Speakers
Jeremy Adelman
(Illinois Institute of Technology)
Jeremy L. Adelman is Director of the Angel Innovation and Entrepreneurship Network at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. During the 10 years he has spent as a manager and fundraiser in universities and nonprofit organizations, he has worked primarily with technology business leaders, investors and entrepreneurs. Mr. Adelman has also spent time working as an investment banker in New York City. Notable accomplishments have been founding alumni angel investor networks at two universities (GW and IIT), securing millions of dollars from corporations and individuals, and building communities of innovation and entrepreneurship. Mr. Adelman holds both an MBA from the Heller School of Social Policy and Management, and an MA in Nonprofit Professional Leadership from Brandies University, as well as a BA in Philosophy from the University of Utah.
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Ali Andalibi
(Program Director, SBIR/STTR, National Cancer Institute – NIH)
Dr. Ali Andalibi is a Program Director and head of the Therapeutics and Diagnostics Cluster in the National Cancer Institute’s SBIR Development Center. Dr. Andalibi received his PhD from the UCLA department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and later joined the faculty in the UCLA department of Medicine. Subsequently, he was involved in several early stage biotechnology companies. He then joined the House Ear Institute (HEI) as Director of New Technology and Project Development and held a joint appointment in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Southern California, School of Medicine. Prior to moving to the NCI, Dr. Andalibi served as a Program Director in the National Science Foundation’s Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships, where he oversaw the NSF’s medical biotechnology SBIR/STTR grant portfolio.
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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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Clara Asmail
(National Institute of Standards and Technology - NIST)
Clara has managed the NIST SBIR Program since 2001. She is also responsible for marketing NIST technologies and identifying appropriate partners for collaborations and licensing opportunities. In her roles she proposed and launched an innovative Technology Transfer program facilitating the transfer of federal technology to industry by leveraging the NIST SBIR Program as seed funding along with access to federal research assets. That initiative has so far facilitated the transitioning of more than a couple dozen technologies developed in the NIST Labs to small businesses. Prior to her current assignments, she was a CRADA and Licensing Officer at NIST where she executed several licenses, more than 50 CRADAs and conducted more than 30 commercialization assessments on inventions disclosed from the NIST Labs. From 1988 to 1998, Clara was Project Leader for Optical Scatterometry research in the Physics Laboratory in NIST. She published 19 peer reviewed articles and established BRDF competency at NIST. She was actively involved in standards committees work in her area of research cooperating with Sematech, ASTM, ISO and other federal agencies. She is an inventor for a technique that allows for the differentiation of optical scattering from microrough surfaces as distinguished from superficial particulates. That patent has been licensed exclusively by NIST to a commercial manufacturer of surface inspection systems. Clara holds two M.S. degrees, one in Optical Sciences from the University of Arizona (1988) and one in Physics from Tulane University (1986). Her B.S. in Physics is from Fordham University (1984).
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David Baker
(Executive Director, University Technology Park, Illinois Institute of Technology)
David E. Baker, Executive Director, University Technology Park at IIT. Mr. Baker has led the initiative to create a technology park on Illinois Institute of Technology’s main campus on Chicago’s Southside, since 2002. The park has grown to include the renovation of three buildings, leveraging funding from local, state and federal government sources as well as the private sector. Nearly 25 companies are now resident in the park, including start-ups and larger companies in biotech, clean tech and software development. Mr. Baker also serves as the University’s Vice President for External Affairs, a position he has held since 1995. He is responsible for the University’s governmental relations, technology park development, strategic planning and trustee relations He also helped open the Perspectives/IIT Math and Science Academy, a public grade 6-12 charter school in September, 2008. From September 1993 through March 1995, he served as the Executive Director for the National Commission for IIT. Prior to joining the University, Mr. Baker served as President of The Illinois Coalition, whose mission is to strengthen the Illinois economy through science and technology. >From 1980 to 1989, Mr. Baker served as the Executive Vice President of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, the state’s largest business advocacy organization. Mr. Baker holds an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, and an A.B. in History, with a minor in Economics, from Stanford University. He is married, has two children and lives in Chicago.
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Francis J. Barros
(SBIR Program Analyst, U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
Francis “Frank” Barros joined the DHS/SBIR Program in June 2009 as a Program Analyst. Prior to this, Frank was a General Business Specialist in the Project Management Office of the Technology Innovation Program (TIP) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) at NIST (2002-2009). Frank was a Group Leader in the Electronics and Photonics Office and led the Critical National Need Energy Team. In 2007 Frank was a recipient of the Department of Commerce’s Bronze medal for his contribution to the ‘first ever assessment of the U.S. measurement system’s ability to sustain innovation. Prior to joining the Government, Frank spent 20 years in the private sector doing debt and equity financing for over 100 small companies ($1.15 billion) with DSL Capital, a spin-off from American University (co-founder, President, Chairman). Frank was also Vice-President of Artco Inc, a joint venture between DSL, Kidde, Inc., and DAF Netherlands for technology transfer to the third world. Prior to this Frank was Vice-Provost for Research and Academic Development and Associate Professor of Higher Education at The American University, Washington D.C. (1973-1983). He was also Associate Professor and Director of the Higher Education Student Personnel Administration Master’s Program (in conjunction with the Ford Foundation) at Howard University, Washington D.C. (1967-1973). Frank was born in Hong Kong, educated in Hong Kong, Australia and the United States. He received his BA (1960) in Philosophy and Physics from St, Mary’s Academy, Techny, IL; MA in Education; and PhD (1968) in Higher Education Finance and Management and International Law and Relations from Catholic University, Washington D.C.
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Yvan Baumann
(CEA) [France]
Yvan Baumann is a graduate engineer (Arts et Métiers Lyon - 1976). Yvan was in the 80-90’s Project Manager in engineering firms and big companies such as ALSTOM, CERBERUS on behalf of major manufacturers. He joined AREVA in 1993 as team leader for developing applications of industrial management in a large nuclear site (nuclear reprocessing plant at La Hague). Since 2001 he is now coordinating teams of CEA (marketing, contracts, patents) and associated incubators accompanying spin-offs from the CEA laboratories. Yvan Baumann is an expert, working close by government institutions, associations and think tanks. He also participates as expert for the governance of a venture fund.
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Mel Billingsley
(Life Sciences Greenhouse)
Mel Billingsley, Ph.D. is President and CEO of the Life Sciences Greenhouse, Professor of Pharmacology at Pennsylvania State University Milton S. Hershey College of Medicine (MSHCM), and Professor of Biotechnology and Entrepreneurship, Penn State University - Harrisburg, PA campus. His background includes rich and varied experience as a researcher, educator, and investor, as well a long history of actively fostering the advancement of technology within the larger community. Dr. Billingsley leads the LSGPA participation in Gap and Tech Fund investments. He has an undergraduate degree in Biophysics and Microbiology from the University of Pittsburgh, a doctoral degree in Pharmacology from George Washington University, and a postdoctoral degree in neuropharmacology from Yale School of Medicine.
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Wes Blakeslee
(Johns Hopkins)
Wesley Blakeslee is Executive Director of Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer. He was formerly an Associate General Counsel at The Johns Hopkins University where he practiced intellectual property and complex business law. Wes holds an Engineering Degree (with Honors) from Penn State University, and a law Degree (Order of the Coif), from the University of Maryland School of Law and is a Certified Licensing Professional. Wes began his professional career as an engineer and systems analyst with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, where, among other things, he designed and wrote real time operating systems for spacecraft testing and post-launch control, and managed a programming group. After Law School, Wes entered private practice, was a partner in a small regional firm, and in 1983 Wes formed his own practice in Westminster, Maryland, USA. From 1983 to 1989, while in private practice, Wes also served as Director of Computer Development at the University of Maryland Law School, where he also taught Computer Law. In February 1999, Wes became Associate General Counsel at The Johns Hopkins University. Wes also served for many years as a Director of a National bank. Wes is frequently a featured speaker at national, state and local conferences, and on behalf of bar associations and numerous conference organizations. Wes has been cited as a national authority on intellectual property issues in the Chronicle of Higher Education, and other publications.
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Michael Brandkamp
(High-Tech Gruenderfonds) [Germany]
Dr. Michael Brandkamp is the Executive Director of High-Tech Gründerfonds and has focused on the investment business for young technological companies since 1997. In 2004 and 2005, he was the Department Manager for Innovation Financing and Shareholdings within the KfW banking group, and was previously the Associate Executive Director of tbg Technologie-Beteiligungs-Gesellschaft mbH of the Deutsche Ausgleichsbank. In 1999 he became the Director of the tbg Berlin office. He studied Economics at the Universities of Münster, Nairobi and Bonn and earned his PhD at the Technische Universität Freiberg (Saxony) at the Chair for Business Management Innovation Research.
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Paulo Bueno
(São Paulo State University [Brazil]
Prof. Dr. Paulo Roberto Bueno received his degree in Materials Science and Engineering by Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar, Brazil) in 1996. In 1998 he finished his master in Materials Science and Engineering specifically in semiconductor materials at the same university. Also in 1998 he received another master degree in Administration and Production Manager either by UFSCar. In 2003 he finished his PhD. in Physical Chemistry and the subject of this thesis was in theoretical aspects of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and solid state kinetics. From 2003 to 2005 he did his pos-doctorate in physics at São Paulo University (USP) in the Physics and Mathematics Department in the campus of Ribeirão Preto. Nowadays, Dr. Bueno is an Assistant Professor at São Paulo State University (UNESP) in the Physical Chemistry Department in the Institute of Chemistry. His main academic area of interest is related to impedance spectroscopy, admittance and dielectric spectroscopy, optical impedance (modulated transmittance) and mass transfer function techniques (ac-electrogravimetry) to develop alternative energy source devices (solar cells and lithium ion batteries) and biosensors devices (CHEMFET). He has H index of 18, more than 100 paper published with more than 1100 citations. Concerning technological tech transfer, Dr. Bueno is recently involved with the initiative of tech transfer development at UNESP. He is leading the startup of Tech service companies as INNOUT and technological companies as INNBIO (biotechnological company) and SPINMOS (a semiconductor company based on MOS semiconductor technology).
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Christine Burke
(Sr. Technology Licensing Associate, STTM, University of Texas)
Chris works with South Texas Technology Management (STTM), a regional technology transfer office that serves four UT campuses: UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, UTSA, UT Brownsville, and UT Pan American. She joined STTM in September of 2007 and manages a portfolio of technologies focused on the life sciences. Before moving to Texas, Chris worked at the University of California’s Systemwide Office of Technology Transfer for over four years. At UC she helped create her position as their first Strategic Marketing and Communications Manager, and developed new outreach programs to help companies navigate the 10-campus system. Before moving to the field of technology transfer, Chris was a founding employee of the laboratory services start-up company, LabVelocity, and at various times directed the areas of content, communications, and marketing. Preceding her forays into the business world were her graduate work in Molecular Biology from Yale University, and her post doctoral fellowship in Immunology at UC San Francisco (Carnegie Mellon University).
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Jeffrey Bussgang
(Flybridge Capital Partners/Harvard Business School EIR)
I'm a General Partner at Flybridge Capital Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm in Boston I helped start in 2003. I converted to being a VC, having served as an executive team member of three start-ups over 10 years, including Upromise (co-founder, president & COO, acquired by Sallie Mae in 2006) and Open Market (VP marketing and business development, IPO'96). Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, I was a management consultant with The Boston Consulting Group. That's where I learned PowerPoint. I received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in computer science from Harvard College - not very creative, I admit. I also co-authored a Harvard Business Review article in the mid-90s on turning the Internet into a business medium. Oracle of the obvious. I can't seem to stay away from the campus and am helping out as a part-time Entrepreneur in Residence at HBS' Rock Center for Entrepreneurship. I live in the Boston suburbs with my wife and our 3 kids.
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Jianing CAI
(Counselor for Science and Technology Embassy of P.R.China in US) [China]
CAI Jianing, Counselor for Science and Technology , Chinese Embassy in USA. Before he took this position, he was the Director, Division of International Organization and Conferences, Department of Inernational Cooperation, Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), responsible for coordinating activities carried out by Chinese entities, affiliates of MOST in particularly, in governmental international organizations like the Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy(CSTP), OECD. Prior to his joining with the MOST in 2002, he held several posts in different Chinese governmental organizations such as State Administration of Building Materials Industry, the last one as the First Secretary of Chinese Embassy in Hungary. He graduated from the Nanjing Chemistry University in Jiangsu Province, China. He is Senior Engineer due to his achievements in the building materials industry, the cement industry in particularly.
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Gabriela Gebrin Cezar
(Venture Partner, Latin America, Burrill & Company) [Brazil]
Gabriela Cezar is co-founder and CSO of Stemina Biomarker Discovery and assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she pioneered the application of metabolomics to stem cell biology. Her current research involves human embryonic stem cells, cancer stem cells, and cells derived from human embryonic stem cells, such as neurons, cardiomyocytes, and hepatocyte-like cells. In addition, Dr. Cezar heads the Stem Cell Safety Sciences Lab at UW and is a scientific collaborator with WiCell Research Institute. Overall, her research program is focused on unraveling biochemical pathways of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism and cancer. Prior to joining the faculty at UW-Madison in 2005, Dr. Cezar served as a senior principal scientist at Pfizer, working on global projects to incorporate stem cells in drug discovery and toxicology. In her role at Pfizer, Dr. Cezar also developed in vivo models (genetically modified mice) for target validation in multiple therapeutic areas. Overall, she has extensive experience on integration and application of molecular technologies to pharmaceutical discovery and development. Dr. Cezar is a member of the Science Advisory Board of the Genetics Policy Institute, a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a positive legal framework to advance stem cell research, as well as other stem cell-related organizations and patient advocacy groups. She is an internationally renowned invited speaker at numerous conferences.
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Deepanwita Chattopadhyay
(Chief Executive Officer, ICICI Knowledge Park) [India]
Deepanwita Chattopadhyay, MD & CEO of IKP Knowledge Park (erstwhile ICICI Knowledge Park), is responsible for developing the first Life Science Research Park in India and establishing a sustainable innovation and knowledge cluster around a science park through a Public-Private Partnership model. She has deep interest in entrepreneurship, incubation and institution building. Deepanwita Chattopadhyay did her B. Tech & M. Tech in Radio Physics & Electronics from Calcutta University, India and was a senior research fellow at the Centre for Applied Research in Electronics, IIT, Delhi. After brief stints as faculty at the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department, BITS, Pilani and as freelance writer and editor of science material for children, she joined the telecom advisory practice of ICICI Bank Ltd., the largest private bank in India, in 1994. She was deputed to IKP Knowledge Park as its CEO in August 2001. Ms. Chattopadhyay is a Director on the Board of the IKP Investment Management Company that was set up in 2009 to manage the India Innovation Fund, an early stage venture fund. She is also on the Board of Directors of the National Research Development Corporation, Govt. of India, member of the Committee on Biotech Parks of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), GoI, Advisory Council Member of BIRAP, DBT, Governing Council Member, Lucknow Biotech Park and the Andhra Pradesh State Biotech Council and executive members of the Indian STEPs & Business Incubators Association (ISBA) and the Federation of Asian Biotech Associations.
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Jim Chung
(Maryland Technology Enterprise, University of Maryland)
Jim Chung is the director of the MTECH VentureAccelerator, the University of Maryland's initiative for helping faculty and students launch successful technology-based ventures. Chung has previous experience in M&A (Corporate Executive Board), private equity (Cherington Capital), and early stage venture capital (incTANK Ventures). He was also a research fellow at Harvard, MIT, and the University of Tokyo researching how government, business, and academia work interact to create innovation. He received his BA and MA from Stanford University, and is a PhD Candidate on leave from MIT.
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Ed Clancy
(Cal Poly)
Dr. Ed Clancy is Chief Technology Officer of ACTA LLC (Advanced Cooling Technology Applications – www.acta-llc.com), a nanotech startup firm located in Boulder, Colorado. ACTA has a patented process on nanofluids that improves heat transfer properties of refrigerants and is working with Penn State and the University of Cincinnati in developing this technology. ACTA is also working with Ball Aerospace & Technology on a SBIR contract with the Air Force on improving heat pipes that cool electronics using nanofluids. Recently eSpace, an accelerator for high tech businesses located in Colorado, started working with ACTA. Prior to starting ACTA in February 2009, Ed worked as a patent attorney for the USPTO. Dr. Clancy served as Program Director at the National Science Foundation for the Industry / University Cooperative Research Centers in the Industrial Innovation Partnership Division (2005-2007). Ed Clancy is professor emeritus of engineering from Cal Poly (Pomona). He has been a faculty researcher at Department of Energy (DOE) UC Berkeley lab and the US Navy’s David Taylor Lab. Professor Clancy retired from the US Navy as a CAPTAIN. He is a licensed professional engineer and attorney in California and Colorado. Ed is also a licensed Patent Attorney for the USPTO.
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Eamonn Confrey
(First Secretary Information & Communications Policy, Embassy Of Ireland)
Eamonn Confrey has been First Secretary, Information & Communications Technology Policy at the Embassy of Ireland, Washington D.C. since October 2006. He is on secondment from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in Ireland. Eamonn’s primary role is the provision of strategic analysis on Science, Technology & Energy policy developments in North America. He also chairs the Telecoms Attachés Group, an informal network of Washington telecoms diplomats. He holds a B.A. (Hons) in History & Politics and a Masters degree in European Studies from University College Dublin. He also has a Higher Diploma in Information Technology from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.
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Tom Corr
(University of Waterloo) [Canada]
Tom is the CEO of the Accelerator Centre (AC) at the Waterloo Research and Technology Park and Associate Vice-President of Commercialization at the University of Waterloo (UW). Previously he was Director of Commercialization - IT & Communications at the University of Toronto. In his role at the AC, Tom is responsible for overseeing the mentoring, advice, and training that is provided to the 25 early-stage companies that are located at the AC, with a goal of creating successful start-up companies that create economic development for the community and wealth for the company founders and investors. In his role at UW, Tom's primary responsibility is the management of the protection and commercialization of intellectual property developed by the researchers and students at UW. Tom's career also includes over 30 years in the IT sector including positions as Managing Partner at Catalyst Partnership; founder and CEO of Momentum Systems; founder and CEO of Applied Development Corp., and president of Canadian Data Processing Corp. In addition to his responsibilities at the University of Waterloo, Tom also teaches part-time at the University of Toronto and McMaster University. Tom's education includes a Doctor of Business Administration degree from Henley Management College/Brunel University in England, an MBA from the University of Toronto, and an Advanced Post Graduate Degree in Management Consultancy from Henley Management College. Tom has also completed his certification as a corporate director by the Institute of Corporate Directors.
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Brian Cummings
(University of Utah)
Brian Cummings is currently the Executive Director of the Technology Commercialization Office at the University of Utah and Assistant Vice President for Technology Ventures. In the four years that he has been in this role the office has successfully started over 85 new technology-based companies, 80% of which have received initial seed, venture or corporate funding. Brian is also President of a University-based personalized medicine company and has assisted in the set up and creation of three new venture capital funds. Previously, Brian led the life science commercialization efforts at the University of Texas. Brian currently serves on the Board for The Utah Life Science Association, The Rocky Mountain Research Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, The Governor’s Board for Business Resource Centers, The Kickstart Seed Fund, The Renaissance Foundation, Catheter Connections and the LES Board for Technology Commercialization Structure and Development.
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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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Russ Cummings
(Imperial Innovation) [UK]
Russ Cummings is Chief Investment Officer at Imperial Innovations Group plc, one of the leading technology transfer and commercialisation companies in the UK. Imperial Innovations creates, builds and invests in ground breaking technology opportunities and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. He has over 20 years experience in Venture Capital and has invested in over 50 companies across the healthcare, engineering and IT sectors. Prior to Imperial Innovations, Russ worked at 3i Group plc, the FTSE 100 world leader in private equity and venture capital, where he was a Director in their Technology Group and also Scottish Equity Partners, one of Europe’s leading Venture Capital groups. He has invested in, and helped to build, many successful high growth technology companies which have originated from UK Universities, including Searchspace, Oxford Asymmetry and Queensgate Instruments. He has served as a non-executive director on boards of UK, US and Continental European venture backed businesses, coinvesting alongside internationally renowned Venture Capital funds. He is currently a non-executive director of Circassia and Nexeon. He has been involved in IPOs and trade sales in London (LSE and AIM), the US (NASDAQ), European and South African exchanges, bringing a wealth of experience and contacts to his present role. He is a graduate Mechanical Engineer and previously worked as a development engineer for Rolls-Royce Motors in the automotive industry. He is a member of the British Venture Capital Association (‘BVCA’) Venture Capital Committee.
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Charles Curran
(Valhalla Partners)
Charles Curran has been a technology venture capital investor since 1998. Prior to that, he was an investment banker. Before joining Valhalla, Charles was a partner of Saturn Venture Partners, a $280 million early stage venture firm backed by Telecom Italia Mobile, which is located in New York, NY. He led enterprise technology investing at Saturn. He also worked as an associate with New Enterprise Associates (located in Reston, VA) working closely with Art Marks. Prior to NEA, Mr. Curran worked as a telecommunications and technology investment banker for Lazard Frères & Co. and DLJ Securities Corporation, advising premier clients on over $35 billion announced M&A and capital markets transactions. Charles received a Masters in Business Administration from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with Distinction from Stanford University. Charles is helping to drive Valhalla's efforts in data storage, mobile and Internet marketing. He led or supported the firm's investments in JumpTap, Nirvanix, LeftHand Networks, and SEPATON serving as Board member or observer at each company. Charles lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and three children.
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Brian Darmody
(University of Maryland, Co-Host)
Brian Darmody is Associate Vice President for Research and Economic Development at the University of Maryland. He has been involved with launching the University's Office of Technology Commercialization, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), Research Parks Maryland (RPM) and other technology development entities. Previously he worked as University General Counsel, Director of University Government Relations, and at US Health Care Financing Administration, US House of Representatives and Maryland General Assembly. For 2007-08 he chairs the University Network of Entrepreneurs (UM NET).
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Joe Del Guercio
(CNF Investments)
Joe Del Guercio joined CNF Investments in 2004 as a Managing Director. Prior to joining CNF, Joe was a director with LPL Financial Services, a Boston and San Diego based independent broker dealer, with responsibility for strategic planning, new product development, and acquisitions. Prior to LPL, Joe was with Robertson Stephens and Goldman Sachs, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions, private and public equity financings, and restructurings. Joe serves on the boards of Vital Sensors, Verax Biomedical, Overture Technologies, Vision Chain, and DigitalBridge Communications. Joe is also a board observer with Lipomics Technologies Inc., TerraGo Technologies and Innovative Biosensors, and is an advisory board member on a number of CNF’s fund investments. Joe has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. from Boston College.
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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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Debapriya Dutta
(Counselor, Science & Technology, Embassy of India)
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Joseph Dvorak
(Innovation and a Technology Futurist, Research In Motion)
Joseph Dvorak is a Manager of Innovation and a Technology Futurist at Research In Motion where he facilitates the creation of innovative ideas. He was the Technology Futurist in the Motorola Corporate Technology Office until 2008. From 2005 – 2007 he was the Motorola Scientist in Residence at the MIT Media Lab where collaborated with the research groups and managed the transfer of technology from the Media Lab to Motorola research and development groups. He was an Adjunct Professor at Florida Atlantic University where he taught courses in wearable technology and systems and has over 10 years in wearable development and system design. He holds 15 patents and has a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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Craig Dye
(University of Maryland, Maryland Angel Investors)
Craig Dye is the director of venture investments at the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, the University of Maryland’s initiative for enterprise creation and funding. Dye is an accomplished business executive and investor with more than 20 years of investing, IT and operational management experience. As an advisor to the Affinity Lab - an incubator for corporate and social entrepreneurs - Craig has helped launch and sustain numerous successful companies and non-profits in the mid-Atlantic region. Prior to joining Affinity Lab, Craig was the chief operating officer of Articulated Impact, a software development and web strategy company that provides solutions to the challenges of top-tier companies, hedge funds, and nonprofits. Before that, Dye was the founder and CEO of Wheelhouse Networks, delivering enterprise-class computing and telecommunication platforms as a managed service to corporations and professional services firms. He began his career with Informatics General (since acquired by CA Inc.), one of the first technology services companies in the nation, and subsequently served as the global chief information officer for Hogan & Hartson, supporting its growth into a $1 billion legal services leader and more than doubling in size during his tenure. Dye serves on the board of directors of a number of companies and advises startups and nonprofits in the metropolitan area. He received his bachelor of arts in political science from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife and two children.
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Martin Eglitis
(Senior Partnering Director, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries)
Martin Eglitis, Ph.D., is Senior Partnering Director, Teva Innovative Ventures, part of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. He is responsible for the identification and evaluation of potential partnering opportunities in the entire western region of North America. In this role he is seeking early stage partnerships with both academic institutions and small biotechnology companies. Prior to joining Teva he was Associate Director of Licensing at Amgen Inc., where he was responsible for the identification, evaluation, and negotiation of in- and out-licensing opportunities across the drug development spectrum, from lead stage to registration. Among many licensing projects, Martin managed the partner interactions for the evaluation of an Amgen pain program, leading to a deal with J&J potentially valued in excess of $435 million. Before joining Amgen, he spent six years in Neuroscience and Cardiovascular licensing at Eli Lilly and Company. After a post-doctoral fellowship at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, he joined the National Institute of Heart, Lung and Blood at the NIH where he was involved in early efforts to develop transgenic mouse models and retroviral vectors for gene therapy. Dr. Eglitis was involved in one of the first gene therapy start-ups, Genetic Therapy Inc., from inception through its IPO and the first gene therapy clinical trials. Subsequently, Dr. Eglitis utilized his expertise in retroviral vectors to study adult CNS stem cells as a therapeutic avenue at the National Institutes of Mental Health and Neurological Disease and Stroke. Dr. Eglitis obtained his baccalaureate in Biology and Ph.D. in Anatomy and Developmental Biology from the University of Virginia.
