LL.M. Candidates Tour Tyson Discovery Center

This year's LL.M. class had the opportunity to tour Tyson Foods' state-of-the-art 100,000-square-foot Discovery Center on the campus of its world headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas.  This new facility, which opened in 2007 houses over one hundred of the company's research and development staff. In addition to offices and meeting areas, the Discovery Center has 19 kitchens, multiple product testing areas, and a 40,000-square-foot multi-protein, USDA-inspected pilot plant. To see a video of the Discovery Center go to the Tyson Videos website.

Some of the goals of the Discovery Center are to stimulate new product development and to decrease the time that it takes get new products on the market.

It was a very interesting tour conducted by University of Arkansas School of Law alumna, Christine Daugherty.  Christine is the Director of Intellectual Property & Technological Development at Tyson Foods.  Previously, she served as Senior Counsel in Tyson's legal department, and before that as a Patent Attorney with Wright, Lindsey & Jennings, LLP.  Christine's office is located in the Discovery Center, close to the R&D professionals that she advises.  Her insight into the design of the Discovery Center as a research and development hub and her explanation of the ongoing activities at the Center were fascinating.

Appreciation is extended to Christine and to Tyson Foods for our tour.