DEVELOPMENT CAPITAL NETWORKS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Contributor
- Member of Selection Committee
- Vice President / Ericsson
- Vice President at AAA Club Affiliates
Ajit Bhatia offers 20 years of leadership experience in the high-technology, telecommunications, Telematics, e/m-commerce, and financial services domain. An accomplished senior executive, Ajit has provided vision, strategy, product management, marketing, partnership and business development skills to Fortune organizations including MasterCard, Sprint Nextel, Alltel, and MCI, driving innovative, customer-focused solutions with great success.
Ajit is a Vice President at AAA Club Affiliates, responsible for Innovation / New Solution Development, leading efforts to deliver a sustainable innovation capability including delivery of unique, breakthrough solutions. At MasterCard, Ajit managed product / partnership strategy for the Innovative Platforms / Mobile Center of Excellence division.
At Sprint Nextel, Ajit's leadership responsibility spanned several critical product lines including overseeing the $1+Billion Enhanced Voice, Push-to-Talk, and Custom Network services portfolios. In these leadership roles, he led the development and launch of several breakthrough products including Airave™, an award-winning device allowing enhanced indoor wireless coverage.
At Nextel, he championed the incubation and delivery of unique solutions in new markets including the launch of an entirely new business unit, BOOST Mobile, targeting the youth-oriented market. He also instituted and managed Nextel's corporate-wide Product Development, Portfolio Planning, and Governance processes.
Ajit is a regular contributor to the domain of innovation and product development, he is a frequent speaker at industry forums as well as a contributor and author to industry bulletins. He serves on Frost and Sullivan's Product Development Advisory Board as a thought leader for 2011. Ajit has attended the University of Chicago for executive education in strategic marketing, and the flagship Leadership Development Program (LDP®) at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina. Ajit received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Bombay and his Master's degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Founding Managing Director / California Technology Ventures LLC
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Area Business Development Executive, Strategic Growth Markets / Ernst & Young
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- VC Investment Director / Applied Ventures, LLC
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Principal / 5AM Ventures
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of the WBT Advisory Board
- Managing Director / Garage Technology Ventures
- Member of Selection Committee
Bill Reichert has over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur and an operating executive. Since joining Garage in 1998, Bill has focused on early-stage information technology and materials science companies. He sits on the Boards of CaseStack, WhiteHat, ClearFuels, cFares, and ThermoCeramix. Prior to Garage, Bill was a co-founder or senior executive in several venture-backed technology startups, including Trademark Software, The Learning Company, and Academic Systems. Earlier in his career, he worked at McKinsey & Company, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., and the World Bank. Bill earned a B.A. at Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Stanford University. He was a founding board member and a Chairman of the Churchill Club, and a Charter Member of the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs. Currently he is the Chairman of the Small Fund Roundtable of the VC Taskforce and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Investment Manager / BASF
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Partner / Sierra Ventures
Experience
Dr. Walker spent 10 years conducting high energy physics research, including several years living in Japan. He is an author of the paper announcing the discovery of the "Top" quark, one of the fundamental particles of nature. He went on to a variety of sales and marketing positions at EMCORE Corporation, a leading provider of MOCVD equipment to the compound semiconductor industry, where he ramped sales in the Pacific Rim from $4M to >$100M during his 8 year tenure. From 2001-2004 he was Managing Director-USA of Vincera Ventures, a US$150M venture capital fund based in Taiwan. In 2003 Dr. Walker founded YEBY Associates, a Silicon Valley-based consultancy specializing in the Solid State Lighting industry, where he served as a Senior Advisor to the Chinese government, and worked in a variety of roles in the solid-state lighting industry, with a heavy emphasis on trans-Pacific transactions. He was CEO of BridgeLux, a venture-backed high power LED lighting company, from 2005-2007. He joined Sierra in the fall of 2007.
Education & Background
Born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, Robert received a triple major in math, physics and computer engineering from the UW-Madison in 1984. He received his Masters and then Ph.D. in Physics from Caltech in 1989. He speaks Japanese, along with some Chinese and Thai, has traveled extensively throughout the Pacific Rim region, and has been involved with the solid state lighting industry in Taiwan, Korea and China since its inception. He currently serves as a catalyst for the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Managing Director of Boston Harbor Angels
- Member of Selection Committee
- Member of the New England
Boris is the managing director of Boston Harbor Angels, overseeing the overall operations of the group. He is responsible for identifying investment opportunities, expanding the group's network and attracting new investors and sponsors.
Boris manages companies' coaching, screening and investment processes. He monitors existing portfolio companies considering follow-on investments. Before that Boris was associate director of the BHA group assisting with the investment process. See www.bostonharborangels.com.
