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Ali Andalibi

(Program Director, SBIR/STTR, National Science Foundation – NSF)

Dr. Ali Andalibi is a molecular biologist and geneticist by training with extensive experience in both academia and industry. He received his PhD from the UCLA department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and later joined the faculty in the UCLA department of Medicine. After leaving UCLA he was involved in several early stage biotechnology companies. He then joined the House Ear Institute (HEI), where he served as the Director of New Technology and Project Development and was also an adjunct Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology, at the University of Southern California, School of Medicine. Dr. Andalibi then joined the National Science Foundation as a Program Director in the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships, where he oversaw the NSF’s medical biotechnology SBIR/STTR grant portfolio. Dr. Andalibi is currently a Program Director in the National Cancer Institute’s SBIR Development Center.

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Patricia Ansems

(Scientist, The Dow Chemical Company)

Patricia Ansems is a Research Scientist in the Ventures & Business Development organization at The Dow Chemical Company. Her responsibilities include the identification of new science and technology opportunities that are consistent with Dow's strategic interests, and developing Dow businesses around new, emerging technologies. She has 17 years of industrial experience in corporate and business research functions, and has developed and commercialized several new materials at Dow. Patricia Ansems graduated from The Technical University of Eindhoven, The Netherlands with a Masters in Polymer Chemistry and Technology in 1991. She is a member of the Society of Plastics Engineers and has published 25 articles in refereed journals and 35 patents.

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Errol Arkilic

(National Science Foundation-NSF)

Errol Arkilic joined The National Science Foundation in October ’03. He is one of ten program managers in the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program at NSF. He leads the Software and Services as well as Security Technologies efforts. Before joining NSF, he was President and CEO of StrataGent Life Sciences – a venture-backed startup in the San Francisco Bay area. Prior to StrataGent, Errol was Manager of Product Engineering at Redwood Microsystems, also in the Bay area. He holds a Ph.D. from MIT.

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Daniel Behr

(Director Business Development, Harvard)

Daniel Behr co-founded 4 technology companies, was a general partner in a seed-stage venture fund, and serves as director/advisor to several start-ups. He is currently a “venture catalyst” at Harvard University where he is Director of Business Development in the Office of Technology Development. Daniel was co-founder of IN USA which became a $10M world leader in ozone instrumentation; Compact Instruments, which developed the world’s first hand-held mass spectrometer and was acquired by MKS Instruments (NASDAQ:MKSI) in 2000; Arradiance, which is developing an electron-beam source for use in semiconductor lithography (funded by top-tier VC funds in November 2004); and Growth Point Life Sciences, a firm focused on accelerating the commercialization of intellectual property assets. His seed-stage angel fund, Seed Partners, was founded in 1999 and is fully invested in a portfolio of start-up companies. Daniel is a Director of Nutfield Technology (industrial lasers) and an advisor to companies commercializing new medical devices, instruments, nano technologies, and software products. Daniel earned an MBA with Distinction from the Harvard Business School and an engineering degree with Highest Honors from Georgia Tech, and is fluent in Spanish and German.

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Drew Bewick

(Oxantium Ventures)

Drew Bewick brings nearly 20 years of experience involving the most challenging of international security and other critical issues where science, technology, and international affairs intersect. He served in the federal government as a Defense Department official working with venture capitalists, corporations, start-ups, universities, and other government agencies in funding early stage technology development while also leading the development of an interoperable global operations network. Drew has served as chairman of a number of technology boards and councils in government, and in 2007 was recognized by the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government as a leader who demonstrated collaborations which cross the boundaries of organizations and sectors in developing linkages to the private sector and evaluating their worth for public purposes. At Oxantium Ventures, LLC he is responsible for the daily operations of the company, including its investment operations with $100 million under management focused on companies and technologies at seed, early and growth stage. Before joining Oxantium Ventures, Drew served in such roles as Chair of the Defense Department’s Technology Tradecraft Board, Deputy Chief Acquisition Executive at the Defense Intelligence Agency, Contract Executive for the Iraq Survey Group, and Chair of an Integrated Product Team for the Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) – a next-generation family-of-systems that provide multi-information processing and exploitation to the Joint Task Force-level and below in support of U.S. and Combined military operations. He is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies in Washington, DC and a director on the board of iMove, Inc., the leading developer of immersive visual solutions for mission-critical security and surveillance applications. Professional certifications held include Registered Investment Adviser, Commonwealth of Virginia and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; and Information Strategies, Information Resources Management College of the National Defense University. Drew enjoys music and sports. He founded a cycling club in Northern Virginia and is a member of the Alexandria Sportsman Club. He is a graduate of the American University, the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, and the University of Maryland, where he co-founded the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs.

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Jack Biddle

(Co-founder, Novak Biddle Venture Partners)

Jack co-founded Novak Biddle Venture Partners in 1996. Prior to co-founding NBVP in 1996, Jack was President and CEO of InterCAP, a venture-backed computer software company. InterCAP was number 18 on the "Fast 50" list of the mid-Atlantic's fastest growing companies and was acquired by Intergraph in 1995. From 1987 to 1990, Jack rose from Senior Associate to Partner at Vanguard Atlantic, Ltd., a merchant banking group focused on M&A advisory work and control investments in software companies. At VAL, he served as turnaround CEO of a system software company and then as COO of an application software company. Earlier in his career he was an IT Industry Generalist, focused on Telecommunications Technology, at the Gartner Group, where he was also Executive Assistant to the CEO, Gideon Gartner. He began his career in 1983 in Austin, Texas at Business Development Partners, an early stage venture capital partnership. Jack holds a BA in Economics from the University of Virginia. Jack currently serves on the Boards of Vision Chain (Chairman), CorasWorks (Chairman), Triumfant, eMinor, Digital Sports, ObjectVideo, Ztar Mobile, Starfish Retention Solutions and Appian Corporation. Past Board or Observer seats include SafeView, Inc. (acquired by L3 Communications), Matrics (acquired by Symbol Technologies), Giga Information Group (Nasdaq: GIGX) (Lead Director), acquired by Forrester), Telogy Networks, (acquired by Texas Instruments), Tantivy (acquired by Interdigital), AnswerLogic (acquired by Primus Knowledge Systems), and Blackboard, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBBB). He is a Director of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a member of Business Executives for National Security (BENS), and advises the U.S. Department of Defense on technology and innovation. He is on the Investment Committee of the University of Maryland's New Markets Growth Fund, an SBA leveraged fund targeting development oriented private equity investments in disadvantaged areas. He is a frequent speaker on entrepreneurship for the U.S. Department of Commerce, and has made presentations for them in Russia, China and Japan. Jack is a Vice Chairman on the Board of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra serving on their Finance and Executive Committees, and is a Trustee, serving as Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair, of the Sibley Memorial Hospital Foundation.

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Laurent Bochereau

(Head of Science, Technology and Education, Delegation of the European Commission)

Laurent Bochereau is responsible for the "science, technology and education" section at the Delegation of the European Commission in Washington DC. He gained a Laureate from the Ecole Polytechnique and ENGREF in Paris, a Master's degree from the University of California and a PhD from the University of Paris VI. After spending several years working as a research project leader at CEMAGREF, he served two years in the French Ministry for Research. He joined the European Commission in 1995 where he worked several years as assistant to the Director for Life Sciences and then as Head of Unit with responsibilities for agriculture, forestry, agro-industry and food safety research.

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Tara Branstad

(Director, Enterprise Creation, Carnegie Mellon University)

Tara has 10 years experience commercializing technology, advising start-ups, and executing market research and strategy. Tara began her career as an associate in the Office of Technology Management at the University of Pittsburgh, where she spent four years commercializing medical and biotechnology research. She then took a position with Innovation Works, a Pittsburgh based seed stage funding group, where she selected, assisted and advised portfolio companies. Before joining Carnegie Mellon, she worked for four years as an independent consultant. Tara graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in Biology. She continued her education at the University of Pittsburgh, earning both an MHA in Health Policy and Administration from the Graduate School of Public Health and an MBA in Marketing from the Katz Graduate School of Business. Tara joined the Center for Technology Transfer and Enterprise Creation at Carnegie Mellon University in October 2005. In September 2007, she became the Director of Enterprise Creation. In this position, Tara manages the University’s Gap Fund Program and works with the approximately ten start-up companies per year that spin out of Carnegie Mellon. These companies cross of variety of disciplines including IT and telecommunications, robotics, life sciences, advanced materials, and business services. Tara also continues to work on more traditional commercialization deals, specifically with technologies in the life sciences.

