Errol Arkilic is a Founder of M34 Capital. M34 is an investment company that focuses on seed and early-stage projects being spun out of academic and corporate research labs. Typical investments range from $250,000 to $500,000 and usually represent the first outside capital deployed. M34 focuses on turning science projects into companies and does so across a broad spectrum of technologies and geographies. He is also a founder of USRCA.org, a non-profit with a focus on entrepreneur education for science and engineering graduates. Previously, Errol was the founding and lead program director for the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program. He led the I-Corps effort from its inception until July 2013. Prior to this, he was the lead software and services Program Director for the NSF SBIR program. Before his government service, Errol was founder and CEO at StrataGent Lifesciences (Acquired by Corium International: CORI) and Manager of Product Engineering at Redwood Microsystems. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from The George Washington University and his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Aero/Astro Engineering from MIT.
John Bacon is a founder and CEO of iP2Biz LLC, an Innovation Capitalist which translates corporate demand for breakthrough technologies into commercial action. Searching at major research universities and related spinout companies, iP2Biz vets new technologies and co-invests with clients to do translational research before conveying a license to the client for further development into a commercial product. The company’s focus is on sustainable energy, materials and environmental technologies. John has spent his entire career involved with early stage technology, creating early markets for emerging technologies. He worked for 17 years with Scientific-Atlanta, Inc. (now Cisco), in a variety of roles culminating as Group Executive of Satellite Communications. During his tenure at Scientific-Atlanta, revenues increased from $10M to $1B. He was a software entrepreneur for more than 15 years, running several venture capital-backed companies and leading the IPO teams to take two of them public, one in the United States and one in Europe, after raising close to $40 million from venture capital firms. John was CEO at a company which was based entirely upon a body of IP which had been invented at a major research university, but which wasn’t making commercial progress. His experience there in creating a roadmap into commercial markets, coupled with a period of venture investing, created the framework to understand the challenges and opportunities which led to the founding of iP2Biz. At iP2Biz, John has worked with university researchers all over the world and F -1000 companies to help them break the “Innovation Logjam”. He has delivered seminars from Seoul to Copenhagen to help corporations understand how to overcome the barriers which prevent disruptive innovation. He is a trustee of the Georgia Tech Foundation and Chair-elect of Georgia Tech Research Institute. John is proud to be an I-Corps instructor for the node at Georgia Tech.IT.
Mindy Bickel was appointed Associate Commissioner for Innovation Development at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in December 2015. The Office of Innovation Development ensures independent inventors, small businesses, entrepreneurs, university inventors, and minority and underserved populations better understand, secure, and use intellectual property (IP), with a focus on patents. Mindy previously managed the Patents Ombudsman Program, which serves as a resource for patent applicants, agents, and attorneys. During 2012, Mindy served on a three-month detail to SelectUSA, a White House jobs creation initiative, where she assisted in formalizing their ombudsman program and its functions. Mindy has also coordinated and conducted university outreach and partnership efforts for the United States Patent and Trademark Office since 2007. Prior to this assignment, Mindy served as Chief of Staff to the Commissioner for Patents from March 2006 through June 2007. As chief of Staff, she was responsible for oversight of the Office of the Commissioner for Patents, the independent inventor programs, and coordination of speaking requests and tours received by the patents organization. She also assisted the commissioner with his daily schedule and business area operations. Prior to her role as chief of staff, Mindy was part of a team responsible for developing and implementing the USPTO Patent Training Academy, a program designed to train 1200 new patent examiners each year in an eight-month training program. Mindy began her career at the USPTO in 1989 as a patent examiner in biotechnology, becoming a supervisory patent examiner in 1995. She has held numerous assignments including a detail to the Office of the Commissioner for Patents in 1997 and a work assignment beginning in 1998 in the Search and Information Resources Administration, where she was responsible for the training programs for examiners and technical support staff on the software tools available to employees, customer outreach on electronic filing initiatives, and the electronic business center that provides support to patent applicants who are filing electronically. Throughout her career, Mindy has received numerous awards including the Department of Commerce Bronze Medal for examination and supervisory accomplishments; a Silver Medal for improvements in customer service, and the Vice Presidential Hammer Award for work in establishing a new customer outreach program in the biotechnology group. Mindy received her undergraduate degree in chemistry from Bryn Mawr College. She also received an M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in biophysical inorganic chemistry from Columbia University.