Boris co-founded SiD Ventures, leading entrepreneurs through the demanding process of raising capital. SiD Ventures is a virtual incubator helping startups navigate the ecosystem.
Prior to that Boris was CFO of a start-up consumer products company founded by former Procter & Gamble executives. His previous experience is in banking and investment management at The Bank of New York - Mellon and State Street Bank. Boris is also a partner in a family-owned real estate development enterprise in Bulgaria.
Boris is an active member of the New England community. He doubled the size of Boston Harbor Angels during one of the worst periods in the U.S. financial history. He helped finance more than 30 companies. His most recent investments are ReDigi - "The world's first pre-owned digital marketplace" and Respiratory Motion -"The first continuous, non-invasive minute ventilation at point of care". One of the companies he brought to the group in 2009, Horizontal, was purchased by Autodesk in 2011.
Boris is occasionally invited to speak about entrepreneurship, innovation, and angel investing. At the 2011 National Angel Capital Association summit, he made the introductory remarks for a portfolio company, recipient of the Luis Villalobos Award. He wrote a white paper on angel group sustainability.
He is delighted to have been invited by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria to discuss how best to spur economic growth in their country by prioritizing education, technology and greater innovation.
Boris has a Bachelor of Economics and Financial Management degree from the University of Economics - Varna in Bulgaria and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts - Boston. As a graduate assistant, Boris conducted research in organizational behavior and development.
Boris received a platinum award for excellence at State Street Bank and a global securities team award at Mellon Financial. He was a scholarship winner at both University of Economics - Varna, Bulgaria and University of Massachusetts - Boston.
In his free time Boris enjoys running, saltwater fishing, and spending time with his eight-year-old daughter.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Founder & Managing Director / Laurus Partners
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Associate Director - Business Development / Shire
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Director of Investor Relations / Meritage Capital
- Member of Selection Committee
At age 38, Bruce Ezell co-founded Techxas Ventures and today serves as a managing director. At 32, he co-founded and served as general manager of DellWare, now the $6 billion software and peripherals division of Dell (Nasdaq: DELL). In this role, Mr. Ezell pioneered some of the early eCommerce practices that are commonplace today. At 26, he co-founded and served as vice president of Underwater Technology Corporation (OTC: UTCA), a venture-backed materials sciences company. Between founding ventures, Mr. Ezell served as management consultant with Ernst & Young's Entrepreneurial Services Group and as vice president of Leasing Group Inc., a venture-backed technology financial services company. Mr. Ezell also co-founded Austin's acclaimed Trinity Episcopal School and serves on its board of trustees. Other activities include committee participation on Governor Perry's Science and Technology Council, chairman of Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year advisory board and member of the University of Texas Leadership Council. Mr. Ezell earned a BBA from the University of Texas and an MBA from Houston Baptist University. He has worked with portfolio companies such as Motive (Nasdaq: MOTV), iMark (acquired by FMKT), TManage (acquired by MegaPath), Nanotechnologies Inc. and Spectral Genomics. Mr. Ezell's current focus is software, life sciences, energy sciences and consumer technology.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Managing Partner
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Research Manager / Church & Dwight
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Managing Director / Research Corporation Technologies
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Thermosets Program Leader / the Dow Chemical Company
Chris Steinbeck is the Thermosets Program Leader at The Dow Chemical Company. His responsibilities include working with business partners and R&D researchers to identify new emerging technologies that are consistent with Dow's strategic interests. He has 7 years of industrial experience in both marketing and research functions in the US and Germany. Chris Steinbeck obtained his B.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the University of California at Santa Barbara respectively. In addition he is certified as a Wirtschaftsassistent by the German Chamber of Commerce.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- President
- Member of Selection Committee
Connie's unique business sense and creative vision is the blueprint for her proven successes in various industries as both a serial entrepreneur and CEO/COO over companies from various industries. As a serial entrepreneur, she founded and managed companies in retail, telecommunications, printing, graphics and forms design, technology, and in 1994, prior to social networking, developed an Internet community of more than 2000 women in business, internationally. Connie is credited with growing companies organically as well as through acquisitions, serving as CEO/COO, noting three strategic acquisitions by SBC, PeopleSoft, and Curtco Publications. Her industry expertise includes publications, telecommunications, technology, public relations, franchising, and fundraising. As an investor, her new focus is venturing into Fluoro-Raman Technology, wireless, new mobile media, and opportunities that support her passions, which are sailing/yachting/cruising and international travel. Currently she serves on the business advisory boards of Fluorotronics, Inc., Women's Film Network, and on the board of directors for America's Baby Cancer Foundation, Inspired by her family, with a belief that people and relationships are the most vital part of life, along with her pioneering attitude and insatiable desire for new experiences, Connie launches four chapters of Keiretsu Forum, Westlake Village, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, into one Southern California Region.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Member of Selection Committee
- Principal / ONSET Ventures
Corinne Bright joined ONSET Ventures in 2010, bringing cross-disciplinary experience in product development, manufacturing, clinical trials and regulatory affairs to the ONSET medical technology investment team. Prior to ONSET, Corinne was Vice President, Research and Development at Talima Therapeutics, a privately-held start-up company developing combination drug-device products for the local treatment of diseases. At Talima, she led the development of their product from bench through Phase II clinical trials. Corinne has also developed technologies for applications in orthopedics, ENT, neurosurgery and interventional cardiology. Prior to Talima, she was a Biodesign Innovation Fellow at Stanford University.
