RUSS WEINZIMMER & ASSOCIATES PC - Key Persons
Bob Stepha is currently engaged in the preparation of complex patent applications as a Technology Specialist with the firm.
Education
Bob Stepha has a BA in Physics (thesis in General Relativity), and a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering, with additional graduate work in Materials Science.
Experience
Bob Stepha has unique technical qualifications, including more than a decade of integrated circuit (IC) design and fabrication experience, in addition to over ten years of software engineering and computer science experience.
In chip design, Bob Stepha has extensive experience in all phases of chip design and development, including circuit design, logic design, systems architecture, system simulation, high level design specification, high-level and low-level logic modeling, library development, CAD tool development, CAD process flow, circuit timing optimization, power modeling, device simulation, device layout, device modeling, statistical yield analysis, and fabrication.
In software engineering, Bob Stepha has extensive experience in software development, with application to a wide variety of problem domains including numerical methods, user interface design, graphics, language design, real-time simulation, analog signal processing, digital signal processing (DSP), machine learning, neural networks, data modeling, data interpretation, and statistical analysis.
Bob Stepha also worked at the premier chip design facility for a major defense contractor.
At a major computer manufacturer, Bob Stepha was the senior design engineer responsible for the design and testing of VLSI memory and logic chips.
At a major supercomputer manufacturer, Bob Stepha led a team responsible for developing and verifying the methodology that the company used to produce an advanced multi-processor VLSI supercomputing chip set.
Concurrent with his career as an engineer, Bob Stepha served as a principle and member on the board of directors of a software startup.
Job Titles:
- Business Entity Formation Specialist
Cheri S. Hill is a successful entrepreneur, business owner, and premier business strategist with over 25 years experience. CEO and Co-Founder of Sage International Inc., Cheri is also an accomplished speaker, teacher, and radio host, fostering the entrepreneurial spirit by providing workshops, seminars, and speaking engagements. Co-author of the best selling book, Incorporate & Get Rich! (recommended by Robert Kiyosaki in his business classic Rich Dad, Poor Dad), Cheri Hill has mastered the art of teaching entrepreneurs what it takes to create and maintain a successful business.
Job Titles:
- Invention Market Analyst
- Invention Market and Valuation Analyst
Joe Carlen has over 20 years of experience preparing in-depth Market Analyses and Commercialization Plans, along with Patent Valuations, and other services for inventors and companies across a wide range of industries. Mr. Carlen has worked for global industry leaders such as Westinghouse Energy, Pacific Plastics and Engineering, Time Warner, Inc., and Banana Boat® (sun care), small-midsize companies, and a large and varied selection of individual inventors and entrepreneurs. He has served clients in industries relating to consumer goods, electronics, software and mobile communications, medical devices/healthcare, child care, pet care, transportation, energy, manufacturing/quality control, online services, agriculture/food processing, food & beverage packaging, home security, entertainment, education, and others.
Joe earned a Master's degree in Information Systems Management from Carnegie Mellon University, an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh, and is a Certified Valuation Analyst (NACVA). He is also the co-author of From Lifeguard to Sun King, the Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times bestselling autobiography of Banana Boat® founder Robert Bell, and the author of a book about Warren Buffet's mentor, The Einstein of Money: The Life and Timeless Financial Wisdom of Benjamin Graham (Prometheus Books, 2012), followed by A Brief History of Entrepreneurship (Columbia University Press, 2016). In short, Mr. Carlen offers a rare combination of technical, financial, and professional business writing skills. His business services are essential resources for inventors who want to ensure that no opportunities are lost with respect to the commercial potential of their inventions.
Kimberly Foss works with businesses across the United States and around the globe, specializing in creative concepts for print and the web, including Logo Design, Copy Writing, award-winning Graphic Design & Typography, and complete project management. Since 1986, Kimberly and her team have built a solid reputation for producing affordable, high quality design solutions-on time, within budget, and to client specifications. Find out for yourself how easy it is to have an effective logo, or other marketing / identity tool created and produced - one which improves both your image, and your bottom line.