Tom Boyd has a passion for designing breakthrough new products which enrich people’s lives. In his role in SITA at Colgate-Palmolive, Co, he collaborates with people all over the world to make this happen. With a Ph.D. in chemistry from MIT and hundreds of global patents to his name, Tom is familiar with technical invention, but derives greatest pleasure in seeing inventions come to life in successful products, such as Colgate MaxFresh, MaxWhite, and Optic White Whitening Toothbrush & Pen. Tom is currently directing Colgate’s strategy for academic partnerships, and incubating several new technologies in collaboration with university labs and entrepreneurs. Prior to working in SITA he also led teams of Colgate scientists in Early Research and in Product Development.
Swati Chaturvedi is the co-founder and CEO of Propel(x), an angel investing marketplace. Propel(x) focuses exclusively on deep technology startups - companies founded on a scientific discovery or meaningful engineering innovation. Propel(x) sectors include: Life Sciences, Energy & Clean Technologies, Computing & Telcom, Industrial Technologies, Aerospace & Transportation, Food and Agriculture. Swati also founded the MIT Alumni Angel Investors group - growing it to over 300 members and $2M in deals in its first year. Prior to this, Swati worked in management consulting and investing at Exigen Capital, Siemens Venture Capital and Capgemini. She has an MBA from the Sloan School of Management, an M.S. from MIT (Technology and Policy Program) and an M.S. from UC Berkeley (Civil Engineering). She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the Indian Institute of Technology.
David Cruikshank is a Vice President with ARCH, joining the company as an Associate in August 2007. He focuses on electronics/instrumentation, advanced materials, medical diagnostics & devices, nanotechnology, semiconductors, and information technologies. He has been instrumental in identifying and leading the due diligence on ARCH investments in Ultivue, Voxel8, Cytrellis Biosystems, Twist Bioscience, 908 Devices, PixelEXX Systems, Boreal Genomics, and Ciespace, and has served as board observer and provided operating assistance to these companies as well. David was formerly with Toshiba America Electronic Components as an engineer and manager in Business Development and was responsible for North American audio, video, and automotive semiconductor product lines with annual sales of $50 million. Prior to that, he was with Conexant Systems (originally Rockwell Semiconductor) as an Industrial Engineer. David holds an M.B.A. with Honors from the University of Chicago, an M.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from University of California, Berkeley, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Rick Derose joined Syngenta in 2007 and now has the role of Global Expert for Technology Acquisition. Currently, he is also the Vice-Chairman for the Board of Directors of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Research Foundation at North Carolina State University. Prior to joining Syngenta, he managed the Science and Technology Strategy for New Business Ventures in the areas of Health & Nutrition, “BioEconomy Crops” and “BioMaterials” (respectively, Red, Green and White biotechnology) for Bayer CropScience. His career includes 14 years of International assignment during which he held various positions including Head of Plant Molecular Biology and Fungicide Biochemistry; Director of Genomics and Bioinformatics and Director of Enabling Technology for the large International Research Program, Genoplante. He has demonstrated expertise at using collaboration and Open Innovation to address identified market needs to create actionable research strategies via integration of external collaborative research with internal projects and capabilities. He has a Ph.D. in both Medical Microbiology and Immunology from Wake Forest University’s Bowman Gray School of Medicine and received his B.S. degree from Clemson University. Rick hold numerous patents in plant biotechnology and is credited with co-inventing “GA-21” Roundup Ready corn.