Corinne holds a B.S. in Engineering from Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine where she focused on the development of novel therapies for treating spinal cord injury. She is listed as an inventor or co-inventor on six patent applications.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- CFO
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Managing Director / Mercury Fund
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Principal
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Managing Director / Access Venture Partners
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- COO / Oklahoma Equity Partners
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Founder / CEO of the Inventis Group, Ltd. a Company
- Managing Director / Inventis Group Ltd.
- Member of Selection Committee
David J. Novak Founder / CEO of the Inventis Group, Ltd. a company dedicated to developing, protecting and commercializing technologies. Mr. Novak has nearly twenty years of global experience in the areas of strategic planning, technology transition, transfer and commercialization; building the process by which new government, university and industry technologies are brought to the marketplace.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Senior Director
- Member of Selection Committee
- Senior Director / Johnson & Johnson
David P. Brooks, is a Senior Director, Portfolio Management, in the External Research & Early Development (eRED) group of Johnson & Johnson's Pharmaceutical Research Division. Prior to joining J&J, David worked at GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals where he served in roles of increasing responsibility including Director of Renal Pharmacology and Vice President of Cardiovascular and Urogenital Biology. David played a major role in the development of Coreg®, Teveten® and Corlopam®.
David earned a B.Sc. in Physiology and Chemistry from Queen Elizabeth College, University of London, an M.Sc. in Biochemical Pharmacology and Ph.D. in Physiology from Southampton University, and served as an Assistant Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Tennessee School of Medicine. He has served as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Physiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia and is currently an Honorary Professor at Warwick Medical School. David is a Fellow of the American Heart Association. He has over 200 publications, primarily in the areas of cardiovascular physiology and pharmacology.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Managing Director
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the WBT Advisory Board
- Entrepreneur in Residence / Florida Institute for the Commercialization
- Is Director, Business Development With Bastech LLC in Jacksonville, FL. She Joined Bastech in November 2012
Prior to that she was Entrepreneur in Residence at Florida Institute for the Commercialization of Public Research, in the Gainesville, FL field office. She provided eligible companies who apply for matching unsecured low interest loans with guidance such as market assessment, operations structuring and project management, and contributed to the due diligence process of the institute. She was also the mentor of the winning team of empowering Women in Technology Startups (eWITS)at the innovation hub in Gainesville, FL in 2012.
Dr. Milz joined the WBT Advisory Board in the spring of 2010, and has served as a screener and mentor for the WBT Innovation Marketplace for several years. She has also mentored SBIR grantees to secure phase II, commercialization funding. Previous employers have been Corning Incorporated, University of Florida, Colorado School of Mines, and the German Aerospace Center, and mid-sized German companies. She is an energetic MBA and seasoned PhD-level mechanical and ceramic engineer, with extensive scientific accomplishments in the fields of advanced materials and nanotechnology. She brings expertise in general management, early stage marketing, innovation process, materials engineering, process engineering, project management and university level education/course design. Claudia's Executive MBA is from the University of Florida, and her PhD in mechanical engineering is from Karlsruhe Institute for Technology. She is also fluent in German, a certified Six Sigma Green Belt and has Black Belt test mastery.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- General Partner / Phoenix Venture Partners
- General Partner at Phoenix Venture Partners
- Member of Selection Committee
Dr. John Chen is a General Partner at Phoenix Venture Partners (PVP), where he focuses on originating and managing investments in advanced materials companies. Dr. Chen was a co-founder of PVP along with Dr. Zach Jonasson (Class 10), Dr. David Soane, Dr. Nobi Kambe, and Dr. Frank Levinson. Previously, Dr. Chen was a Kauffman Fellow at Battery Ventures, where he led and managed investments in advanced materials companies that had applications in the Cleantech and IT industries. His investments at Battery Ventures include Imara Corporation, Nanoconduction (acquired), and Stonybrook Purification. John also gained valuable experience in early-stage venture capital as an intern with Draper Fisher Jurvetson New England, and Navigator Technology Ventures during his MBA at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Prior to becoming a venture capitalist, John held key roles in business, technology, and product development at venture backed startups and leading corporations in the advanced materials sector including Surface Logix, EM Logix, Luminus Devices, Passport Systems, Raychem Corporation, and Tyco Electronics. He is the holder of three US patents.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Founding Partner / Nidus Partners
- Founding Partner of the Nidus Partners
- Member of Selection Committee
Duke Leahey is a founding partner of the Nidus Partners (Monsanto, Bunge and Novozymes) bringing more than 35 years of entrepreneurial, technology licensing and intellectual property management expertise in the plant and life science industry. The breadth of his experience, negotiating agreements in academia as well as the corporate world, ensures Nidus' approach to technology acquisition and commercialization is a partnership model for the industry. In their first two years, Nidus has started 7 companies in the clean technology area.
