PRE-SEED WORKSHOP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Regional Director / Small Business Develoment Center
- Regional Director of the Stony Brook University Small Business Development Center
Ryba is currently the Regional Director of the Stony Brook University Small Business Development Center. As such, he supervises a team of new York State certified business advisors in providing comprehensive business assistance services to start-ups and established companies through Suffolk County, New York. Bernie is on the Advisory Board of the Stony Brook Clean Energy Business incubator Program and is a voting member of the Stony Brook University Incubator Tenant Selection and Review Committee.
Bernie received his B.A. from SUNY Stony Brook, an MBA from Hofstra University and is a licensed certified public accountant. He began his career with Deloitee
Job Titles:
- Small Business Advisor / Small Business Development Center / Binghamton, New York
- Small Business Advisor for the Binghamton University Small Business Development Center
Chuck Schwerin is currently a Small Business Advisor for the Binghamton University Small Business Development Center. He co-founded two startups licensing Binghamton University technology and has guest-lectured to undergraduate and graduate students at BU in entrepreneurship.
Chuck previously directed the implementation of worldwide software copy protection and license management at Pitney Bowes MapInfo. He also coordinated the development, implementation and maintenance of MapInfo's three core technologies, including MapInfo Professional, the flagship product representing $36 million annually worldwide. He holds three patents on geographic information technology.
Prior to his employment at MapInfo, Chuck founded Environmental Data Systems, a Saratoga Springs, NY software firm where he designed, marketed and maintained unique software products for the waste management and health care fields. Mr. Schwerin received his Bachelor's degree in Geography from Clark University, and his Master's in Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University.
Job Titles:
- Venture Partner at Polytech Ventures / Swiss Federal Institute of Technology / Lausanne, Switzerland
Claude Florin is an inspiring technology entrepreneur experienced in early-stage launches. He is a partner at Polytech Ventures, a Seed Fund at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is also founder of A3 Angel, an association that has provided mentoring services to over 40 start-ups as well as Business Angel investments.
He co-founded three start-ups: Fastree3D (3D vision) which he leads, Haloya (VoIP), and Ukko Mobile (mobile data). He is also a "hands-on" investor in Lemoptix (MEMS micro projectors), Antlia (drug delivery), Sophia Genetics (genomics diagnostic software), Vivamea (e-health), and Domosafety (home care). He has advised Nebion (genomics), Jemmic (commodity trading software), and Green Motion (electric vehicle infrastructure).
He initiated the Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation educational program that has supported close to 400 business angels. He is an advisor to the European Commission Horizon2020 on technology financing initiatives. Previously, he held management positions at Hewlett-Packard's Communications and Media Solutions and HP's Medical Products Group (now Philips Healthcare). He has led six technology business unit launches reaching from $10 million to $100 million annual sales and established ventures in telecoms (Alcatel, Cisco, HP, Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks, and NEC) and medtech (Bayer, General Electric, Philips, and Siemens).
Claude Florin has a MS degree in Electrical Engineering, a CAS on managing medtech ventures from EPFL, and completed his business education at IMD and Harvard Business School with a focus on managing innovation and venture capital investments.
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Co - Founder of SICHH
Jean-Marc is a co-founder of SICHH, bringing over 10 years of experience in research within Switzerland's top uiniversities. Head of the Knowledge and Technology Transfer Fribourg from 2010, he is at the heart of academical innovation and maintains excellent contacts with all industrial actors.
Graduated in biology from UNIL and EPFL, Jean-Marc obtained his PhD in 2009 where his research focused on the pathologies in the central nervous system induced by canine distemper virus. He is fluent in English, Italian and French, and conversant in German. He also founded an IT company providing services to private customers and SME's.
Beside his academical carreer, Jean-Marc was also a National Swiss Hockey League Professionnal within HC La Chaux-de-Fonds and HC Lausanne (LNB), winning one national title with the former team.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director of Research and Technology Transfer / Clarkson University / Potsdam, NY
Greg Slack is the Director of Research and Technology Transfer at Clarkson University. As director, he oversees the conduct and promotion of all research and technology transfer activities at the University.
Dr. Slack received his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Potsdam. He has over 13 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry serving increasingly responsible research and manufacturing roles at Dupont, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Slack has also had academic experience, serving as adjunct research assistant professor of Chemistry at Clarkson, adjunct professor at SUNY Plattsburgh and instructor of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Continuing Education. He has authored or co-authored numerous publications and presentations at professional conferences.