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Thomas Fare
(Merck)
Dr. Fare’s has had professional experience with pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and diagnostics companies. His core expertise is leading teams in the development of advanced measurement systems that utilize immunoassays, DNA-based assays, fluidic devices, and analytical instrumentation. Dr. Fare joined Rosetta Inpharmatics in December 1999 to direct the late-stage development and transfer of DNA array writer technology to Agilent Technologies, which used the platform to launch their commercial array business. He was a charter director of the Gene Expression Laboratory (now Covance Genomics Laboratory). Merck acquired Rosetta in 2001 and Dr. Fare has since taken on the role of Technology Licensing Integrator, where he is responsible for evaluating and developing technologies and related applications for Merck discovery and development activities. Dr. Fare received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and was a post-doctoral fellow under Professor Ingemar Lundström at Linköping University (Sweden). After returning from Linköping, Dr. Fare was an Office of Naval Technology Post-doctoral Fellow at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC. While he was at the NRL, Dr. Fare held an adjunct faculty position at the Georgetown University Medical Center; he is currently an affiliate professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington.
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Fred Farina
(Director, Tech Transfer, Cal Tech)
Fred Farina is Assistant Vice President for Technology Transfer at the California Institute of Technology. His responsibilities include evaluating inventions at Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA), supervising patent prosecution and portfolio management, negotiating licensing deals with industry and assisting Caltech/JPL entrepreneurs with the creation of startups. Prior to joining the office, Fred worked for eight year as a Research Engineer in the GPS field. He subsequently joined a law firm where he prosecuted patent applications on various high technologies before the US and European patent offices. Fred holds a "Diplôme d'Ingénieur" in Electrical Engineering from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquees, Lyon, France, and is a graduate of Caltech from which he received his M.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1992. He is a registered U.S. patent agent.
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Nariman Farvardin
(University of Maryland)
Nariman Farvardin became Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at the University of Maryland, College Park in July 2007. He is also Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Prior to his appointment as Provost, Dr. Farvardin was the Dean of the A. James Clark School of Engineering (2000-2007) and Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (1994-2000). During his seven-year tenure as Dean, Dr. Farvardin promoted the development of major research programs and enhanced the School's partnerships with industry. During this period, externally funded research expenditures increased from $70 million to over $110 million. In addition, the School received two landmark gifts: $31 million to establish the Fischell Department of Bioengineering and $30 million to establish a scholarship endowment; constructed a state-of-the-art engineering building; built new programs in nanotechnology, placing the University of Maryland as one of the strongest in the nation in nanotechnology education and research. Dr. Farvardin was the co-founder and chairman of the board of Zagros Networks, a venture-funded fabless semiconductor company in Rockville, Maryland, developing technologies focusing on quality of service provisioning in packet switched networks. He is currently a member of the board of directors and advisory/technical board of several companies, as well as educational and non-profit organizations. Farvardin received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1979, 1980, and 1983 respectively.
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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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Christopher Foster
(Raytheon)
After four years as a state official promoting Maryland technology companies overseas and around the nation, Christopher C. Foster now plies his promotional abilities for one the leading tech companies. Raytheon has hired the former deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development as business development executive for its Information Security Solutions business. Raytheon boasts several strategic university partnerships.
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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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The Honorable Jacques S. Gansler, Ph.D.
(Chair, NAS Committee for Capitalizing on Science, Technology, and Innovation: An Assessment of the Small Business Innovation Research Program, UMD School of Public Policy and former Undersecretary DOD for Technology)
The Honorable Jacques S. Gansler is a Professor and holds the Roger C. Lipitz Chair in Public Policy and Private Enterprise in the School of Public Policy, and is the Director of both the Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise and the Sloan Biotechnology Industry Center. Additionally, he is the Glenn L. Martin Institute Fellow of Engineering at the A. James Clarke School of Engineering, an Affiliate Faculty member at the Robert H. Smith School of Business and a Senior Fellow at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership (all at the University of Maryland). He also served as Interim Dean of the School of Public Policy from 2003 to 2004, and as the Vice President for Research for the University of Maryland from 2004-2006. He is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He currently is chairing three National Academy Committees (one on the “Small Business Innovation Research Program”; one on “Science and Security”; and one on “Special Forces”). Gansler recently served as the Chair of the Secretary of the Army’s “Commission on Contracting and Program Management for Army Expeditionary Forces.” He is also the National Academy of Engineering’s representative on the Academies’ Standing Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy; and he currently Chairs a Defense Science Board Task Force on the 21st Century Defense Industry. Previously, Dr. Gansler served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics from November 1997 until January 2001. In this position, he was responsible for all matters relating to Department of Defense acquisition, research and development, logistics, acquisition reform, advanced technology, international programs, environmental security, nuclear, chemical, and biological programs, and the defense technology and industrial base. (He had an annual budget of over $180 Billion, and a workforce of over 300,000.) Prior to this appointment, Dr. Gansler was Executive Vice President and Corporate Director for TASC, Incorporated, an applied information technology company, in Arlington, Virginia (from 1977 to 1997) during which time he played a major role in building the company from a small operation into a large, widely-recognized and greatly-respected corporation, serving both the government and the private sector. From 1972 to 1977, he served in the government as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Materiel Acquisition), responsible for all defense procurements and the defense industry; and as Assistant Director of Defense Research and Engineering (Electronics) responsible for all defense electronics Research and Development. His prior industrial experience included: Vice President (Business Development), I.T.T. (1970-1972); Program Management, Director of Advanced Programs, and Director of International Marketing, Singer Corporation (1962-1970); and Engineering Management, Raytheon Corporation (1956-1962). Dr. Gansler serves (and has served) on numerous Corporation Boards of Directors, and governmental special committees and advisory boards. He has been Vice Chairman, Defense Science Board and member for 10 years; Chairman, Board of Visitors, Defense Acquisition University; Director, Procurement Round Table; Chairman, Industry Advisory Board, University of Virginia, School of Engineering; Chairman, Board of Visitors, University of Maryland, School of Public Policy; member of the FAA Blue Ribbon Panel on Acquisition Reform; member of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Advisory Board (10 years); and senior consultant to the "Packard Commission" on Defense Acquisition Reform. Additionally, from 1984 to 1997, Dr. Gansler was a Visiting Scholar at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University where he was a frequent guest lecturer in Executive Management courses. He is the author of 3 books, a contributing author of 25 other books, author of over 100 papers, and a frequent speaker and Congressional witness. Dr. Gansler holds a BE in Electrical Engineering from Yale University, a MS in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University, a MA in Political Economy from the New School for Social Research, and a Ph.D. in Economics from American University.
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Dave Goodwin
(Department of Energy)
Physical Scientist presently working for the following 3 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Offices: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR), Fusion Energy Sciences, and Security. Since 1986 have also worked for the following 4 DOE Offices: High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, Advanced Scientific Computing, and Defense Programs. From 1976 to 1986, worked for the USN. From 1972 to 1976, worked on 3 nuclear power plants. From 1968 to 1971, on staff at Ohio State University (OSU). Degrees from OSU in physics and engineering. Awards include a Thousand Points of Light Award from First Lady Barbara Bush for volunteer construction work. Hobbies include adventure travel to 60 countries and U.S. travel to visit 21 grandkids.
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Cynthia E. Gonsalves
(Acting Director, Office of Technology Transition Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense)
Mrs. Gonsalves is the Director of the Office of Technology Transition. In this position, she has oversight of the Manufacturing Technology Program, Defense Production Act Title III Program, and Independent Research and Development Program; she is also the Director for Technology Transfer and Transition. As Director, she has oversight responsibility for the DoD Technology Transfer Program, the Technology Transition Initiative, and the North American Technology and Industrial Base Organization (NATIBO). She provides guidance and develops plans to implement and improve the DoD technology transfer and transition programs to ensure coherent, although decentralized programs. She has developed DoD-wide implementation policy and technology transfer and intellectual property information systems. Within the NATIBO, she provides guidance and develops plans with the Services, other federal agencies, and Canada. Mrs. Gonsalves will describe opportunities for new and established businesses to utilize DoD laboratory facilities throughout the nation as a source of technology and scarce laboratory capability for the development of products and services of interest to the Department of Defense and private sector markets.
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Robert R. Gruetzmacher
(Director of Technology Commercialization, DuPont's Center for Collaborative Research and Education)
Dr. Gruetzmacher is the Director of Technology Commercialization in DuPont's Center for Collaborative Research and Education. During his career with DuPont, his responsibilities have included research, development, manufacturing, and marketing in the photopolymer imaging products and medical diagnostic businesses. He managed DuPont’s infectious disease diagnostics research group in Boston, co-managed a food quality assurance business venture, and helped lead development of DuPont's technology transfer group and intellectual assets business. In his current role his responsibilities include managing the unrestricted grants program, leading DuPont’s efforts to find appropriate university partners for sponsored and collaborative research, negotiating agreements and seeks new business opportunities with the academic setting including startups, and advises company-wide on licensing-related matters. Most recently, he has been asked to take a lead in facilitating corporate-wide implementation of an “open innovation” R&D model. Dr. Gruetzmacher holds a Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University, and was the recipient of a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship. He has served as a trustee of the Licensing Executives Society and participates in several international forums dealing with topics such as university/company transactions, knowledge management, and the management and valuation of intellectual assets. He has authored publications and is invited frequently to gives talks on these topics. He is a certified licensing Professional and a member of the Licensing Executives Society, the American Chemical Society, the Association of University Technology Managers, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is on the industrial advisory boards of the Larta Institute in Los Angeles, the Larta/USDA Commercialization Assistance Program and the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. He was recently elected to the University-Industry Demonstration Partnership (UIDP) board of directors.
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Steve Hahn
(Dow Chemical)
Steve Hahn is a Senior Research Scientist in Dow’s Ventures and Business Development group. Steve joined Dow in 1982 in Central Research in Midland, Michigan, working in the Anionic and Ziegler groups, and in the Dow’s Polystyrene Business. He joined the Materials Science Group in Performance Plastics and Chemicals in Freeport, Texas prior to taking his current position. Steve has worked on a variety of polymer and plastic related research projects including the development of microelectronic and optical materials, polymer modification, anionic polymerization, synthesis and characterization of novel block copolymers, interfacial interactions of polymeric materials and the preparation and study of nanostructured materials. Steve has a B.S. in Chemistry from Michigan Tech and an M.S. in Chemistry from Central Michigan University/Michigan Molecular Institute. He holds >30 issued U.S. Patents, has 35 publications in refereed journals, 15 conference proceedings, and has written 5 chapters in technical text or reference books. Steve was named a Dow Chemical Company Inventor of the Year in 1990 and 1996, was the Distinguished Alumni Lecturer at Michigan Technological University in 1996 and 2003, and was presented the Dow Chemical Company Michigan Scientists Organization Excellence In Science Award in 1999. He was a Visiting Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the University of Minnesota in 2002. He has represented Dow on the Technical Advisory Board for the Institute of Materials Science at the University of Connecticut and the College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board at Michigan Technological University. He was a recipient of the ACS PMSE 2008 Cooperative Research Award.
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Eric Harlé
(Managing Partner, I-Source) [France]
Eric Harlé is an Arts et Métiers and PhD graduate and holds an Executive MBA from HEC. Eric started as a naval architect, designing and building dozens of cruising and racing sailing boats. He joined Dassault Systèmes (world leader of PLM systems) in 1984 when the company was small start-up growing very fast, where he has held several development and senior management positions, involved in many corporate projects including the IPO on Nasdaq and Euronext in 1996. He choose to come back to the very specific atmosphere of young start-ups in 1997, joined Datops (Paris based decision support software) as COO. In late 1998, Eric co-founded the Venture Capital firm I-Source with the support of French institutional investors. He is the managing partner of the 6 investors team, dedicated to seed and early stage investment in the ICT field. I-Source has invested in 65 companies since 1999. 20 have been acquired, most of them by US companies, and 3 of them are now listed on Euronext in Paris. Eric is a board member of Etiam, Expway, Jobpartners, Link Care Services, Smartesting, Total Immersion and Webjam.
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Jouko Hautamaki
(Attache, Science & Technology, Embassy of Finland)
Jouko Hautamaki (M.Sc. Eng.) works as a Science and Technology Attaché at the Embassy of Finland, representing Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation. Tekes is the main public funding organization in Finland for research, development and innovation carried by universities and industry. In the US, Hautamaki’s main tasks are technology foresight operations and Finnish research and industry internationalizing by matchmaking them with American counterpartners. Previously he has worked in different positions at Tekes, lately as a Senior Technology Advisor in the information technology sector. Before joining Tekes, Hautamaki has worked as a development and a production manager in the SME industry, and a production engineering research scientist at Tampere University of Technology, partly in Czech Republic.
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Al Hawkins
(Director, New Ventures, Boston University)
Al Hawkins is Director of New Ventures at Boston University, where he manages the process of starting and developing new faculty companies, administers the Boston University venture capital fund and oversees the BU Photonics Center Incubator. Prior to BU, Al was a Co-founder and Partner of Agave Group, a management consulting firm that focused on fund raising, business development and investment due diligence for early stage life science companies and investor groups. In five years at Agave Group, Al led over 60 consulting projects. He received an SM degree in Biomedical Enterprise from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST). Al received a Masters in Business degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Bachelors degree from Emory University. He serves on the boards of several private life science companies and non-profits.
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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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Dominic Houlihan
(University of Aberdeen) [UK]
Professor Dominic Houlihan is Vice-Principal, Research & Commercialisation at the University of Aberdeen. A professor of zoology, and internationally distinguished fish biologist, he has responsibilities for the University’s research and commercialisation activity including developing the research culture and strategies for commercial income. He is tasked with raising the University’s research profile and level of research income through interaction with government, industry, the research councils and major charities. He also held major responsibility for overseeing the University’s preparations for the RAE 2008. He is responsible for the encouragement of more than 15 spin outs, two of which have seen very significant investment.
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Andrew Jay
(Siemens)
Dr. Andrew Jay is Head of the Health Care Fund at Siemens Venture Capital. He currently is on the Board of Directors of RadPharm, U-Systems, Cornova and Vasomed. He is a Board Observer at MDdatacor and Zonare. He previously was involved in alumni portfolio companies Sequenom and Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Jay previously was a medical technology analyst leading the practices at Wachovia Securities, Alex. Brown and Deutsche Bank. He was instrumental in raising over $2 billion in equity capital, publishing over 10,000 pages of research and bringing over 20 medical technology companies public. He was frequently quoted and interviewed in the financial trade press including the Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, CNN and MSNBC. He distinguished himself with thought-leading research on topics such as neurological devices, stroke, and the first report on the enormous opportunity in coated stents. He has a Bachelor of Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a DMD from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern. Outside the office, Dr. Jay founded an environmental non-profit, the Massachusetts Oyster Project, which is restoring water purifying oysters to Boston Harbor. www.massoyster.org.
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Patrick Jones
(University of Arizona)
Patrick Jones has directed the Office of Technology Transfer at The University of Arizona since the fall of 2002. His private sector activities in the software, laser, and the defense research contracting industries have included R&D, product development, product life cycle management and product marketing. Within the public sector he has held regular and affiliate faculty appointments in Chemistry and for six years served in technology transfer at the University of Washington. He is a Past President of the Association of University Technology Managers, a 3500 member global professional society promoting excellence in academic technology transfer and a member of the Board of Governors for Certified Licensing Professions, Inc., a certification organization for licensing professionals from industry and academia. He received his B.Sci. in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota, his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from the University of Colorado and his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Washington.
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Christian Jörgens
(Head of Science and Technology Section, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany)
Christian Joergens has been serving as head of the S&T section of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Washington D.C. since October 2007. The science section of the embassy deals with all S&T –related issues, such as general questions of U.S. research, technology and innovation policy, key technologies, space, energy and homeland security research, biotechnology and genetic engineering, information technology, environmental research, and scientific workforce. Prior to his work as science counselor, Joergens served in different functions at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of the Federal Republic of Germany, starting in 1987. He was head of the divisions for Legal Affairs, for Staff at Research Institutions and for Public Sector Employment Law. He headed the ministry’s working group for reform of public sector employment law at German universities. Earlier, he worked in the Human Resources Division and the Division for Cooperation with North and South America. From 1996 to 1998 Joergens served at the Federation of German Industries (BDI), Department for Technology and Innovation Policy. In 1989 he was seconded to the ILL (Institut Laue – Langevin), which operates a research reactor in Grenoble, France. He received a masters degree in law at Georg-August University in Goettingen, Germany.
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Peter Kelly
(Executive Director, Helsinki School of Creative Entrepreneurship) [Finland]
Peter Kelly is an award winning entrepreneurship educator and practitioner. He has taught courses in Creativity, New Venture Development, Entrepreneurial Finance and Managing Growth courses at the Helsinki University of Technology (Finland) and is the founding Executive Director of the Helsinki School of Creative Entrepreneurship involving Finland’s leading technology, design and business universities. Dr Kelly has also taught in Sweden (Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship), UK (London Business School and University of Notre Dame), Portugal (Instituto Politecnico Lisbon), Russia and Norway (SSE), Switzerland (EFPL Lausanne), and Canada (WLU). He earned an MBA from the University of Notre Dame and became the first PhD in Entrepreneurship from London Business School. He is a leading international authority on business angel finance and venture capital and serves on the Editorial Board of Venture Capital: An International Journal of Finance. While at LBS, he helped establish the Foundation for Entrepreneurial Management and the first private university seed fund in Europe. Dr Kelly was named Teacher of the Year in Finland in 2004 by the Foundation for the Advancement of Technical Sciences. In a prior life, he was an investment and corporate banker at Toronto Dominion Bank in Canada working with cable television, cellular and publishing companies. In that capacity, he was involved in taking companies public and numerous acquisition transactions. He is also a business angel.
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David Koegel
(Office of Laboratory Policy and Evaluation, Office of Science, Department of Energy)
David Koegel has been with the federal government for 24 years, 18 of which have been with the Department of Energy in the Office of Science, the basic research arm of the Department. His federal career began as a chemical engineer at the Army’s Night Vision and Electro-Optic Laboratory where he pursued the development and fabrication of advanced infrared detectors, similar to the type used in today’s heat-imaging cameras. He spent several years on detail to the Pentagon to the Army’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, most significantly during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. After joining DOE in 1991, he organized and led retrospective peer reviews of research sponsored by a number of programs within the Department. He was a program manager in the Laboratory Technology Transfer program, responsible for coordinating research projects to benefit the American textile industry, then an industrial sector suffering from international competition, inefficiency, environmental contamination and most significantly was one of the largest consumers of electric power in the U.S. Mr. Koegel has also contributed significantly as a program manager in the Advanced Energy Projects division and in the Small Business Innovative Research program. Currently Mr. Koegel is in the Office of Laboratory Policy and Evaluation, assisting with the annual corporate level evaluation of the ten Office of Science national laboratories and with the annual laboratory planning process. He is a member of the DOE Technology Transfer Policy Board, and some of his responsibilities include being the Department’s liaison to the DOE Technology Transfer Working Group, the Federal Laboratory Consortium on Technology Transfer, and the federal Interagency Working Group on Technology Transfer. He has most recently been named the Office of Science Small Business Program Manager. Mr. Koegel has a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering, and a Master of Science degree in materials science engineering, both from the University of Arizona. Raised in Arizona, he resides in Alexandria, VA, where he enjoys home renovation in his spare time.
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Tomohisa Koyama
(Nagoya University) [Japan]
Tomohisa Koyama is Professor and Executive Director of Technology Partnership of Nagoya University, Inc (NU Tech), which was founded close to North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park by Nagoya University, one of the premier Japanese universities, to promote technology transfer between US and Japan. Professor Koyama worked for 4 years at a consulting firm in Washington, D.C. where he helped US clients to explore Japanese markets. Before the consulting career, Professor Koyama worked for Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and was in charge of energy and environmental policy making and implementation. Professor Koyama earned an M.S. in Technology Policy from MIT and graduated from Nagoya University’s School of Engineering with an M.S. and B.S. in Electrical Engineering.
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Melba Kurman
(Cornell University)
Melba Kurman manages marketing and outreach efforts at the Cornell Center for Technology Enterprise and Commercialization (CCTEC). She has managed and designed several web portals, including MyIP which is now being made available to other technology transfer offices. In addition, she writes CCTEC's publication content, designed and manages CCTEC’s brand identity, and interacts with media on PR activities. As the first-ever marketing person at CCTEC over two years ago, Melba had the rare opportunity to build CCTEC's marketing strategy from scratch, re-designing the web site, building a search engine, and instituting the first Annual Report and regular news bulletins. Melba’s most recent software project is an online investment portal to connect angel investors to startups that are associated with Cornell. Prior to joining CCTEC, Melba spent nearly a decade in technology industry in the Pacific Northwest doing marketing and marketing research at Microsoft and other technology companies. Melba graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Communications.
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Andrew Kurtz
(Office of the Director, National Cancer Institute, NIH)
Dr. Kurtz is a Program Director in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Development Center at the National Cancer Institute. His management portfolio comprises awards that support the pre-clinical development of novel oncology therapeutics, including small molecules, biologics, and multifunctional therapeutics based on nanotechnology. From 2005-2007, Dr. Kurtz was a NIH/AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow, serving on the management team of The Cancer Genome Atlas Pilot Project and assisting in the development of several program enhancements to help advance NIH-funded SBIR projects toward commercialization. Prior to coming to NIH, Dr. Kurtz conducted basic research in DNA repair, mutagenesis and carcinogenesis. He held a previous position as Research Associate at Cedra Corporation, a Contract Research Organization that provides GLP bioanalytical services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He received a B.S. in Chemistry from The University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in Human Biological Chemistry & Genetics from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
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Burton Lee
(Stanford University)
Dr. Burton Lee PhD MBA is Director of Stanford University’s European Entrepreneurship and Innovation Thought Leaders Program in the School of Engineering. He was recently appointed to Ireland’s national Innovation Taskforce by Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen. Dr. Lee is a technology venture finance, commercialization and innovation strategy and policy professional with over 15 years entrepreneurial and senior executive leadership and advisory experience in seed-stage investment; venture-backed startups; global technology corporations; venture capital and private equity funds, angel networks, federal S&T agencies, state economic development offices, leading research universities, industry associations and national governments. His management and technical experience includes global strategy and research positions with Hewlett Packard, GE Global Research, DaimlerChrysler AG and NASA in the United States, Europe and Japan. Burton’s sector expertise spans software, artificial intelligence, robotics, alternative energy, environmental systems, green IT, semiconductors, nanotechnology, aerospace and defense, sensor networks, medical devices and manufacturing. Dr. Lee serves as Managing Partner of Innovarium Ventures, a strategic, financial and technical advisory services firm based in Silicon Valley. Current and recent clients include the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA Ames Research Center and New Mexico Spaceport Authority. He also serves as Principal and co-founder of Space Angels Network, a professionally managed national network of accredited investors focused on seed- and early-stage aviation- and space-related ventures. During 2006-2008, Burton served as Innovation Policy Advisor to Governor Bill Richardson’s presidential campaign; as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Academy of Sciences’ Computer Science and Telecommunications Board in Washington DC; and as innovation cluster development policy advisor to the state of New Mexico. Previous S&T and economic policy assignments include a tenure at US labor union federation AFL-CIO headquarters, and serving as a senior tourism advisor to Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga and the Central Bank of Jamaica. Burton holds a PhD in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from Stanford University (2002), and an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship (Cornell, 2004).
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Esther Lee
(Director, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Policy, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce)
Esther Lee serves in the Obama Administration as Director, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Policy at the U.S. Department of Commerce. In that role, she leads the newly created Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which is focused on promoting high-growth entrepreneurship and accelerating technology commercialization of federal R&D. She also coordinates the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Prior to joining Commerce, Esther was a seasoned business executive with 15 years of experience in technology and media. She served in senior executive roles at Time Warner, AOL, and Siemens, as well as two startups. Esther received an A.B. in economics from Harvard and an MBA in entrepreneurship from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
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David Lerner
(Director, New Ventures,Columbia University Science & Technology Ventures)
Dave Lerner is a New York-based Serial Entrepreneur, Angel Investor, Chairman of the Totius Group and a Board Member of New York Tech Meetup. He is also the Director of the Venture Lab at Columbia University Science & Technology Ventures which spins-off 10-12 start-ups per year based on university intellectual property. His personal blog, www.davidblerner.com, explores the worlds of angel/venture investing, entrepreneurship and university spin-offs. Dave was recently named one of the "top 100 most influential New Yorkers in the digital business community" by Silicon Alley Insider http://www.businessinsider.com/sa100/2008/david-lerner. He is also an active organizer of entrepreneurship and venture capital events and a mentor to entrepreneurs and start-ups in and outside of the university arena. He is an Advisory Board Member and Organizer of the Blue Venture Community, is the Resident Venture Advisor to the Lang Center for Entrepreneurship at Columbia Business School and serves on the Advisory Board of the National Council for Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer.
