Noel Joins the Illinois Coalition Technology Development Group

Chicago, IL – November 3, 2004 -- John Noel joins the Illinois Coalition as Vice President and will focus on managing the Coalition's contract with the Department of Defense's Office of Naval Research. John is the former Executive Director for the NASA Illinois Commercialization Center (NICC), a program developed by the Illinois Coalition and managed by Battelle.

John's responsibilities at the Coalition will include direct client assistance; specifically in helping these technology firms access federal technology development financing. He brings extensive experience in assisting companies access federal financing, such as grants through the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs, as well as Broad Agency Announcements and Advanced Technology Program grants.

While at NICC, John set the strategies and direction for building a portal for Illinois businesses into NASA and assisted NASA in their technology transfer endeavors. He also created an innovative awards program to assist small technology companies advance to the next level of development.

"Under John's leadership, NICC was able to create substantial economic impact for Illinois by identifying and gaining access to NASA technology for Illinois companies to increase their competitiveness," said Tom Thornton, President of the Illinois Coalition. "He is a tremendous asset to the Coalition and to our clients."

John graduated from University of Illinois at Chicago with a BS in Bioengineering. He received his MBA in Operations Management from Benedictine University.