Kimberly Foss earned her degree in Printing Technology from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in 1980. Prior to starting her own business, she directed the Art and Composition Departments for two commercial printers from 1980 to 1986. Ms. Foss has also taught courses on Typography at the University of New Hampshire.
Job Titles:
- Invention Manufacturing and Distribution Specialist
Kurt Stegall is a maverick inventor that has worked in the high-tech sector for over two decades, producing innovative work involving: digital design, data mining, artificial intelligence, and semantic web technologies. He has designed, manufactured, and taken to market sophisticated electronic devices in the consumer and biomedical fields (e.g., RF, subaqueous, EEG, sensors). Kurt is now receiving passive income generated by his inventions.
Kurt Stegall is fluent in both spoken and written Mandarin, having lived for years in China. He is a seasoned negotiator with years of experience directly outsourcing manufacturing and lab testing to mainland China firms. Kurt possesses a network of trusted partners in each relevant field - after trying dozens of suppliers. His manufacturing experience includes: plastic injection molding, low pressure molding, and PCB manufacturing. His lab testing experience includes: FFC, R&TTE, and LVD certification. Kurt has extensive experience with supply chain logistics, including: warehousing, order fulfillment, credit card processing, and offshore company formation. Kurt makes all of this knowledge and experience available to the clients of Russ Weinzimmer & Associates, PC, helping them to avoid costly and time-consuming mistakes.
Job Titles:
- Business Development and Patent Licensing Negotiation Specialist
Michael Steir has an extensive and diverse business background which includes experience and achievements in strategic business development, finance and accounting, international tax planning, mergers & acquisitions, development of distribution channels, offshore sourcing, and joint venture start up and management. His 40+ year career includes management positions in both industrial and high tech corporate environments, including Norton Company, DuPont Co., and GCA Corporation.
More recently, Michael established, staffed, and managed an international legal department for Cognex Corporation, a major NASDAQ- listed company. As Vice President of Legal Affairs, he was responsible for all legal matters, including intellectual property due diligence and agreement preparation and negotiations with respect to merger & acquisition activity, all commercial contracts, and intellectual property and corporate legal matters. Among his many achievements, he successfully managed the five year litigation effort resulting in the shut down of the now infamous Jerome Lemelson machine vision patent trolling effort by invalidating 14 patents being asserted world wide against major corporations. Michael also successfully managed patent assertion litigations against patent infringers.
Currently, Michael is consulting to early stage companies by providing business development services, commercial contracts preparation and negotiations, technology licensing agreements, and intellectual property litigation management. Michael is in a unique position to combine real world practical business experience with legal services to help companies realize their full potential without having to hire full time business and legal professionals, or resort to high cost law firms. His current clients include Xenith LLC, Advanced Electron Beams, and MOAEC, Inc.
Michael has extensive overseas business experience in Europe, China, South East Asia, Japan, and Korea, including a three year expatriate assignment in Australia. Michael received his Bachelor of Science degree from Boston College, and his Masters in Business Administration degree from the University of Massachusetts.
Robert Strawbrich has over 20 years of experience as a practicing Intellectual Property Law attorney, along with over 8 years of industrial work experience as both a Design and Product Management Engineer in the Semiconductor industry. He has prepared and prosecuted well over 150 patent applications, in a broad spectrum of technologies, including server and computer networking technologies, semiconductor circuits, semiconductor processing and semiconductor materials technologies, microprocessor and memory architectures, software methods, data communication algorithms, DSP, fixed and mobile wireless networks and circuits, television broadcast, broadband circuits and systems, electric motors, chemical processing, down-hole oil well equipment and Internet software and business methods.
Robert also has extensive experience providing patent litigation support, performing IP portfolio valuations and IP due diligence in support of corporate mergers and technology acquisitions, drafting and negotiating technology licenses and development contracts, as well as counseling clients regarding the establishment of in-house IP development and protection programs. Robert has been licensed to practice before the Patent and Trademark Office since 1992 and has been licensed by the Bar of the State of California since 1991. He holds a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University's College of Engineering (1980) and graduated with Honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 1991.