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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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H. Keith McDowell
(University of Texas)
Keith McDowell received a B.S. degree in chemistry from Wake Forest University in 1966 and a Ph.D. in chemical physics under the direction of Martin Karplus from Harvard University in 1972. From 1972 to 1974 he served as a postdoctoral fellow with Richard Porter at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. From 1974 until 1983 he was a member of the Department of Chemistry at Clemson University, and moved from the rank of Assistant Professor to tenured Associate Professor in 1978. Dr. McDowell spent the academic year 1981-1982 on sabbatical leave at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In 1983, he became Group Leader of the Physical Chemistry Group at Los Alamos. In 1988 he became Coordinator of Materials Science at Los Alamos. From 1991 to 1996 he was Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Arlington. In 1999 he became the Associate Dean of Science followed by a year as Dean of Graduate School. From 2001 until 2003 Dr. McDowell served as the Vice President for Research and Information Technology. In 2003 Dr. McDowell became the Vice President for Research at The University of Alabama and in 2007 Vice Chancellor for Research and Technology Transfer at The University of Texas System. Dr. McDowell has won several awards during his career. In 1962 he received an honorable mention in the annual Westinghouse Science Talent Search. In 1978 he was awarded the position of Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. In 2000 he won the University of Texas Chancellor’s Teaching Award. Dr. McDowell is the author of many refereed publications ranging from applications of diagrammatic perturbation theory in quantum chemistry to quantum Monte Carlo, surface diffusion, chemisorption, dynamics in inorganic complexes, and quantum Langevin theories.
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Eric Meulenkamp
(Philips Research)
Dr Eric Meulenkamp received his PhD (cum laude) from Utrecht University, The Netherlands, in 1993 in the field of materials science. After a postdoctoral position in Bath, UK, he joined Philips Research Europe in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in 1995, where he performed work on several topics in materials science and device physics. In 2005, he was made a Senior Director and Department Head of the group “Photonic Materials and Devices”, with focus on solid state lighting. In this role he was heavily involved in open innovation at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven and The Netherlands. In 2008, he took up the position of Research Department Head in Philips Research North America in Briarcliff Manor, NY, leading the group “Energy-Efficient and Networked Environments” that looks into wireless communication and green buildings.
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Mark Mielke
(BASF Future Business America )
Mark Mielke is responsible for Innovation Scouting & Strategy in North America at BASF Future Business GmbH. He formulates emerging market strategies and builds relationships with start up companies, innovators and universities with the goal of adding new technologies to the BFB portfolio leveraging BASF's core competencies in chemistry and materials. Mark analyzes opportunities related to energy & resources, human health and the environment. Mark holds a PhD degree in Colloid Science from the University of Kiel Germany and an MBA from the Stevens Institute of Technology
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President C. D. Mote
(University of Maryland)
In September 1998, C. D. (Dan) Mote, Jr. began his tenure as President of the University of Maryland and Glenn L. Martin Institute Professor of Engineering. He was recruited to lead the University of Maryland to national eminence under a mandate by the state. Since assuming the presidency, he has encouraged an environment of excellence across the University and given new impetus to the momentum generated by a talented faculty and student body. Under his leadership, academic programs have flourished. In 2005, the University was ranked 18th among public research universities, up from 30th in 1998. President Mote has emphasized broad access to the university's model, enriched undergraduate curriculum programs and launched the Baltimore Incentive Awards Program to recruit and provide full support to high school students of outstanding potential who have overcome extraordinary adversity during their lives. He has spurred the university to lead the state in the development of its high-tech economy, especially in the information and communication, bioscience and biotechnology, and nano-technology sectors. President Mote has greatly expanded the university's partnerships with corporate and federal laboratories and successfully negotiated to bring to the College Park area the first Science Research Park sponsored by the People's Republic of China. Under his leadership, the University has established a research park, The University of Maryland Enterprise Campus, M-Square, located on a 115-acre site adjacent to the University of Maryland/College Park Metro with 3 million square feet of development potential. Among its first tenants are the Center for Advanced Study of Language, a joint venture of the University and Department of Defense, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's new World Weather and Climate Prediction Center. During President Mote's second year in office, the University began the largest building boom in its history, with more than $100 million in new projects breaking ground that year. New facilities address every aspect of university life, from the arts to recreation to classrooms and laboratories, and, in creative partnership with the private sector, new residential facilities. Highlights of the construction activity include the stunning Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center; the Comcast Center, a state of the art sports complex; a high tech research greenhouse; and new classrooms for chemistry, computer science, business and engineering. President Mote also led the development of a new Facilities Master Plan for development in the next 20 years, which is noted for its emphasis on environmental stewardship. Dr. Mote is a leader in the national dialogue on higher education and his analyses of shifting funding models have been featured in local and national media. He has testified on major educational issues before Congress, representing the University and higher education associations on the problem of visa barriers for international students and scholars and on deemed export control issues. He has been asked to serve on a high level National Academies Committee appointed at the request of the Senate Energy Subcommittee of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to identify challenges to United States leadership in key areas of science and technology and to be a member of the Leadership Council of the National Innovation Initiative, an activity of the Council on Competitiveness. He has served as vice chair of the Department of Defense Basic Research Committee, and is a member of the Council of the National Academy of Engineering. In 2004-2005, he served as President of the Atlantic Coast Conference. In its last ranking in 2002, "Washington Business Forward" magazine counted him among the top 20 most influential leaders in the region. Prior to assuming the Presidency at Maryland, Dr. Mote served on the University of California, Berkeley faculty for 31 years. From 1991 to 1998, he was Vice Chancellor at Berkeley, held an endowed chair in Mechanical Systems and was President of the UC Berkeley Foundation. He led a comprehensive capital campaign for Berkeley that raised $1.4 B. He earlier served as chair of Berkeley's Department of Mechanical Engineering and led the department to its number one ranking in the National Research Council review of graduate program effectiveness. Dr. Mote's research lies in dynamic systems and biomechanics. Internationally recognized for his research on the dynamics of gyroscopic systems and the biomechanics of snow skiing, he has produced more than 300 publications, holds patents in the U.S., Norway, Finland and Sweden, and has mentored 56 Ph.D. students. He received the B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. President Mote has received numerous awards and honors, including the Humboldt Prize awarded by the Federal Republic of Germany. He is a recipient of the Berkeley Citation, an award from the University of California-Berkeley similar to the honorary doctorate, and was named Distinguished Engineering Alumnus. He has received two honorary doctorates. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and serves on its Council, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was elected to Honorary Membership in the ASME International, its most distinguished recognition, and is a Fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science, the Acoustical Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In Spring 2005, he was named recipient of the 2005 J. P. Den Hartog award by the ASME International Technical Committee on Vibration and Sound to honor his lifelong contribution to the teaching and/or practice of vibration engineering. In Fall 2005, he received the 2005 Founders Award from the National Academy of Engineering in recognition of his comprehensive body of work on the dynamics of moving flexible structures and for leadership in academia. He and his wife of over 40 years, Patricia Mote, have two married children, Melissa and Adam, and four grandchildren. Patsy Mote has continued her strong support of the arts and is spokesperson for the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and a member of Prince George's County Arts Commission.
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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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Linda Naylor
(University of Oxford) [UK]
Linda is Head of the Technology Transfer and has been with Isis Innovation Ltd for over 7 years. Isis Innovation Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Oxford. As the technology company of the University Isis commercialises the research generated by University researchers and owned by the University. Before moving to Isis in July 2002 Linda was based at the University of York where she was manager of Bioincubator York Ltd and was responsible for the commercialisation of Bioscience research either through company start-up or licensing. Linda was also part of the White Rose Biotechnology Consortium, which was established to exploit the possible synergies between the Universities of York, Sheffield and Leeds to maximise the commercial potential of Life Science research from the three Universities. Previously, Linda was with Monsanto S.A. where she was responsible for the public acceptance strategy involved in the business development of a worldwide biopolymer business. Before joining Monsanto she had over 20 years experience in the Life Science industry with Zeneca plc / ICI plc during which time she was responsible for managing the biology research within developing Life Science businesses covering the pharmaceutical, agrochemical, biopolymer, chemical and food business. Linda has a B.A. in Biological Sciences and an MBA from Oxford.
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Javier Garoz Neira
(General Manager Corporate Development, Telvent)
General Manager of Corporate Development. Joined Telvent in 2000 as head of the Environment business unit. In 2007 assumed the M&A responsibility and has taken over the current position in 2009 relocating to Washington DC with his family to lead the areas of R&D, Marketing, M&A and Operations globally for Telvent. His university background is in Marketing and business administration (ESIC 1995, IESE 1999) and has been in the IT sector almost 20 years, developing responsibilities from sales to product management and assuming top management positions since very early.
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Lita Nelsen
(MIT)
Lita Nelsen is the Director of the Technology Licensing Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she has been since 1986. This office manages over 500 new inventions per year from M.I.T., the Whitehead Institute, and Lincoln Laboratory. Typically, they negotiate over 100 licenses, and start up over 20 new companies per year. Ms. Nelsen earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from M.I.T. and an M.S. in Management from M.I.T. as a Sloan Fellow. Prior to joining the M.I.T. Technology Licensing Office, Ms. Nelsen spent 20 years in industry, primarily in the fields of membrane separations, medical devices, and biotechnology, at such companies as Amicon, Millipore, Arthur D. Little, Inc., and Applied Biotechnology. Ms. Nelsen was the 1992 President of the Association of University Technology Managers and serves on the board the Mount Auburn Hospital, and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Foundation. She serves as the intellectual property advisor to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and is a founding and current board member of the Center for Management of Intellectual Property in Health Research. Ms. Nelsen is widely published in the field of technology transfer and university/industry collaborations and was a CMI Fellow at the University of Cambridge with the Cambridge MIT Institute studying university/industry/government partnerships in technology transfer and local economic development. She is a co-founder of Praxis, the UK University Technology Transfer Training Programme.
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Takeru Ohe
(Waseda University) [Japan]
Dr. Ohe is a professor at Waseda University Business School in Tokyo, Japan. He teaches Corporate Venture and Entrepreneurship courses and is Director of the School’s Incubation Center. Dr. Ohe’s research interests cover Experimental Management, Technology Evaluation under Uncertainty, and Entrepreneur Education. He also consults on corporate venturing activities with clients including Nikon, Yamaha, and Murata. Dr. Ohe currently sits on the boards of Cognex Japan K.K., a Boston-based machine vision manufacturer; and Syswave K.K., a semiconductor testing company based in Tokyo. Dr. Ohe has a Ph.D. in Experimental Physics from the University of Maryland and an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He has a BS degree in Physics from Nippon University in Tokyo.
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Raymond Lee Orbach
Dr. Raymond Lee Orbach, the U.S. Department of Energy's first undersecretary for science, has been appointed director of The University of Texas at Austin's Energy Institute, a multi-disciplinary institute that combines the strengths of the university's schools and colleges to advance solutions to today's energy-related challenges. The Energy Institute is developing multi-disciplinary research programs and educational materials to overcome the scientific and technological barriers to a secure and sustainable energy future, while helping policy leaders make the informed decisions required to reach this goal. Orbach was sworn in as the Department of Energy's first undersecretary for science in June 2006. He was the chief scientist of the Department of Energy, and adviser to Secretary Samuel W. Bodman on science policy as well as all scientific aspects of the Department of Energy, including basic and applied research ranging from nuclear energy, to environmental cleanup of Cold War legacy sites, to defense programs. Orbach was responsible for planning, coordinating and overseeing the Energy Department's research and development programs and its 17 national laboratories, as well as the department's scientific and engineering education activities. Orbach also was responsible for the department's implementation of the president's American Competitiveness Initiative, designed to help drive continued U.S. economic growth. He led the department's efforts to transfer technologies from Department of Energy national laboratories and facilities to the global marketplace. From the time of his Senate confirmation in 2002, Orbach also was the 14th director of the Office of Science at the Department of Energy. He managed an organization that was the third largest federal sponsor of basic research in the United States, the primary supporter of the physical sciences in the country and one of the premier science organizations in the world. From 1982 to 1992, Orbach was the provost of the College of Letters and Science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and from 1992 to 2002, he was chancellor of the University of California (UC), Riverside. Under his leadership, UC Riverside doubled in size, achieved national and international recognition in research and led the University of California in diversity and educational opportunity. In addition to his administrative duties at UC Riverside, Orbach sustained a research program, worked with postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate students in his laboratory and taught the freshman physics course each year.
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Jit Patel
(Head of Discovery Licensing, Astra-Zeneca)
Jit is Director, Global Discovery Alliances at AstraZeneca. He is responsible for external investments and post-deal management in CNS and Pain. Jit obtained his PhD at University of London, and did his postdoctoral training at National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Before assuming his present position, Jit held number of key project management positions in drug discovery at AstraZeneca. Jit Patel has done numerous high profile partnering deals with Biotech and Universities alike. His current priorities for partnering on behalf of AstraZeneca include targets, projects and drug candidates for CNS diseases.
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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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Michael Rauhofer
(Managing Director, INiTS Universitares Grunderservice Wien) [Austria]
Michael Rauhofer is the Managing Director of INiTS, his responsibilities include consulting and coaching start-ups, getting funds for them and creating an entrepreneurship community which helps them staffing their team and getting access to business angels and VC´s. Mr. Rauhofer has served as Managing Director of Alsphere GmbH a venture capital financed start-up developing ship hulls with low wash requirements as well as a new way of producing the hulls. Previously Mr. Rauhofer has served as Managing Director of MAN Dezentrale Energiesysteme GmbH an engineering and sales company for combined heat and power plants. Prior to that Mr. Rauhofer developed a concept for OMV, a large oil and gas company to enter the energy contracting business. Based on this concept OMV started a spin off to enter the end user market for gas and electricity. Mr. Rauhofer graduated from the Technical University of Vienna, earned a Masters degree from the University Krems in Management of the Environment and got his business education through an Executive MBA at Harvard Business School.
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Jamie Rhodes
(Central Texas Angel Network)
With over 30 years of experience in technology management, Jamie Rhodes founded Perceptive Sciences in 1999. He recognized a need for improvement in the area of human-computer interaction, and thus developed the vision for Perceptive Sciences, which has been recognized as one of the nation’s top market research companies built on the use of cognitive psychology. Jamie believes in giving back to the community. He founded the Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN), which provides local funding and support to central Texas entrepreneurs across a broad spectrum of industries. For his efforts he was awarded the Technology Volunteer of the Year award by the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. Jamie is an active angel – currently serving on numerous start-up advisory boards. He also serves the State of Texas as an advisory board member of the Central Texas Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization (CT-RCIC), investing funds in Texas companies from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. He is on the advisory boards of The University of Texas’ IC2 Institute, St. Edward’s University Business School, Austin Chapter of Rice Alliance, and United Way Austin. Currently, he serves on the board of directors of the Texas Tri-cities Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors and the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. Jamie has a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin, a Master’s degree in Business from the University of Texas at Austin and is an adjunct professor in St Edwards MBA program teaching New Venture Creation.
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Santiago Romo
(Director TTO, Rey Juan Carlos University) [Spain]
Since 2002, Santiago Romo is the Director of the Rey Juan Carlos University Technology Transfer Office. Between 2005 and 2007 he was President of the Spanish Association of University Technology Transfer Offices, Red OTRI. He joined the Rey Juan Carlos University after fifteen years of activity in private and public organisations such as: Telefonica (Madrid, Spain), LURE Laboratory (Orsay-Paris, France) and CDTI (Spanish R&D Agency). Presently, he is also managing the Technology Transfer Support Program at the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. He has been Spanish national delegate to the European R&D Framework Program (European Commission) and industrial liaison officer at CERN Laboratory (Geneva, Switzerland) and ESRF Laboratory (Grenoble, France). He is a graduate in Physics from Autonoma University (Madrid, Spain).
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Barry Rosenbaum
(University of Arkon)
Barry Rosenbaum obtained a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Northwestern University in 1967. Upon graduation, he joined Exxon Chemical Elastomers Division where he held a number of senior technical and business positions in the specialty synthetic rubber industry. Dr. Rosenbaum was the technology director of Exxon’s butyl and halobutyl rubber and EPDM rubber businesses and was responsible for developing Exxon’s bromobutyl technology for tire innerliners. He also initiated Exxon’s new exxpro butyl polymers technology platform development. Dr. Rosenbaum spent six years in Europe with Exxon Chemical and was responsible for the European VISTALON EPDM business until 1990. He was active in the ACS Rubber Division and the IISRP. In 1991, Dr. Rosenbaum helped to found Advanced Elastomer Systems, a joint venture between Exxon and Monsanto in thermoplastic elastomers and was the vice president of technology until 1997. Santoprene thermoplastic elastomers are well recognized as the leading thermoplastic materials most closely replicating thermoset elastomer properties. Dr. Rosenbaum became the chief technology officer of GenCorp/OMNOVA Solutions from 1997 until his retirement in 2005. He is a Senior Fellow of the University of Akron Research Foundation and has an executive role on a number of technology based start ups.
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Mark Rostick
(Intel Capital)
Mark Rostick makes and manages strategic investments for Intel Capital. His current areas of focus are the enterprise, including data center infrastructure, virtualization & “cloud” computing as well as opportunities in “visual” computing in the areas of gaming, imaging & media processing. During his time in Intel Capital, Mark was responsible for, among others, investments in Groove Networks (acquired by MSFT), AppIQ (acquired by HP), Sandburst (acquired by BRCM), PowerPrecise (acquired by TI), VirtualIron (acquired by Oracle). His current portfolio companies include Motricity, Skycross & Enpirion. Prior to joining Intel, Mark marketed cable networks for Turner Broadcasting in the Southern Cone, was a litigation attorney & worked in banking. Mark holds a BS, JD & International MBA from the University of South Carolina.
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Gary Rubinoff
(Managing Director, Summerhill Ventures) [Canada]
Gary joined Summerhill Venture Partners as President and Managing Director in late 2001, and has been instrumental in building the Summerhill Venture Partners team and defining the next stage of our evolution. For the 9 years prior to Summerhill Venture Partners, Gary was a partner at J.L. Albright Venture Partners LP and Jefferson Partners LP, both communications and IT focused VC funds based in Toronto. Prior to his career in venture capital, Gary was President and General Manager of Scholz Research & Development, a Boston-based technology company. Gary’s wide range of experience in finance, law and entrepreneurial management, including more than 14 years in venture capital, enables him to play a significant role in financing and growing emerging technology companies. Past investment successes include Service Soft (acquired by Kana Software, NASDAQ: KANA), Isolation Systems (acquired by Shiva/Intel, NASDAQ: INTC), I-star Internet (TSE IPO and acquired by PSI Net), and Wescam Inc. (TSE IPO: WSC).Gary began his career as a lawyer, and practiced corporate/securities law at two national law firms in Toronto. Gary received an LLB from the University of Western Ontario (1985), and an MBA from the Ivey School of Business, in London Ontario (1991). Gary sits on the boards of Jumptap, Intellon and Sandbridge. He is a member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO), Ontario Chapter, a Leader of Sick Kids Hospital Foundation (Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto), and an active fundraiser for Juvenile Diabetes.
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Connie Ruffner
(Georgia Tech)
Connie Ruffner currently serves as a Startup Catalyst with Georgia Institute of Technology’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC). While holding a multifunctional role, her primary responsibility is to promote the SBIR/STTR Programs throughout Georgia while assisting university-based and non-university-based companies and researchers with the whole SBIR/STTR process. Prior to helping launch this SBIR assistance program for Georgia in 2005, Ms Ruffner served Marketing Manager for NASA’s Southeast Regional Technology Transfer Center, also managed by Georgia Tech, where she coordinated and developed marketing campaigns for the Center’s tech transfer activities, evaluated market potential of NASA-developed technologies, identified potential licensees, and served as a reviewer of NASA SBIR/STTR commercialization plans. Prior to her work at Georgia Tech, Ms. Ruffner was employed by the Executive Search Division of TMP and Solvay Pharmaceuticals. A native of Virginia, Ms. Ruffner received her Bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA and her Master’s from the University of South Carolina.
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Philip Rycroft
(Director General, Innovation and Enterprise, and Chief Executive, Better Regulation Executive, UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills)
Philip Rycroft has been Director General, Innovation and Enterprise, since June 2009. Previously he was at the Scottish Government where he had been Director General, Education, since May 2007 and was a member of the Strategic Board of the Scottish Government. From May 2006, Philip was Head of the Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department in the Scottish Executive, and from June 2002 Head of Schools Group in the Scottish Executive Education Department. As well as his work in government in Scotland, Philip spent two years in the Cabinet of Sir Leon Brittan in the European Commission, working on international trade issues, and nearly two years working as public affairs manager for Scottish & Newcastle plc.
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Michael Schen
(NIST)
Dr. Michael Schen serves as the Senior Scientific Advisor to the Director of the Technology Innovation Program (TIP), on matters related to the scientific, technological, and programmatic collaborations of TIP with stakeholders and clients. Working across TIP functions, Michael acts to integrate the program’s actions and relations within the nation’s scientific, industrial, academic, and public policy framework. Michael’s area of detailed technical expertise includes materials science and engineering, polymer science, nanotechnology, and electronic and photonic materials. Michael received his Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, gained his Bachelor's degree in chemistry from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, and received his Associates in Applied Sciences from the State University of New York at Alfred.
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Gitte Schober
(Programme manager, Wageningen University & Research)
Gitte Schober is the programme manager for activities related to entrepreneurship, food and food services. Together with businesses and interest groups, including the government, she designs learning and development programmes that vary from in-company business strategy courses to projects focused on knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship. In the 5 year initiative of the TechnoPartner Knowledge Exploitation funding programme, Gitte and her team helped founding over 35 high-tech companies and established a solid consortium and business network to foster tech transfer and entrepreneurship in a knowledge intensive and academic environment for the food and agro sector. Since 2008, Gitte and her team also create soft landing facilities for promising high-tech companies between USA, Canada and the Netherlands as the gateway to Europe. Gitte has more than 15 years of experience working within Wageningen UR and as a consultant, both in the specific plant and food subjects taught at WUR and in her own specialist field of human resources and competency management.
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Tom Scholl
(General Partner, Novak Biddle Venture Partners)
Tom is a successful entrepreneur and investor with experience sitting on both sides of the boardroom table. He has over twenty-five years experience in communications systems, equipment, chipsets and software, and has been active in the high-tech start-up scene in the Washington metro area for over 15 years. He currently sits on the boards of Novak Biddle portfolio companies Centice, Paratek, Princeton Optronics, Command Information, Fiberzone Networks, Digital Bridge and Avail Media. In 1990, Tom founded Telogy Networks, a leader in providing embedded communications software products for wireless and IP networks. Telogy’s award-winning products were proven market successes with world-class customers such as Cisco, Motorola, Samsung, Nortel, Alcatel and NEC. In 1998, Motorola purchased Telogy’s digital cellular technology and development team for over $40M, and in 1999, Texas Instruments purchased Telogy as the leader in embedded VOIP software for over $700M. Prior to joining Novak Biddle, Tom co-founded and was chairman of Cognio, a developer of spectrum management and MIMO antenna technology for wireless applications. Cognio was acquired by Cisco in October 2007. Tom has also served as a Director of Torrent Networking, acquired by Ericsson, and Integrated Telecom, acquired by PMC Sierra. In 1995, Tom was recognized as the Joseph A. Sciulli "Entrepreneur of the Year" by the Maryland High Technology Council. Prior to Telogy, Tom was Senior Vice President of Engineering at Hughes Network Systems, a combination of M/A-Com DCC and Linkabit. Tom is a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Maryland and Chairman of the Board of Visitors at the A. James Clark School of Engineering. He is also a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the College of Liberal Arts at Purdue University, receiving Purdue’s Distinguished Alumnus Award for 2009. Tom has patents relating to software, the Internet, and digital telephone systems, and he is the author of "Packet Switching" in McGraw Hill’s Electronic Communications Handbook. He’s a member of IEEE and ACM, and he is an alumnus of Purdue University and the Executive Management (non-degree) program at MIT Sloan School. Growing up, Tom was an avid Ham radio operator, and an Eagle Scout.
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Juan A Serrano
(Counselor (Acting), Science & Technology, Embassy of Spain)
Juan Antonio Serrano is the CDTI (Spain National Agency for Innovation) Chief Representative in the US; he is also acting as the Science and Technology Counselor for the Embassy of Spain. Former Head of the Department responsible for CDTI overseas network, and the National Representative for the European Union Research and Development Framework Program. Juan Antonio Serrano is Master of Science in Agroaindustrial Engineering for the Politechnical University of Madrid, and Master in Business Administration for the Spanish Secretary of Trade. Awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he holds a degree in European Institutions and Policies, and he got a degree in environmental auditing and evaluation management system by the Politechnical University. Over 20 years of experience working with different responsabilities both in private and government-owned corporations, dealing with different aspects of the innovation system, research, development and technology transfer.
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Tony Stanco
(Director, National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer – NCET2.org)
Tony Stanco, Esq. is the executive director of the Angel Investors of Greater Washington, executive director of the National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer. Previously he was the director of the Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer and Commercialization (CET2C) of The George Washington University. Mr. Stanco was a senior attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission, where he worked on more than two hundred IPOs. He also has worked on innovation policy, including start-up creation and funding by angel investors and VCs. At School of Engineering and Applied Science at The George Washington University, Mr. Stanco works with universities and governments around the world on innovation policy, start-up finance policy, software policy, Open Source, cyber-security, and e-Government issues. Mr. Stanco has appeared before the US Congress, various US defense and civilian agencies, the World Bank, the European Commission, United Nations, Inter-American Development Bank, Organization of American States, World Summit on Information Society, LinuxWorld, Advanced Computer and Internet Law Institute, and International Computer Law Association. Mr. Stanco teaches the Lab to IPO course dealing with start-up formation and funding. He has an LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center in securities regulation and is licensed as a lawyer in New York state.
