John Mills is responsible for leading the SBIR Assistance Program, which promotes the Small Business Innovation Research program to Georgia companies and assists them in submitting quality proposals. He has worked for Georgia Tech for more than 20 years in various technology transfer positions. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, he held engineering and management positions in industry and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Enterprise Innovation Institute
Georgia Institute of Technology

Phone: (706) 569-3217
E-mail: john.mills@innovate.gatech.edu

Connie Ruffner is responsible for marketing/promoting Georgia’s SBIR Assistance Program and the federal SBIR program throughout the state. She also consults with companies, providing guidance the program appropriateness, topic identification, proposal preparation, and commercialization. Previously, she worked for NASA’s Southeast Regional Technology Transfer Center, TMP and Solvay Pharmaceuticals.

She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mary Washington and a master’s degree in library and information science from the University of South Carolina.

SBIR Assistance Program for the State of Georgia
75 5th Street, NW, Suite 205
Atlanta, GA 30308-0390

Phone: (404) 385-2600
Fax: (404) 894-4545
E-mail: connie.ruffner@innovate.gatech.edu

Julie Collins serves as the Biosciences Project Manager assisting biotech and life science firms applying for federal SBIR/STTR awards. In the past two years, she has assisted more than 50 companies with their SBIR/STTR submissions. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Collins was a graduate student in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Emory University, where she earned her Masters in Molecular Genetics and she has also worked in academic research at the VA Medical Center in Atlanta. She holds a B.S. in Biology from Georgia Tech with a certificate in bioengineering from Keeble College, Oxford University.

Enterprise Innovation Institute
Georgia Institute of Technology
75 5th Street, NW, Suite 100
Atlanta, GA 30308-0390

Phone: (404) 385-6646
Fax: (404) 894-4545
E-mail: Julie.Collins@innovate.gatech.edu