Ann Fort is a seasoned litigator with a background in complex civil matters. Ann oversees and protects the intellectual property rights of clients in the United States and abroad. Her practice encompasses patent infringement, licensing disputes, trade secret protection and unfair competition. She tries cases in both federal and state courts and represents clients in alternative dispute resolution, such as arbitration and mediation. Her recent experiences include defending claims brought by non-practicing entities, also known as patent holding companies or patent assertion entities. Many of Ann’s clients are in the technology industry. Her technology cases range from loan and deposit pricing software, Internet-based information management systems and ground fault circuit interrupters, to power management unit chips, interactive television program guides, computer network security protection systems and medical information systems. She also counsels businesses in complex multiparty litigation. In the pharmaceutical industry, for example, Ann represents both patent owners in licensing disputes and accused infringers of formulation patents, including in Hatch-Waxman litigation. Ann’s clients vary from large corporations and start-up businesses to universities and research institutes. An active leader in Sutherland’s pro bono program, Ann achieved clemency for a client on death row, representing him for more than 11 years before he was granted clemency just hours before his scheduled execution. She serves on American Bar Association and Georgia Bar committees charged with considering capital defense representation and related policy issues.
Joe Fox is the Director of Emerging & External Technologies for Ashland Inc., a global diversified specialty chemical company. He is a key member of the Global Business Development group that supports Ashland’s Performance Materials Division, a leading supplier of thermosetting resins for polymer composite applications. Joe is responsible for identifying significant growth opportunities for Ashland’s composite resins’ business by finding new applications for composites and by developing partnerships throughout the value chain. He is the focal point for Performance Materials’ open innovation initiatives and for identifying technology at other companies, universities and federal laboratories that can impact Ashland. Joe serves on the board of the Industrial Research Institute (IRI), Polymer Ohio, and the Ohio Bioproducts Innovation Center. He has served as co-chair of the IRI’s External Technology Network, as chairman of the Industrial Advisory Board for the Center for Biorenewable Chemicals (CBiRC), and as Ashland’s representative on the Ohio Polymer Strategy Council. Joe received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Lehigh University and his Ph.D. in organometallic chemistry from Penn State. He and his wife Susan live in Dublin, Ohio and have four children and three grandchildren.
Michael Horten is a US and European educated lawyer with over 40 years’ experience as a practicing attorney. Michael began his legal career with Sullivan & Cromwell in New York and Paris. He then spent 25 years with King & Spalding in Atlanta. At the end of 1999, he retired from the King & Spalding partnership to launch Horten CC, a virtual law firm that focuses on the needs of entrepreneurial growth companies. Horten CC employs a non-traditional practice model that is based on two key philosophical underpinnings: First, Michael founded the firm on the premise that top-rate legal services do not have to be bundled with the “marble” and “mahogany” environment that typically is associated with those services. The firm has no central offices, no paper files and it uses the latest technology to create efficiencies. As a result, the firm’s fees are considerably lower than those charged by firms of comparable ability and quality. Second, Horten CC bills its clients for the value delivered and not for the time spent by the attorney. The firm does not keep track of every “six minutes,” as is the norm in most law firms. The firm believes that its clients purchase its lawyers’ skill, not their time. The firm’s work is typically performed for a fixed fee. Michael is actively involved in a number of organizations related to venture capital and emerging growth companies, including Angel Capital Association, Association for Corporate Growth, Atlanta Technology Angels, Southern Capital Forum, and Technology Association of Georgia. Michael did his undergraduate studies at Washington State University. He received his law degree from the University of Copenhagen in 1970 and his graduate law degree from Columbia University in 1971. In 1974, he completed the course work for a doctorate in EU law at the University of Paris. A native of Copenhagen, Denmark, Mr. Horten speaks (at varying levels of fluency) Danish, French, German, Norwegian and Swedish.