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Ashley Stevens
(Boston University)
In 2008, Dr. Stevens became Executive Director, Technology Transfer in the Office of Technology Development at Boston University, having been Director of the Office of Technology Transfer since 1995. In his new capacity, he adds responsibility for the University’s Translational Research programs to those of the Office of Technology Licensing. He is also Senior Research Associate in the Institute for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization in Boston University’s School of Management, where he teaches two graduate-level, inter-disciplinary courses on Technology Commercialization. Before joining Boston University, he was Director of the Office of Technology Transfer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School. Since he joined Boston University, the Office of Technology Development has grown to a total of sixteen professionals and has spun out over 40 companies based on the University’s research, a number of which have raised substantial amounts of capital, and the University’s licensing income has climbed steadily. Prior to entering the technology transfer profession, Dr. Stevens worked in the biotechnology industry for nearly ten years. He was a co-founder of Kytogenics, Inc., of which he is still a Director, was co-founder and General Manager of Genmap, Inc., and was Vice President of Business Development for BioTechnica International. He started his career with The Procter & Gamble Company, where he held a number of positions in sales, marketing, strategic planning and acquisitions. Dr. Stevens publishes and lectures frequently on many aspects of technology transfer, including the Bayh-Dole Act, the economic impact of technology transfer and its role in economic development, the contribution of academia to the discovery of new drugs and vaccines, the role of technology transfer in global health and technology valuation. He was the recipient of the Bayh-Dole Award at AUTM’s 2007 Annual Meeting and was recently elected President Elect of the Association of University Technology Managers. He will become President of AUTM in February 2010. He is also active in the Licensing Executives Society and the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. Dr. Stevens holds a Bachelor of Arts in Natural Sciences, a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy in Physical Chemistry from Oxford University. He is a Certified Licensing Professional.
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Dennis Stone
(Vice President, Office for Technology Development, UT Southwestern Medical Center)
Dr. Stone joined the Office for Technology Development in August, 1998, as the Vice President for Technology Development. He directs licensing operations as well as the biotechnology development initiative taking place at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and is a liaison with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies interested in partnership with UT Southwestern scientists. In addition to his role in this office, he is also a professor of internal medicine, physiology, and biochemistry, and is also the holder of the NCH Corporation Chair in Molecular Transport. His research focuses on the molecular analysis of proton pumps that are involved in renal acidification, osteoporosis, and cancer. In his role as Vice President for Technology, Dr. Stone and his team have increased annual revenues from $3.5 million to $12 million. In addition, the office for Technology Development has launched five start-up biotechnology companies that collectively have raised over $150 million in venture financing. Dr. Stone has served on the board of directors of Eliance Biotechnology, Inc., MacroGenics, Inc., and Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In addition, he served as the chairman of the U.T. Regents’ Technology Transfer Commission. Dr. Stone is member of STARTech Early Venture’s Mentor Program, and is the recipient of the Metroplex Technology Business Council’ Technology Titan Award. Dr. Stone received his undergraduate training in the Plan II Program at The University of Texas at Austin. After completion of medical school at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, he received his housestaff training in internal medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. Subsequently, he completed clinical and research fellowship training in Nephrology at UT Southwestern and Cornell University in Ithaca, NY and in 1984, joined the faculty at UT-Southwestern. He has been the recipient of a Searle Scholarship and Established Investigator of the American Heart Association, and is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.
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Cathy Swain
(Assistant Vice Chancellor for Commercial Development, The University of Texas System)
Ms. Swain joined The U. T. System in January 2005 as Director of Investment Oversight in the Office of Finance, with a main purpose to help the Board of Regents fulfill its fiduciary duty to prudently manage more than $23 billion of endowment and operating assets that are managed day-to-day by the University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO). Her duties involved synthesizing, interpreting, and communicating complex policies and investment information to enhance transparency and facilitate informed decision making by the Board of Regents, the Chancellor, and Regental Directors of UTIMCO. Ms. Cathy Swain assumed her current duties in September 2007. Her responsibilities include managing the Texas Ignition Fund (TIF); coordinating activities related to the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF) and Regional Centers of Innovation and Commercialization (RCICs) to expand university impact on economic development; creating and delivering the Ideas on Fire! entrepreneurship lecture series; developing strategies to access venture capital and angel investment for U. T. System startup companies; and enhancing communications to inspire synergies among campuses and their communities. Ms. Swain’s extensive prior career focused on investment banking and managing alternative private and venture investments primarily for large institutions. She also served a regional Community Development Corporation (CDC) as Vice President of equity investments (venture capital) and later as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, served on the Vermont Governor’s advisory task force in the formation of the Vermont Venture Capital Fund, and was CEO of a regional company. She has written and implemented several business plans; served on investment committees; managed portfolios as large as $2.0 billion; performed due diligence, valuations, and investment manager searches; taught professional workshops and college courses; authored published articles; and contributed in finance industry associations. Ms. Swain earned her BA in economics (Highest Distinction, Phi Beta Kappa) and MS in finance (Highest Distinction, NDEA Fellow) from the University of Illinois, and subsequently completed post-graduate studies at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. She holds Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Accredited Investment Fiduciary AnalystTM (AIFA®) professional designations.
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Cengiz Tarhan
(University College London) [UK]
Cengiz trained as an accountant. He joined the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine (RFHSM) in 1989 and continued as Director of Financial and Business Affairs for the RFHSM on the merger with University College London (UCL). Cengiz established Freemedic PLC as the commercial arm of RFHSM, and is now Managing Director of UCL Business PLC, the commercial arm of UCL. Cengiz was involved with one of the first university spin-outs to the float on AIM, PolyMASC Pharmaceuticals Plc. He was also involved in the trade sale of Medic to Medic Limited to Informa Plc in 2005 and more recently the sale of Stanmore Implants Worldwide Limited to Abingworth and MDY Healthcare in February 2008. Cengiz acts as a director for many of UCLB’s spin-out companies.
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Helmut Traitler
(Nestle)
Helmut Traitler is Vice President of Innovation Partnerships at Nestlé focused on exploring and developing the company's open innovation model. His initiatives have led to the build up of a network of more than a million researchers worldwide, including science universities, venture capital, strategic suppliers and government laboratories, that supports the 4,500 people in Nestlé Food and Beverages R&D.
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Cali Tran
( Principal, North Bridge Venture Partners )
Cali Tran joined North Bridge Venture Partners as a Principal in 2006. Prior to North Bridge, Cali co-founded Agilix Labs, a venture-backed mobile learning company providing solutions to firms such as Blackboard (NASDAQ: BBBB) and FranklinCovey (NYSE:FC). Cali served as Vice President of Corporate Development and helped establish Agilix’s revenue-generating OEM relationships. Prior to Agilix, Cali led the early corporate development efforts at Ancestry.com (NASDAQ: ACOM). He was also in the investment banking groups at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston. Cali received an MBA from Harvard and a Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College (cum laude) where he served on the Alumni Council for Bowdoin College and was a member of the Innovators Steering Committee at the Boston Museum of Science.
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Susan Tuttle
(Director Worldwide Innovation Policy, IBM)
Susan Tuttle joined IBM’s Governmental Programs office in 1995 and is currently the Director of Worldwide Innovation Policy and Africa Initiatives. As an IBM Executive, she works with governments around the world to drive innovation-related policies, with key focus in the areas of skills and talent development, research, technology, innovation in services and policy related infrastructure. Leveraging IBM’s global footprint, these policies are to enable countries to succeed and compete in today’s globally interconnected marketplace. In addition, Susan has geographic responsibility for driving growth-oriented innovation policy initiatives in support IBM’s expansion efforts across the continent of Africa. Previously, Susan managed global public policy issues relating to international market access and trade that impact the IBM Corporation, with particular focus on the growth markets of China and India. She also worked on a number of key issues relating to e-commerce and Digital Trade. Susan is a member of the US Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative’s Industry Trade and Advisory Committee focusing on Intellectual Property. The committee is a public-private partnership that engages business leaders in formulating US trade policy. She was also responsible for establishing and managing IBM’s global government outreach program to spur governments to take action to address the Y2K challenge. In recognition of her efforts, she received the IBM Chairman’s Award and a Year 2000 Medal from the US President’s Council on Y2K. From 1985 to 1995, Susan managed US export-control related issues in IBM’s Export Regulation Office. She worked extensively with the Departments of Defense and Commerce on technical related issues. Susan also led compliance audits of IBM subsidiaries and affiliates around the world. Born in Rochester, New York, Mrs. Tuttle received a Bachelor of Arts degree in foreign language from Ithaca College and a Master in Fine Arts in foreign language from Middlebury College. Susan has lived overseas and travels extensively. She is married with two children.
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Mitsuyuki Ueda
(First Secretary, Science Section, Embassy of Japan)
Mitsuyuki Ueda is First Secretary at the Science Section of the Embassy. He worked for Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan as Deputy Director for university - industry cooperation. He has master's degrees in aeronautics, public administration and management of technology.
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Val R. Livada
(Senior Lecturer, Sloan School of Business at MIT)
Val Livada founded Weybridge Partners in 1996 as a network of formal and informal associations of practitioners and organizations focused on the successful commercialization of technology. The network includes business and technology consultants, venture capitalists, academics, entrepreneurs, lawyers, etc in the US and abroad. Val brings 30 years of consulting experience to his clients. He was a Director at Braxton Associates, an international strategy planning consulting firm, and a Vice President at Pugh-Roberts Associates, a technology management firm established by Prof. Ed Roberts from MIT. Prior to establishing Weybridge Partners, he was the leading practitioner in the area of innovation management for the PA Consulting Group. During his career, Dr. Livada has combined expertise in the areas of strategic planning and organizational dynamics, with a detailed knowledge in the areas of innovation, product development, and R&D management. Through the years, clients have included Fortune 500-type companies such as: GM, Eli Lilly, Nokia, Hitachi and has recently founded an East Coast corporate venture capital network. Val sits on the Board of Directors for Monarch Antenna, a Delphi Automotive spinout, and Polynova Composites. He is an business advisor to Liquid Bits a 3D animation start-up, Vanguard Solar, a thin film photovoltaic company, LuminZ an MIT spin out in LED lighting, Porticus a voice printing company, and Rapport Inc. a multicore chip company in CA. In addition, he consults to another dozen emerging companies. Dr. Livada is also active in efforts to stimulate activities between US and European/Far Eastern organizations. In Europe Val has worked with many firms in the UK, Switzerland, Germany and Scandinavia. He has been instrumental in establishing US operations for several established and emerging European companies, including Nokia Research and Pro2Kem. In the Far East, traditionally strong ties to South Korea, Japan and Taiwan are now being expanded into China. Val received his undergraduate degree from MIT and his MA/ PhD from Tufts University. Currently he is Senior Lecturer, on Corporate Entrepreneurship, at the Sloan School of Business at MIT where he also served as Reaserch Affiliate and Guest Lecturer for the last 15 years. At MIT, Val is leading a joint research project, with the Wharton Business School, on Corporate Venture Capital, is a Catalyst at the Deshpande Center, and a consultant to the Cambridge University/MIT Institute on various aspects of Innovation and Corporate/University partnerships.
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Derek Waddell
(University of Edinburgh) [UK]
Derek Waddell was appointed as Director of Research and Commercialisation at the University of Edinburgh, and CEO of the University’s technology transfer company, Edinburgh Research and Innovation (ERI), in October 2005. ERI is responsible for all pre-award research administration, consultancy, the evaluation, patenting and licensing of technologies, company formation, the operation of University incubators and the University’s science park at Edinburgh Technopole. Edinburgh is one of Europe’s leading technology transfer universities and in the past 5 years has helped to create over 100 new companies. Derek is chairman of the Edinburgh Technology Transfer Centre, a Director of the Edinburgh Technology Fund, and Targeting Innovation, a company that provides technology and innovation consultancy.
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Janet C. Walkow
(The University of Texas at Austin)
Dr. Janet C. Walkow is the Director of the Drug Dynamics Institute in The University of Texas College of Pharmacy. Janet joined the University of Texas in 2008, building on a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry, where she led efforts in areas ranging from R&D to Corporate Strategy. Her success and expertise in both scientific and business arenas blends technical, analytical and leadership skills. Diverse experiences allow Janet to bring a unique perspective and understanding of the drug development process, along with appropriate structures and functions necessary to effectively manage research programs and successfully launch products in the marketplace. She leads the Drug Dynamics Institute, a collaborative research center, bringing together scientists and investigators working on novel solutions to complex disease and healthcare issues. The Institute partners with University, industry and community leaders to foster collaborations that capture commercialization opportunities. For example, Dr. Walkow is currently a PI on a Texas Ignition Fund (TIF) proof-of-concept grant, funded by UT System, to develop inhalable tacrolimus nanoparticles for clinical trials. Dr. Walkow received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas in pharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics.
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Dan Watkins
(DFJ Mercury)
Dan Watkins is a Managing Director with DFJ Mercury Venture Partners, an early stage venture capital fund focused on technology clusters in Texas and the mid-continent. His current focus is on start-up companies based on novel technologies addressing large markets in advanced materials, clean energy and life sciences. Dan was a co-founder of both Nanospectra Biosciences and X-EMI and was awarded multiple National Science Foundation grants as Principal Investigator in the area of nanotechnology and life sciences research. He is also a co-founder of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. Dan received his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Rice University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
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Harry Weller
(NEA)
Harry joined NEA in 2002. He focuses on technology and renewable energy investments, as well as NEA's activities in China. Harry’s current board memberships include Availink, Clearspring, GroupOn, MediaBank, OPower, Quick Hit, Realtime Worlds and Suniva. His other investments include GlobalLogic and Vertica. Harry's past board seats and investments include Echo Global (NASDAQ: ECHO), Informax (NASDAQ: INMX, acquired by Invitrogen), Innerworkings (NASDAQ: INWK), Riverbed Technologies (acquired by Aether Systems), SourceFire (NASDAQ: FIRE), Vonage (NYSE: VG) and webMethods (NASDAQ: WEBM, acquired by Software AG). Prior to joining NEA, Harry was a Partner at FBR Technology Venture Partners where he worked with several successful startup teams. Early in his career, Harry managed strategy and technology initiatives in the financial, energy and telecommunications industries for the Boston Consulting Group and Deloitte & Touche Management Consulting. Prior to his business career, Harry served as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Harry received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his bachelor’s degree in Physics from Duke University. Harry serves on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (MAVA), is a past Chairman of MAVA Capital Connection, and co-founded the Young Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (YAVA). Harry was named one of the "50 Most Powerful People in Networking" by Network magazine and one of the region's "Titans of Technology" in Washingtonian magazine. He has been honored numerous times in Forbes magazine’s “Midas List” as one of the most successful venture capitalists in America.
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David Wells
(Greentech, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers)
David joined the Greentech investing team at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers in May 2006. Responsibilities include knowledge mapping and opportunity sourcing across the entire landscape of Green technologies. Building relationships with scientists and entrepreneurs throughout the US and Europe, David has helped bring many ventures through the KP investment process including due diligence, investment structuring, goal setting, and team building. Beginning with a collaboration with KP partner Bill Joy in 2004, David has built a detailed and diverse base of Greentech knowledge across multiple energy technologies and scientific disciplines, together with a matching knowledge base of resources, markets and incumbents. Every aspect of energy, planetary resources, and emissions has been studied in detail and mapped to target recognition of disruptive order-of-magnitude and tipping-point innovations. David’s background includes ten years of technical experience in marine and shipboard engineering, and eight years building and selling a nation-wide business in Japan.
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Olivier Wenker
(MD Anderson Cancer Center)
Dr. Wenker is M. D. Anderson Cancer Center’s Director of Technology Discovery. In this function, he has created a novel gap fund mechanism for clinical and research faculty. The fund he manages created within a few years a multiple of 5 on value creation for the institution. Dr. Wenker also teaches entrepreneurship classes in collaboration with The University of Texas System. Dr. Wenker started his career as an anesthesiologist in 1985. He is triple European board certified in anesthesiology, critical care medicine and emergency/disaster medicine as well as American board certified in antiaging and regenerative medicine, and holds the title Professor of Anesthesiology.
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Charles Wessner
(Director of the Program on Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, The National Academies)
Dr. Charles Wessner is the Director of the Program on Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. He is recognized nationally and internationally for his expertise on innovation policy, including public-private partnerships, entrepreneurship, early-stage financing for new firms, and the special needs and benefits of high-technology industry. He regularly testifies to the U.S. Congress and major national commissions. He also advises agencies of the U.S. Government and cooperates with other governments, research organizations, and international organizations. He frequently lectures at major universities in the U.S. and abroad and holds positions at the Max Planck Institute in Jena, Germany, and in the United States at George Washington and Indiana Universities. Reflecting the strong global interest in innovation and Dr. Wessner’s policy expertise, he is frequently asked to address issues of shared policy interest with foreign governments, universities, and research institutes, often briefing government ministers and senior officials. Examples of policy briefings include Lord Sainsbury, Advisor to Former Prime Minister Blair and now to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and the Former Minister of Science & Innovation in the U.K., Frieder Meyer-Krahmer, State Secretary and Innovation Advisor to German Chancellor Merkel, French National Assembly Committee Chairman Jean-Michel Dubernard, Minister Montek Ahluwalia, who serves as deputy prime minister directing the Indian State Planning Commission and Indian Science Minister Kapil Sibal and most recently Chris Buijink, Secretary-General of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and his staff. Dr. Wessner has served as an advisor to the 30-nation OECD Committee on Science and Technology Policy, as a member of the Canadian Council of Academies’ Expert Committee on Science and Technology in Canada, as an advisor to the National Technology agencies of Finland (TEKES) and Sweden (VINNOVA), and as a member of the Norwegian Technology Forum. He has also served on the Prime Minister of Taiwan’s Science and Technology Advisory Group and is a member of the Lithuanian Prime Minister’s International Innovation Advisory Committee and the Board of the Vilnius Sunrise Valley S&T Park. He was also named to the U.S.-Russian Council on Innovation, established by Presidents Putin and Bush.
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Richard Wilder
(Microsoft Corporation)
Mr. Wilder is Associate General Counsel for Intellectual Property Policy at Microsoft Corporation. In that capacity, he has the responsibility for defining and driving the company-wide policy in all areas of intellectual property. He was previously a partner in a global law firm specializing in international law – in particular in the fields of intellectual property and trade. Mr. Wilder is a former Director of the Global Intellectual Property Issues Division of the World Intellectual Property Organization – a specialized agency of the United Nations. He also served in the Office of Legislative and International Affairs at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Mr. Wilder has taught law – including at the University of Malaya, Malaysia - and speaks and writes often in the field of intellectual property law. Mr. Wilder has degrees in engineering (University of Washington, Seattle) and law (Franklin Pierce Law Center, Concord, New Hampshire).
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John Williams
(Director, Navy SBIR, STTR and Technology Transfer)
John Williams is Director of the Navy’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, Small Businesses Technology Transfer (STTR) and Technology Transfer (T2) Programs. He has dedicated his last 13 years to the Office of Naval Research, initially serving as Deputy of the Navy SBIR Program until his promotion to Director in 2005. Williams’ naval career has spanned 23 years and has managed projects across all technology disciplines with his early career starting in the Navy’s ManTech when he held positions Naval Surface Warfare Center and the Naval Sea Systems Command. As Director of the Navy SBIR/STTR Program, Williams focus has been to increase the commercialization and transition of Navy SBIR/STTR technologies into the fleet. In 2000, he initiated the Transition Assistance Program (TAP), an 11 month program to educate and assist all Navy Phase II awardees in the Technology Transition process. He expanded this effort to include the Primes Initiative, aimed at increasing the involvement of DOD prime contractors. In 2009, the 9th annual TAP concluding event, the Navy Opportunity Forum, attracted over 1500 representatives from DOD primes, program offices, and small businesses. The Navy has led the way towards increasing the involvement of Acquisition Program offices and major defense contractors in SBIR and STTR by promoting a culture that encourages partnership between our nation’s small high tech firms and those organizations that make Phase III investments. The Navy awards the greatest number of Phase III contracts in the Government and its Phase III (non-SBIR) contract funding has surpassed the Phase I and II SBIR funding every year since 2002. Williams is also Director of the Navy T2 program which oversees all Navy CRADA’s and sets policy for the Navy ORTA’s. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland College Park and a Masters in Engineering Management, Marketing of Technology from the George Washington University.
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Tim Wittig
(Technology Management Advisor for Federal Laboratories, SAIC)
Tim Wittig, the founder of the SAIC Technology Management Advisors, has been involved in DOD technology transfer and transition issues for well over fifteen years. He and his team are actively involved in assisting Defense Department laboratories and private sector clients in the protection, marketing and licensing of technology and the use of Federal laboratory personnel, equipment and technology for private sector dual use purposes. While in the private practice of law, Mr. Wittig advised both U.S. and foreign owned businesses and organizations on financial and regulatory issues. Mr. Wittig is an attorney but is not actively practicing law. Mr. Wittig will identify the tools available for private sector use of Federal technology, personnel and equipment and describe their uses.
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Yannick Wittner
(Director, Strategic Partnership, Dassault Systèmes)
Yannick began his career at Dassault Systèmes in 1988 as an applications engineer performing education, demonstrations, technical assistance, and benchmarking. In 1990, he was assigned to Dassault Systèmes’ BMW team in Munich, Germany. A year later, he transferred to the Bombardier Aerospace team in Toronto, Canada. In 1992, he was promoted to marketing manager for Germany, England and Switzerland. In 1996, he transferred to Dassault Systèmes of America where he led Dassault Systèmes’ U.S. aerospace business unit for three years. In 2001, he was promoted to director of the Consumer Goods and Electronics business unit. In 2004, Yannick took responsibility for strategic marketing. In 2009, Yannick is responsible for strategic alliances with technology partners, for market intelligence and for the relationship with the IBM PLM Marketing organization. He is based in Boston, MA.
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Congressman David Wu
(Chair of the Science Committee’s Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation)
David Wu has represented Oregon’s 1st Congressional District since 1999. Focused on ensuring our long-term economic success, he has fought to strengthen our nation’s schools, support innovative businesses, and improve our ability to turn cutting-edge research into new products, services, and jobs. Wu advocates for Oregon students through his role on the House Education and Labor Committee, where he has helped make historic investments in federal student aid and is working to secure funds for K-12 schools to reduce class sizes and make much-needed repairs and renovations. As a member of the Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness Subcommittee, he supports worker training for jobs in growing fields like clean energy and health care technology. On the Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee, he has helped craft health care reform legislation to make quality care accessible for all Americans. He has worked to improve job training programs and helped schools secure modern technology as a chair of the Congressional Community College Caucus. Wu knows that innovation is the key to sustained economic growth, a healthy small business community, and the development of new green technologies to protect our environment. To grow Oregon’s innovation economy, Wu uses his role as chair of the Science Committee’s Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation to encourage new business investment and high-tech research. Because economic growth is based on turning new technology into commercial products and services, he is committed to overseeing strong tech transfer programs. As a member of the New Democrat Coalition, a group of moderate Democrats in the House, Wu helps craft smart policies to create stable, well-paying jobs and ensure our competitiveness for years to come. The first Chinese-American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, Wu is a constant supporter of efforts to protect and secure human rights and civil liberties at home and abroad. He is the former chairman and current Education Taskforce chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, as well as a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. Wu has lived the American dream. In October of 1961, at six years of age, he moved with his family to the United States after President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order updating unfair immigration quotas. He was educated in public schools, earned a Bachelor of Science from Stanford University in 1977, attended Harvard Medical School, and received a law degree from Yale University in 1982. Early in his legal career, Wu clerked for a federal judge in Portland. He joined the Miller Nash law firm in 1984, and in 1988, co-founded the law firm Cohen & Wu. For a decade, the Cohen & Wu firm served the high-technology industry and numerous small businesses across northwest Oregon. Wu counts his work helping build new businesses that have thrived and provided well-paying jobs for Oregonians as among his proudest accomplishments during this time. His fifteen years of experience in the Portland business and high-technology communities make him uniquely qualified to represent the "Silicon Forest" district in Congress.
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Robyn Zander
(Project Manager, Energy Efficiency Division, Southern California Edison)
Robyn Zander is a Project Manager in the Energy Efficiency Division at Southern California Edison. SCE is one of the largest investor-owner utilities in the United States, serving 13 million customers across a 50,000 square mile service territory. For the last six years, SCE has partnered with its customers to save more electricity through energy efficiency programs than any other utility in the nation. Before joining SCE, Robyn worked 10 years at Boeing as a program manager in the contracts division and 5 years as a general partner of a manufacturing company. As a general partner, Robyn grew the business through product development, increased international distribution, and marketing. Her specialty was product development and shortening the commercialization process. Robyn joined SCE’s Energy Efficiency Regulatory Group in 2006. Since joining the SCE team, she has been a major contributor in the development of the Technology Resource Incubator Outreach Program (TRIO). This program nurtures upstream technologies through workshops and education that focus on doing business with utilities. She works with all levels of the energy efficiency industry, from university engineering students, venture capitalists and angel investors, as well as with manufacturers, trade associations, utilities, and state and federal governments. Robyn received her MBA from Pepperdine University and BS in Psychology from Oregon State University.