Starting his career working with avionic technologies in industry, Duke was recruited to Washington University in St. Louis in 1979 to create their technology transfer program resulting technology licenses earning millions of dollars in research and license income. During his 18 years at the University he initiated the first university-industry licenses in Ag Biotechnology, including virus resistance, Aagrobacterium transformation, Bt pest resistance, and expression of foreign proteins in plants, negotiated the largest university-industry research contract, resulting in more than $160 million in research and participated in creation of one of the first Venture Capital-University investment company (A/W Company), resulting in formation of ten new companies. In 1997, Duke moved back to industry joining Monsanto as Director, Technology Alliances Team, leading a team of scientists that optioned/licensed more than 50 new technologies and executed several hundred technology access agreements in rice genomics, Ag traits, Nutrition and Animal Agriculture. In 2002, he was named President of GD Searle LLC, (an IP holding company of Pharmacia and later acquired by Pfizer) managing the disposition of non-strategic intellectual property. In 2005 he once again moved into the entrepreneurial world, setting up Life Science Alliances, LLC to work with emerging high growth start-up companies. Duke was a former board member of Competitive Technologies, Inc. (CTT-AMEX), president of the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM), co-chair of LES University-Industry Committee and senior lecturer on strategic partnerships for Arthur Anderson Consulting. He holds a B.S.
Job Titles:
- Member of the WBT Advisory Board
- Education Outreach Coordinator / Naval Surface Warfare Center
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Member of Selection Committee
- Senior Member of IEEE
- Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Qualcomm
- Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy / Qualcomm
Edgar Auslander is Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Qualcomm, focusing on identifying and pursuing acquisition of companies or licensing of relevant technologies or products. Most recently, he was Vice President, Product Management, responsible for Qualcomm's chipsets product roadmap planning.
Auslander has more than 20 years of experience in venture capital and general management at startups and Fortune 100 companies. Prior to joining Qualcomm, he served as senior vice president of strategic planning at ST-Ericsson. Prior, he was a director at Intel, responsible for strategic alliances and engineering of mobile internet platforms as well as vice president at VantagePoint Venture Partners. He was one of the founders of Texas Instruments' Wireless Business Unit and served as its general manager of worldwide strategy and corporate development. He also served as senior vice president of marketing at IXI Mobile Inc., a Silicon Valley start-up.
A senior member of IEEE, Auslander is co-author of The Applications of Programmable DSPs in Mobile Communications, published by Wiley. He has taught at the EDHEC Business School in France, published numerous articles and spoken at industry conferences worldwide.
Auslander holds a master's in Business Administration from Columbia University and a master's in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Investment Manager / Applied Ventures, LLC
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Managing Director / Atrium Capital
- Member of Selection Committee
George joined Atrium in 2000. Previously, he worked in corporate development at Hewlett-Packard, investment banking at Morgan Stanley and UBS, and computer programming at 3M. His portfolio companies include Virent, ACAL Energy, Ciespace, FastSoft (Akamai), ModViz (nVIDIA), MetaTV (Comcast) and FusionOne (Synchronoss). George received his MBA from Stanford University and his MS degree in Cybernetics from CVUT Institute of Technology.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Managing Partner / Siemens
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Member of Selection Committee
- Technology Transfer Director / Greene, Tweed & Co. Inc.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- President / W. Herbert White & Co., Inc.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Member of Selection Committee
- Senior Associate / Sante Ventures
James joined Santé Ventures in 2010. Previously, James served in the Air Force and was the medical director and Vice-Chair of Emergency Medicine at Wilford Hall Medical Center, an academic level-one trauma center in San Antonio. He completed two tours in Iraq as a critical care transport team chief and as the emergency department commander. He separated honorably as a Major in 2008. James received his MBA from the University of Texas McCombs School Of Business, his MD from Harvard Medical School, and a BS in bioengineering, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Michigan. He is board certified in emergency medicine and completed his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Technology Consultant
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Chief Strategist / SCS Ventures
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Investment Associate / CIT GAP Funds
- Member of Selection Committee
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- Almaz Capital Partner
- Associate / Adena Ventures
- Member of Selection Committee
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- Member of the Selection Committee
- General Partner / Silver Creek Ventures Corp.
