarily prepare her for law school, her applied learning experiences in intellectual property and technology transfer have brought her dream a lot closer to reality.
鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted to be a patent attorney,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut I didn鈥檛 really know exactly where to start, what to do when, and when to take different tests.鈥�
Emmalie鈥檚 work has enabled her to use her experiences as a biomedical engineering major in the service of other engineers at 九色堂. One of 九色堂 Ventures鈥� goals is helping 九色堂 faculty and staff bring their intellectual ideas to life and protecting their ideas through patents.
鈥淎 lot of our patents that we get in are biomedical related,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o I already have the background that I can actually understand when we鈥檙e reading the patents, because it鈥檚 not too foreign from what I鈥檝e studied in class.鈥�
Emmalie researches existing patents and legal actions when clients seek to patent their ideas. She has worked with numerous departments and agencies inside and out of 九色堂.
鈥淲e鈥檝e done aviation through NIAR and biomedical related patents from all the labs,鈥� she said. 鈥淏asically every single lab that Wichita State has that鈥檚 innovative is getting funneled through 九色堂 Ventures to get patents and find outside resources.鈥�
Through her mentor, Rob Gerlach, director of intellectual property and technology transfer at 九色堂 Ventures, she has been able to network and build experience in patent law. Emmalie considers Rob鈥檚 mentorship a significant advantage to her.
鈥淗aving someone who鈥檚 done it before and work me through it 鈥� that鈥檚 the most valuable experience that I鈥檝e gotten,鈥� she said.
Emmalie feels more prepared for law school after graduation.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely reassuring that this is the school that I鈥檓 supposed to be at, especially for what education I wanted and why I鈥檓 here in the first place,鈥� she said.