(Illinois Institute of Technology)
Jeremy L. Adelman is Director of the Angel Innovation and Entrepreneurship Network at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. During the 10 years he has spent as a manager and fundraiser in universities and nonprofit organizations, he has worked primarily with technology business leaders, investors and entrepreneurs. Mr. Adelman has also spent time working as an investment banker in New York City. Notable accomplishments have been founding alumni angel investor networks at two universities (GW and IIT), securing millions of dollars from corporations and individuals, and building communities of innovation and entrepreneurship. Mr. Adelman holds both an MBA from the Heller School of Social Policy and Management, and an MA in Nonprofit Professional Leadership from Brandies University, as well as a BA in Philosophy from the University of Utah.
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Ali Andalibi
(Program Director, SBIR/STTR, National Cancer Institute – NIH)
Dr. Ali Andalibi is a Program Director and head of the Therapeutics and Diagnostics Cluster in the National Cancer Institute’s SBIR Development Center. Dr. Andalibi received his PhD from the UCLA department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and later joined the faculty in the UCLA department of Medicine. Subsequently, he was involved in several early stage biotechnology companies. He then joined the House Ear Institute (HEI) as Director of New Technology and Project Development and held a joint appointment in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Southern California, School of Medicine. Prior to moving to the NCI, Dr. Andalibi served as a Program Director in the National Science Foundation’s Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships, where he oversaw the NSF’s medical biotechnology SBIR/STTR grant portfolio.
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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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Clara Asmail
(National Institute of Standards and Technology - NIST)
Clara has managed the NIST SBIR Program since 2001. She is also responsible for marketing NIST technologies and identifying appropriate partners for collaborations and licensing opportunities. In her roles she proposed and launched an innovative Technology Transfer program facilitating the transfer of federal technology to industry by leveraging the NIST SBIR Program as seed funding along with access to federal research assets. That initiative has so far facilitated the transitioning of more than a couple dozen technologies developed in the NIST Labs to small businesses. Prior to her current assignments, she was a CRADA and Licensing Officer at NIST where she executed several licenses, more than 50 CRADAs and conducted more than 30 commercialization assessments on inventions disclosed from the NIST Labs. From 1988 to 1998, Clara was Project Leader for Optical Scatterometry research in the Physics Laboratory in NIST. She published 19 peer reviewed articles and established BRDF competency at NIST. She was actively involved in standards committees work in her area of research cooperating with Sematech, ASTM, ISO and other federal agencies. She is an inventor for a technique that allows for the differentiation of optical scattering from microrough surfaces as distinguished from superficial particulates. That patent has been licensed exclusively by NIST to a commercial manufacturer of surface inspection systems. Clara holds two M.S. degrees, one in Optical Sciences from the University of Arizona (1988) and one in Physics from Tulane University (1986). Her B.S. in Physics is from Fordham University (1984).
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David Baker
(Executive Director, University Technology Park, Illinois Institute of Technology)
David E. Baker, Executive Director, University Technology Park at IIT. Mr. Baker has led the initiative to create a technology park on Illinois Institute of Technology’s main campus on Chicago’s Southside, since 2002. The park has grown to include the renovation of three buildings, leveraging funding from local, state and federal government sources as well as the private sector. Nearly 25 companies are now resident in the park, including start-ups and larger companies in biotech, clean tech and software development. Mr. Baker also serves as the University’s Vice President for External Affairs, a position he has held since 1995. He is responsible for the University’s governmental relations, technology park development, strategic planning and trustee relations He also helped open the Perspectives/IIT Math and Science Academy, a public grade 6-12 charter school in September, 2008. From September 1993 through March 1995, he served as the Executive Director for the National Commission for IIT. Prior to joining the University, Mr. Baker served as President of The Illinois Coalition, whose mission is to strengthen the Illinois economy through science and technology. >From 1980 to 1989, Mr. Baker served as the Executive Vice President of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce, the state’s largest business advocacy organization. Mr. Baker holds an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, and an A.B. in History, with a minor in Economics, from Stanford University. He is married, has two children and lives in Chicago.
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Francis J. Barros
(SBIR Program Analyst, U.S. Department of Homeland Security)
Francis “Frank” Barros joined the DHS/SBIR Program in June 2009 as a Program Analyst. Prior to this, Frank was a General Business Specialist in the Project Management Office of the Technology Innovation Program (TIP) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) at NIST (2002-2009). Frank was a Group Leader in the Electronics and Photonics Office and led the Critical National Need Energy Team. In 2007 Frank was a recipient of the Department of Commerce’s Bronze medal for his contribution to the ‘first ever assessment of the U.S. measurement system’s ability to sustain innovation. Prior to joining the Government, Frank spent 20 years in the private sector doing debt and equity financing for over 100 small companies ($1.15 billion) with DSL Capital, a spin-off from American University (co-founder, President, Chairman). Frank was also Vice-President of Artco Inc, a joint venture between DSL, Kidde, Inc., and DAF Netherlands for technology transfer to the third world. Prior to this Frank was Vice-Provost for Research and Academic Development and Associate Professor of Higher Education at The American University, Washington D.C. (1973-1983). He was also Associate Professor and Director of the Higher Education Student Personnel Administration Master’s Program (in conjunction with the Ford Foundation) at Howard University, Washington D.C. (1967-1973). Frank was born in Hong Kong, educated in Hong Kong, Australia and the United States. He received his BA (1960) in Philosophy and Physics from St, Mary’s Academy, Techny, IL; MA in Education; and PhD (1968) in Higher Education Finance and Management and International Law and Relations from Catholic University, Washington D.C.
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Yvan Baumann
(CEA) [France]
Yvan Baumann is a graduate engineer (Arts et Métiers Lyon - 1976). Yvan was in the 80-90’s Project Manager in engineering firms and big companies such as ALSTOM, CERBERUS on behalf of major manufacturers. He joined AREVA in 1993 as team leader for developing applications of industrial management in a large nuclear site (nuclear reprocessing plant at La Hague). Since 2001 he is now coordinating teams of CEA (marketing, contracts, patents) and associated incubators accompanying spin-offs from the CEA laboratories. Yvan Baumann is an expert, working close by government institutions, associations and think tanks. He also participates as expert for the governance of a venture fund.
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Mel Billingsley
(Life Sciences Greenhouse)
Mel Billingsley, Ph.D. is President and CEO of the Life Sciences Greenhouse, Professor of Pharmacology at Pennsylvania State University Milton S. Hershey College of Medicine (MSHCM), and Professor of Biotechnology and Entrepreneurship, Penn State University - Harrisburg, PA campus. His background includes rich and varied experience as a researcher, educator, and investor, as well a long history of actively fostering the advancement of technology within the larger community. Dr. Billingsley leads the LSGPA participation in Gap and Tech Fund investments. He has an undergraduate degree in Biophysics and Microbiology from the University of Pittsburgh, a doctoral degree in Pharmacology from George Washington University, and a postdoctoral degree in neuropharmacology from Yale School of Medicine.
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Wes Blakeslee
(Johns Hopkins)
Wesley Blakeslee is Executive Director of Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer. He was formerly an Associate General Counsel at The Johns Hopkins University where he practiced intellectual property and complex business law. Wes holds an Engineering Degree (with Honors) from Penn State University, and a law Degree (Order of the Coif), from the University of Maryland School of Law and is a Certified Licensing Professional. Wes began his professional career as an engineer and systems analyst with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, where, among other things, he designed and wrote real time operating systems for spacecraft testing and post-launch control, and managed a programming group. After Law School, Wes entered private practice, was a partner in a small regional firm, and in 1983 Wes formed his own practice in Westminster, Maryland, USA. From 1983 to 1989, while in private practice, Wes also served as Director of Computer Development at the University of Maryland Law School, where he also taught Computer Law. In February 1999, Wes became Associate General Counsel at The Johns Hopkins University. Wes also served for many years as a Director of a National bank. Wes is frequently a featured speaker at national, state and local conferences, and on behalf of bar associations and numerous conference organizations. Wes has been cited as a national authority on intellectual property issues in the Chronicle of Higher Education, and other publications.
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Michael Brandkamp
(High-Tech Gruenderfonds) [Germany]
Dr. Michael Brandkamp is the Executive Director of High-Tech Gründerfonds and has focused on the investment business for young technological companies since 1997. In 2004 and 2005, he was the Department Manager for Innovation Financing and Shareholdings within the KfW banking group, and was previously the Associate Executive Director of tbg Technologie-Beteiligungs-Gesellschaft mbH of the Deutsche Ausgleichsbank. In 1999 he became the Director of the tbg Berlin office. He studied Economics at the Universities of Münster, Nairobi and Bonn and earned his PhD at the Technische Universität Freiberg (Saxony) at the Chair for Business Management Innovation Research.
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Paulo Bueno
(São Paulo State University [Brazil]
Prof. Dr. Paulo Roberto Bueno received his degree in Materials Science and Engineering by Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar, Brazil) in 1996. In 1998 he finished his master in Materials Science and Engineering specifically in semiconductor materials at the same university. Also in 1998 he received another master degree in Administration and Production Manager either by UFSCar. In 2003 he finished his PhD. in Physical Chemistry and the subject of this thesis was in theoretical aspects of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and solid state kinetics. From 2003 to 2005 he did his pos-doctorate in physics at São Paulo University (USP) in the Physics and Mathematics Department in the campus of Ribeirão Preto. Nowadays, Dr. Bueno is an Assistant Professor at São Paulo State University (UNESP) in the Physical Chemistry Department in the Institute of Chemistry. His main academic area of interest is related to impedance spectroscopy, admittance and dielectric spectroscopy, optical impedance (modulated transmittance) and mass transfer function techniques (ac-electrogravimetry) to develop alternative energy source devices (solar cells and lithium ion batteries) and biosensors devices (CHEMFET). He has H index of 18, more than 100 paper published with more than 1100 citations. Concerning technological tech transfer, Dr. Bueno is recently involved with the initiative of tech transfer development at UNESP. He is leading the startup of Tech service companies as INNOUT and technological companies as INNBIO (biotechnological company) and SPINMOS (a semiconductor company based on MOS semiconductor technology).
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Christine Burke
(Sr. Technology Licensing Associate, STTM, University of Texas)
Chris works with South Texas Technology Management (STTM), a regional technology transfer office that serves four UT campuses: UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, UTSA, UT Brownsville, and UT Pan American. She joined STTM in September of 2007 and manages a portfolio of technologies focused on the life sciences. Before moving to Texas, Chris worked at the University of California’s Systemwide Office of Technology Transfer for over four years. At UC she helped create her position as their first Strategic Marketing and Communications Manager, and developed new outreach programs to help companies navigate the 10-campus system. Before moving to the field of technology transfer, Chris was a founding employee of the laboratory services start-up company, LabVelocity, and at various times directed the areas of content, communications, and marketing. Preceding her forays into the business world were her graduate work in Molecular Biology from Yale University, and her post doctoral fellowship in Immunology at UC San Francisco (Carnegie Mellon University).
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Jeffrey Bussgang
(Flybridge Capital Partners/Harvard Business School EIR)
I'm a General Partner at Flybridge Capital Partners, an early-stage venture capital firm in Boston I helped start in 2003. I converted to being a VC, having served as an executive team member of three start-ups over 10 years, including Upromise (co-founder, president & COO, acquired by Sallie Mae in 2006) and Open Market (VP marketing and business development, IPO'96). Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, I was a management consultant with The Boston Consulting Group. That's where I learned PowerPoint. I received an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in computer science from Harvard College - not very creative, I admit. I also co-authored a Harvard Business Review article in the mid-90s on turning the Internet into a business medium. Oracle of the obvious. I can't seem to stay away from the campus and am helping out as a part-time Entrepreneur in Residence at HBS' Rock Center for Entrepreneurship. I live in the Boston suburbs with my wife and our 3 kids.
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Jianing CAI
(Counselor for Science and Technology Embassy of P.R.China in US) [China]
CAI Jianing, Counselor for Science and Technology , Chinese Embassy in USA. Before he took this position, he was the Director, Division of International Organization and Conferences, Department of Inernational Cooperation, Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), responsible for coordinating activities carried out by Chinese entities, affiliates of MOST in particularly, in governmental international organizations like the Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy(CSTP), OECD. Prior to his joining with the MOST in 2002, he held several posts in different Chinese governmental organizations such as State Administration of Building Materials Industry, the last one as the First Secretary of Chinese Embassy in Hungary. He graduated from the Nanjing Chemistry University in Jiangsu Province, China. He is Senior Engineer due to his achievements in the building materials industry, the cement industry in particularly.
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Gabriela Gebrin Cezar
(Venture Partner, Latin America, Burrill & Company) [Brazil]
Gabriela Cezar is co-founder and CSO of Stemina Biomarker Discovery and assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she pioneered the application of metabolomics to stem cell biology. Her current research involves human embryonic stem cells, cancer stem cells, and cells derived from human embryonic stem cells, such as neurons, cardiomyocytes, and hepatocyte-like cells. In addition, Dr. Cezar heads the Stem Cell Safety Sciences Lab at UW and is a scientific collaborator with WiCell Research Institute. Overall, her research program is focused on unraveling biochemical pathways of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism and cancer. Prior to joining the faculty at UW-Madison in 2005, Dr. Cezar served as a senior principal scientist at Pfizer, working on global projects to incorporate stem cells in drug discovery and toxicology. In her role at Pfizer, Dr. Cezar also developed in vivo models (genetically modified mice) for target validation in multiple therapeutic areas. Overall, she has extensive experience on integration and application of molecular technologies to pharmaceutical discovery and development. Dr. Cezar is a member of the Science Advisory Board of the Genetics Policy Institute, a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a positive legal framework to advance stem cell research, as well as other stem cell-related organizations and patient advocacy groups. She is an internationally renowned invited speaker at numerous conferences.
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Deepanwita Chattopadhyay
(Chief Executive Officer, ICICI Knowledge Park) [India]
Deepanwita Chattopadhyay, MD & CEO of IKP Knowledge Park (erstwhile ICICI Knowledge Park), is responsible for developing the first Life Science Research Park in India and establishing a sustainable innovation and knowledge cluster around a science park through a Public-Private Partnership model. She has deep interest in entrepreneurship, incubation and institution building. Deepanwita Chattopadhyay did her B. Tech & M. Tech in Radio Physics & Electronics from Calcutta University, India and was a senior research fellow at the Centre for Applied Research in Electronics, IIT, Delhi. After brief stints as faculty at the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department, BITS, Pilani and as freelance writer and editor of science material for children, she joined the telecom advisory practice of ICICI Bank Ltd., the largest private bank in India, in 1994. She was deputed to IKP Knowledge Park as its CEO in August 2001. Ms. Chattopadhyay is a Director on the Board of the IKP Investment Management Company that was set up in 2009 to manage the India Innovation Fund, an early stage venture fund. She is also on the Board of Directors of the National Research Development Corporation, Govt. of India, member of the Committee on Biotech Parks of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), GoI, Advisory Council Member of BIRAP, DBT, Governing Council Member, Lucknow Biotech Park and the Andhra Pradesh State Biotech Council and executive members of the Indian STEPs & Business Incubators Association (ISBA) and the Federation of Asian Biotech Associations.
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Jim Chung
(Maryland Technology Enterprise, University of Maryland)
Jim Chung is the director of the MTECH VentureAccelerator, the University of Maryland's initiative for helping faculty and students launch successful technology-based ventures. Chung has previous experience in M&A (Corporate Executive Board), private equity (Cherington Capital), and early stage venture capital (incTANK Ventures). He was also a research fellow at Harvard, MIT, and the University of Tokyo researching how government, business, and academia work interact to create innovation. He received his BA and MA from Stanford University, and is a PhD Candidate on leave from MIT.
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Ed Clancy
(Cal Poly)
Dr. Ed Clancy is Chief Technology Officer of ACTA LLC (Advanced Cooling Technology Applications – www.acta-llc.com), a nanotech startup firm located in Boulder, Colorado. ACTA has a patented process on nanofluids that improves heat transfer properties of refrigerants and is working with Penn State and the University of Cincinnati in developing this technology. ACTA is also working with Ball Aerospace & Technology on a SBIR contract with the Air Force on improving heat pipes that cool electronics using nanofluids. Recently eSpace, an accelerator for high tech businesses located in Colorado, started working with ACTA. Prior to starting ACTA in February 2009, Ed worked as a patent attorney for the USPTO. Dr. Clancy served as Program Director at the National Science Foundation for the Industry / University Cooperative Research Centers in the Industrial Innovation Partnership Division (2005-2007). Ed Clancy is professor emeritus of engineering from Cal Poly (Pomona). He has been a faculty researcher at Department of Energy (DOE) UC Berkeley lab and the US Navy’s David Taylor Lab. Professor Clancy retired from the US Navy as a CAPTAIN. He is a licensed professional engineer and attorney in California and Colorado. Ed is also a licensed Patent Attorney for the USPTO.
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Eamonn Confrey
(First Secretary Information & Communications Policy, Embassy Of Ireland)
Eamonn Confrey has been First Secretary, Information & Communications Technology Policy at the Embassy of Ireland, Washington D.C. since October 2006. He is on secondment from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources in Ireland. Eamonn’s primary role is the provision of strategic analysis on Science, Technology & Energy policy developments in North America. He also chairs the Telecoms Attachés Group, an informal network of Washington telecoms diplomats. He holds a B.A. (Hons) in History & Politics and a Masters degree in European Studies from University College Dublin. He also has a Higher Diploma in Information Technology from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.
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Tom Corr
(University of Waterloo) [Canada]
Tom is the CEO of the Accelerator Centre (AC) at the Waterloo Research and Technology Park and Associate Vice-President of Commercialization at the University of Waterloo (UW). Previously he was Director of Commercialization - IT & Communications at the University of Toronto. In his role at the AC, Tom is responsible for overseeing the mentoring, advice, and training that is provided to the 25 early-stage companies that are located at the AC, with a goal of creating successful start-up companies that create economic development for the community and wealth for the company founders and investors. In his role at UW, Tom's primary responsibility is the management of the protection and commercialization of intellectual property developed by the researchers and students at UW. Tom's career also includes over 30 years in the IT sector including positions as Managing Partner at Catalyst Partnership; founder and CEO of Momentum Systems; founder and CEO of Applied Development Corp., and president of Canadian Data Processing Corp. In addition to his responsibilities at the University of Waterloo, Tom also teaches part-time at the University of Toronto and McMaster University. Tom's education includes a Doctor of Business Administration degree from Henley Management College/Brunel University in England, an MBA from the University of Toronto, and an Advanced Post Graduate Degree in Management Consultancy from Henley Management College. Tom has also completed his certification as a corporate director by the Institute of Corporate Directors.
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Brian Cummings
(University of Utah)
Brian Cummings is currently the Executive Director of the Technology Commercialization Office at the University of Utah and Assistant Vice President for Technology Ventures. In the four years that he has been in this role the office has successfully started over 85 new technology-based companies, 80% of which have received initial seed, venture or corporate funding. Brian is also President of a University-based personalized medicine company and has assisted in the set up and creation of three new venture capital funds. Previously, Brian led the life science commercialization efforts at the University of Texas. Brian currently serves on the Board for The Utah Life Science Association, The Rocky Mountain Research Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases, The Governor’s Board for Business Resource Centers, The Kickstart Seed Fund, The Renaissance Foundation, Catheter Connections and the LES Board for Technology Commercialization Structure and Development.
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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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Russ Cummings
(Imperial Innovation) [UK]
Russ Cummings is Chief Investment Officer at Imperial Innovations Group plc, one of the leading technology transfer and commercialisation companies in the UK. Imperial Innovations creates, builds and invests in ground breaking technology opportunities and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. He has over 20 years experience in Venture Capital and has invested in over 50 companies across the healthcare, engineering and IT sectors. Prior to Imperial Innovations, Russ worked at 3i Group plc, the FTSE 100 world leader in private equity and venture capital, where he was a Director in their Technology Group and also Scottish Equity Partners, one of Europe’s leading Venture Capital groups. He has invested in, and helped to build, many successful high growth technology companies which have originated from UK Universities, including Searchspace, Oxford Asymmetry and Queensgate Instruments. He has served as a non-executive director on boards of UK, US and Continental European venture backed businesses, coinvesting alongside internationally renowned Venture Capital funds. He is currently a non-executive director of Circassia and Nexeon. He has been involved in IPOs and trade sales in London (LSE and AIM), the US (NASDAQ), European and South African exchanges, bringing a wealth of experience and contacts to his present role. He is a graduate Mechanical Engineer and previously worked as a development engineer for Rolls-Royce Motors in the automotive industry. He is a member of the British Venture Capital Association (‘BVCA’) Venture Capital Committee.
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Charles Curran
(Valhalla Partners)
Charles Curran has been a technology venture capital investor since 1998. Prior to that, he was an investment banker. Before joining Valhalla, Charles was a partner of Saturn Venture Partners, a $280 million early stage venture firm backed by Telecom Italia Mobile, which is located in New York, NY. He led enterprise technology investing at Saturn. He also worked as an associate with New Enterprise Associates (located in Reston, VA) working closely with Art Marks. Prior to NEA, Mr. Curran worked as a telecommunications and technology investment banker for Lazard Frères & Co. and DLJ Securities Corporation, advising premier clients on over $35 billion announced M&A and capital markets transactions. Charles received a Masters in Business Administration from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with Distinction from Stanford University. Charles is helping to drive Valhalla's efforts in data storage, mobile and Internet marketing. He led or supported the firm's investments in JumpTap, Nirvanix, LeftHand Networks, and SEPATON serving as Board member or observer at each company. Charles lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and three children.
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Brian Darmody
(University of Maryland, Co-Host)
Brian Darmody is Associate Vice President for Research and Economic Development at the University of Maryland. He has been involved with launching the University's Office of Technology Commercialization, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), Research Parks Maryland (RPM) and other technology development entities. Previously he worked as University General Counsel, Director of University Government Relations, and at US Health Care Financing Administration, US House of Representatives and Maryland General Assembly. For 2007-08 he chairs the University Network of Entrepreneurs (UM NET).
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Joe Del Guercio
(CNF Investments)
Joe Del Guercio joined CNF Investments in 2004 as a Managing Director. Prior to joining CNF, Joe was a director with LPL Financial Services, a Boston and San Diego based independent broker dealer, with responsibility for strategic planning, new product development, and acquisitions. Prior to LPL, Joe was with Robertson Stephens and Goldman Sachs, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions, private and public equity financings, and restructurings. Joe serves on the boards of Vital Sensors, Verax Biomedical, Overture Technologies, Vision Chain, and DigitalBridge Communications. Joe is also a board observer with Lipomics Technologies Inc., TerraGo Technologies and Innovative Biosensors, and is an advisory board member on a number of CNF’s fund investments. Joe has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.S. from Boston College.
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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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Debapriya Dutta
(Counselor, Science & Technology, Embassy of India)
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Joseph Dvorak
(Innovation and a Technology Futurist, Research In Motion)
Joseph Dvorak is a Manager of Innovation and a Technology Futurist at Research In Motion where he facilitates the creation of innovative ideas. He was the Technology Futurist in the Motorola Corporate Technology Office until 2008. From 2005 – 2007 he was the Motorola Scientist in Residence at the MIT Media Lab where collaborated with the research groups and managed the transfer of technology from the Media Lab to Motorola research and development groups. He was an Adjunct Professor at Florida Atlantic University where he taught courses in wearable technology and systems and has over 10 years in wearable development and system design. He holds 15 patents and has a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
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Craig Dye
(University of Maryland, Maryland Angel Investors)
Craig Dye is the director of venture investments at the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship, the University of Maryland’s initiative for enterprise creation and funding. Dye is an accomplished business executive and investor with more than 20 years of investing, IT and operational management experience. As an advisor to the Affinity Lab - an incubator for corporate and social entrepreneurs - Craig has helped launch and sustain numerous successful companies and non-profits in the mid-Atlantic region. Prior to joining Affinity Lab, Craig was the chief operating officer of Articulated Impact, a software development and web strategy company that provides solutions to the challenges of top-tier companies, hedge funds, and nonprofits. Before that, Dye was the founder and CEO of Wheelhouse Networks, delivering enterprise-class computing and telecommunication platforms as a managed service to corporations and professional services firms. He began his career with Informatics General (since acquired by CA Inc.), one of the first technology services companies in the nation, and subsequently served as the global chief information officer for Hogan & Hartson, supporting its growth into a $1 billion legal services leader and more than doubling in size during his tenure. Dye serves on the board of directors of a number of companies and advises startups and nonprofits in the metropolitan area. He received his bachelor of arts in political science from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife and two children.
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Martin Eglitis
(Senior Partnering Director, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries)
Martin Eglitis, Ph.D., is Senior Partnering Director, Teva Innovative Ventures, part of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. He is responsible for the identification and evaluation of potential partnering opportunities in the entire western region of North America. In this role he is seeking early stage partnerships with both academic institutions and small biotechnology companies. Prior to joining Teva he was Associate Director of Licensing at Amgen Inc., where he was responsible for the identification, evaluation, and negotiation of in- and out-licensing opportunities across the drug development spectrum, from lead stage to registration. Among many licensing projects, Martin managed the partner interactions for the evaluation of an Amgen pain program, leading to a deal with J&J potentially valued in excess of $435 million. Before joining Amgen, he spent six years in Neuroscience and Cardiovascular licensing at Eli Lilly and Company. After a post-doctoral fellowship at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, he joined the National Institute of Heart, Lung and Blood at the NIH where he was involved in early efforts to develop transgenic mouse models and retroviral vectors for gene therapy. Dr. Eglitis was involved in one of the first gene therapy start-ups, Genetic Therapy Inc., from inception through its IPO and the first gene therapy clinical trials. Subsequently, Dr. Eglitis utilized his expertise in retroviral vectors to study adult CNS stem cells as a therapeutic avenue at the National Institutes of Mental Health and Neurological Disease and Stroke. Dr. Eglitis obtained his baccalaureate in Biology and Ph.D. in Anatomy and Developmental Biology from the University of Virginia.