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Scott Button

(Venture Investors)

Scott is a Managing Director for Venture Investors and heads the firm’s Information Technology practice. He focuses on investments in engineering and physical sciences, software, energy technology and medical devices and has over twelve years of venture capital experience and six years of operating experience. As a member of the firm, he created the Venture Igniter program, an entrepreneur-in-residence program designed to create technology start-ups out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Scott serves on the Board of Directors for Soft Switching Technologies, NeuWave Medical and Silatronix and is an observer for Virent Energy Systems, Pattern Insight and Alfalight. He previously served on the board of directors for Virent Energy Systems and as an observer for Intersymbol Technologies (acquired by FNSR), NewMonics (acquired by Aonix), and Corona Optical Systems (acquired by EMKR). Before entering the venture capital industry, Scott worked for McDonald's Corporation as an operations manager and for Rockwell Automation as a field sales engineer in the automotive industry. Scott serves on the advisory boards for the Madison Development Corporation and the UW-Madison Advanced Materials Industrial Consortium and has worked for the National Science Foundation as a SBIR panelist. He is an occasional guest lecturer for the UW-Madison Engineering and Business Schools and is a frequent judge for the school's Technology Business Plan Competition and Schoofs Prize for Engineering Creativity. He is a graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (BS–Mechanical Engineering), The University of Chicago (MBA) and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

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Dean Chang

(Director, Technology Ventures, University of Maryland)

As Mtech’s Ventures/TAP Director, Dean Chang oversees all the MTECH Ventures programs including the TAP venture incubator, VentureAccelerator, the University of Maryland Technology Start-Up Boot Camp, the University of Maryland $50K Business Plan Competition, the Hinman CEOs Program, and other educational entrepreneurship offerings at the University. Dean teaches a technology entrepreneurship course in the A. James Clark School of Engineering, and he is co-academic director of the University of Maryland Executive Education open enrollment program. Dean previously held the dual roles of Chief Technology Officer and Vice President, Gaming Business at Immersion Corporation, a company he helped guide over ten years from a four-person, venture-backed, Silicon Valley startup to a $200M publicly traded technology leader (NASDAQ: IMMR). As general manager, Dean was responsible for strategic direction, sales & marketing, and operations of licensing Immersion’s vast patent portfolio to the video game industry. Dean has written freelance articles in Computer magazine, BusinessWeek Online, and GameDAILY BIZ and has been a speaker at executive, leadership, and press technology forums. He holds 30 U.S. and international patents in the field of haptics. Dean received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from MIT and an M.S. and Ph.D in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. He also holds an MBA with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

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Catherine Cotell

(Vice President, Applications Software & Analytics Practice, In-Q-Tel)

Dr. Catherine M. Cotell is Vice President of the Applications Software & Analytics Practice at In-Q-Tel, an independent, not-for-profit, strategic investment firm, chartered by the US Government, that works to identify, adapt, and deliver innovative technology solutions to support the mission of the United States Intelligence Community. Her portfolio at In-Q-Tel covers knowledge management, search and discovery, machine translation, data visualization, digital media, gaming, simulation and virtual worlds, as well as collaboration and geospatial tools. Prior to taking over In-Q-Tel’s Applications Software practice, Dr. Cotell was In-Q-Tel’s VP for University and Early Stage Investment and focused on emerging technologies at universities and federal laboratories. Dr. Cotell joined In-Q-Tel in mid-2003, after thirteen years with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). As head of Technology Transfer at NRL from 1999-2003, she evaluated, managed and marketed NRL’s intellectual property portfolio, negotiated Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) and patent license agreements, and facilitated collaborations and interactions between NRL researchers and the commercial sector. Dr. Cotell’s own research in surface modification and thin film coatings for electronic, optical and biomedical applications has received international acclaim and she holds seminal patents in the field of laser deposition of biocompatible coatings for medical implants. Dr. Cotell started her career as a member of technical staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories. She holds PhD and SM degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in metallurgy and materials science and engineering, respectively, and a B.A in chemistry and mathematics from Wellesley College.

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Paul Cummings

(Principal, Honda Strategic Venturing)

Paul Cummings is a Principal of Honda Strategic Venturing (HSV), the corporate venture capital arm of Honda Motor Corporation based in Mountain View, California. HSV seeks investment opportunities in technology venture companies to establish the strategic foundation for collaborative partnership both to excel Honda’s innovative R&D and to help technology venture companies succeed in Honda’s product markets. Prior to joining Honda, Paul held various management positions with automotive tier 1 supplier Delphi; including, positions in mergers and acquisitions, business development and operations for a Japanese partnered joint venture. Paul also worked for Accenture in the Sydney, Australia office with the Strategy Consulting Practice. Paul holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, and BA from Michigan State University.

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W. Rockwell Daehler, Jr (Rocky)

(Investment Manager, Motorola Ventures)

Rocky Daehler is an Investment Manager of Motorola Ventures, based in Schaumburg, IL. Rocky’s role includes identifying, executing and managing strategic investments in startup companies. Target startup companies will accelerate Motorola’s access to core and enabling technology, applications and solutions that bring Motorola’s seamless mobility vision to life. Rocky has managed investments in Bitfone, Bluefire Security, Airplay Networks, Dexterra, SkyBitz, Tekion and VidSys among others. Prior to Motorola Ventures, Rocky spent 5 years in various strategic and product marketing roles within Motorola. Most recently, he led Motorola’s Mobile Devices product marketing efforts to a Top 5 CDMA wireless operator. During assignments in the corporate and Mobile Devices strategy offices, he led a variety of merger, acquisition, and partnership efforts as well as strategy formulation exercises. Prior to Motorola, Rocky worked at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) and Booz, Allen & Hamilton. There, Rocky participated in and led a number of strategy, business process re-engineering, engineering efficiency, and manufacturing productivity assignments with Fortune 500 companies. In 1986, Rocky graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering. He also earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in 1993, graduating with honors.

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Sébastien Dagault

(French Embassy)

Sébastien Dagault joined the Office for Science and Technology of the French Embassy in Boston in November 2006. He manages the Young Entrepreneurs Initiative (YEI), a platform for entrepreneurship dedicated to transatlantic technology ventures. Prior to joining the French Embassy in Boston, Sébastien worked as a Project Manager for Provence Promotion, Provence’s regional economic development agency. Responsible for the Home Sweet Home project, Sébastien worked to bring French expatriates in the US, Canada and the UK back to France to invest and to start high tech ventures. Home Sweet Home was awarded Best Economic Development Initiative 2005 by the French economic press. From 1997 to 2002, Sébastien worked for GemAlto (formerly Gemplus) He developed GemAlto’s business in Brazil and Latin America, promoting RFID applications for transportation and access control. Moving to Marseille, France, he worked as a sales engineer for chip-based secure mobile applications in the Telecom market. Sébastien has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Aix-Marseille 2, and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the Toulouse Business and Management School.

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Allen Dines

(Assistant Director, UW-Madison Office of Corporate Relations)

Mr. Dines is Assistant Director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Office of Corporate Relations (OCR). Operating within the Office of the Chancellor, the Corporate Relations office assists the business community in accessing the diverse resources of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison). As Assistant Director, he serves as Program Manager for OCR’s entrepreneurship programs including its Startup Initiative and the UW-Madison Kauffman Campus-wide Entrepreneurship program. Mr. Dines joined the UW-Madison in 2001 bringing with him more than 25 years of experience in industry and technology management. He founded, grew and sold two biotech startups and in his initial position at the university he served as Assistant Director for Business Development, within the Graduate School where his major focus was commercialization of university technology through startup business development. In 2002, Mr. Dines co-founded the Midwest Research University Network (MRUN), an alliance of Midwest research institutions dedicated to regional cooperation in the commercialization of university research through new business creation.