Nancy Kamei is firm believer in the for-profit model as the most effective vehicle for creating change in the world. She is an experienced investor and serial entrepreneur who has attempted to build a life which will accomplish both doing good and making money: a compassionate capitalist. She is currently an Entrepreneur in Residence at UCSF, teaching (National Faculty for NSF I-Corps), and launching various ventures. After receiving her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from UCSF, she joined Merck in sales. She returned to California to get her MBA from Stanford and was then recruited to the biotechnology industry. Over six years, she was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Institutional Venture Partners and on the start-up teams of four successful biotechnology companies – the most notable was Onyx Pharmaceuticals (recently sold to Amgen for >$10b). She then moved to the investor side of the table: first in public equities at Capital Group Companies (Biotechnology, Healthcare IT, Hospitals) and then in corporate venture capital at Intel Capital (Digital Health). She investigated Global Health for Aberdare Ventures and served as the Venture Capital Fellow for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She has over forty years of uninterrupted service to the non-profit sector including: Trustee and Chairman of the Investment Committee for the Marin Community Foundation (>$1b endowment) and Governor of the Japanese American National Museum. She lives in Marin County and has one son, who has started his own career as an investor in New York City.
Jason Lynch received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and M.S. in Microelectronic Engineering from the National University of Ireland, Cork in 1999 and 2005 respectively. He has also earned a Masters of Business Administration (MBA), Summa Cum Laude, from the Franklin W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College, Massachusetts, USA in 2009. He has spent 16 years in the technology industry in various engineering, sales and management roles. His current role is serving as Director of IoT Strategy for Analog Devices. He joined ADI as part of the acquisition of Hittite Microwave in July 2014. He joined Hittite in 2004 and held various roles, the most recent as the Managing Director of Hittite Microwave International Limited. In this position, he launched and built a team at an international headquarters for Hittite in Cork, Ireland, comprising sales, operations and finance. From 1999 until 2004 he was with a technology start-up, Farran Technology, in Cork, Ireland. As part of Hittite Microwave and Farran Technology, Jason has significant experience in EU, ESA and SBIR programs in terms of both technical lead and program management.
Blake Patton is a technology entrepreneur and investor with 20 years of experience in startup, venture backed, and publicly traded internet, software, payments, and financial services companies. Prior to founding Tech Square Ventures, Blake was General Manager of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) at Georgia Tech – recently named by Forbes as one of the “Top 12 Incubators Changing the World”. Before ATDC, he served as President & COO of Interactive Advisory Software; CEO of iKobo; and EVP of iXL, an e-business consulting firm that he joined through the acquisition of Swan Media and was part of the executive team that grew the company from startup to over $300 million in annualized revenue and an IPO. Blake also founded, and later successfully sold, Siteman – one of the first application service provider (ASP) offerings in the online content management space. He started his career as an Associate at SEI Corporation. Blake currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Atlanta CEO Council and Chairman of Venture Atlanta and is a Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Industry Fellow. He earned a Bachelor of Industrial and Systems Engineering degree from Georgia Tech, where he was Captain of the Swim Team. He was inducted into the Georgia Tech College of Engineering’s Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni and previously served on the Georgia Tech Advisory Board.
Edmund Pendleton is the Director of the DC I-Corps program, which is administered by the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) within the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. The DC I-Corps program is one of seven locations (Nodes) selected by the National Science Foundation to host and provide training under the NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps™) program. I-Corps provides innovation and entrepreneurship training for federally funded scientists and engineers, pairing them with business mentors for an immersive, fast-paced curriculum intended to help them discover a demand-driven path from their lab work to a commercial product, service, or process. Over 500 teams have completed the curriculum, which is based on the “Lean Launchpad” model developed by serial entrepreneur Steve Blank. The program has created over 260 companies that have collectively raised more than $40 million in funding from outside sources. Edmund is a certified NSF I-Corps instructor, acts as the Lead Instructor for national and regional teaching teams, and has led efforts to provide similar training to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and NSF SBIR programs. He has also trained international teams, most recently running a program in Mexico that was jointly sponsored by the NSF and US State Department, but organized and led by CONACYT and FUMEC (their partners in Mexico). Edmund has also led regional courses at the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, Virginia Tech, University of Virginia, and Virginia Commonwealth University. In these various roles, he has provided innovation and entrepreneurship training to well over 500 teams and companies. Edmund also serves as the Assistant National Faculty Director for NSF. In this role, he helps to identify and develop new faculty for the program, and he has trained over 30 national and regional I-Corps instructors and adjuncts. He also serves on the NSF I-Corps Curriculum Committee and has developed variants of the curriculum that span a wide range of participants, including: university undergraduate and graduate students; executive MBA students; academic and industry researchers; SBIR Phase I and II companies; small business “main street” companies; and even large federal agencies and corporate clients. Edmund is a technology entrepreneur, angel investor, and startup mentor. He is an Adjunct Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, and a Board Member of the Investment Advisory Board at the Center for Innovative Technology in Virginia. He co-founded a technology company that developed and sold a high accuracy “indoor GPS” system for aerospace and other industrial applications, which was ultimately acquired by Nikon Corporation. He led the business development and sales efforts for the company, but also held several patents related to the technology. He has advised and served on the boards of numerous startups in the DC area. Edmund earned an S.M. in Management from the Sloan School of Management at MIT, and an S.M. in Civil Engineering from MIT. He also holds a B.S. in Physics & Mathematics from the College of William and Mary, graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and served as a Rotary Foundation Scholar in New Zealand.
