Carol Stewart: Being new to Tucson and bringing my experiences and lessons learned from building a mature innovation ecosystem in Canada, I landed in Tucson at the U of A, because of the potential. All the ingredients are here for a vibrant startup environment and having a sophisticated and prolific TTLO is a key ingredient to that success. I am truly honored to receive this recognition from my RRI colleagues and friends at TLA.

The UA Center for Innovation, a key component of Tech Parks, is excited to have TLA as a neighbor in the refinery building at the UA Tech Park at the Bridges. Our goal is to expand the innovation continuum in Southern Arizona and having our TLA colleagues in a contiguous space of licensing managers, researchers, new ventures, and scaling startups, all in one location is ideal. Strong research with strong tech transfer leads to a robust university-based economic development cycle, that impacts the region for decades. UA Tech Park and the UA Center for Innovation have a deep relationship with the entire team at TLA and consider them more than just colleagues. They are all rock stars, and I am not just referring to Rakhi Gibbons. Thank you again for this amazing recognition.