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Thomas Fare
(Merck)
Dr. Fare’s has had professional experience with pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and diagnostics companies. His core expertise is leading teams in the development of advanced measurement systems that utilize immunoassays, DNA-based assays, fluidic devices, and analytical instrumentation. Dr. Fare joined Rosetta Inpharmatics in December 1999 to direct the late-stage development and transfer of DNA array writer technology to Agilent Technologies, which used the platform to launch their commercial array business. He was a charter director of the Gene Expression Laboratory (now Covance Genomics Laboratory). Merck acquired Rosetta in 2001 and Dr. Fare has since taken on the role of Technology Licensing Integrator, where he is responsible for evaluating and developing technologies and related applications for Merck discovery and development activities. Dr. Fare received his BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and was a post-doctoral fellow under Professor Ingemar Lundström at Linköping University (Sweden). After returning from Linköping, Dr. Fare was an Office of Naval Technology Post-doctoral Fellow at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC. While he was at the NRL, Dr. Fare held an adjunct faculty position at the Georgetown University Medical Center; he is currently an affiliate professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington.
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Fred Farina
(Director, Tech Transfer, Cal Tech)
Fred Farina is Assistant Vice President for Technology Transfer at the California Institute of Technology. His responsibilities include evaluating inventions at Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA), supervising patent prosecution and portfolio management, negotiating licensing deals with industry and assisting Caltech/JPL entrepreneurs with the creation of startups. Prior to joining the office, Fred worked for eight year as a Research Engineer in the GPS field. He subsequently joined a law firm where he prosecuted patent applications on various high technologies before the US and European patent offices. Fred holds a "Diplôme d'Ingénieur" in Electrical Engineering from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquees, Lyon, France, and is a graduate of Caltech from which he received his M.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1992. He is a registered U.S. patent agent.
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Nariman Farvardin
(University of Maryland)
Nariman Farvardin became Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at the University of Maryland, College Park in July 2007. He is also Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Prior to his appointment as Provost, Dr. Farvardin was the Dean of the A. James Clark School of Engineering (2000-2007) and Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (1994-2000). During his seven-year tenure as Dean, Dr. Farvardin promoted the development of major research programs and enhanced the School's partnerships with industry. During this period, externally funded research expenditures increased from $70 million to over $110 million. In addition, the School received two landmark gifts: $31 million to establish the Fischell Department of Bioengineering and $30 million to establish a scholarship endowment; constructed a state-of-the-art engineering building; built new programs in nanotechnology, placing the University of Maryland as one of the strongest in the nation in nanotechnology education and research. Dr. Farvardin was the co-founder and chairman of the board of Zagros Networks, a venture-funded fabless semiconductor company in Rockville, Maryland, developing technologies focusing on quality of service provisioning in packet switched networks. He is currently a member of the board of directors and advisory/technical board of several companies, as well as educational and non-profit organizations. Farvardin received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1979, 1980, and 1983 respectively.
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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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Christopher Foster
(Raytheon)
After four years as a state official promoting Maryland technology companies overseas and around the nation, Christopher C. Foster now plies his promotional abilities for one the leading tech companies. Raytheon has hired the former deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development as business development executive for its Information Security Solutions business. Raytheon boasts several strategic university partnerships.
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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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The Honorable Jacques S. Gansler, Ph.D.
(Chair, NAS Committee for Capitalizing on Science, Technology, and Innovation: An Assessment of the Small Business Innovation Research Program, UMD School of Public Policy and former Undersecretary DOD for Technology)
The Honorable Jacques S. Gansler is a Professor and holds the Roger C. Lipitz Chair in Public Policy and Private Enterprise in the School of Public Policy, and is the Director of both the Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise and the Sloan Biotechnology Industry Center. Additionally, he is the Glenn L. Martin Institute Fellow of Engineering at the A. James Clarke School of Engineering, an Affiliate Faculty member at the Robert H. Smith School of Business and a Senior Fellow at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership (all at the University of Maryland). He also served as Interim Dean of the School of Public Policy from 2003 to 2004, and as the Vice President for Research for the University of Maryland from 2004-2006. He is a Member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He currently is chairing three National Academy Committees (one on the “Small Business Innovation Research Program”; one on “Science and Security”; and one on “Special Forces”). Gansler recently served as the Chair of the Secretary of the Army’s “Commission on Contracting and Program Management for Army Expeditionary Forces.” He is also the National Academy of Engineering’s representative on the Academies’ Standing Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy; and he currently Chairs a Defense Science Board Task Force on the 21st Century Defense Industry. Previously, Dr. Gansler served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics from November 1997 until January 2001. In this position, he was responsible for all matters relating to Department of Defense acquisition, research and development, logistics, acquisition reform, advanced technology, international programs, environmental security, nuclear, chemical, and biological programs, and the defense technology and industrial base. (He had an annual budget of over $180 Billion, and a workforce of over 300,000.) Prior to this appointment, Dr. Gansler was Executive Vice President and Corporate Director for TASC, Incorporated, an applied information technology company, in Arlington, Virginia (from 1977 to 1997) during which time he played a major role in building the company from a small operation into a large, widely-recognized and greatly-respected corporation, serving both the government and the private sector. From 1972 to 1977, he served in the government as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Materiel Acquisition), responsible for all defense procurements and the defense industry; and as Assistant Director of Defense Research and Engineering (Electronics) responsible for all defense electronics Research and Development. His prior industrial experience included: Vice President (Business Development), I.T.T. (1970-1972); Program Management, Director of Advanced Programs, and Director of International Marketing, Singer Corporation (1962-1970); and Engineering Management, Raytheon Corporation (1956-1962). Dr. Gansler serves (and has served) on numerous Corporation Boards of Directors, and governmental special committees and advisory boards. He has been Vice Chairman, Defense Science Board and member for 10 years; Chairman, Board of Visitors, Defense Acquisition University; Director, Procurement Round Table; Chairman, Industry Advisory Board, University of Virginia, School of Engineering; Chairman, Board of Visitors, University of Maryland, School of Public Policy; member of the FAA Blue Ribbon Panel on Acquisition Reform; member of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Advisory Board (10 years); and senior consultant to the "Packard Commission" on Defense Acquisition Reform. Additionally, from 1984 to 1997, Dr. Gansler was a Visiting Scholar at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University where he was a frequent guest lecturer in Executive Management courses. He is the author of 3 books, a contributing author of 25 other books, author of over 100 papers, and a frequent speaker and Congressional witness. Dr. Gansler holds a BE in Electrical Engineering from Yale University, a MS in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University, a MA in Political Economy from the New School for Social Research, and a Ph.D. in Economics from American University.
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Dave Goodwin
(Department of Energy)
Physical Scientist presently working for the following 3 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Offices: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR), Fusion Energy Sciences, and Security. Since 1986 have also worked for the following 4 DOE Offices: High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, Advanced Scientific Computing, and Defense Programs. From 1976 to 1986, worked for the USN. From 1972 to 1976, worked on 3 nuclear power plants. From 1968 to 1971, on staff at Ohio State University (OSU). Degrees from OSU in physics and engineering. Awards include a Thousand Points of Light Award from First Lady Barbara Bush for volunteer construction work. Hobbies include adventure travel to 60 countries and U.S. travel to visit 21 grandkids.
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Cynthia E. Gonsalves
(Acting Director, Office of Technology Transition Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense)
Mrs. Gonsalves is the Director of the Office of Technology Transition. In this position, she has oversight of the Manufacturing Technology Program, Defense Production Act Title III Program, and Independent Research and Development Program; she is also the Director for Technology Transfer and Transition. As Director, she has oversight responsibility for the DoD Technology Transfer Program, the Technology Transition Initiative, and the North American Technology and Industrial Base Organization (NATIBO). She provides guidance and develops plans to implement and improve the DoD technology transfer and transition programs to ensure coherent, although decentralized programs. She has developed DoD-wide implementation policy and technology transfer and intellectual property information systems. Within the NATIBO, she provides guidance and develops plans with the Services, other federal agencies, and Canada. Mrs. Gonsalves will describe opportunities for new and established businesses to utilize DoD laboratory facilities throughout the nation as a source of technology and scarce laboratory capability for the development of products and services of interest to the Department of Defense and private sector markets.
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Robert R. Gruetzmacher
(Director of Technology Commercialization, DuPont's Center for Collaborative Research and Education)
Dr. Gruetzmacher is the Director of Technology Commercialization in DuPont's Center for Collaborative Research and Education. During his career with DuPont, his responsibilities have included research, development, manufacturing, and marketing in the photopolymer imaging products and medical diagnostic businesses. He managed DuPont’s infectious disease diagnostics research group in Boston, co-managed a food quality assurance business venture, and helped lead development of DuPont's technology transfer group and intellectual assets business. In his current role his responsibilities include managing the unrestricted grants program, leading DuPont’s efforts to find appropriate university partners for sponsored and collaborative research, negotiating agreements and seeks new business opportunities with the academic setting including startups, and advises company-wide on licensing-related matters. Most recently, he has been asked to take a lead in facilitating corporate-wide implementation of an “open innovation” R&D model. Dr. Gruetzmacher holds a Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University, and was the recipient of a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship. He has served as a trustee of the Licensing Executives Society and participates in several international forums dealing with topics such as university/company transactions, knowledge management, and the management and valuation of intellectual assets. He has authored publications and is invited frequently to gives talks on these topics. He is a certified licensing Professional and a member of the Licensing Executives Society, the American Chemical Society, the Association of University Technology Managers, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is on the industrial advisory boards of the Larta Institute in Los Angeles, the Larta/USDA Commercialization Assistance Program and the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University. He was recently elected to the University-Industry Demonstration Partnership (UIDP) board of directors.
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Steve Hahn
(Dow Chemical)
Steve Hahn is a Senior Research Scientist in Dow’s Ventures and Business Development group. Steve joined Dow in 1982 in Central Research in Midland, Michigan, working in the Anionic and Ziegler groups, and in the Dow’s Polystyrene Business. He joined the Materials Science Group in Performance Plastics and Chemicals in Freeport, Texas prior to taking his current position. Steve has worked on a variety of polymer and plastic related research projects including the development of microelectronic and optical materials, polymer modification, anionic polymerization, synthesis and characterization of novel block copolymers, interfacial interactions of polymeric materials and the preparation and study of nanostructured materials. Steve has a B.S. in Chemistry from Michigan Tech and an M.S. in Chemistry from Central Michigan University/Michigan Molecular Institute. He holds >30 issued U.S. Patents, has 35 publications in refereed journals, 15 conference proceedings, and has written 5 chapters in technical text or reference books. Steve was named a Dow Chemical Company Inventor of the Year in 1990 and 1996, was the Distinguished Alumni Lecturer at Michigan Technological University in 1996 and 2003, and was presented the Dow Chemical Company Michigan Scientists Organization Excellence In Science Award in 1999. He was a Visiting Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the University of Minnesota in 2002. He has represented Dow on the Technical Advisory Board for the Institute of Materials Science at the University of Connecticut and the College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board at Michigan Technological University. He was a recipient of the ACS PMSE 2008 Cooperative Research Award.
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Eric Harlé
(Managing Partner, I-Source) [France]
Eric Harlé is an Arts et Métiers and PhD graduate and holds an Executive MBA from HEC. Eric started as a naval architect, designing and building dozens of cruising and racing sailing boats. He joined Dassault Systèmes (world leader of PLM systems) in 1984 when the company was small start-up growing very fast, where he has held several development and senior management positions, involved in many corporate projects including the IPO on Nasdaq and Euronext in 1996. He choose to come back to the very specific atmosphere of young start-ups in 1997, joined Datops (Paris based decision support software) as COO. In late 1998, Eric co-founded the Venture Capital firm I-Source with the support of French institutional investors. He is the managing partner of the 6 investors team, dedicated to seed and early stage investment in the ICT field. I-Source has invested in 65 companies since 1999. 20 have been acquired, most of them by US companies, and 3 of them are now listed on Euronext in Paris. Eric is a board member of Etiam, Expway, Jobpartners, Link Care Services, Smartesting, Total Immersion and Webjam.
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Jouko Hautamaki
(Attache, Science & Technology, Embassy of Finland)
Jouko Hautamaki (M.Sc. Eng.) works as a Science and Technology Attaché at the Embassy of Finland, representing Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation. Tekes is the main public funding organization in Finland for research, development and innovation carried by universities and industry. In the US, Hautamaki’s main tasks are technology foresight operations and Finnish research and industry internationalizing by matchmaking them with American counterpartners. Previously he has worked in different positions at Tekes, lately as a Senior Technology Advisor in the information technology sector. Before joining Tekes, Hautamaki has worked as a development and a production manager in the SME industry, and a production engineering research scientist at Tampere University of Technology, partly in Czech Republic.
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Al Hawkins
(Director, New Ventures, Boston University)
Al Hawkins is Director of New Ventures at Boston University, where he manages the process of starting and developing new faculty companies, administers the Boston University venture capital fund and oversees the BU Photonics Center Incubator. Prior to BU, Al was a Co-founder and Partner of Agave Group, a management consulting firm that focused on fund raising, business development and investment due diligence for early stage life science companies and investor groups. In five years at Agave Group, Al led over 60 consulting projects. He received an SM degree in Biomedical Enterprise from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST). Al received a Masters in Business degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Bachelors degree from Emory University. He serves on the boards of several private life science companies and non-profits.
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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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Dominic Houlihan
(University of Aberdeen) [UK]
Professor Dominic Houlihan is Vice-Principal, Research & Commercialisation at the University of Aberdeen. A professor of zoology, and internationally distinguished fish biologist, he has responsibilities for the University’s research and commercialisation activity including developing the research culture and strategies for commercial income. He is tasked with raising the University’s research profile and level of research income through interaction with government, industry, the research councils and major charities. He also held major responsibility for overseeing the University’s preparations for the RAE 2008. He is responsible for the encouragement of more than 15 spin outs, two of which have seen very significant investment.
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Andrew Jay
(Siemens)
Dr. Andrew Jay is Head of the Health Care Fund at Siemens Venture Capital. He currently is on the Board of Directors of RadPharm, U-Systems, Cornova and Vasomed. He is a Board Observer at MDdatacor and Zonare. He previously was involved in alumni portfolio companies Sequenom and Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Jay previously was a medical technology analyst leading the practices at Wachovia Securities, Alex. Brown and Deutsche Bank. He was instrumental in raising over $2 billion in equity capital, publishing over 10,000 pages of research and bringing over 20 medical technology companies public. He was frequently quoted and interviewed in the financial trade press including the Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, CNN and MSNBC. He distinguished himself with thought-leading research on topics such as neurological devices, stroke, and the first report on the enormous opportunity in coated stents. He has a Bachelor of Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a DMD from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern. Outside the office, Dr. Jay founded an environmental non-profit, the Massachusetts Oyster Project, which is restoring water purifying oysters to Boston Harbor. www.massoyster.org.
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Patrick Jones
(University of Arizona)
Patrick Jones has directed the Office of Technology Transfer at The University of Arizona since the fall of 2002. His private sector activities in the software, laser, and the defense research contracting industries have included R&D, product development, product life cycle management and product marketing. Within the public sector he has held regular and affiliate faculty appointments in Chemistry and for six years served in technology transfer at the University of Washington. He is a Past President of the Association of University Technology Managers, a 3500 member global professional society promoting excellence in academic technology transfer and a member of the Board of Governors for Certified Licensing Professions, Inc., a certification organization for licensing professionals from industry and academia. He received his B.Sci. in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota, his Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from the University of Colorado and his Masters in Business Administration from the University of Washington.
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Christian Jörgens
(Head of Science and Technology Section, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany)
Christian Joergens has been serving as head of the S&T section of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Washington D.C. since October 2007. The science section of the embassy deals with all S&T –related issues, such as general questions of U.S. research, technology and innovation policy, key technologies, space, energy and homeland security research, biotechnology and genetic engineering, information technology, environmental research, and scientific workforce. Prior to his work as science counselor, Joergens served in different functions at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of the Federal Republic of Germany, starting in 1987. He was head of the divisions for Legal Affairs, for Staff at Research Institutions and for Public Sector Employment Law. He headed the ministry’s working group for reform of public sector employment law at German universities. Earlier, he worked in the Human Resources Division and the Division for Cooperation with North and South America. From 1996 to 1998 Joergens served at the Federation of German Industries (BDI), Department for Technology and Innovation Policy. In 1989 he was seconded to the ILL (Institut Laue – Langevin), which operates a research reactor in Grenoble, France. He received a masters degree in law at Georg-August University in Goettingen, Germany.
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Peter Kelly
(Executive Director, Helsinki School of Creative Entrepreneurship) [Finland]
Peter Kelly is an award winning entrepreneurship educator and practitioner. He has taught courses in Creativity, New Venture Development, Entrepreneurial Finance and Managing Growth courses at the Helsinki University of Technology (Finland) and is the founding Executive Director of the Helsinki School of Creative Entrepreneurship involving Finland’s leading technology, design and business universities. Dr Kelly has also taught in Sweden (Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship), UK (London Business School and University of Notre Dame), Portugal (Instituto Politecnico Lisbon), Russia and Norway (SSE), Switzerland (EFPL Lausanne), and Canada (WLU). He earned an MBA from the University of Notre Dame and became the first PhD in Entrepreneurship from London Business School. He is a leading international authority on business angel finance and venture capital and serves on the Editorial Board of Venture Capital: An International Journal of Finance. While at LBS, he helped establish the Foundation for Entrepreneurial Management and the first private university seed fund in Europe. Dr Kelly was named Teacher of the Year in Finland in 2004 by the Foundation for the Advancement of Technical Sciences. In a prior life, he was an investment and corporate banker at Toronto Dominion Bank in Canada working with cable television, cellular and publishing companies. In that capacity, he was involved in taking companies public and numerous acquisition transactions. He is also a business angel.
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David Koegel
(Office of Laboratory Policy and Evaluation, Office of Science, Department of Energy)
David Koegel has been with the federal government for 24 years, 18 of which have been with the Department of Energy in the Office of Science, the basic research arm of the Department. His federal career began as a chemical engineer at the Army’s Night Vision and Electro-Optic Laboratory where he pursued the development and fabrication of advanced infrared detectors, similar to the type used in today’s heat-imaging cameras. He spent several years on detail to the Pentagon to the Army’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, most significantly during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. After joining DOE in 1991, he organized and led retrospective peer reviews of research sponsored by a number of programs within the Department. He was a program manager in the Laboratory Technology Transfer program, responsible for coordinating research projects to benefit the American textile industry, then an industrial sector suffering from international competition, inefficiency, environmental contamination and most significantly was one of the largest consumers of electric power in the U.S. Mr. Koegel has also contributed significantly as a program manager in the Advanced Energy Projects division and in the Small Business Innovative Research program. Currently Mr. Koegel is in the Office of Laboratory Policy and Evaluation, assisting with the annual corporate level evaluation of the ten Office of Science national laboratories and with the annual laboratory planning process. He is a member of the DOE Technology Transfer Policy Board, and some of his responsibilities include being the Department’s liaison to the DOE Technology Transfer Working Group, the Federal Laboratory Consortium on Technology Transfer, and the federal Interagency Working Group on Technology Transfer. He has most recently been named the Office of Science Small Business Program Manager. Mr. Koegel has a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering, and a Master of Science degree in materials science engineering, both from the University of Arizona. Raised in Arizona, he resides in Alexandria, VA, where he enjoys home renovation in his spare time.
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Tomohisa Koyama
(Nagoya University) [Japan]
Tomohisa Koyama is Professor and Executive Director of Technology Partnership of Nagoya University, Inc (NU Tech), which was founded close to North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park by Nagoya University, one of the premier Japanese universities, to promote technology transfer between US and Japan. Professor Koyama worked for 4 years at a consulting firm in Washington, D.C. where he helped US clients to explore Japanese markets. Before the consulting career, Professor Koyama worked for Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and was in charge of energy and environmental policy making and implementation. Professor Koyama earned an M.S. in Technology Policy from MIT and graduated from Nagoya University’s School of Engineering with an M.S. and B.S. in Electrical Engineering.
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Melba Kurman
(Cornell University)
Melba Kurman manages marketing and outreach efforts at the Cornell Center for Technology Enterprise and Commercialization (CCTEC). She has managed and designed several web portals, including MyIP which is now being made available to other technology transfer offices. In addition, she writes CCTEC's publication content, designed and manages CCTEC’s brand identity, and interacts with media on PR activities. As the first-ever marketing person at CCTEC over two years ago, Melba had the rare opportunity to build CCTEC's marketing strategy from scratch, re-designing the web site, building a search engine, and instituting the first Annual Report and regular news bulletins. Melba’s most recent software project is an online investment portal to connect angel investors to startups that are associated with Cornell. Prior to joining CCTEC, Melba spent nearly a decade in technology industry in the Pacific Northwest doing marketing and marketing research at Microsoft and other technology companies. Melba graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Communications.
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Andrew Kurtz
(Office of the Director, National Cancer Institute, NIH)
Dr. Kurtz is a Program Director in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Development Center at the National Cancer Institute. His management portfolio comprises awards that support the pre-clinical development of novel oncology therapeutics, including small molecules, biologics, and multifunctional therapeutics based on nanotechnology. From 2005-2007, Dr. Kurtz was a NIH/AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow, serving on the management team of The Cancer Genome Atlas Pilot Project and assisting in the development of several program enhancements to help advance NIH-funded SBIR projects toward commercialization. Prior to coming to NIH, Dr. Kurtz conducted basic research in DNA repair, mutagenesis and carcinogenesis. He held a previous position as Research Associate at Cedra Corporation, a Contract Research Organization that provides GLP bioanalytical services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He received a B.S. in Chemistry from The University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. in Human Biological Chemistry & Genetics from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
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Burton Lee
(Stanford University)
Dr. Burton Lee PhD MBA is Director of Stanford University’s European Entrepreneurship and Innovation Thought Leaders Program in the School of Engineering. He was recently appointed to Ireland’s national Innovation Taskforce by Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen. Dr. Lee is a technology venture finance, commercialization and innovation strategy and policy professional with over 15 years entrepreneurial and senior executive leadership and advisory experience in seed-stage investment; venture-backed startups; global technology corporations; venture capital and private equity funds, angel networks, federal S&T agencies, state economic development offices, leading research universities, industry associations and national governments. His management and technical experience includes global strategy and research positions with Hewlett Packard, GE Global Research, DaimlerChrysler AG and NASA in the United States, Europe and Japan. Burton’s sector expertise spans software, artificial intelligence, robotics, alternative energy, environmental systems, green IT, semiconductors, nanotechnology, aerospace and defense, sensor networks, medical devices and manufacturing. Dr. Lee serves as Managing Partner of Innovarium Ventures, a strategic, financial and technical advisory services firm based in Silicon Valley. Current and recent clients include the National Science Foundation (NSF), NASA Ames Research Center and New Mexico Spaceport Authority. He also serves as Principal and co-founder of Space Angels Network, a professionally managed national network of accredited investors focused on seed- and early-stage aviation- and space-related ventures. During 2006-2008, Burton served as Innovation Policy Advisor to Governor Bill Richardson’s presidential campaign; as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the National Academy of Sciences’ Computer Science and Telecommunications Board in Washington DC; and as innovation cluster development policy advisor to the state of New Mexico. Previous S&T and economic policy assignments include a tenure at US labor union federation AFL-CIO headquarters, and serving as a senior tourism advisor to Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga and the Central Bank of Jamaica. Burton holds a PhD in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from Stanford University (2002), and an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship (Cornell, 2004).
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Esther Lee
(Director, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Policy, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce)
Esther Lee serves in the Obama Administration as Director, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Policy at the U.S. Department of Commerce. In that role, she leads the newly created Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which is focused on promoting high-growth entrepreneurship and accelerating technology commercialization of federal R&D. She also coordinates the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Prior to joining Commerce, Esther was a seasoned business executive with 15 years of experience in technology and media. She served in senior executive roles at Time Warner, AOL, and Siemens, as well as two startups. Esther received an A.B. in economics from Harvard and an MBA in entrepreneurship from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
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David Lerner
(Director, New Ventures,Columbia University Science & Technology Ventures)
Dave Lerner is a New York-based Serial Entrepreneur, Angel Investor, Chairman of the Totius Group and a Board Member of New York Tech Meetup. He is also the Director of the Venture Lab at Columbia University Science & Technology Ventures which spins-off 10-12 start-ups per year based on university intellectual property. His personal blog, www.davidblerner.com, explores the worlds of angel/venture investing, entrepreneurship and university spin-offs. Dave was recently named one of the "top 100 most influential New Yorkers in the digital business community" by Silicon Alley Insider http://www.businessinsider.com/sa100/2008/david-lerner. He is also an active organizer of entrepreneurship and venture capital events and a mentor to entrepreneurs and start-ups in and outside of the university arena. He is an Advisory Board Member and Organizer of the Blue Venture Community, is the Resident Venture Advisor to the Lang Center for Entrepreneurship at Columbia Business School and serves on the Advisory Board of the National Council for Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer.