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Nikos Doukas

(Attaché for Economic and Commercial Affairs, Embassy of Greece)

Nikos Doukas is Attache for Economic and Commercial Affairs at the Embassy of Greece in Washington, D.C. since August 2006. Before coming to Washington, D.C., he was at the Hellenic Ministry for Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Athens, working on issues regarding the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). While there, he contributed, inter alia, to the preparation of the 2009 Greek Chairmanship of the OSCE. He is a graduate of the Hellenic National School of Public Administration (2004). He holds a degree from the Physics Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2001). As an exchange student (ERASMUS-Program) at the Institute for Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Berlin he delivered his dissertation on the “Optimization of a centrifugal pump powered by solar energy”. Before joining the Hellenic MFA, he held various positions in Sales & Marketing divisions of companies in the private sector.

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Victor Echevarria

(Vice President, Benchmark Capital)

In his role as vice president, Victor Echevarria is responsible for evaluating and recommending investment opportunities for the firm in the semiconductor and data networking markets. Prior to joining Benchmark, he served as a consultant to consumer electronics chip provider GTronix, Inc., working closely with management to develop new product plans, corporate strategy reports, funding models, and marketing activities. Previously he served as product marketing manager in the Platform Solutions Group at Rambus Inc., managing the XDR and RDRAM memory product lines used in millions of consumer, computing and networking products. In that role, he directed a global design team, helped facilitate product requirements, and developed marketing and customer support programs for several industry-leading technology partners. During his tenure, he also served as executive director of the Rambus Foundation, growing its annual philanthropic funding by 50 percent over two years. For more than 10 years, Mr. Echevarria has also played an active role in managing a family-owned timber company in Spain. Education: Master in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from University of California, Berkeley. Completed a six-month foreign studies program at the Universidad Complutense De Madrid in Spain.

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Tarig Eltayeb

(Saudian Arabian Cultural Mission)

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Jeff Fagnan

(Partner, Atlas Venture)

Jeff Fagnan is a Partner in the technology group, and focuses on emerging companies in enterprise and internet infrastructure as well as alternative energy technologies / advanced material science. Jeff also works closely with MIT, Harvard University, Boston University and other innovation engines, to commercialize technologies developed in technical labs. Before joining Atlas Venture, Jeff was a Partner with Seed Capital Partners. While at Seed Capital, Jeff was the lead and founding investor in DataPower Technologies, Way Systems, and Polychromix. Before venture, Jeff worked for Booz Allen & Hamilton and Nortel Networks. He also started a coffee business in Rochester, New York. Since joining Atlas Venture, Jeff led the investment in DataPower Technologies which was acquired by IBM in 2005. He was the founding investor, and currently sits on the boards, of Atlas portfolio companies AEB, Bit9, Songbird and Veracode. He also led the firm’s investments in Keas and Mascoma. Jeff received his M.B.A. from the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester and a B.S. from the University of Alaska.

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Clare Fairfield

(Founding General Partner, Concerto Venture Partners)

Clare Fairfield is a Managing Director of Concerto Advisors, Inc. Mr. Fairfield has over 20 years of entrepreneurial management and business development experience, including founding and managing businesses, venture capital investing, entrepreneurial education and providing legal advice to start-up and existing companies. Mr. Fairfield is a founding General Partner and a Managing Director of Concerto Venture Partners, a diversified, early-stage focused venture firm; and, a General Partner and past Managing Director of AAVIN Venture Capital, a sector and stage diversified venture capital/private equity fund. Within these firms Mr. Fairfield's responsibilities included and include: fund raising; sourcing deal flow; negotiating the acquisition, financing and disposition of portfolio investments; sitting on the boards of individual portfolio companies and overseeing their growth; managing staffing needs and making compensation decisions; and making portfolio investment determinations as an investment committee member. From 1996 through 1998, Mr. Fairfield served as Associate Director of the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center at the University of Iowa. Since 1998, the Iowa Program has been ranked as one of the top 35 entrepreneurial programs in the country. During Mr. Fairfield's tenure, the Iowa program became the first program in the nation to offer an Engineering Certificate in Entrepreneurship. From 1989 through 1993 Mr. Fairfield practiced business and tax law while overseeing the operation of the tax department of Davis & Kuelthau, S.C., a full-service private law firm headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From 1986 through 1989 Mr. Fairfield was associated with the law firm of Stanley, Lande & Hunter, P.C, where he provided services to clients ranging from start-up ventures to Fortune 500 companies. Since 1983, Mr. Fairfield has been involved as an entrepreneur and/or as an investor with the start-up, acquisition and/or development of companies in the communications, information technology, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, medical device, software, construction and real estate industries. Mr. Fairfield serves as Chairman of the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies (NASBIC) Education Committee and Chairs the Venture Capital Institute. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Governors of NASBIC and is a past member of the Executive Committee of NASBIC. Clare has frequently served as a judge and as chairman of the selection panel for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award Program. He serves as a member of the Venture Capital Commercialization Review Panel for the National Science Foundation and was a charter member of the MidAmerica Healthcare Investor Network. Mr. Fairfield is Co-Chairman of the MIT Enterprise Forum Committee on Entrepreneurial Ecosystems. He is a member of the National Venture Capital Association, NASBIC, the Regional Association of Small Business Investment Companies, and the Wisconsin Bar Association. Mr. Fairfield is a frequent speaker on the topics of innovation, venture capital and entrepreneurial activities. Mr. Fairfield received a BBA in Accounting, JD, and MBA from the University of Iowa. While at the University of Iowa, he was designated a Tippie Scholar, a School of Accounting Faculty Scholar, a University of Iowa Undergraduate Scholar, a College of Law Scholar and was a College of Business Rhodes Scholarship Nominee. In 1997, he was named a Price-Babson Fellow in Entrepreneurship at Babson College in Boston.

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Steve Ferguson

(Director, National Institutes of Health)

Steven M. Ferguson currently serves as a Deputy Director and senior licensing professional for the NIH Office of Technology Transfer, the patent & licensing office for technologies arising from the NIH and FDA research programs. Prior to rejoining NIH in 1990, Mr. Ferguson served in marketing and management positions in such biomedical firms as Pharmacia Fine Chemicals and LKB Instruments subsequent to being a scientist at the National Cancer Institute. His healthcare experience has also included work as Director of Marketing and Public Relations for a rural 70-bed hospital. A registered Patent Agent, Mr. Ferguson holds Master's Degrees in Business Administration (George Washington University) and Chemistry (University of Cincinnati) as well as Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry (Case Western Reserve University). Mr. Ferguson is a project reviewer for Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS) as well as the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) and is the licensing instructor for both the USDA Graduate School and two NIH FAES courses on Technology Transfer and Biomedical Business Development, where he also serves as Department Chair. He is the co-author of Starting & Operating A Business in the District of Columbia and Starting & Operating A Business in West Virginia, both published by Oasis Press. Mr. Ferguson was also the Susan T. and Charles E. Harris Visiting Lecturer at the Watson School of Biological Sciences at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and has published articles on licensing and technology transfer issues in such publications as Journal of Biolaw and Business, Journal of Pharmaceutical Development & Regulation, Drug Discovery Today, Personalized Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, AUTM Journal, Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, and Current Drug Discovery Technology. He has received the AUTM President’s Award, the NIH Director’s Award and eight NIH Merit Awards in recognition of his service and activities in the management and negotiation of technology licensing agreements from the National Institutes of Health.

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Brian Ferrar

(First Secretary, Science & Innovation, British Embassy)

Brian Ferrar is First Secretary, Science & Innovation, at the British Embassy, Washington DC. Brian spent most of his early career in the UK Department of Energy. He joined the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in 1992 and was part of the team responsible for the privatisation of AEA Technology plc. From 1996 to 1999 he was Assistant Director of the Foresight Programme in the Office of Science and Technology responsible for Health and Life Sciences, Materials, Chemicals and Manufacturing. He then became Head of the DTI’s International Technology Service where he was responsible for helping small companies access technology for overseas. He was also Chairman of the UK-Russia High Technology Working Group and responsible for the establishment of the UK-Israel BRITECH Foundation - a joint initiative of the UK and Israeli governments dedicated to supporting collaborative partnerships between high-technology companies. In 2000 Brian joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and was appointed as First Secretary S&T at the British Embassy in Tokyo where, among other things, he was responsible creating the Innovation UK campaign. He moved to be First Secretary S&T in Singapore in January 2004 where he was responsible for the UK-Singapore Partners in Science initiative which promoted scientific networks and collaboration and helped build scientific capacity in SE Asian countries. He was appointed First Secretary, Science and Innovation, in Washington in August 2007, co-ordinating the activities of 15 full time science and innovation officers in seven posts around the US to promote UK-US collaboration.