- Member of Selection Committee
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- Member of the Selection Committee
- Member of Selection Committee
- President / Natural Carbon, LLC
Job Titles:
- President of the Selection Committee
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Communications / Safeguard Scientifics, Inc.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Senior Counsel / Texas Instruments
- Senior Director, Indemnity Management / BlackBerry
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Associate / Point Judith Capital
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Venture Development Manager / TandemLaunch Technologies Inc.
Katie Young Morris works with university technology transfer officers, inventors and entrepreneurs to develop TandemLaunch's venture portfolio. With half a decade of experience as a research project and program manager, Katie is passionate about helping bring university innovations to the public at large.
At TandemLaunch, Katie is responsible for the development of new ventures by working with Technology Transfer Officers, Inventors and Entrepreneurs.
Katie holds a Masters Certificate in Project Management, a Masters of Philosophy in Policy Studies, and a Bachelor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Leadership from the University of New Brunswick.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Head of Nanotechnology / the Linde Group
- Member of Selection Committee
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- Member of the Selection Committee
- Managing Director / OVP Venture Partners
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Founder
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Principal / Westwind Associates
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Director, Technology Assessment / Hospira, Inc.
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of the WBT Advisory Board
- Founding Board Member & Director / Long Island Angel
- Founding Managing Partner / Blue Angel Partners / Blue Angel Partners
- Member of Selection Committee
is a pre-seed funding and venture advisory firm focusing on federally funded technologies for "Internet of Things" applications- particularly in Communications, Decision Analytics, Cyber Security, Sensors, and Energy Harvesting. Prior to that, Michael was a Principal at Chart Venture Partners, a New York-based venture capital firm focusing on dual-use technologies (with both commercial and government/homeland security applications) in the areas of Communications & Mobile, Software & Cyber Security, Sensors, Advanced Materials, Energy and Clean Tech. Prior to entering venture capital, Michael held engineering and technology management roles in fiber optics and wireless infrastructure at Nortel Networks and then product management roles in mobile devices and applications at Ericsson and Nextel. Michael earned his MBA from Duke University-Fuqua, M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Management of Technology from Georgia Tech, and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Michael is also a registered patent agent and Certified Licensing Professional (CLP).
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Vice President / Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central Pennsylvania
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of the WBT Advisory Board
- Austin Ventures in 2008 As Director of Research
- Director of Innovation
- Member of Selection Committee
Mr. Millard joined Austin Ventures in 2008 as Director of Research. He is responsible for securing and validating timely data to assist in the overall due diligence decision process for potential investments or acquisitions. This includes identifying management, companies and markets as well understanding the technical, legal and financial aspects of potential business opportunities. Previously, Mike commercialized technology for AT&T Knowledge Ventures in Austin Texas. Prior to this, he worked in strategy roles at both HP and Dell, Inc. Mike Millard earned his MBA from Western Illinois University and BS degree from Illinois State University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Founder and Managing Partner of Meidlinger Partners
- Managing Partner / Meidlinger Partners, LLC
- Member of Selection Committee
Mr. Kevin Brophy is a Founder and Managing Partner of Meidlinger Partners, LLC. A finance professional with a wide range of experience in the infrastructure sector ranging from utility operations to public utility rate design to mergers, acquisitions and strategic planning, Mr. Brophy brings a broad range of skills and training to Meidlinger Partners. He acts as COO and CFO for the firm, managing investor relations, the firm's daily operations including working with the Advisory Board and Investment Committee, and overseeing financial planning for portfolio companies. Mr. Brophy chairs the firm's Investment Committee and also plays an integral role in strategic planning for portfolio companies.
Prior to co-founding Meidlinger Partners in mid 2008, Mr. Brophy held roles in operations as well as director positions (Investor Relations, Corporate Development) with Aqua America, Inc. (Aqua) (NYSE: WTR), one of the nation's largest publicly traded water utility companies serving approximately three million people in 13 states. The latter half of Mr. Brophy's 13 year career with Aqua consisted of executive roles in mergers, acquisitions, business development, investor relations and strategic planning. He participated with special projects such as public utility rate case filings and follow-on equity offerings and occasionally managed aspects of Aqua's securities portfolio, including equities and derivatives.