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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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H. Keith McDowell
(University of Texas)
Keith McDowell received a B.S. degree in chemistry from Wake Forest University in 1966 and a Ph.D. in chemical physics under the direction of Martin Karplus from Harvard University in 1972. From 1972 to 1974 he served as a postdoctoral fellow with Richard Porter at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. From 1974 until 1983 he was a member of the Department of Chemistry at Clemson University, and moved from the rank of Assistant Professor to tenured Associate Professor in 1978. Dr. McDowell spent the academic year 1981-1982 on sabbatical leave at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In 1983, he became Group Leader of the Physical Chemistry Group at Los Alamos. In 1988 he became Coordinator of Materials Science at Los Alamos. From 1991 to 1996 he was Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Arlington. In 1999 he became the Associate Dean of Science followed by a year as Dean of Graduate School. From 2001 until 2003 Dr. McDowell served as the Vice President for Research and Information Technology. In 2003 Dr. McDowell became the Vice President for Research at The University of Alabama and in 2007 Vice Chancellor for Research and Technology Transfer at The University of Texas System. Dr. McDowell has won several awards during his career. In 1962 he received an honorable mention in the annual Westinghouse Science Talent Search. In 1978 he was awarded the position of Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. In 2000 he won the University of Texas Chancellor’s Teaching Award. Dr. McDowell is the author of many refereed publications ranging from applications of diagrammatic perturbation theory in quantum chemistry to quantum Monte Carlo, surface diffusion, chemisorption, dynamics in inorganic complexes, and quantum Langevin theories.
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Eric Meulenkamp
(Philips Research)
Dr Eric Meulenkamp received his PhD (cum laude) from Utrecht University, The Netherlands, in 1993 in the field of materials science. After a postdoctoral position in Bath, UK, he joined Philips Research Europe in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in 1995, where he performed work on several topics in materials science and device physics. In 2005, he was made a Senior Director and Department Head of the group “Photonic Materials and Devices”, with focus on solid state lighting. In this role he was heavily involved in open innovation at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven and The Netherlands. In 2008, he took up the position of Research Department Head in Philips Research North America in Briarcliff Manor, NY, leading the group “Energy-Efficient and Networked Environments” that looks into wireless communication and green buildings.
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Mark Mielke
(BASF Future Business America )
Mark Mielke is responsible for Innovation Scouting & Strategy in North America at BASF Future Business GmbH. He formulates emerging market strategies and builds relationships with start up companies, innovators and universities with the goal of adding new technologies to the BFB portfolio leveraging BASF's core competencies in chemistry and materials. Mark analyzes opportunities related to energy & resources, human health and the environment. Mark holds a PhD degree in Colloid Science from the University of Kiel Germany and an MBA from the Stevens Institute of Technology
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President C. D. Mote
(University of Maryland)
In September 1998, C. D. (Dan) Mote, Jr. began his tenure as President of the University of Maryland and Glenn L. Martin Institute Professor of Engineering. He was recruited to lead the University of Maryland to national eminence under a mandate by the state. Since assuming the presidency, he has encouraged an environment of excellence across the University and given new impetus to the momentum generated by a talented faculty and student body. Under his leadership, academic programs have flourished. In 2005, the University was ranked 18th among public research universities, up from 30th in 1998. President Mote has emphasized broad access to the university's model, enriched undergraduate curriculum programs and launched the Baltimore Incentive Awards Program to recruit and provide full support to high school students of outstanding potential who have overcome extraordinary adversity during their lives. He has spurred the university to lead the state in the development of its high-tech economy, especially in the information and communication, bioscience and biotechnology, and nano-technology sectors. President Mote has greatly expanded the university's partnerships with corporate and federal laboratories and successfully negotiated to bring to the College Park area the first Science Research Park sponsored by the People's Republic of China. Under his leadership, the University has established a research park, The University of Maryland Enterprise Campus, M-Square, located on a 115-acre site adjacent to the University of Maryland/College Park Metro with 3 million square feet of development potential. Among its first tenants are the Center for Advanced Study of Language, a joint venture of the University and Department of Defense, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's new World Weather and Climate Prediction Center. During President Mote's second year in office, the University began the largest building boom in its history, with more than $100 million in new projects breaking ground that year. New facilities address every aspect of university life, from the arts to recreation to classrooms and laboratories, and, in creative partnership with the private sector, new residential facilities. Highlights of the construction activity include the stunning Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center; the Comcast Center, a state of the art sports complex; a high tech research greenhouse; and new classrooms for chemistry, computer science, business and engineering. President Mote also led the development of a new Facilities Master Plan for development in the next 20 years, which is noted for its emphasis on environmental stewardship. Dr. Mote is a leader in the national dialogue on higher education and his analyses of shifting funding models have been featured in local and national media. He has testified on major educational issues before Congress, representing the University and higher education associations on the problem of visa barriers for international students and scholars and on deemed export control issues. He has been asked to serve on a high level National Academies Committee appointed at the request of the Senate Energy Subcommittee of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to identify challenges to United States leadership in key areas of science and technology and to be a member of the Leadership Council of the National Innovation Initiative, an activity of the Council on Competitiveness. He has served as vice chair of the Department of Defense Basic Research Committee, and is a member of the Council of the National Academy of Engineering. In 2004-2005, he served as President of the Atlantic Coast Conference. In its last ranking in 2002, "Washington Business Forward" magazine counted him among the top 20 most influential leaders in the region. Prior to assuming the Presidency at Maryland, Dr. Mote served on the University of California, Berkeley faculty for 31 years. From 1991 to 1998, he was Vice Chancellor at Berkeley, held an endowed chair in Mechanical Systems and was President of the UC Berkeley Foundation. He led a comprehensive capital campaign for Berkeley that raised $1.4 B. He earlier served as chair of Berkeley's Department of Mechanical Engineering and led the department to its number one ranking in the National Research Council review of graduate program effectiveness. Dr. Mote's research lies in dynamic systems and biomechanics. Internationally recognized for his research on the dynamics of gyroscopic systems and the biomechanics of snow skiing, he has produced more than 300 publications, holds patents in the U.S., Norway, Finland and Sweden, and has mentored 56 Ph.D. students. He received the B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. President Mote has received numerous awards and honors, including the Humboldt Prize awarded by the Federal Republic of Germany. He is a recipient of the Berkeley Citation, an award from the University of California-Berkeley similar to the honorary doctorate, and was named Distinguished Engineering Alumnus. He has received two honorary doctorates. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and serves on its Council, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was elected to Honorary Membership in the ASME International, its most distinguished recognition, and is a Fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science, the Acoustical Society of America, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In Spring 2005, he was named recipient of the 2005 J. P. Den Hartog award by the ASME International Technical Committee on Vibration and Sound to honor his lifelong contribution to the teaching and/or practice of vibration engineering. In Fall 2005, he received the 2005 Founders Award from the National Academy of Engineering in recognition of his comprehensive body of work on the dynamics of moving flexible structures and for leadership in academia. He and his wife of over 40 years, Patricia Mote, have two married children, Melissa and Adam, and four grandchildren. Patsy Mote has continued her strong support of the arts and is spokesperson for the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and a member of Prince George's County Arts Commission.
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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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Linda Naylor
(University of Oxford) [UK]
Linda is Head of the Technology Transfer and has been with Isis Innovation Ltd for over 7 years. Isis Innovation Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Oxford. As the technology company of the University Isis commercialises the research generated by University researchers and owned by the University. Before moving to Isis in July 2002 Linda was based at the University of York where she was manager of Bioincubator York Ltd and was responsible for the commercialisation of Bioscience research either through company start-up or licensing. Linda was also part of the White Rose Biotechnology Consortium, which was established to exploit the possible synergies between the Universities of York, Sheffield and Leeds to maximise the commercial potential of Life Science research from the three Universities. Previously, Linda was with Monsanto S.A. where she was responsible for the public acceptance strategy involved in the business development of a worldwide biopolymer business. Before joining Monsanto she had over 20 years experience in the Life Science industry with Zeneca plc / ICI plc during which time she was responsible for managing the biology research within developing Life Science businesses covering the pharmaceutical, agrochemical, biopolymer, chemical and food business. Linda has a B.A. in Biological Sciences and an MBA from Oxford.
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Javier Garoz Neira
(General Manager Corporate Development, Telvent)
General Manager of Corporate Development. Joined Telvent in 2000 as head of the Environment business unit. In 2007 assumed the M&A responsibility and has taken over the current position in 2009 relocating to Washington DC with his family to lead the areas of R&D, Marketing, M&A and Operations globally for Telvent. His university background is in Marketing and business administration (ESIC 1995, IESE 1999) and has been in the IT sector almost 20 years, developing responsibilities from sales to product management and assuming top management positions since very early.
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Lita Nelsen
(MIT)
Lita Nelsen is the Director of the Technology Licensing Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she has been since 1986. This office manages over 500 new inventions per year from M.I.T., the Whitehead Institute, and Lincoln Laboratory. Typically, they negotiate over 100 licenses, and start up over 20 new companies per year. Ms. Nelsen earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from M.I.T. and an M.S. in Management from M.I.T. as a Sloan Fellow. Prior to joining the M.I.T. Technology Licensing Office, Ms. Nelsen spent 20 years in industry, primarily in the fields of membrane separations, medical devices, and biotechnology, at such companies as Amicon, Millipore, Arthur D. Little, Inc., and Applied Biotechnology. Ms. Nelsen was the 1992 President of the Association of University Technology Managers and serves on the board the Mount Auburn Hospital, and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Foundation. She serves as the intellectual property advisor to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative and is a founding and current board member of the Center for Management of Intellectual Property in Health Research. Ms. Nelsen is widely published in the field of technology transfer and university/industry collaborations and was a CMI Fellow at the University of Cambridge with the Cambridge MIT Institute studying university/industry/government partnerships in technology transfer and local economic development. She is a co-founder of Praxis, the UK University Technology Transfer Training Programme.
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Takeru Ohe
(Waseda University) [Japan]
Dr. Ohe is a professor at Waseda University Business School in Tokyo, Japan. He teaches Corporate Venture and Entrepreneurship courses and is Director of the School’s Incubation Center. Dr. Ohe’s research interests cover Experimental Management, Technology Evaluation under Uncertainty, and Entrepreneur Education. He also consults on corporate venturing activities with clients including Nikon, Yamaha, and Murata. Dr. Ohe currently sits on the boards of Cognex Japan K.K., a Boston-based machine vision manufacturer; and Syswave K.K., a semiconductor testing company based in Tokyo. Dr. Ohe has a Ph.D. in Experimental Physics from the University of Maryland and an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He has a BS degree in Physics from Nippon University in Tokyo.
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Raymond Lee Orbach
Dr. Raymond Lee Orbach, the U.S. Department of Energy's first undersecretary for science, has been appointed director of The University of Texas at Austin's Energy Institute, a multi-disciplinary institute that combines the strengths of the university's schools and colleges to advance solutions to today's energy-related challenges. The Energy Institute is developing multi-disciplinary research programs and educational materials to overcome the scientific and technological barriers to a secure and sustainable energy future, while helping policy leaders make the informed decisions required to reach this goal. Orbach was sworn in as the Department of Energy's first undersecretary for science in June 2006. He was the chief scientist of the Department of Energy, and adviser to Secretary Samuel W. Bodman on science policy as well as all scientific aspects of the Department of Energy, including basic and applied research ranging from nuclear energy, to environmental cleanup of Cold War legacy sites, to defense programs. Orbach was responsible for planning, coordinating and overseeing the Energy Department's research and development programs and its 17 national laboratories, as well as the department's scientific and engineering education activities. Orbach also was responsible for the department's implementation of the president's American Competitiveness Initiative, designed to help drive continued U.S. economic growth. He led the department's efforts to transfer technologies from Department of Energy national laboratories and facilities to the global marketplace. From the time of his Senate confirmation in 2002, Orbach also was the 14th director of the Office of Science at the Department of Energy. He managed an organization that was the third largest federal sponsor of basic research in the United States, the primary supporter of the physical sciences in the country and one of the premier science organizations in the world. From 1982 to 1992, Orbach was the provost of the College of Letters and Science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and from 1992 to 2002, he was chancellor of the University of California (UC), Riverside. Under his leadership, UC Riverside doubled in size, achieved national and international recognition in research and led the University of California in diversity and educational opportunity. In addition to his administrative duties at UC Riverside, Orbach sustained a research program, worked with postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate students in his laboratory and taught the freshman physics course each year.
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Jit Patel
(Head of Discovery Licensing, Astra-Zeneca)
Jit is Director, Global Discovery Alliances at AstraZeneca. He is responsible for external investments and post-deal management in CNS and Pain. Jit obtained his PhD at University of London, and did his postdoctoral training at National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland. Before assuming his present position, Jit held number of key project management positions in drug discovery at AstraZeneca. Jit Patel has done numerous high profile partnering deals with Biotech and Universities alike. His current priorities for partnering on behalf of AstraZeneca include targets, projects and drug candidates for CNS diseases.
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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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Michael Rauhofer
(Managing Director, INiTS Universitares Grunderservice Wien) [Austria]
Michael Rauhofer is the Managing Director of INiTS, his responsibilities include consulting and coaching start-ups, getting funds for them and creating an entrepreneurship community which helps them staffing their team and getting access to business angels and VC´s. Mr. Rauhofer has served as Managing Director of Alsphere GmbH a venture capital financed start-up developing ship hulls with low wash requirements as well as a new way of producing the hulls. Previously Mr. Rauhofer has served as Managing Director of MAN Dezentrale Energiesysteme GmbH an engineering and sales company for combined heat and power plants. Prior to that Mr. Rauhofer developed a concept for OMV, a large oil and gas company to enter the energy contracting business. Based on this concept OMV started a spin off to enter the end user market for gas and electricity. Mr. Rauhofer graduated from the Technical University of Vienna, earned a Masters degree from the University Krems in Management of the Environment and got his business education through an Executive MBA at Harvard Business School.
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Jamie Rhodes
(Central Texas Angel Network)
With over 30 years of experience in technology management, Jamie Rhodes founded Perceptive Sciences in 1999. He recognized a need for improvement in the area of human-computer interaction, and thus developed the vision for Perceptive Sciences, which has been recognized as one of the nation’s top market research companies built on the use of cognitive psychology. Jamie believes in giving back to the community. He founded the Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN), which provides local funding and support to central Texas entrepreneurs across a broad spectrum of industries. For his efforts he was awarded the Technology Volunteer of the Year award by the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. Jamie is an active angel – currently serving on numerous start-up advisory boards. He also serves the State of Texas as an advisory board member of the Central Texas Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization (CT-RCIC), investing funds in Texas companies from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. He is on the advisory boards of The University of Texas’ IC2 Institute, St. Edward’s University Business School, Austin Chapter of Rice Alliance, and United Way Austin. Currently, he serves on the board of directors of the Texas Tri-cities Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors and the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. Jamie has a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin, a Master’s degree in Business from the University of Texas at Austin and is an adjunct professor in St Edwards MBA program teaching New Venture Creation.
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Santiago Romo
(Director TTO, Rey Juan Carlos University) [Spain]
Since 2002, Santiago Romo is the Director of the Rey Juan Carlos University Technology Transfer Office. Between 2005 and 2007 he was President of the Spanish Association of University Technology Transfer Offices, Red OTRI. He joined the Rey Juan Carlos University after fifteen years of activity in private and public organisations such as: Telefonica (Madrid, Spain), LURE Laboratory (Orsay-Paris, France) and CDTI (Spanish R&D Agency). Presently, he is also managing the Technology Transfer Support Program at the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. He has been Spanish national delegate to the European R&D Framework Program (European Commission) and industrial liaison officer at CERN Laboratory (Geneva, Switzerland) and ESRF Laboratory (Grenoble, France). He is a graduate in Physics from Autonoma University (Madrid, Spain).
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Barry Rosenbaum
(University of Arkon)
Barry Rosenbaum obtained a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Northwestern University in 1967. Upon graduation, he joined Exxon Chemical Elastomers Division where he held a number of senior technical and business positions in the specialty synthetic rubber industry. Dr. Rosenbaum was the technology director of Exxon’s butyl and halobutyl rubber and EPDM rubber businesses and was responsible for developing Exxon’s bromobutyl technology for tire innerliners. He also initiated Exxon’s new exxpro butyl polymers technology platform development. Dr. Rosenbaum spent six years in Europe with Exxon Chemical and was responsible for the European VISTALON EPDM business until 1990. He was active in the ACS Rubber Division and the IISRP. In 1991, Dr. Rosenbaum helped to found Advanced Elastomer Systems, a joint venture between Exxon and Monsanto in thermoplastic elastomers and was the vice president of technology until 1997. Santoprene thermoplastic elastomers are well recognized as the leading thermoplastic materials most closely replicating thermoset elastomer properties. Dr. Rosenbaum became the chief technology officer of GenCorp/OMNOVA Solutions from 1997 until his retirement in 2005. He is a Senior Fellow of the University of Akron Research Foundation and has an executive role on a number of technology based start ups.
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Mark Rostick
(Intel Capital)
Mark Rostick makes and manages strategic investments for Intel Capital. His current areas of focus are the enterprise, including data center infrastructure, virtualization & “cloud” computing as well as opportunities in “visual” computing in the areas of gaming, imaging & media processing. During his time in Intel Capital, Mark was responsible for, among others, investments in Groove Networks (acquired by MSFT), AppIQ (acquired by HP), Sandburst (acquired by BRCM), PowerPrecise (acquired by TI), VirtualIron (acquired by Oracle). His current portfolio companies include Motricity, Skycross & Enpirion. Prior to joining Intel, Mark marketed cable networks for Turner Broadcasting in the Southern Cone, was a litigation attorney & worked in banking. Mark holds a BS, JD & International MBA from the University of South Carolina.
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Gary Rubinoff
(Managing Director, Summerhill Ventures) [Canada]
Gary joined Summerhill Venture Partners as President and Managing Director in late 2001, and has been instrumental in building the Summerhill Venture Partners team and defining the next stage of our evolution. For the 9 years prior to Summerhill Venture Partners, Gary was a partner at J.L. Albright Venture Partners LP and Jefferson Partners LP, both communications and IT focused VC funds based in Toronto. Prior to his career in venture capital, Gary was President and General Manager of Scholz Research & Development, a Boston-based technology company. Gary’s wide range of experience in finance, law and entrepreneurial management, including more than 14 years in venture capital, enables him to play a significant role in financing and growing emerging technology companies. Past investment successes include Service Soft (acquired by Kana Software, NASDAQ: KANA), Isolation Systems (acquired by Shiva/Intel, NASDAQ: INTC), I-star Internet (TSE IPO and acquired by PSI Net), and Wescam Inc. (TSE IPO: WSC).Gary began his career as a lawyer, and practiced corporate/securities law at two national law firms in Toronto. Gary received an LLB from the University of Western Ontario (1985), and an MBA from the Ivey School of Business, in London Ontario (1991). Gary sits on the boards of Jumptap, Intellon and Sandbridge. He is a member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO), Ontario Chapter, a Leader of Sick Kids Hospital Foundation (Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto), and an active fundraiser for Juvenile Diabetes.
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Connie Ruffner
(Georgia Tech)
Connie Ruffner currently serves as a Startup Catalyst with Georgia Institute of Technology’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC). While holding a multifunctional role, her primary responsibility is to promote the SBIR/STTR Programs throughout Georgia while assisting university-based and non-university-based companies and researchers with the whole SBIR/STTR process. Prior to helping launch this SBIR assistance program for Georgia in 2005, Ms Ruffner served Marketing Manager for NASA’s Southeast Regional Technology Transfer Center, also managed by Georgia Tech, where she coordinated and developed marketing campaigns for the Center’s tech transfer activities, evaluated market potential of NASA-developed technologies, identified potential licensees, and served as a reviewer of NASA SBIR/STTR commercialization plans. Prior to her work at Georgia Tech, Ms. Ruffner was employed by the Executive Search Division of TMP and Solvay Pharmaceuticals. A native of Virginia, Ms. Ruffner received her Bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA and her Master’s from the University of South Carolina.
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Philip Rycroft
(Director General, Innovation and Enterprise, and Chief Executive, Better Regulation Executive, UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills)
Philip Rycroft has been Director General, Innovation and Enterprise, since June 2009. Previously he was at the Scottish Government where he had been Director General, Education, since May 2007 and was a member of the Strategic Board of the Scottish Government. From May 2006, Philip was Head of the Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department in the Scottish Executive, and from June 2002 Head of Schools Group in the Scottish Executive Education Department. As well as his work in government in Scotland, Philip spent two years in the Cabinet of Sir Leon Brittan in the European Commission, working on international trade issues, and nearly two years working as public affairs manager for Scottish & Newcastle plc.
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Michael Schen
(NIST)
Dr. Michael Schen serves as the Senior Scientific Advisor to the Director of the Technology Innovation Program (TIP), on matters related to the scientific, technological, and programmatic collaborations of TIP with stakeholders and clients. Working across TIP functions, Michael acts to integrate the program’s actions and relations within the nation’s scientific, industrial, academic, and public policy framework. Michael’s area of detailed technical expertise includes materials science and engineering, polymer science, nanotechnology, and electronic and photonic materials. Michael received his Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, gained his Bachelor's degree in chemistry from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, and received his Associates in Applied Sciences from the State University of New York at Alfred.
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Gitte Schober
(Programme manager, Wageningen University & Research)
Gitte Schober is the programme manager for activities related to entrepreneurship, food and food services. Together with businesses and interest groups, including the government, she designs learning and development programmes that vary from in-company business strategy courses to projects focused on knowledge transfer and entrepreneurship. In the 5 year initiative of the TechnoPartner Knowledge Exploitation funding programme, Gitte and her team helped founding over 35 high-tech companies and established a solid consortium and business network to foster tech transfer and entrepreneurship in a knowledge intensive and academic environment for the food and agro sector. Since 2008, Gitte and her team also create soft landing facilities for promising high-tech companies between USA, Canada and the Netherlands as the gateway to Europe. Gitte has more than 15 years of experience working within Wageningen UR and as a consultant, both in the specific plant and food subjects taught at WUR and in her own specialist field of human resources and competency management.
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Tom Scholl
(General Partner, Novak Biddle Venture Partners)
Tom is a successful entrepreneur and investor with experience sitting on both sides of the boardroom table. He has over twenty-five years experience in communications systems, equipment, chipsets and software, and has been active in the high-tech start-up scene in the Washington metro area for over 15 years. He currently sits on the boards of Novak Biddle portfolio companies Centice, Paratek, Princeton Optronics, Command Information, Fiberzone Networks, Digital Bridge and Avail Media. In 1990, Tom founded Telogy Networks, a leader in providing embedded communications software products for wireless and IP networks. Telogy’s award-winning products were proven market successes with world-class customers such as Cisco, Motorola, Samsung, Nortel, Alcatel and NEC. In 1998, Motorola purchased Telogy’s digital cellular technology and development team for over $40M, and in 1999, Texas Instruments purchased Telogy as the leader in embedded VOIP software for over $700M. Prior to joining Novak Biddle, Tom co-founded and was chairman of Cognio, a developer of spectrum management and MIMO antenna technology for wireless applications. Cognio was acquired by Cisco in October 2007. Tom has also served as a Director of Torrent Networking, acquired by Ericsson, and Integrated Telecom, acquired by PMC Sierra. In 1995, Tom was recognized as the Joseph A. Sciulli "Entrepreneur of the Year" by the Maryland High Technology Council. Prior to Telogy, Tom was Senior Vice President of Engineering at Hughes Network Systems, a combination of M/A-Com DCC and Linkabit. Tom is a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of Maryland and Chairman of the Board of Visitors at the A. James Clark School of Engineering. He is also a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council of the College of Liberal Arts at Purdue University, receiving Purdue’s Distinguished Alumnus Award for 2009. Tom has patents relating to software, the Internet, and digital telephone systems, and he is the author of "Packet Switching" in McGraw Hill’s Electronic Communications Handbook. He’s a member of IEEE and ACM, and he is an alumnus of Purdue University and the Executive Management (non-degree) program at MIT Sloan School. Growing up, Tom was an avid Ham radio operator, and an Eagle Scout.
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Juan A Serrano
(Counselor (Acting), Science & Technology, Embassy of Spain)
Juan Antonio Serrano is the CDTI (Spain National Agency for Innovation) Chief Representative in the US; he is also acting as the Science and Technology Counselor for the Embassy of Spain. Former Head of the Department responsible for CDTI overseas network, and the National Representative for the European Union Research and Development Framework Program. Juan Antonio Serrano is Master of Science in Agroaindustrial Engineering for the Politechnical University of Madrid, and Master in Business Administration for the Spanish Secretary of Trade. Awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he holds a degree in European Institutions and Policies, and he got a degree in environmental auditing and evaluation management system by the Politechnical University. Over 20 years of experience working with different responsabilities both in private and government-owned corporations, dealing with different aspects of the innovation system, research, development and technology transfer.
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Tony Stanco
(Director, National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer – NCET2.org)
Tony Stanco, Esq. is the executive director of the Angel Investors of Greater Washington, executive director of the National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer. Previously he was the director of the Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer and Commercialization (CET2C) of The George Washington University. Mr. Stanco was a senior attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission, where he worked on more than two hundred IPOs. He also has worked on innovation policy, including start-up creation and funding by angel investors and VCs. At School of Engineering and Applied Science at The George Washington University, Mr. Stanco works with universities and governments around the world on innovation policy, start-up finance policy, software policy, Open Source, cyber-security, and e-Government issues. Mr. Stanco has appeared before the US Congress, various US defense and civilian agencies, the World Bank, the European Commission, United Nations, Inter-American Development Bank, Organization of American States, World Summit on Information Society, LinuxWorld, Advanced Computer and Internet Law Institute, and International Computer Law Association. Mr. Stanco teaches the Lab to IPO course dealing with start-up formation and funding. He has an LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center in securities regulation and is licensed as a lawyer in New York state.