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Juan Figueroa

(Senior SBIR Electronics, Components and Engineering Systems Program Manager, Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships, National Science Foundation-NSF)

Dr. Figueroa joined the National Science Foundation in July 2002 as a Program Manager in the Small Business Innovation Research Program after spending over twenty years in R&D management positions in the electronics and communications industries. His last position before joining NSF was Product Development Consultant for Material Sensing and Instrumentation, Inc. (MSI), an SBIR participant company. Prior to MSI Dr. Figueroa was Director of Strategic Development and Project Management for the Home Communications Division of Ericsson, a multinational telecommunications and consumer electronics company. His first appointment after graduate school was with Bell Laboratories as a Member of the Technical Staff in Murray Hill, New Jersey and Allentown, Pennsylvania working in the development of microprocessor, CMOS and networking technologies. After 13 years with Bell Labs Dr. Figueroa led the operations of a high-speed networking equipment design startup company. Dr. Figueroa received his Ph.D. in Physics from the State University of New York at Binghamton. A native of Puerto Rico, Dr. Figueroa received his B.S in Physics from the University of Puerto Rico.

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Stephen Fleming

(Chief Commercialization Officer, Georgia Tech)

Stephen Fleming has 13 years of private equity experience at the General Partner level. Prior to his venture capital career, he spent 15 years in operations roles at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Nortel Networks, and LICOM (a venture-funded startup). An Atlanta native and summa cum laude graduate of Georgia Tech, Stephen returned to his alma mater in mid-2005 as Chief Commercialization Officer. His appointment led a reorganization designed to streamline the handling of intellectual property, accelerate the licensing of technology, and make the Institute’s resources more readily accessible to business and industry. In addition to his role at Georgia Tech, he is also a member of the Investment Committee of the Seraph Group, an early-stage venture capital firm. Stephen is active in the "alternative space" industry; he is an investor in three private aerospace companies and is a founding member of the Space Angels Network. Mr. Fleming also serves on the Boards of Trustees for the Spiritual Living Center of Atlanta and for Tech High School, a charter high school emphasizing science, math, and technology in urban Atlanta.

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Mark Frantz

( RedShift Ventures )

Mark is focused on software and media investments for RedShift Ventures and currently serves on the Board of Directors at portfolio companies Intelliworks, Telarix and TerraGo. Mr. Frantz also serves on the Board of Directors at ODIN Technologies, the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC), the Commonwealth of Virginia's Research & Technology Advisory Council (VRTAC) and the Business Alliance of George Mason University. Mark has also been a personal investor/advisor to New Media Strategies (acq. by Meredith Corp., NYSE - “MDP”), Sourcefire (Nasdaq – “FIRE”) and Luna Innovations (Nasdaq - "LUNA"). Mr. Frantz was previously the Managing General Partner of In-Q-Tel, the strategic venture capital affiliate of the U.S. Intelligence Community. Prior to that, Mark was with Carlyle Venture Partners, where he worked with Blackboard (Nasdaq - "BBBB"), Imagitas (acq. by Pitney Bowes, NYSE -"PBI") and ISR Solutions (acq. by Stanley Works, NYSE - "SWK"). Mark has also worked for Redleaf Ventures, investment bank Alex. Brown, in The White House for President George H. W. Bush and for Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge. Mr. Frantz holds J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.A. degree from Allegheny College.

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John Fraser

(Past President, AUTM; Assistant Vice President for Research and Economic Development, and Executive Director of the Office of IP Development & Commercialization, Florida State University)

Mr. Fraser is currently Assistant Vice President for Research and Economic Development, and Executive Director of the Office of IP Development & Commercialization, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida (1996-present). Prior to that he served as Director, University/Industry Liaison Office at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada. Mr. Fraser brings substantial corporate and university experience to the FSU position. He has held positions as Executive Vice President and co-founder of UTC, Inc., a venture capital backed, North Carolina-based university licensing/technology transfer firm; President and CEO of UTI, a University of Calgary based for-profit technology transfer company; Vice President of TDC, Inc., a Toronto and Vancouver-based venture capital firm and President, Burnside Development, a technology commercialization consulting firm. He has co-founded three companies and assisted entrepreneurs launch another twelve technology based firms. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the technology transfer association AUTM, and served as its 2006 President. He is a Founding Board Director of the Tallahassee region technology association, the TalTech Alliance and its Executive Committee; is a Founding member of Board of the Florida Research Consortium and its Executive Committee, appointed by the Governor to increase university/company interactions to better the Florida economy; is a Member of the Board of BioFlorida, the statewide bio/life sciences trade association. Mr. Fraser holds a Masters Degree in Biochemistry from the University of California – Berkeley.

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Jo Anne Goodnight

( Acting Director, Division of Special Programs, Office of Extramural Programs, National Institutes of Health - NIH )

Ms. Goodnight currently holds the position as the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program Coordinator of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Public Health Service. She is also serving as the Acting Director for the Division of Special Programs in the Office of Extramural Research (OER). Prior to joining OER in 1999, she served in positions encompassing research, program administration and program management. During her 25 years of Government service she has held positions in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration, and now the NIH. As part of her Virginia Tech education (1978-1983), she spent four years conducting research as a Cooperative Education student at the USDA’s Animal Parasitology Institute. While at NIH, she has been a part of the Intramural Research Program and the Extramural Research Program. As an intramural research scientist (1989–1994) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), she published over 20 studies about the selective involvement of Protein Kinase C in differentiation and neoplastic transformation. In 1994, she transitioned to the NCI Extramural Research Program where she served as Special Assistant to the Director, Division of Cancer Biology and Program Director for SBIR/STTR grants that supported studies in the field of cancer biology, cancer genetics, and cancer immunology. In addition, she served as the NCI’s SBIR/STTR Program Policy Coordinator. She was appointed as the NIH/DHHS SBIR/STTR Program Coordinator in 1999 where she continues today. She was intimately involved in the development and implementation of the NIH SBIR/STTR Fast-Track Program and the SBIR/STTR Phase II Competing Renewal Award. She continues to develop other programs that assist the small business community in commercialization of their technologies. Ms. Goodnight has been an invited speaker at hundreds of SBIR/STTR Conferences. She also has provided written and oral testimony at Congressional hearings related to the reauthorization of the SBIR and STTR Programs. Her contributions to the SBIR/STTR programs and passion for helping small businesses to be successful in these programs have been acknowledged through several national awards including NIH Director’s Awards, NIH Merit Awards, and the Small Business Administration Tibbetts Award. Ms. Goodnight received a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from Virginia Tech in 1983.

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Julie Goonewardene

(Director of Business Development, Purdue Research Foundation)

Julie Goonewardene is an experienced entrepreneur who is currently leading Purdue University's new venture formation effort. She holds a joint appointment with Purdue's Discovery Park and the Purdue Research Foundation targeting University generated innovations in nano-technology, life sciences, and energy. Prior to joining Purdue she co-founded and served as the President and CEO of Cantilever Technologies, a venture backed software company which she sold in 2004 to i360. Cantilever’s customers included Fortune 500 companies such as Cummins, Brunswick and Lockheed Martin. Prior to Cantilever Julie was President of SSG, a boutique-consulting firm and cofounder of Technology Solutions (TSC). TSC went IPO three years after inception. She is the co-author of “The Right Decision for the Right Reason” and a guest lecturer at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. Ms. Goonewardene is a member of The Economic Club of Chicago, The Chicago Finance Exchange, and the Advisory Board - Purdue Convocations. She is also a Trustee of Springboard Enterprises, a national nonprofit venture catalyst.