From 2004 - 2007, Mr. Brophy held full responsibility for Aqua's ‘growth-through-acquisition' program throughout the state of Texas. Residing in Austin with a target region spanning the entire state of Texas, Mr. Brophy directed the acquisition of numerous companies for Aqua and executed more than 12 real estate development growth ventures.
Mr. Brophy's experiences with Aqua provided a strong foundation from which to launch a private equity firm focused on sustainable investments in the fields of water resource management, alternative energy, energy efficiency, pollution reduction and waste management. The knowledge and skills required to succeed, such as strategic planning, capital budgeting, regulatory pricing and rates, business development, operations management and integrating technological advancements can be applied to each field.
Mr. Brophy studied finance and business administration at Villanova University, attended the NARUC Utility Rate School program, completed the NCEE Mergers, Acquisitions and Business Valuation curriculum and recently completed London Business School's Private Equity Program. Mr. Brophy is a member of Investors' Circle, a leading network of private and institutional investors using private capital to promote the transition to a sustainable economy.
Mr. Brophy competes in running events, triathlons and adventure races including pentathlons and has his sights set on competing in an Ironman triathlon in 2009.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Director of Business Development / Volcano Corporation
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- President / Open Prairie Ventures
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Principal / Arsenal Venture Partners
- Principal at Arsenal Venture Partners
Patricia (Patti) Glaza is a Principal at Arsenal Venture Partners and balances her time between investment identification and evaluation, portfolio development, and helping support the entrepreneurial community. She has spent over twenty years dedicated to the development, implementation and commercialization of advanced technologies. Patti currently sits on boards for the Clean Coalition, The University of Michigan WIMS Center, and CTSI, where she chairs the organization's annual defense and utility technology challenges.
Prior to joining AVP, Patti served as a Founder and the Executive Director/CEO of the Clean Technology and Sustainable Industries Organization (CTSI). She worked closely with government agencies including the Department of Defense and Department of Energy/ARPA-E, multinational corporations and utilities, and start-ups to identify and promote leading-edge technology solutions in energy, water, and overall sustainability.
After several start-ups, Patti lead Small Times, a global media group focused on micro, MEMS, and nanotechnology commercialization. She started off her career as an IT/operations consultant and manager at Accenture. Patti is a graduate of Michigan State University with a BA in International Relations and Economics, and has her MBA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Job Titles:
- Fellow
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Member of Selection Committee
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- Member of the Selection Committee
- Member of Selection Committee
- Partner / PrairieGold Venture Partners
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- Member of the Selection Committee
- Head, Fundamental Technology Partnering / Honda Research
- Member of Selection Committee
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- Member of the Selection Committee
- General Partner / California Clean Energy Angel Fund
- Member of Selection Committee
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- Member of the Selection Committee
- Managing Director / Pragmaxis LLC
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Managing Director / Safeguard Scientifics
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Vice President / Headwaters Incorporated
- Vice President of Technology for Headwaters Energy Services
Dr. Minkara is the Vice President of Technology for Headwaters Energy Services, a division of Headwaters Incorporated. He currently leads a technology commercialization group and new business development activities in the clean coal technology area. He is also responsible for the evaluation of third party technologies and new businesses. He has directed and participated in the basic research, development, scale-up, and commercialization of several technologies for Headwaters and its predecessor companies in the energy, pollution control, and construction material areas.
Dr. Minkara has also worked as a consultant and provided engineering services in environmental protection and systems optimization to a diverse industrial client base. He has been involved in hazardous waste remediation and industrial by-product recycling and reuse. He is a registered professional engineer with over 20 years of experience in engineering, research, and new technology deployment. Dr. Minkara serves on the board of director of a start-up company and mentors several new technology developments and business start-ups.
Job Titles:
- Member of the WBT Advisory Board
- President and CEO / Rain Source Capital
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- Member of the Selection Committee
- Associate / S3 Ventures
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Technology Acquisition Manager / S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- General Partner / Innovation Valley Partners
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Director, Business Development
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Principal / Southeast Interactive Technology Funds
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Director / Eastman Kodak Company
- Member of Selection Committee
Ray is focused on providing access to strategic technology developed in or by government sources. Opportunities include accessing technology developed in government labs joint development projects with government labs and selective development projects that take advantage of government funding to accelerate internal R&D programs. Ray has extensive background in government project work including experience with proposals contracts and project operations. His technical background is in the development of specialized digital imaging systems for critical government applications.
