The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences invites NC State staff, faculty and students to attend the inaugural Open Faculty Pitch Session. The pitch session is part of a new initiative to help CALS faculty improve their pitch presentation skills when interacting with industry partners.

Five CALS faculty members will participate in the pitch session. They attended a closed session where they presented their industry pitches for critique by Jeffrey Pollack, the Lynn T. Clark II Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Poole College of Management. The faculty members are:

• Michael Joseph of the Prestage Department of Poultry Science
• Wusheng Liu of the Department of Horticultural Science
• Katherine McKee of the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences
• Marcela Rojas Pierce of the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology
• Minliang Yang of the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences

During the pitch session, each faculty member will present their final pitch presentation to a panel of former industry experts. The panelists will provide a critique of each presentation to help the faculty members improve their success rate for receiving funding from industry partners.

CALS Dean Garey Fox will award $500 to each of the five presenter’s programs. The presenters will also be on a list for future Emerging Research Showcases and industry site visits that CALS organizes to bring to campus partners looking to invest in CALS faculty research projects.

Come cheer on the five presenters who will participate in the pitch session, but please register if you plan to attend. If you have questions about the event, email ncstate-ncars@ncsu.edu.