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Fizie Haleem

(Manager, Montgomery County (Maryland) Department of Economic Development)

Fizie Haleem is the Manager, Strategic Development, for Women and Minority Businesses at the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development (DED). For more than 20 years, she has served DED in numerous capacities including: Business Development, Marketing and Outreach, Strategic Planning, Public/Private Partnership Development, Direct Farm Marketing, and most recently in the Division of Business Empowerment coordinating new and innovative programs to support the growing number of women and minority businesses in the County. As a senior member of the department, Fizie is now tasked with developing a new strategy to enhance the link between the business community, the federal sector and academia through technology transfer development and other business opportunities. She has recently served as a member of the board of Women in Technology, the Maryland Economic Development Association, and represented the County’s interests on the board of the Bethesda Cultural Alliance. In 2007, she assisted the director to launch a new international business development campaign by helping to coordinate the County’s first mission to India. On the 10-day trip, the team of 28 visited 6 cities and met with more than 200 companies. Since the mission, the County has successful attracted six Indian companies to establish their U.S. headquarters in Montgomery County at the County’s Rockville Innovation Center. She has successfully served the department under four County Executive administrations, viewing her tenure as a lifetime commitment to public service. Fizie has lived in Montgomery County, Maryland since 1971, relocating from Washington, DC where she was born. She graduated from the University of Maryland in 1981 with a degree in Government and Politics and a minor in Journalism and Public Relations. She has used this combination of education and work experience to promote Montgomery County as the Smart Place to Live and Work.

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Mr. Magnus Härviden

(Counselor for Science and Technology, Embassy of Sweden)

Magnus Harviden is since September 2006 the Science Counselor and Head of the Institute for Growth Policy Studies (ITPS) at the Embassy of Sweden in Washington D.C. During this period, he has primarily worked with policy intelligence for the Swedish Government and different government agencies in areas encompassing ICT, space research, globalization and competitiveness issues, research policies and Swedish-American co-operation in economic development related areas. Magnus has a M.Sc in Electrical Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, and Institut National des Sciences Appliquées, Lyon, France. He has also studied Russian language at Stockholm University and Chinese language at Lund University. Before coming to the Embassy, Magnus has had different management positions in private sector and public sector both in Sweden and in France.

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Mark Heesen

(President, National Venture Capital Association)

As President of the National Venture Capital Association, Mark Heesen is responsible for setting the strategic direction for all Association activities, including public policy efforts, research initiatives, educational programs, and member services. In this capacity, Mark works closely with the NVCA professional staff and Board of Directors to demonstrate the positive impact of venture capital investment on the United States economy. Under his direction, the NVCA has created numerous value-added sub-groups including the CFO Task Force, Strategic Communications Group, Corporate Venture Capital Group, Medical Industry Group and Human Capital forum, all of which are dedicated to supporting NVCA membership in uniquely critical areas. As a spokesperson for the venture capital industry, Mark is often called upon by the financial media, NVCA members, limited partners, and regional associations to present the overarching venture capital perspective to a wider audience. He is a frequent presenter at industry conferences, appears regularly on CNBC, and is consistently quoted in the press in stories concerning venture capital trends. Since 1991, Mark has worked on behalf of the NVCA to enact a wide range of policies that benefit the venture capital and entrepreneurial communities, including a significant capital gains differential, securities litigation reform, numerous SEC and FASB accounting issues, immigration reform, and a streamlining of the FDA and CMS approval processes, among other issues. Prior to coming to the NVCA, Mark was an aide to a former Governor of Pennsylvania and was Deputy Director for Federal Funds reporting to the Texas Legislature. Mark received a law degree with an emphasis in taxation from the Dickinson School of Law in 1984.

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Craig Heim

(Startup Licensing Manager, WARF)

Craig Heim is a Licensing Manager at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) responsible for licensing and providing assistance to start-up companies based on University of Wisconsin technology. Before joining WARF, Craig was a Vice President at Grace Matthews, a boutique investment bank, where he gained experience with mergers and acquisitions, capital fundraising, and technology licensing. Craig also worked at International Paper in engineering and operations management roles. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and an M.B.A., both from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

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Lorrie Keating Heinemann

(Wisconsin Cabinet Secretary, Financial Institutions)

Lorrie K. Heinemann has served as the Secretary of the Department of Financial Institutions since her appointment by Governor Jim Doyle in 2003. As the state’s banking and securities commissioner, Lorrie is responsible for regulating Wisconsin’s state banking and securities industries, for licensing financial service providers, for maintaining the state’s corporate filings and for administering one of the strongest consumer laws in the U.S.; the Wisconsin Consumer Act. She oversees 140 employees and a $32 million agency budget. As part of Governor Doyle’s Grow Wisconsin plan, Heinemann has been a strong advocate for connecting angel investors and venture capitalists to Wisconsin companies. She co-founded the Wisconsin Angel Network (WAN) in 2004 with the Wisconsin Technology Council. WAN’s success was recognized as a best practice by the National Governor’s Association and was highlighted in the August 2008 issue of Inc. magazine. Heinemann currently serves as the Chair of the Wisconsin Angel Network's Advisory Committee and is a member of the Wisconsin Technology Council Board. She also serves on the Board of Directors for WiSys, a division of WARF. (www.wisconsinangelnetwork.com; www.warf.org). Prior to her tenure at DFI, Heinemann enjoyed an 18 year career in the banking and securities industries, first as an entrepreneur in her own company (Wisconsin Investment Consultants, Inc.), and then by moving her client base into a large regional bank holding company (Valley Bancorporation, now M&I Bank). Heinemann has her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, her MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, holds her Series 7 and Series 24 Securities licenses, and is a 2007 Graduate of the Venture Capital Institute (www.vcinstitute.org)

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Richard Holdren

( Healthcare Angels )

Co-Founder of Equivision, publicly traded on NASDAQ and sold for over 70 million cash, and EquiMed a publicly traded cancer management company with a market cap over $200 million, Rick has additionally co-founded/Invested in Physician Trust (venture backed by over 5 million in investment), DaVincian Technologies (picked by Bob Ryan’s High-Tech Start-up Boot Camp), Austin Med Tech a publicly traded surgical ‘pack’ company, DermAmerica, a national cosmetic dermatology firm & MD Pain Clinics. As a serial entrepreneur Rick has founded or invested in over 26 healthcare start-ups and named as 2002 Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation Mentor of the year. Rick also was a partner in the nation’s largest physician search firm, a director of physician relations at a major hospital management firm and co-founder of Texas’s largest practice management firm. He currently owns Appraisal & Mentor Group LLC, which is a top 3 M & A and healthcare valuation firm with over 2500+ completed assignments including over 200 court valuations. He made an investment is a ‘virtual incubator’ with ‘space-act’ agreement with NASA to commercialize its phase III SBIR companies with matching venture investment.

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Krisztina "Z" Holly USC

(Vice Provost for Innovation, University of Southern California; Executive Director, USC Stevens Institute for Innovation)

Krisztina “Z” Holly is vice provost for innovation at the University of Southern California and executive director for the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation, where she spearheads the development of programs and approaches to help faculty and students bring innovations to the market and develop their skills as innovators. USC Stevens, a university-wide institute in the office of the Provost, harnesses the creative thinking and innovative work at the University of Southern California's college, 17 professional schools, and research programs to build a multidisciplinary approach to innovation. Holly brings to USC her experience as an engineer, serial entrepreneur, and founding executive director of MIT's Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, where she oversaw the distribution of $5 million in grants, engaged more than 250 faculty and students, and spawned nine startup companies that successfully raised $40 million in capital. An avid surfer, mountain biker, and backcountry skier, Holly earned master's and bachelor's degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT.

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Greg Horowitt

(Co-founder and Executive Director, UCSD Global CONNECT)

Greg Horowitt is the co-founder and Executive Director of Global CONNECT, based at the University of California, San Diego. He is a key thought leader in the field of ‘innovation systems’, and their relevant applications for sustainable regional economic development through technology commercialization. In addition, Greg is also the founding Managing Director of T2 Venture Capital; a seed stage venture firm focused on the commercialization of intellectual property out of leading research institutions, (academic public, and private), and government funded agency programs. Prior to founding Global CONNECT, Greg was the interim Director of the regional CONNECT program in San Diego. Greg’s background has been in executive management, where he held key positions at a Berkshire Hathaway company for nearly 20 years, served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm, and was the CEO of a venture-backed enterprise software company.