Job Titles:
- Member of the WBT Advisory Board
- President / Trotta Associates
- President, Trotta Associates, Inc
- Trotta Associates Consultants to Government and Industry
Ric Trotta | Trotta Associates Consultants to Government and Industry
Ric Trotta, President, Trotta Associates, Inc. has extensive senior level corporate and management consulting experience in business development, strategic planning and technology management. As President and senior consultant he works with government, industry, and academic clients to identify market opportunities, develop business plans and facilitate strategic alliances. Product areas have included: medical devices, advanced transportation, energy, defense systems, security, food safety and consumer products. Clients have included: The Department of Defense, Army, Navy, Air Force, ITT, Ford, Air Products, Siemens, Raytheon and Philips. Since 2001 Mr. Trotta has served as Chair of the Federal Laboratory Consortium National Advisory Council where he recruited a diverse team of executives who provide recommendations to expand outreach to industry and help commercialize technologies developed in federal laboratories. Under his leadership one of the first initiatives of the advisory council was to support the WBT inaugural meeting by securing sponsors and mentors. Prior to founding Trotta Associates, Mr. Trotta was Corporate Director of Development for Grumman Corp., where he reported to the Chairman of the Board and managed all research and development and proposal resources to develop new business for the company's Aerospace, Electronics, Transportation and Data Systems divisions. He attended the University of Virginia majoring in Electrical Engineering, received a degree in Physics from New York University, an MBA in Marketing from Hofstra University, completed the Program for Executives at Carnegie Mellon University, is included in Who's Who in America and serves on the board of a number of organizations.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- CEO / NanoLumens Inc.
- Member of Selection Committee
- Product Manager / Nomadics Inc.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Associate / Highland Capital Partners
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Member of Selection Committee
- Principal / UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Manager, Technology Transfer
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- President
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Director, Technology Management / Roche Diagnostics
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Director of Business Development
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Director / Microsoft
- Member of Selection Committee
Rodney Bowen-Wright is a Director of Business Development at Microsoft and manages Enterprise, Vertical Markets
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Director
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Partner, CTO / STARTech Early Ventures
Job Titles:
- Member of the WBT Advisory Board
- Research Engineer / Lockheed Martin
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Research Fellow / the Dow Chemical Company
- Senior Research Scientist in the Ventures and Business Development Organization at the Dow Chemical Company
Stephen F. (Steve) Hahn is a Senior Research Scientist in the Ventures and Business Development organization at the Dow Chemical Company. His responsibilities include the identification of new science and technology opportunities that are consistent with Dow's strategic interests and developing Dow businesses around new emerging technologies. He has 26 years of industrial experience in corporate and business research functions and has developed and commercialized several new materials at Dow. Steve Hahn graduated from Michigan Tech with a B.S. in Chemistry and from Central Michigan University with a Masters in Chemistry. He is a member of the American Chemical Society and has published 35 articles in refereed journals 4 textbook chapters and 32 patents.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Managing Principal / Midcoast Capital, LLC
- Member of Selection Committee
Stephen W. Harris has 25 years of direct venture capital investing experience as a principal. He is a founder and Vice President of Private Equity Management Company ("PEMCO"), which has been responsible for the management of over $70 million of venture capital investments made through a series of TDH investment funds for which he was a general partner. The first two of those funds are no longer active and the third is in the liquidation phase. Steve has served on the boards of numerous corporations in connection with his venture management activities and as an officer or board member of several charitable and entrepreneurial support organizations, such as Philabundance, GPVG Community Ventures, New Jersey Center for Life Sciences, Greater Philadelphia Venture Group, Pennsylvania Private Investors Group, Private Investors Forum, Angel Venture Fair and the Wharton Small Business Development Center.