Job Titles:
- Occupational Therapist at the University of Rochester Medical Center
Knowlton (pictured right), an occupational therapist at the University of Rochester Medical Center hospital and at an offsite location, began a quest to help women on medical bed rest by creating a handheld urinal to address the biologically obvious problem of the 100-year old bedpan. "Designed with the bed-bound woman in mind," her product seemed to have great potential, and Knowlton sought advice from the Technology Transfer Office at University of Rochester. She was recommended to apply to PSW Rochester, and she readily attended.
Job Titles:
- President of MedTech
- President of MedTech / Syracuse, NY
Jessica Crawford is the president of MedTech, a non-profit trade association representing Upstate New York's bioscience and medical technology industry. She joined MedTech in October 2012, bringing with her more than 10 years of experience in government relations and community engagement.
Crawford's commitment to the community is evidenced in her key role as founding chair of 40 Below, a Syracuse-based non-profit organization of young professionals dedicated to revitalizing Upstate New York through culture, civic engagement and regional promotion. She led the efforts to coordinate and execute an inaugural summit in 2004 and introduced new programming, secured funding and cultivated strategic partnerships that ensured the organization's success.
Crawford earned a Master of Public Administration and Certificate of Advanced Study in Health Management and Policy from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Policy Studies at Syracuse University. A native of Northern New York, she currently resides with her husband, Tom, in the Village of North Syracuse.
Job Titles:
- PSW Founder and Facilitator / Rochester, NY
Job Titles:
- Entrepreneur in Residence / Binghamton University
Ken McLeod is the Entrepreneur in Residence at Binghamton University, with responsibilities for guiding students, faculty, and staff, as well as community members working with the university, in their quest to commercialize technologies or other innovative concepts they have created. In addition, he teaches a two course sequence in entrepreneurship which is open to all students on campus. He has been teaching entrepreneurship for over 25 years at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Ken has also been a founder in 12 start-up companies, principally in the healthcare industry, and more specifically, ventures focused on commercializing the medical and wellness devices developed in the Clinical Science and Engineering Research Lab at Binghamton University, which he directs. He currently serves as CEO of Sonostics, Inc. a developer of secondary heart pacemakers; CSO of MicroEnvironmental Control, Inc. a developer of directed beam heating technology; engineering design consultant for Bioelectronics, Inc. developer of pulsed shortwave therapy devices for treating pain and edema; board member for Infrasonic Monitoring, Inc. a developer of non-invasive cardiac output monitoring technology; and, Co-Chairman of the Board for RedSky, Inc, a new venture accelerator based in El Paso, TX focused on medical product development.
Ken earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Kettering University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He completed his post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Tufts University and then took a faculty position in the Department of Orthopaedics at Stony Brook University. In 2002 he was recruited to Binghamton University to found the Department of Bioengineering.
Job Titles:
- Director / Cornell University / Kevin M. McGovern Family Center for Venture Development
Lou Walcer was appointed in June 2011 as the first Director of the Kevin M. McGovern Family Center For Venture Development in the Life Sciences at Cornell University. Lou came to this role with a track record of building and launching new products and new ventures as a Marketing/Business Development/New Product Development Director and Consultant to Merck, Schering-Plough and Wyeth; as Officer and Consultant to many Biotech/Medical Device companies; as President of the medical device drug delivery company Medimop USA; and as a Consultant to and Senior Commercialization Officer at Cleveland Clinic Innovations.
Lou earned a B.A. degree from Cornell University's College of Arts & Sciences, and a Master of Business Administration from New York University's Stern School.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director / NYS Center of Excellence
Mark Swihart received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota. He is a UB distinguished professor in the department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Buffalo.
He is Executive Director of the Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics which leverages UB's cutting edge materials science, big data analytics and advanced manufacturaing expertise to drive critical R&D activities that directly impact private sector growth.
Job Titles:
- PSW Founder and Facilitator / Rochester, NY
Job Titles:
- Associate Vice President for Economic Development
A native of Buffalo, New York, Dr. LaVigne holds a BS in neuroscience and a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Rochester. She has spent over 20 years creating new products and start-up businesses involving innovative applications of technology in healthcare and life sciences across a range of sectors, including work with managed care (e.g., Aetna USHealthcare), pharmaceuticals (e.g., Bristol-Myers Squibb), medical devices (e.g., Welch Allyn) and medical informatics (e.g., Medscape/MedicaLogic, now GE Medical and WebMD). After cofounding Patient InfoSystems, a technology-based consumer health management company which had an Initial Public Offering within two years of incorporation, she subsequently joined a Web portal and medical informatics company, Medscape, where she was Chief Marketing Officer. Since 2001, Dr. LaVigne has focused her efforts back in Upstate New York to grow the life sciences industry, first as an independent consultant, then with BuffLink, an economic development organization in Buffalo.