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Niloofar R. Howe

(Managing Director, Paladin)

Niloo Howe is a Managing Director of Paladin, and her responsibilities include the development and implementation of new investment opportunities for both Paladin Homeland Security Fund and Paladin Capital Partners Fund. She also assists in the strategic oversight and monitoring of Paladin’s investments. Prior to joining Paladin, Ms. Howe served as Principal at Zone Ventures a Los Angeles-based venture capital firm. Ms. Howe has also served in the capacity of Chief Executive Officer and President of an online retail company funded by Zone Ventures. Previously Ms. Howe worked with McKinsey & Company as a strategic consultant. In that capacity, she worked with senior management of Fortune 500 companies in the retail/consumer goods, technology and healthcare sectors on issues of strategy, new product/market entry, change management/turnaround and electronic commerce. Her previous experience also includes working as an attorney with O'Melveny & Myers. Ms. Howe graduated Cum Laude from Harvard Law School and received her B.A. from Columbia College. Ms. Howe represents Paladin on the board of directors of Courion, DigitalBridge Communications, Initiate Systems, OQO and most recently served on the board of SafeView.

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Tim Howe

(Founder, CHL Medical Partners)

Tim is a founder of CHL Medical Partners, a leading healthcare venture capital group based in Stamford, CT focused on start-up and early stage investing in the biotechnology, medical device and services areas. Tim has been investing in private equity since 1984 when he joined Schroder Ventures. He has been an active investor and board member responsible for numerous venture investments in the healthcare space, including Innotech, Inc. (acquired by Johnson & Johnson), Camitro Corporation (acquired by ArQule, Inc.), and Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CHL has led the start-up of many companies directly from university settings, including CGI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ “FOLD”), Protometrix, Inc. (sold to Invitrogen), and BioRelix, Inc. Tim has been a director of nineteen companies and is currently on the boards of Bionaut Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Comprehensive NeuroScience, Inc., Medicus Insurance Holdings, Inc. and MedMark Services, Inc. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia Graduate School of Business teaching venture capital management. Tim is a graduate of Columbia College and the Columbia Graduate School of Business. Tim can be reached at thowe@chlmedical.com.

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John Huston

(Chairman, Angel Capital Association; Founder, Ohio TechAngels)

John O. Huston, Principal, USPrivateCompanies, LLC – During his 30-year banking career, Mr. Huston held positions ranging from Chief Lending/Chief Credit Officer to CEO at five banks in five states. Since retiring from banking in 2000, he has been an advisor, conduit, columnist and frequent speaker in his area of expertise…..optimizing a private company’s capital structure. An active business angel, he provides equity to entrepreneurs through his investment company, USPrivateCompanies, LLC. Mr. Huston was also pivotal in the formation of the Ohio TechAngel Fund and has been passionately engaged in the on-going success of the Fund. Mr. Huston was one of seven Ohioans appointed by Governor Taft to the Ohio Venture Capital Authority, whose mission is to make professionally managed early stage capital more readily available to the state’s entrepreneurs. He has also taught Finance at The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business, and is a frequent judge for business plan competitions at Ohio’s colleges and universities. In addition to serving on several Advisory Boards for his portfolio companies, Mr. Huston is an active member of The Ohio Venture Association, BioOhio, the Columbus Technology Council, and the Angel Capital Association (“The Professional Alliance of Angel Groups”).

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Elizabeth (“Liddy”) Karter

(Managing Director, Karter Capital Advisors, LLC)

Liddy Karter is Managing Director of Karter Capital Advisors. LLC, www.kartercapital.com a venture consulting company that helps clients accelerate the process of building and expanding sustainable business ventures. Among her clients is a program sponsored by the CT Technology Council to identify and accelerate the growth of all high potential companies in CT. www.ctipa.org. Liddy is also the President of the Angel Investor Forum, LLC www.angelinvestorforum.com and Managing Director of Golden Seeds, LLC. www.goldenseeds.com These are groups of private accredited investors working together to invest in early stage venture capital opportunities. Her advisory and investment focus are on information technology, environmental and financial services companies. Liddy started her career in finance at in the Financial Services Group at Morgan Stanley and Co. Inc. She was among the youngest people promoted to Vice President at Morgan Stanley. She led several IPO’s, multi bank mergers and collateralized debt transactions. She successfully led Resource Recovery Systems, a municipal recycling company, from a prototype company into a $20MM multi-state company. The company grew by developing recycling plants under multi-year contracts with municipalities. These were ground breaking developments in solid waste management representing creative financial, contractual and entrepreneurial skill. She sold Resource Recovery to a public waste hauler. She then became the CFO of Netkey, Inc. an enterprise software company focused on self service e-commerce. She successfully raised substantial venture capital to create the leading software platform for kiosks and digital signage.Liddy received her MBA from Yale University and a BA in History and Engineering from Columbia University in New York City. She is also on the Boards of the Angel Capital Association from Kansas City and the Valley-Shore YMCA.

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JP Kim

(Director & Policy Officer, Division of Extramural Inventions & Technology Resources (DEITR), Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration (OPERA), Office of Extramural Research (OER), National Institutes of Health)

Mr. Kim serves as Director and Policy Officer of the Division of Extramural Inventions & Technology Resources (DEITR) in the Office of Policy for Extramural Research Administration (OPERA) under the Office of Extramural Research (OER) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Public Health Service (PHS). Prior to joining OER in 2005, he served for 10 years in the Office of Technology Transfer under the NIH Office of Intramural Research (OIR) as a Technology Licensing Specialist, Patent Advisor, and Technology Transfer Policy Specialist for inventions arising out of the NIH’s Intramural Research Program. Prior to coming to the NIH, he worked as a Cancer Researcher at the George Washington University Medical Center and School of Medicine and Health Sciences, as well as a Researcher at several biomedical/biotechnology companies in the Washington-Metropolitan area. In addition to direct research experience, he has also worked as a scientific/technical consultant on domestic and international patent and trademark prosecution matters at various national and international intellectual property law firms. He is an attorney admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) of the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Maryland courts, the U.S. Court of International Trade, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC), the Supreme Court, and other courts, and has published articles on technology transfer and research issues in scientific, business, and grants management publications. He holds a B.A. (Psychology) and a B.S. (Zoology with Chemistry minor) from George Washington University, an M.B.A. (International Business and Marketing) and a J.D. (focusing on International Trade and Intellectual Property Law) from American University, an M.Sc. (Biotechnology) from Johns Hopkins University, an M.A. in Liberal Studies with a focus on Social/Public Policy from Georgetown University, as well as having additional graduate study in genetics, EU law, management, and public policy.

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Steven Kubisen

(Senior Director, Johns Hopkins University; Founder, Cache Valley Angel Investor Club)

Steve has been both a corporate intrapreneur and startup entrepreneur in a variety of materials, electronics, and manufacturing businesses. In recent years, he has been an active mentor and angel investor in the materials, advanced manufacturing, medical device and IT sectors (active in Baltimore-Washington angel community; founded Cache Valley Angels investor club). Steve joined Johns Hopkins University Technology Transfer Office in September, 2006, where he leads a group responsible for the Physical Science Portfolios (medical device, software, engineering, materials) as well as providing startup company support across the enterprise. In FY 08 Hopkins spun off 12 ventures (6 VC or corporate funded) vs. their historical average of 4. As Vice President of Technology Commercialization at Utah State University from 2002 to 2006, he led the revitalization of their program resulting in the university’s national ranking for startup companies formation (normalized for research dollars) moving from #72 to #4. As President of VEC Technology, Steve took an early stage composites molding company and significantly improved operations and revenues, yielding a 10 X valuation increase ($110M) on exit. At GE Plastics, he instituted systems to double new product sales in three years for the $500M Silicones division. As General Manager for GE Electromaterials, he successfully developed and commercialized a revolutionary circuit board material for the emerging computer and telecommunications industries of the early 90’s. Prior to GE, Steve held various senior management positions with Akzo Nobel and Union Carbide Corporation. Steve has an A.B. in chemistry from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Harvard University.

