Tobin McGregor is a technology management professional with 25 years of experience in the areas of technology development and transition. In 2014, McGregor established a consulting practice providing technology transition services primarily to the Department of Defense (DoD) SBIR community. McGregor also provides government and congressional affairs services to organizations seeking to educate members of Congress and the Executive Branch (e.g. OSTP) on the importance of federal investment in research and development as well as advocating public-private collaboration in general. Of particular interest to McGregor is the efficient transition and integration of innovative technologies and products into DoD systems and platforms as well as the transfer of federally developed technology to the private sector for commercial and/or dual-use applications.
McGregor spent ten years with Strategic Marketing Innovations (SMI), a government relations firm based in Washington, DC. beginning in 2004. McGregor became a partner and Vice President in 2006. During his time at SMI, he worked extensively within the defense and aerospace industries and across a broad spectrum of technical disciplines. McGregor managed a substantial client portfolio and generated over $100M in federal funding to support the development and deployment of advanced technologies. McGregor also established a formal technology scouting practice which included clients such as Boeing, Raytheon Integrated Defense and Raytheon Missile Systems.
In 1999, McGregor founded Avant Garde Corporation to provide services to small- and medium-sized companies and “start-ups” in the areas technology commercialization strategy development and execution, enterprise formation and business planning, as well as product development assistance. Prior to forming Avant Garde Corporation, McGregor served as Manager of Technology Transfer and Commercialization as a contractor to the National Institutes of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership program (MEP). At MEP he was responsible for the implementation and management of technology transfer and commercialization programs in several States. McGregor’s successful program with MEP was featured in Inc. Magazine in 2001.
In 1994, Mr. McGregor began his career at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) within the Office of Advanced Concepts and Technology and later completed assignments with the Missile Defense Agency’s SBIR program and the National Technology Transfer Center. During his years at NASA, McGregor was initially involved with the management of joint-NASA Industry/Academia collaborative materials research projects in the Space Shuttle’s mid-deck lockers and cargo bay, but later became heavily involved with NASA’s technology transfer program and related initiatives.
McGregor earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Maine in 1993 and completed an academic internship with NASA’s Office of Commercial Programs (1993), as well as an academic exchange (1989) to the Universtie’ du Man’s Institute Superieur des Materiaux et Mechanics Avances in Le Mans, France. Throughout his career McGregor has regularly sought to enhance and augment his professional skills through formal development programs including earning certificates in Lean Manufacturing from the Massachusetts Manufacturing Advancement Center and Technology and Product Strategy from MIT Sloan School of Management.