Ilya Kats joined Argonne in 2021. In his role, he oversees the teams and functions of commercialization of Argonne’s Intellectual Property, business development with industry and university partners, the sponsored research office, new program and funding opportunities, and strategic planning and initiatives.

Before joining Argonne, Ilya worked as Director of Intellectual Property and Licensing for 7 years at ASM International, a global semiconductor equipment company. In that role, he was responsible for negotiating joint development, partnership, and licensing engagements with worldwide industry and academia partners, leading patent licensing negotiations, growing corporate royalty revenue, and managing ASM’s Global Licensing Group.

Prior to joining ASM, Ilya was a Senior Program Manager for Intellectual Property Licensing Group at Freescale Semiconductor for 10 years. He has also worked for Motorola, Inc. as an engineer and technical lead in Motorola’s flagship Product and Failure Analysis laboratory.

Ilya has received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.  He is a Certified Licensing Professional, an active member of the Licensing Executives Society, and a Certified Project Management Professional.