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Lianne Landers

(Associate Director, Office of Economic Development, University of Virginia)

Lianne Landers is the Associate Director of Economic Development in the Office of the VP for Research at the University of Virginia. In addition to fostering corporate and community partnerships to support innovation and economic growth, Lianne administers the T100 Alumni Mentoring Program to support faculty start-up companies. She has extensive experience in policy and program development, particularly in the public sector. Lianne received a B.A. in English from the University of Calgary and an M.S. with Distinction in Consumer Studies from the University of Guelph.

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David Lerner

(Director, New Ventures,Columbia University Science & Technology Ventures)

David manages Columbia's portfolio of more than fifty spin-off companies, helps launch approximately ten to twelve new start-ups each year and operates STV's Seed Fund. Prior to joining Columbia, he spent over a decade founding, operating, and funding companies in both the healthcare and media sectors. The venture group he founded has invested in medical devices, video platforms, security software, skill-based gaming, social networking and new media. David spearheaded the commercialization of a medical therapy that became the state-of-the-art treatment for lymphedema, a debilitating condition that affects 1% of all Americans. He opened multiple treatment facilities and operated a nationally renowned teaching school, securing affiliations with Massachusetts General, Brigham and Women's Hospital, the Dana Farber Cancer Center, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. After a strategic merger in 1998, the business was acquired in 2001 by one of the nation's leading providers of physical medicine and rehabilitation services. David's most recent venture was the founding and seed-funding of a video management platform company that secured $6 million in Series A funding and was sold to a publicly held company on the NASDAQ. He currently serves as Board Observer to StackSafe, Inc., NLP International, Inc., Angioblast, Inc., and several other Columbia portfolio companies. David is very active in the entrepreneurial and investment community and lectures widely on the subjects of academic entrepreneurship and early stage investing. He is on the Advisory Board of the National Council for Entrepreneurship and co-hosts its annual conference and business plan competition. He serves as a judge and mentor to Columbia Business School's Eugene Lang Entrepreneurial Initiative Fund and Greenhouse Programs and serves on the Advisory Board of the Columbia Venture Community. He is also a member of the Bar in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. BA, Williams College; JD, Washington University Law School.

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Charlie Lewis

(Arizona State University, AzTE)

Mr. Lewis manages venture development for Arizona Technology Enterprises (AzTE), the technology transfer company for Arizona State University. Prior to joining AzTE, Mr. Lewis served as general partner for two Arizona venture capital funds, Arris Ventures and Paradise '94. He directed the investment committees responsible for analyzing due diligence findings and investing in early-stage technology companies throughout the Southwest. He has been involved in numerous mergers and acquisitions. Prior to his venture fund experiences, Mr. Lewis was Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Tritium Technologies. While there, he developed the marketing plan and managed the sales process for the company's digital vibration attenuation products. He has also served as International Director of Distribution for ANVT, Inc.

Mr. Lewis was a founding partner of Midas Computers in 1984 after graduating from Arizona State University. The company designed software tools for small retail businesses and was acquired by POS Systems in 1993.

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Robert E. Litan

(Vice President of Research and Policy, Kauffman Foundation)

Robert E. Litan is the Vice President for Research and Policy at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City and a Senior Fellow in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. During his career, Dr. Litan has authored or co-authored 22 books, edited another 13, and authored or co-authored over 200 articles in journals, magazines and newspapers. His latest books are Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism and the Economics of Growth and Prosperity, with William Baumol and Carl Schramm (Yale University Press, 2007), Competitive Equity: A Low Cost Alternative Model for Mutual Funds, with Peter Wallison (AEI Press, 2007), Financial Statecraft, with Benn Steil (Yale University Press, 2006) and Worldwide Financial Reporting, with three co-authors ( Oxford University Press, 2006). Dr. Litan has served in several capacities in the federal government: As Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, Department of Justice; and Staff Economist, Council of Economic Advisers. He received his B.S. in Economics (summa cum laude) from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania; his J.D. from Yale Law School; and both his M. Phil. and Ph.D. in Economics from Yale University.

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Matt McCooe

(Chart Venture Partners)

Matt joined CVP at its inception, coming from Columbia University Science and Technology Ventures (STV) where he managed a portfolio of spinout companies and the deployment of STV's highly profitable seed fund. During his tenure at Columbia, eleven portfolio companies went public or were acquired by publicly traded companies. Prior to Columbia, Matt led two startup operations, both of which reached revenues in excess of $125MM and were acquired. In 1998, Matt co-founded Eureka Networks, a communications and application software organization. Earlier in his career, he managed product development, sales and marketing, and new product roll-outs for two Fortune 500 companies, Becton Dickinson and MCI. As a national sales leader at MCI, he rose to become marketing manager, launching MCI's flagship voice and data products for Avantel, the company’s start-up joint venture in Latin America. At CVP, Matt focuses on early stage investments in communications, software and robotics. He represents CVP on the Board of RemoteReality, StackSafe and PacStar Communications. Matt earned an MBA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and a BA from Boston College. Matt serves on Columbia’s Private Equity and Venture Capital Advisory Board, and as an SBIR reviewer for the National Science Foundation.

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Basil Mundy

(Wisconsin Angel Network and UW-Madison Venture Mentoring service)

Basil Mundy is a professional sales, marketing, business development and government affairs executive with extensive senior management experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, and has over 20 years experience in the Transplantation and Dialysis marketplaces. He was a member of the original team that formed one of the newest Johnson and Johnson companies, Ortho Biotech Inc. He managed marketing and business development for The National Kidney Foundation, Schein Pharmaceutical, Inc., MGI Pharma, Celltech (Medeva) Pharmaceuticals and Bone Care International.

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Murali Nair

(Lead NSF SBIR Electronics, Components and Engineering Systems Program Manager, Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships, National Science Foundation-NSF)

Dr. Murali S. Nair is a Program Director with the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program at the National Science Foundation (NSF). Prior to joining NSF, he was the Founder and CEO of a wireless company. In this capacity, he raised equity capital for worldwide operations in US, India, China and Brazil. He designed, planned and implemented the product development cycle, and managed the marketing strategy, strategic alliances and business development processes. Before that, Dr. Nair was a Senior Systems Engineer at L-3 Communications where he provided strategic advice to the Executive Vice-President for a complete re-plan of the Hughes contract for real-time, embedded ground control software for the $350M PANAMSAT communications satellite. Prior to joining L-3 Communications, he was a Mission Planner at Motorola Iridium where he was involved in all aspects of satellite operations including orbit determination, generating guidance targets and orbital slot placement. Before joining Iridium, Dr. Nair was a faculty member at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), where he developed a Space Systems Design Lab from concept inception to fully operational mode and national prominence. He is a recipient of a number of awards that include the NSF Director’s Meritorious Service Award and ERAU President’s Innovation Award for Space Systems Design Courses. Dr. Nair is a registered professional engineer in the State of Florida.

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Kesh Narayanan

(Director, Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships, National Science Foundation)

Dr. Kesh Narayanan is the Division Director of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) within the Directorate for Engineering (ENG) at NSF. The mission of the division of IIP is to catalyze the transformation of discovery into societal benefits through stimulating partnerships. Prior to his current assignment, he served NSF in various capacities. He has played a major role in shaping the NSF Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs to accelerate technological innovation by aligning the programs with the investment market opportunities. As acting Division Director of Design, Manufacture and Industrial Innovation, he identified academic opportunities for manufacturing research to impact on the growing service sector economy as well as on the emerging nanotechnology. He was a member of the Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) working group that launched the NSF PFI program. He joined NSF in 1994 from Certainteed, where he held the position of Chief Scientist for the building materials division. In addition to providing technological leadership for the company, he was successful in identifying research results from university laboratories that had significant impacts on the Certainteed product line. He was an Industrial Advisory Board member to a NSF I/UCRC center at the University of Connecticut. His longest tenure, spanning 20 years, was at the Norton Company. As the R&D Director of the Norton Bonded Abrasives Business, he led the worldwide introduction of new products, with a track record of identifying and developing new products accounting for 25% of total sales. His R&D group is credited with over 30 patents. Dr. Kesh Narayanan received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1974 and B.Tech. in Metallurgical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 1967.