Steve is a licensed CPA. He has an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an AB from Duke University.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of the WBT Advisory Board
- Member of Selection Committee
- President and CEO / RAIN Source Capital
- President and CEO of Rain Source Capital
Steve Mercil serves as President and CEO of Rain Source Capital, and oversees all activities at RAIN Source Capital and is responsible for building its portfolio. Steve is the current Chair of NASVF, and also serves on the board of the Angel Capital Association. He has over 20 years experience in small business finance including structuring and negotiating transactions for manufacturing and technology companies. He served nine months as interim CEO of one of Minnesota Investment Network's portfolio companies. As the Equity Fund Manager of Minnesota Technology, Inc., Mr. Mercil was responsible for the development and launching of the equity fund. As a result of his eight-year tenure as President of Crookston Jobs, Inc. and Executive Director of Crookston EDA, he has a proven track record with business development and finance for small to medium-size companies in rural Minnesota. Mr. Mercil holds a BS degree in Biology and MS in Education Statistics and Measurement from the University of North Dakota.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- General Partner / Aligned Partners
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Principal / Carrot Capital Healthcare Ventures
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Director, Technology Management / Roche Diagnostics
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Vice President / Claritas Capital
Theresa is Vice President of Claritas Capital. Prior to joining Claritas Capital, Theresa served as Director of Investor Services and Chief Accounting Officer for Massey Burch Capital Corp., a multi-fund venture firm with assets under management in excess of $250 million. Theresa has over 13 years experience in the venture industry working on a wide array of marketing, accounting, legal, analytical and special projects, including acting as liaison to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Since joining Claritas Capital, Theresa has participated in fund formation and administration, operations and deal review. Theresa earned her B.B.A. at Belmont University and subsequently earned both an M.B.A. and M.ACC in Belmont's Massey Graduate School of Business.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Principal
- Senior Director
- Member of Selection Committee
Tom Gillespie is a Senior Director on In-Q-Tel's University and Early Stage Investment Team. He is responsible for identifying and commercializing technologies originating from universities, government laboratories, and other research institutions that address challenges faced by the Intelligence Community. Prior to joining In-Q-Tel, Tom was a strategy consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, serving clients in the telecommunications, financial services, and government (national security and defense) sectors. Previously, he co-founded LaunchFuel, a venture commercialization firm that created, developed, and advised early-stage technology businesses. Tom directed numerous business and technology strategy projects with Global 2000 clients for AT&T Solutions, and he led project teams at Silicon Valley Global Ventures advising growth technology companies on strategies for entering international markets. His experience also includes positions in international privatization and the United States Congress. Tom earned a B.A. from Stanford University, and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Member of Selection Committee
- Principal / Masthead Venture Partners
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Member of Selection Committee
- Professor of Entrepreneurship / Carnegie Mellon University
S. Thomas Emerson is an experienced entrepreneur and corporate executive. He currently serves as Director of the Donald H. Jones Center for Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he is a full-time faculty member in the Graduate School of Industrial Administration. Prior to joining Carnegie Mellon he was President and CEO of Arizona Technology Incubator, a public-private partnership in Scottsdale, Arizona that mentors promising young technology companies. Prior to ATI, he founded and built three venture capital backed high technology companies: Periphonics Corporation of Bohemia, NY and Syntellect Inc. and Xantel Corporation of Phoenix, AZ. Two of these companies (Periphonics and Syntellect) became NASDAQ-listed national market companies. They created in aggregate more than $600 million in shareholder value. Dr. Emerson holds four U.S. patents and a number of foreign patents and has authored more than 20 technical and scientific publications and numerous business articles. He was named Inventor of the Year by the U.S. Patent Office in 1973 for a highly innovative patent in the voice-processing field, and was named Entrepreneurial Fellow of the University of Arizona in 1986. Inc. Magazine and Arthur Young & Co. named him Arizona's High-Technology Entrepreneur of the Year in 1989. The Dean's Council of 100 at Arizona State University named him Arizona's Entrepreneur of the Year in 1990. In 2000 he received the Technology Leadership Award from the Arizona Software and Internet Association. Dr. Emerson earned M.A. and Ph. D.degrees in physics from Rice University, Houston, TX, and an S.B. in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- President & CEO / Mississippi Technology Alliance
- President & CEO of the Mississippi Technology Alliance
Tony is the President & CEO of the Mississippi Technology Alliance. For the past 5 years, he has coordinated MTA's work with entrepreneurs to bring their innovations successfully to market. In this position he has coached more than 300 entrepreneurial ventures and consulted with companies that successfully raised more than $100 million in private equity financing.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Licensing Leader
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Innovation Sourcing Manager / the Clorox Company
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Member of the Selection Committee
- Intellectual Property Consultant / Resverlogix Corp.
- Member of Selection Committee
Job Titles:
- Almaz Capital Partner
- Member of Selection Committee
- Partner / Sevin Rosen
William joined Sevin Rosen Funds in 2006 as a Venture Partner operating out of the Dallas office. He currently serves on the boards of several private healthcare companies and aides Sevin Rosen in identifying early-stage venture opportunities at the intersection of traditional technology sectors and healthcare. William also uses his healthcare industry focus and network to assist SRF portfolio companies developing applications and services for the healthcare market. William brings 20 years of venture capital, biomedical industry, and management consulting experience to Sevin Rosen. In addition to his venture experience with Chisholm Private Capital and the Oklahoma Life Science Fund, William served as a management consultant for the Life Sciences Industry Group at Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath (PRTM) where he consulted with the top five pharmaceutical companies on product development and technology management projects. William also served as an investment banking associate at JP Morgan in New York, providing strategic and investment banking advisory services to Fortune 100 Health Care companies. William holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Oklahoma and an MBA from Dartmouth College's Amos Tuck School of Business.