Meet Mindy Ware, Advanced Certified Paralegal @ UNeMed

UNeMed is the tech transfer office for the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The organization helps faculty and researchers navigate commercialization hurdles and transform their work into products and ventures. 

Ware recently received national recognition for her work at UNeMed through the TechPipeline Impact Awards. 

What inspired you to become an entrepreneur or support other entrepreneurs?

I am inspired by seeing when an idea finally steps out of the lab and starts to become something real — something that can actually help people. My role puts me right in the middle of that transformation. I’m constantly working with our inventors, outside counsel and licensees to turn ideas into protected, transferable assets.

A lot of what I do — keeping filings on track, staying compliant, handling deadlines, helping with reporting — basically clears the runway so researchers and startups can focus on moving forward instead of getting tangled in the process. That behind-the-scenes support is what inspires me.

What advice would you give yourself if you could go back in time to when you were just starting out?

I’d tell myself: Give yourself grace, build strong systems from Day One and write everything down. I’d also remind myself to overcommunicate — being the central hub between inventors, counsel, licensing staff and funding partners keeps everyone aligned and reduces back-and-forth. 

And on top of that, I’d say: Learn federal compliance early. Compliance isn’t just a checkbox — it shapes how smoothly projects move and whether future funding stays on track.

How do you stay motivated when things feel overwhelming — or stagnant?

When things get busy and deadlines are piling up, I focus on progress: each cleared deadline, each assignment filed, each update logged in the database. Seeing tangible results helps keep me grounded.

When things slow down, I shift into improvement mode. I use that time to make improvements to processes, clean up reports, improve database tools or help educate inventors and interns. Having that built-in cycle — action when it’s busy, improvement when it’s not — keeps me moving no matter what the workload looks like.

What is the biggest challenge you’ve overcome and how did you overcome it?

One big challenge has been keeping all the moving pieces aligned — outside counsel deadlines, inventor signatures, federal reporting windows, maintenance-fee decisions, reimbursement workflows … it’s a lot to juggle.

I tackled it by building a more integrated system: centralized deadlines, automated reminders, standardized forms, clear responsibilities for each team and recurring portfolio reviews. On top of that, I tightened up invoice reviews and data-quality checks. All of that together helps keep things on track and defensible.

How can the Nebraska community support you?

Nebraska’s innovation community can help by:

• Looping us in early. The sooner we know about an invention, the better we can line up filing and prevent barring the invention from being patented.

• Keeping compliance info handy. Grant numbers, funding sources and documentation make federal reporting smoother and more accurate.

• Sharing updates. Things like usage, co-ownership and licensee changes help us keep the IP database current and useful.

• Supporting education. Partnering on IP workshops helps strengthen the whole ecosystem.

• Connecting us with industry. Introductions to potential licensees and collaborators make it easier for innovations to find the right home.