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Roger Novak

(Co-Founder, Novak Biddle)

Roger Novak brings over 25 years of experience as a venture capitalist, "angel" investor, and operating principal. Novak Biddle Venture Partners is a premier early stage venture capital firm backed by some of the country’s most prestigious investors. Each of NBVP’s first three funds are ranked in the top quartile of all venture funds for returns. During his career, Roger has served on many public, private and civic boards. Currently, he serves on the boards of Blackboard, Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) where he is lead director, SpectrumK12, Trusted Computer Solutions, Digital Signal Corporation, StackSafe, Cdigix, Intelliworks and Centrifuge Systems. He also serves on the advisory boards of several venture funds, the Department of Homeland Security’s PREDICT (Protected Repository for the Defense of Infrastructure Against Cyber Threats) advisory board, and is a member of the OSD’s (Office of Secretary of Defense) DeVenCI program. He is currently a trustee of The Walters Art Museum and serves on the board of the National Venture Capital Association. A frequent speaker on venture capital, risk and innovation issues, Roger has spoken before the National Institute of Science and Technology, the World Bank/IFC, DARPA, and many other institutions. He has also advised members of Congress and government agencies, about ways the public and private sector can work together to improve the nation’s high-tech economy. A frequent contributor to the local and national media on technology and investment issues, Roger has appeared on The McNeil Lehrer Newshour, CNN, CNNfN, Wall Street Week and other programs. Recently, Roger was named the winner of the 2007 Early Stage East Sal Buccieri Memorial Venture Impact Award. The honor recognizes an individual who has clearly impacted early stage technology and fast growth opportunities.

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Steve Ober

(Executive Director of New Ventures, Boston University

Dr. Ober is Executive Director of New Ventures in Boston University’s Office of Technology Development. New Ventures was founded in 2006 to support BU faculty and students establish new companies based on BU research and technologies. In addition to supporting spin-off activities, New Ventures has responsibility for managing BU’s business incubator, running the venture capital fund, and managing a pre-seed investment program (Launch Awards). Prior to joining BU in 2004, Dr. Ober was co-founder and president of BG-Medicine, Inc., a biotechnology company that developed and applied a unique “systems biology” approach to drug discovery and development. Prior to BG-Medicine, Dr. Ober was president and chief executive officer of Synergy Health Care, a successful health information and data management company. Synergy was founded by Dr. Ober in 1995 and was acquired by ENVOY Corp. in 1998. In March 1999, ENVOY was acquired by Quintiles Transnational, the world’s largest Clinical Research Organization. Prior to Synergy, Dr. Ober spent five years as executive vice president and corporate medical director of Private Health Care Systems (now part of Multiplan, Inc.), one of the largest national managed care companies in the country. Dr. Ober received his BA and MD degrees from Boston University, his clinical training in surgery and orthopedic surgery from University of California San Diego, and his MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business.

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Rosibel Ochoa

(Commercialization Director, von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism and Technology Advancement at the University of California, San Diego)

Rosibel Ochoa is the Acting Executive Director and the Commercialization Director for the von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism and Technology Advancement at the University of California, San Diego. Prior to joining the von Liebig Center, Rosibel was the founder of TekDome, LLC., a technology commercialization consultancy in San Diego, California. Its clients included Research Triangle Institute, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and several startup companies. From 2002 to 2005, she was the Associate Director of the Office of Technology Licensing and Manager of the Industrial Contracts Group at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Rosibel worked at Motorola’s Energy Systems Group from 1998 to 2002, where, among other things, she was significantly involved in organizing and mining Motorola’s extensive intellectual property, including valuation of technology, licensing and technology transfer. Prior to that, she was at MeadWestvaco from 1996 to 1998 as a research scientist, developing materials for advanced lithium-polymer batteries and carbon-based super capacitors. Rosibel received her B.Sc. in chemical engineering from the National University of Honduras, and her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Louisville.

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Katherine O'Neill

(Executive Director, JumpStart New Jersey Angel Network)

Katherine O’Neill is the Executive Director for JumpStart New Jersey Angel Network, a member led angel investor group that invests in early stage high growth technology companies in Mid-Atlantic region. Jumpstart focuses on seed/early stage companies needing both funding and seasoned management assistance to move forward. Jumpstart actively looks for investments in the $200k-$1 Million range, and sometimes co-invests in large investments with other groups. Katherine is a seasoned financial executive and investor in early stage enterprises with extensive experience in start up and entrepreneurial operations as well as operational experiences in a diverse range of businesses. She has particular expertise developing technology-based business as well as strategic business plans, budgets, cash and tax planning and financials. She has extensive multinational experience and financial operation management and knowledge of healthcare pharmaceuticals, information systems, e-commerce and medical instruments and devices. In addition to her entrepreneurial activities, she was a senior executive in corporate finance in both a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company and Fortune 500 chemical company.

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Shekar Rao

( Worldwide Manager, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Medical Electronics Solutions )

Shekar Rao is the worldwide manager for medical electronics and healthcare solutions at Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas. He is responsible for identifying, evaluating and funding University R&D worldwide in Medical Electronics. This includes matching Clinical Needs and Medical System Innovation with TI’s current semiconductor component offering and future technology needs in the areas of Imaging, Implantable Devices, Patient Monitoring and Connected Health and Healthcare IT. Earlier he played a key role in five start-ups over the last ten years; served as founder, president, and chief executive officer for three of the five, including one in the area of Pharma-Healthcare. He possesses over 30 years of worldwide experience in product development, P&L, operations, business strategy, marketing, sales, and consulting within start-up as well as large companies such Texas Instruments, NEC Electronics and LSI Logic. He has a track record in developing and implementing multi-product and multi-market business strategies. Mr. Rao is highly knowledgeable in anti-trust issues, intellectual property protection, patents and the promotion of industry-wide interoperability standards and collaborations. He has a deep understanding of issues and opportunities in industries as diverse as semiconductor, life sciences, healthcare, networking hardware, software, IT, knowledge management and workflow automation. Mr. Rao has a BTech (BSEE) with thesis in Biomedical Engineering from IIT-Delhi, a Post Graduate Diploma (MBA) in International Trade from Indian Institute of Foreign Trade.

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Bruce Robertston

(Managing Director, H.I.G. Ventures)

As a Managing Director at H.I.G. Ventures, Bruce Robertson focuses on investment opportunities in the life sciences sector, including biopharmaceuticals and medical devices. Bruce currently serves on the boards of Apollo Endosurgery, Inc., CardioFocus and Clarus Therapeutics. Bruce has been active in the life sciences sector for 20 years. Prior to joining H.I.G., Bruce served most recently as Managing Director at Toucan Capital, an early-stage venture capital fund focusing on life science investments. While at Toucan, Bruce invested in leading drug and device companies throughout the U.S. Prior to Toucan, Bruce was a General Partner at GIV Venture Partners, a venture capital firm focused on early stage investments in the US, India, and China. Prior to his venture capital career, Bruce was Director of Business Development at IGEN International, where he was responsible for formulating and implementing IGEN’s partnering and M&A strategies. Bruce started his career as a Research Manager at W.R. Grace & Co., focusing on medical devices. Bruce is on the boards of the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association, the Georgia Biomedical Partnership, Shady Grove Hospital, the BioLife Fund of Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology, and the University of Delaware Research Foundation. Bruce holds a BSE in Chemical Engineering and BA in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania, a PhD in Chemical/Biomedical Engineering from the University of Delaware, and an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Business School.

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Frank A. Robey

(Chief Scientific Officer, AriaVax, Inc.)

Currently, Dr. Frank A. Robey is acting as Chief Scientific Officer. He is the primary inventor of the patents forming the basis of the Company’s intellectual property platform and the Deadlock™ technology. This technology was developed during his 15 years as a senior investigator at the NIH in Bethesda, MD. As a government scientist, Dr. Robey has produced out-licensed technology resulting in FDA-approved injectable products. He has also been a consultant on protein chemistry and FDA regulatory issues to many leading US biotech companies, including Centocor and Genentech. Prior to his appointment at NIH, Dr. Robey spent over eight years at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) where he held research positions in the Division of Bacterial Products, the vaccine branch of the FDA, and several lead positions formulating the Agency’s first responses to biotechnology, including products used to treat and diagnose AIDS. His knowledge of FDA processes and procedures are crucial to the Company’s ability to move drug candidates through the approval process quickly.

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Ted Rogers

(Managing Partner, PPI Ventures)