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Ashley Stevens
(Boston University)
In 2008, Dr. Stevens became Executive Director, Technology Transfer in the Office of Technology Development at Boston University, having been Director of the Office of Technology Transfer since 1995. In his new capacity, he adds responsibility for the University’s Translational Research programs to those of the Office of Technology Licensing. He is also Senior Research Associate in the Institute for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization in Boston University’s School of Management, where he teaches two graduate-level, inter-disciplinary courses on Technology Commercialization. Before joining Boston University, he was Director of the Office of Technology Transfer at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School. Since he joined Boston University, the Office of Technology Development has grown to a total of sixteen professionals and has spun out over 40 companies based on the University’s research, a number of which have raised substantial amounts of capital, and the University’s licensing income has climbed steadily. Prior to entering the technology transfer profession, Dr. Stevens worked in the biotechnology industry for nearly ten years. He was a co-founder of Kytogenics, Inc., of which he is still a Director, was co-founder and General Manager of Genmap, Inc., and was Vice President of Business Development for BioTechnica International. He started his career with The Procter & Gamble Company, where he held a number of positions in sales, marketing, strategic planning and acquisitions. Dr. Stevens publishes and lectures frequently on many aspects of technology transfer, including the Bayh-Dole Act, the economic impact of technology transfer and its role in economic development, the contribution of academia to the discovery of new drugs and vaccines, the role of technology transfer in global health and technology valuation. He was the recipient of the Bayh-Dole Award at AUTM’s 2007 Annual Meeting and was recently elected President Elect of the Association of University Technology Managers. He will become President of AUTM in February 2010. He is also active in the Licensing Executives Society and the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. Dr. Stevens holds a Bachelor of Arts in Natural Sciences, a Master of Arts and a Doctor of Philosophy in Physical Chemistry from Oxford University. He is a Certified Licensing Professional.
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Dennis Stone
(Vice President, Office for Technology Development, UT Southwestern Medical Center)
Dr. Stone joined the Office for Technology Development in August, 1998, as the Vice President for Technology Development. He directs licensing operations as well as the biotechnology development initiative taking place at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and is a liaison with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies interested in partnership with UT Southwestern scientists. In addition to his role in this office, he is also a professor of internal medicine, physiology, and biochemistry, and is also the holder of the NCH Corporation Chair in Molecular Transport. His research focuses on the molecular analysis of proton pumps that are involved in renal acidification, osteoporosis, and cancer. In his role as Vice President for Technology, Dr. Stone and his team have increased annual revenues from $3.5 million to $12 million. In addition, the office for Technology Development has launched five start-up biotechnology companies that collectively have raised over $150 million in venture financing. Dr. Stone has served on the board of directors of Eliance Biotechnology, Inc., MacroGenics, Inc., and Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In addition, he served as the chairman of the U.T. Regents’ Technology Transfer Commission. Dr. Stone is member of STARTech Early Venture’s Mentor Program, and is the recipient of the Metroplex Technology Business Council’ Technology Titan Award. Dr. Stone received his undergraduate training in the Plan II Program at The University of Texas at Austin. After completion of medical school at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, he received his housestaff training in internal medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. Subsequently, he completed clinical and research fellowship training in Nephrology at UT Southwestern and Cornell University in Ithaca, NY and in 1984, joined the faculty at UT-Southwestern. He has been the recipient of a Searle Scholarship and Established Investigator of the American Heart Association, and is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.
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Cathy Swain
(Assistant Vice Chancellor for Commercial Development, The University of Texas System)
Ms. Swain joined The U. T. System in January 2005 as Director of Investment Oversight in the Office of Finance, with a main purpose to help the Board of Regents fulfill its fiduciary duty to prudently manage more than $23 billion of endowment and operating assets that are managed day-to-day by the University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO). Her duties involved synthesizing, interpreting, and communicating complex policies and investment information to enhance transparency and facilitate informed decision making by the Board of Regents, the Chancellor, and Regental Directors of UTIMCO. Ms. Cathy Swain assumed her current duties in September 2007. Her responsibilities include managing the Texas Ignition Fund (TIF); coordinating activities related to the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF) and Regional Centers of Innovation and Commercialization (RCICs) to expand university impact on economic development; creating and delivering the Ideas on Fire! entrepreneurship lecture series; developing strategies to access venture capital and angel investment for U. T. System startup companies; and enhancing communications to inspire synergies among campuses and their communities. Ms. Swain’s extensive prior career focused on investment banking and managing alternative private and venture investments primarily for large institutions. She also served a regional Community Development Corporation (CDC) as Vice President of equity investments (venture capital) and later as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, served on the Vermont Governor’s advisory task force in the formation of the Vermont Venture Capital Fund, and was CEO of a regional company. She has written and implemented several business plans; served on investment committees; managed portfolios as large as $2.0 billion; performed due diligence, valuations, and investment manager searches; taught professional workshops and college courses; authored published articles; and contributed in finance industry associations. Ms. Swain earned her BA in economics (Highest Distinction, Phi Beta Kappa) and MS in finance (Highest Distinction, NDEA Fellow) from the University of Illinois, and subsequently completed post-graduate studies at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. She holds Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Accredited Investment Fiduciary AnalystTM (AIFA®) professional designations.
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Cengiz Tarhan
(University College London) [UK]
Cengiz trained as an accountant. He joined the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine (RFHSM) in 1989 and continued as Director of Financial and Business Affairs for the RFHSM on the merger with University College London (UCL). Cengiz established Freemedic PLC as the commercial arm of RFHSM, and is now Managing Director of UCL Business PLC, the commercial arm of UCL. Cengiz was involved with one of the first university spin-outs to the float on AIM, PolyMASC Pharmaceuticals Plc. He was also involved in the trade sale of Medic to Medic Limited to Informa Plc in 2005 and more recently the sale of Stanmore Implants Worldwide Limited to Abingworth and MDY Healthcare in February 2008. Cengiz acts as a director for many of UCLB’s spin-out companies.
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Helmut Traitler
(Nestle)
Helmut Traitler is Vice President of Innovation Partnerships at Nestlé focused on exploring and developing the company's open innovation model. His initiatives have led to the build up of a network of more than a million researchers worldwide, including science universities, venture capital, strategic suppliers and government laboratories, that supports the 4,500 people in Nestlé Food and Beverages R&D.
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Cali Tran
( Principal, North Bridge Venture Partners )
Cali Tran joined North Bridge Venture Partners as a Principal in 2006. Prior to North Bridge, Cali co-founded Agilix Labs, a venture-backed mobile learning company providing solutions to firms such as Blackboard (NASDAQ: BBBB) and FranklinCovey (NYSE:FC). Cali served as Vice President of Corporate Development and helped establish Agilix’s revenue-generating OEM relationships. Prior to Agilix, Cali led the early corporate development efforts at Ancestry.com (NASDAQ: ACOM). He was also in the investment banking groups at Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston. Cali received an MBA from Harvard and a Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College (cum laude) where he served on the Alumni Council for Bowdoin College and was a member of the Innovators Steering Committee at the Boston Museum of Science.
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Susan Tuttle
(Director Worldwide Innovation Policy, IBM)
Susan Tuttle joined IBM’s Governmental Programs office in 1995 and is currently the Director of Worldwide Innovation Policy and Africa Initiatives. As an IBM Executive, she works with governments around the world to drive innovation-related policies, with key focus in the areas of skills and talent development, research, technology, innovation in services and policy related infrastructure. Leveraging IBM’s global footprint, these policies are to enable countries to succeed and compete in today’s globally interconnected marketplace. In addition, Susan has geographic responsibility for driving growth-oriented innovation policy initiatives in support IBM’s expansion efforts across the continent of Africa. Previously, Susan managed global public policy issues relating to international market access and trade that impact the IBM Corporation, with particular focus on the growth markets of China and India. She also worked on a number of key issues relating to e-commerce and Digital Trade. Susan is a member of the US Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative’s Industry Trade and Advisory Committee focusing on Intellectual Property. The committee is a public-private partnership that engages business leaders in formulating US trade policy. She was also responsible for establishing and managing IBM’s global government outreach program to spur governments to take action to address the Y2K challenge. In recognition of her efforts, she received the IBM Chairman’s Award and a Year 2000 Medal from the US President’s Council on Y2K. From 1985 to 1995, Susan managed US export-control related issues in IBM’s Export Regulation Office. She worked extensively with the Departments of Defense and Commerce on technical related issues. Susan also led compliance audits of IBM subsidiaries and affiliates around the world. Born in Rochester, New York, Mrs. Tuttle received a Bachelor of Arts degree in foreign language from Ithaca College and a Master in Fine Arts in foreign language from Middlebury College. Susan has lived overseas and travels extensively. She is married with two children.
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Mitsuyuki Ueda
(First Secretary, Science Section, Embassy of Japan)
Mitsuyuki Ueda is First Secretary at the Science Section of the Embassy. He worked for Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan as Deputy Director for university - industry cooperation. He has master's degrees in aeronautics, public administration and management of technology.
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Val R. Livada
(Senior Lecturer, Sloan School of Business at MIT)
Val Livada founded Weybridge Partners in 1996 as a network of formal and informal associations of practitioners and organizations focused on the successful commercialization of technology. The network includes business and technology consultants, venture capitalists, academics, entrepreneurs, lawyers, etc in the US and abroad. Val brings 30 years of consulting experience to his clients. He was a Director at Braxton Associates, an international strategy planning consulting firm, and a Vice President at Pugh-Roberts Associates, a technology management firm established by Prof. Ed Roberts from MIT. Prior to establishing Weybridge Partners, he was the leading practitioner in the area of innovation management for the PA Consulting Group. During his career, Dr. Livada has combined expertise in the areas of strategic planning and organizational dynamics, with a detailed knowledge in the areas of innovation, product development, and R&D management. Through the years, clients have included Fortune 500-type companies such as: GM, Eli Lilly, Nokia, Hitachi and has recently founded an East Coast corporate venture capital network. Val sits on the Board of Directors for Monarch Antenna, a Delphi Automotive spinout, and Polynova Composites. He is an business advisor to Liquid Bits a 3D animation start-up, Vanguard Solar, a thin film photovoltaic company, LuminZ an MIT spin out in LED lighting, Porticus a voice printing company, and Rapport Inc. a multicore chip company in CA. In addition, he consults to another dozen emerging companies. Dr. Livada is also active in efforts to stimulate activities between US and European/Far Eastern organizations. In Europe Val has worked with many firms in the UK, Switzerland, Germany and Scandinavia. He has been instrumental in establishing US operations for several established and emerging European companies, including Nokia Research and Pro2Kem. In the Far East, traditionally strong ties to South Korea, Japan and Taiwan are now being expanded into China. Val received his undergraduate degree from MIT and his MA/ PhD from Tufts University. Currently he is Senior Lecturer, on Corporate Entrepreneurship, at the Sloan School of Business at MIT where he also served as Reaserch Affiliate and Guest Lecturer for the last 15 years. At MIT, Val is leading a joint research project, with the Wharton Business School, on Corporate Venture Capital, is a Catalyst at the Deshpande Center, and a consultant to the Cambridge University/MIT Institute on various aspects of Innovation and Corporate/University partnerships.
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Derek Waddell
(University of Edinburgh) [UK]
Derek Waddell was appointed as Director of Research and Commercialisation at the University of Edinburgh, and CEO of the University’s technology transfer company, Edinburgh Research and Innovation (ERI), in October 2005. ERI is responsible for all pre-award research administration, consultancy, the evaluation, patenting and licensing of technologies, company formation, the operation of University incubators and the University’s science park at Edinburgh Technopole. Edinburgh is one of Europe’s leading technology transfer universities and in the past 5 years has helped to create over 100 new companies. Derek is chairman of the Edinburgh Technology Transfer Centre, a Director of the Edinburgh Technology Fund, and Targeting Innovation, a company that provides technology and innovation consultancy.
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Janet C. Walkow
(The University of Texas at Austin)
Dr. Janet C. Walkow is the Director of the Drug Dynamics Institute in The University of Texas College of Pharmacy. Janet joined the University of Texas in 2008, building on a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry, where she led efforts in areas ranging from R&D to Corporate Strategy. Her success and expertise in both scientific and business arenas blends technical, analytical and leadership skills. Diverse experiences allow Janet to bring a unique perspective and understanding of the drug development process, along with appropriate structures and functions necessary to effectively manage research programs and successfully launch products in the marketplace. She leads the Drug Dynamics Institute, a collaborative research center, bringing together scientists and investigators working on novel solutions to complex disease and healthcare issues. The Institute partners with University, industry and community leaders to foster collaborations that capture commercialization opportunities. For example, Dr. Walkow is currently a PI on a Texas Ignition Fund (TIF) proof-of-concept grant, funded by UT System, to develop inhalable tacrolimus nanoparticles for clinical trials. Dr. Walkow received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas in pharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics.
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Dan Watkins
(DFJ Mercury)
Dan Watkins is a Managing Director with DFJ Mercury Venture Partners, an early stage venture capital fund focused on technology clusters in Texas and the mid-continent. His current focus is on start-up companies based on novel technologies addressing large markets in advanced materials, clean energy and life sciences. Dan was a co-founder of both Nanospectra Biosciences and X-EMI and was awarded multiple National Science Foundation grants as Principal Investigator in the area of nanotechnology and life sciences research. He is also a co-founder of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. Dan received his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Rice University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
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Harry Weller
(NEA)
Harry joined NEA in 2002. He focuses on technology and renewable energy investments, as well as NEA's activities in China. Harry’s current board memberships include Availink, Clearspring, GroupOn, MediaBank, OPower, Quick Hit, Realtime Worlds and Suniva. His other investments include GlobalLogic and Vertica. Harry's past board seats and investments include Echo Global (NASDAQ: ECHO), Informax (NASDAQ: INMX, acquired by Invitrogen), Innerworkings (NASDAQ: INWK), Riverbed Technologies (acquired by Aether Systems), SourceFire (NASDAQ: FIRE), Vonage (NYSE: VG) and webMethods (NASDAQ: WEBM, acquired by Software AG). Prior to joining NEA, Harry was a Partner at FBR Technology Venture Partners where he worked with several successful startup teams. Early in his career, Harry managed strategy and technology initiatives in the financial, energy and telecommunications industries for the Boston Consulting Group and Deloitte & Touche Management Consulting. Prior to his business career, Harry served as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Harry received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his bachelor’s degree in Physics from Duke University. Harry serves on the board of the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (MAVA), is a past Chairman of MAVA Capital Connection, and co-founded the Young Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (YAVA). Harry was named one of the "50 Most Powerful People in Networking" by Network magazine and one of the region's "Titans of Technology" in Washingtonian magazine. He has been honored numerous times in Forbes magazine’s “Midas List” as one of the most successful venture capitalists in America.
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David Wells
(Greentech, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers)
David joined the Greentech investing team at Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers in May 2006. Responsibilities include knowledge mapping and opportunity sourcing across the entire landscape of Green technologies. Building relationships with scientists and entrepreneurs throughout the US and Europe, David has helped bring many ventures through the KP investment process including due diligence, investment structuring, goal setting, and team building. Beginning with a collaboration with KP partner Bill Joy in 2004, David has built a detailed and diverse base of Greentech knowledge across multiple energy technologies and scientific disciplines, together with a matching knowledge base of resources, markets and incumbents. Every aspect of energy, planetary resources, and emissions has been studied in detail and mapped to target recognition of disruptive order-of-magnitude and tipping-point innovations. David’s background includes ten years of technical experience in marine and shipboard engineering, and eight years building and selling a nation-wide business in Japan.
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Olivier Wenker
(MD Anderson Cancer Center)
Dr. Wenker is M. D. Anderson Cancer Center’s Director of Technology Discovery. In this function, he has created a novel gap fund mechanism for clinical and research faculty. The fund he manages created within a few years a multiple of 5 on value creation for the institution. Dr. Wenker also teaches entrepreneurship classes in collaboration with The University of Texas System. Dr. Wenker started his career as an anesthesiologist in 1985. He is triple European board certified in anesthesiology, critical care medicine and emergency/disaster medicine as well as American board certified in antiaging and regenerative medicine, and holds the title Professor of Anesthesiology.
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Charles Wessner
(Director of the Program on Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, The National Academies)
Dr. Charles Wessner is the Director of the Program on Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. He is recognized nationally and internationally for his expertise on innovation policy, including public-private partnerships, entrepreneurship, early-stage financing for new firms, and the special needs and benefits of high-technology industry. He regularly testifies to the U.S. Congress and major national commissions. He also advises agencies of the U.S. Government and cooperates with other governments, research organizations, and international organizations. He frequently lectures at major universities in the U.S. and abroad and holds positions at the Max Planck Institute in Jena, Germany, and in the United States at George Washington and Indiana Universities. Reflecting the strong global interest in innovation and Dr. Wessner’s policy expertise, he is frequently asked to address issues of shared policy interest with foreign governments, universities, and research institutes, often briefing government ministers and senior officials. Examples of policy briefings include Lord Sainsbury, Advisor to Former Prime Minister Blair and now to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and the Former Minister of Science & Innovation in the U.K., Frieder Meyer-Krahmer, State Secretary and Innovation Advisor to German Chancellor Merkel, French National Assembly Committee Chairman Jean-Michel Dubernard, Minister Montek Ahluwalia, who serves as deputy prime minister directing the Indian State Planning Commission and Indian Science Minister Kapil Sibal and most recently Chris Buijink, Secretary-General of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and his staff. Dr. Wessner has served as an advisor to the 30-nation OECD Committee on Science and Technology Policy, as a member of the Canadian Council of Academies’ Expert Committee on Science and Technology in Canada, as an advisor to the National Technology agencies of Finland (TEKES) and Sweden (VINNOVA), and as a member of the Norwegian Technology Forum. He has also served on the Prime Minister of Taiwan’s Science and Technology Advisory Group and is a member of the Lithuanian Prime Minister’s International Innovation Advisory Committee and the Board of the Vilnius Sunrise Valley S&T Park. He was also named to the U.S.-Russian Council on Innovation, established by Presidents Putin and Bush.
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Richard Wilder
(Microsoft Corporation)
Mr. Wilder is Associate General Counsel for Intellectual Property Policy at Microsoft Corporation. In that capacity, he has the responsibility for defining and driving the company-wide policy in all areas of intellectual property. He was previously a partner in a global law firm specializing in international law – in particular in the fields of intellectual property and trade. Mr. Wilder is a former Director of the Global Intellectual Property Issues Division of the World Intellectual Property Organization – a specialized agency of the United Nations. He also served in the Office of Legislative and International Affairs at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Mr. Wilder has taught law – including at the University of Malaya, Malaysia - and speaks and writes often in the field of intellectual property law. Mr. Wilder has degrees in engineering (University of Washington, Seattle) and law (Franklin Pierce Law Center, Concord, New Hampshire).
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John Williams
(Director, Navy SBIR, STTR and Technology Transfer)
John Williams is Director of the Navy’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, Small Businesses Technology Transfer (STTR) and Technology Transfer (T2) Programs. He has dedicated his last 13 years to the Office of Naval Research, initially serving as Deputy of the Navy SBIR Program until his promotion to Director in 2005. Williams’ naval career has spanned 23 years and has managed projects across all technology disciplines with his early career starting in the Navy’s ManTech when he held positions Naval Surface Warfare Center and the Naval Sea Systems Command. As Director of the Navy SBIR/STTR Program, Williams focus has been to increase the commercialization and transition of Navy SBIR/STTR technologies into the fleet. In 2000, he initiated the Transition Assistance Program (TAP), an 11 month program to educate and assist all Navy Phase II awardees in the Technology Transition process. He expanded this effort to include the Primes Initiative, aimed at increasing the involvement of DOD prime contractors. In 2009, the 9th annual TAP concluding event, the Navy Opportunity Forum, attracted over 1500 representatives from DOD primes, program offices, and small businesses. The Navy has led the way towards increasing the involvement of Acquisition Program offices and major defense contractors in SBIR and STTR by promoting a culture that encourages partnership between our nation’s small high tech firms and those organizations that make Phase III investments. The Navy awards the greatest number of Phase III contracts in the Government and its Phase III (non-SBIR) contract funding has surpassed the Phase I and II SBIR funding every year since 2002. Williams is also Director of the Navy T2 program which oversees all Navy CRADA’s and sets policy for the Navy ORTA’s. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland College Park and a Masters in Engineering Management, Marketing of Technology from the George Washington University.
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Tim Wittig
(Technology Management Advisor for Federal Laboratories, SAIC)
Tim Wittig, the founder of the SAIC Technology Management Advisors, has been involved in DOD technology transfer and transition issues for well over fifteen years. He and his team are actively involved in assisting Defense Department laboratories and private sector clients in the protection, marketing and licensing of technology and the use of Federal laboratory personnel, equipment and technology for private sector dual use purposes. While in the private practice of law, Mr. Wittig advised both U.S. and foreign owned businesses and organizations on financial and regulatory issues. Mr. Wittig is an attorney but is not actively practicing law. Mr. Wittig will identify the tools available for private sector use of Federal technology, personnel and equipment and describe their uses.
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Yannick Wittner
(Director, Strategic Partnership, Dassault Systèmes)
Yannick began his career at Dassault Systèmes in 1988 as an applications engineer performing education, demonstrations, technical assistance, and benchmarking. In 1990, he was assigned to Dassault Systèmes’ BMW team in Munich, Germany. A year later, he transferred to the Bombardier Aerospace team in Toronto, Canada. In 1992, he was promoted to marketing manager for Germany, England and Switzerland. In 1996, he transferred to Dassault Systèmes of America where he led Dassault Systèmes’ U.S. aerospace business unit for three years. In 2001, he was promoted to director of the Consumer Goods and Electronics business unit. In 2004, Yannick took responsibility for strategic marketing. In 2009, Yannick is responsible for strategic alliances with technology partners, for market intelligence and for the relationship with the IBM PLM Marketing organization. He is based in Boston, MA.
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Congressman David Wu
(Chair of the Science Committee’s Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation)
David Wu has represented Oregon’s 1st Congressional District since 1999. Focused on ensuring our long-term economic success, he has fought to strengthen our nation’s schools, support innovative businesses, and improve our ability to turn cutting-edge research into new products, services, and jobs. Wu advocates for Oregon students through his role on the House Education and Labor Committee, where he has helped make historic investments in federal student aid and is working to secure funds for K-12 schools to reduce class sizes and make much-needed repairs and renovations. As a member of the Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness Subcommittee, he supports worker training for jobs in growing fields like clean energy and health care technology. On the Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee, he has helped craft health care reform legislation to make quality care accessible for all Americans. He has worked to improve job training programs and helped schools secure modern technology as a chair of the Congressional Community College Caucus. Wu knows that innovation is the key to sustained economic growth, a healthy small business community, and the development of new green technologies to protect our environment. To grow Oregon’s innovation economy, Wu uses his role as chair of the Science Committee’s Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation to encourage new business investment and high-tech research. Because economic growth is based on turning new technology into commercial products and services, he is committed to overseeing strong tech transfer programs. As a member of the New Democrat Coalition, a group of moderate Democrats in the House, Wu helps craft smart policies to create stable, well-paying jobs and ensure our competitiveness for years to come. The first Chinese-American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, Wu is a constant supporter of efforts to protect and secure human rights and civil liberties at home and abroad. He is the former chairman and current Education Taskforce chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, as well as a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. Wu has lived the American dream. In October of 1961, at six years of age, he moved with his family to the United States after President John F. Kennedy signed an executive order updating unfair immigration quotas. He was educated in public schools, earned a Bachelor of Science from Stanford University in 1977, attended Harvard Medical School, and received a law degree from Yale University in 1982. Early in his legal career, Wu clerked for a federal judge in Portland. He joined the Miller Nash law firm in 1984, and in 1988, co-founded the law firm Cohen & Wu. For a decade, the Cohen & Wu firm served the high-technology industry and numerous small businesses across northwest Oregon. Wu counts his work helping build new businesses that have thrived and provided well-paying jobs for Oregonians as among his proudest accomplishments during this time. His fifteen years of experience in the Portland business and high-technology communities make him uniquely qualified to represent the "Silicon Forest" district in Congress.
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Robyn Zander
(Project Manager, Energy Efficiency Division, Southern California Edison)
Robyn Zander is a Project Manager in the Energy Efficiency Division at Southern California Edison. SCE is one of the largest investor-owner utilities in the United States, serving 13 million customers across a 50,000 square mile service territory. For the last six years, SCE has partnered with its customers to save more electricity through energy efficiency programs than any other utility in the nation. Before joining SCE, Robyn worked 10 years at Boeing as a program manager in the contracts division and 5 years as a general partner of a manufacturing company. As a general partner, Robyn grew the business through product development, increased international distribution, and marketing. Her specialty was product development and shortening the commercialization process. Robyn joined SCE’s Energy Efficiency Regulatory Group in 2006. Since joining the SCE team, she has been a major contributor in the development of the Technology Resource Incubator Outreach Program (TRIO). This program nurtures upstream technologies through workshops and education that focus on doing business with utilities. She works with all levels of the energy efficiency industry, from university engineering students, venture capitalists and angel investors, as well as with manufacturers, trade associations, utilities, and state and federal governments. Robyn received her MBA from Pepperdine University and BS in Psychology from Oregon State University.