In her current position as Director of Business Development for the UB Center for Advanced Biomedical and Bioengineering Technology at the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences, Dr. LaVigne is responsible for creating partnerships and commercialization linkages that facilitate the transfer of technology coming from the region's premier research institutions in a ‘bench to the bedside' approach facilitating economic growth and creation of jobs in the Buffalo Niagara region and Upstate New York. Dr. LaVigne is an editorial board member for Biotechnology Healthcare and Disease Management, and a member of the Board of Directors for Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center and the Women's Business Center at Canisius College.
Job Titles:
- Principal Consultant / Alliance for Manufacturing & Technology / Binghamton, New York
Michael Meador, MBA, has co-founded or been a partner in several companies across multiple industry sectors, including security software, telecommunications, medical devices, and health care. His roles have included inventor, CFO, CEO, CTO, and more.
As a social entrepreneur, Mike co-founded the TMI Technology Center, designing alternative energy projects that won a U.S. Department of Energy national innovation award. And he was the founder of the Finger Lakes Entrepreneurs Forum, an organization that has facilitated entrepreneur networking and education for over 15 years.
Mike is currently Principal Consultant with the Alliance for Manufacturing & Technology. He works primarily with early stage entrepreneurs and high-tech companies, providing mentoring, assessment, and strategic planning services. He is also a partner at LifeWorks Learning, LLC, an Ithaca group that creates and delivers training programs to the health care sector.
In addition to work in the private sector, he has provided marketing and financial management guidance as a board member and consultant to a variety of health and education NPO's. Prior to becoming certified to lead the Pre-Seed Workshops, Mike served as a coach and team member at workshop locations throughout New York State.
Job Titles:
- Director of Rochester Bioventure Center
- Director of the Rochester BioVenture Center
Michael Riedlinger currently serves as the Director of the Rochester BioVenture Center and High Tech Rochester (HTR) Technology Commercialization Manager. Prior to his roles at HTR, he served as president and founder of Technology Sales and Licensing Services. Michael is also a co-founder of Diffinity Genomics, Inc., a developer of platform technologies related to purification and detection of nucleic acid and NaturalNano, a nanomaterials company.
As Director of the Rochester BioVenture Center, Michael manages a 40,000 square foot, multi-tenant, BSL-2 wet-lab business incubator and provides tenants with services to facilitate growth of their businesses. In the role of Technology Commercialization Manager he provides business development, grant sourcing support, new product development, and partnership facilitation assistance to technology companies in the Upstate New York Finger Lakes region.
Job Titles:
- Researcher
- Executive Director / New York State Center of Excellence
Norma Nowak is an acclaimed researcher - a recognized leader in the human genomics field - and an entrepreneur. Her research contributed directly to the Human Genome Project, as well as to genomic-based approaches to understanding heritable disorders and cancer. Nowak is also the founder and chief scientific officer of Empire Genomics, LLC, a molecular diagnostics firm focused on enabling personalized medicine.
Nowak's efforts were instrumental in obtaining more than $70 million in funding for research and infrastructure, and she has authored and co-authored 144 research articles. Among other achievements, she received the 2008 American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Team Science Award and the 2008 Thomas B. Tomasi Award from Roswell Park Cancer Institute for her outstanding achievements in science. She is a Buffalo Museum of Science board member and was recently appointed to the Empire State Stem Cell Board for New York State and the founding board for 43North.
Nowak is also at the forefront of a new era of personalized medicine as a driving force in the governor's investment in UB and the New York Genome Center (NYGC) to create the Buffalo Institute for Genomics and Data Analytics (BIG)
Job Titles:
- Advisor of Pre - Seed Workshops
Job Titles:
- NCCR TransCure Team As Scientific Officer
- Scientific Officer and Delegate for Communication
Valentina joined the NCCR TransCure Team as Scientific Officer in August 2015. Her career in research management started with the coordination of a Swiss wide doctoral program based at the University of Zürich, and continued with a position as scientific assistant at University Hospital in Bern (Inselspital, Dept. of Neurology).
Valentina pursued her studies in Applied Mathematics in Milano, Italy. In 2012, she obtained a PhD in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Zürich. In parallel she completed advanced training programs in scientific journalism (MAZ Luzern) and in research management (University of Bern). Valentina, Italian mother tongue, speaks fluently English, German and French. Her favourite hobbies are classical choral singing, hiking and cooking.
In her current function in the NCCR TransCure, Valentina coordinates the network activities, is responsible for reporting and communication via print and online media. Moreover, she supports the directorate with the strategic planning, especially in the fields of Education, Communication and Technology Transfer.