Susan Preston is the General Partner for the CalCEF Clean Energy Angel Fund, which is focused on seed/start-up stage investments in clean energy technology. She is also the Managing Partner for the new Seattle Angel Fund, committed to fostering entrepreneurial growth in the Pacific Northwest through early-stage investments. Susan teaches in the MBA program and is the Buerk Endowed Fellow for Entrepreneurship at the University of Washington. Susan also serves as co-chair and a lead instructor for the Angel Resource Institute, a global investor and entrepreneur education organization. She has been named as one of the Managers for the Element 8 Angel Fund and is a board member for Element 8, a Seattle-based angel group focusing on clean-tech investing. She is a recent winner of the Angel Capital Association prestigious Hans Severiens Award, given each year to an individual whose actions advance the role of angel investing, expand entrepreneurship and benefit the angel investing industry as a whole. In 2014 Susan received the Small Business Person of the Year for 2014 from the Small Business Council of America. She was honored along with five Congressional representatives in the nation’s capital. Susan also recently receive Senator Cantwell’s Women of Valor award, which was presented by Vice President Joe Biden. Susan received her JD, cum laude, from Seattle University School of Law and her B.S., magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, in Microbiology and Public Health from Washington State University.
Kevin See is a Research Director at Lux Research who oversees a variety of research areas in Energy and Electronics. He works with teams focused on topics ranging from Energy Storage, to Robotics, and the Internet of Things. He and his teams provide strategic advice to a global client base regarding new business opportunities for emerging technologies and business models in these areas. In addition, he has led and conducted studies around best practices in open innovation and technology scouting. He also has been cited frequently in the press, in publications including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and has been an invited speaker at conferences across the globe. Prior to joining Lux Research, Kevin was a joint postdoctoral researcher at The Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and The University of California, Berkeley, where he worked on novel nanocomposite materials for thermoelectric conversion of waste heat into electricity. Kevin obtained his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and has authored articles in leading journals on subjects including nanocomposites, organic electronics, sensors, and thermoelectrics. He also holds a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University.
Neil Sheridan is CEO and founder of SVPI, LLC. SVPI assists corporations, small and medium-sized businesses and large non-profit clients with strategy and performance improvement initiatives. Neil has worked with hundreds of companies on innovation management, marketing, financial management, team recruitment, selling and funding issues. Neil is an expert facilitator who has helped create successful growth strategies by fostering effective communications and consensus among founders, leaders, board members and investors. Neil has reviewed nearly 200 proposals for IIP’s SBIR, STTR and PFI: AIR programs, including on electronics, robotics photonics, ICT, energy, materials and life sciences ventures. He also assists with other national and regional business growth initiatives. Neil earned an MBA in Finance at New York University, a Master of Science degree in Information Technology at Kettering (formerly GMI), and a Bachelor degree in International Affairs at Drew University. He is a researcher with the Institute of Innovation and Governance Studies at the University of Twente in the Netherlands.
Sonali Vijayavargiya is Founder and Managing Director at Augment Ventures. Augment invests in software, smart hardware and physical innovations that challenge the status-quo in the products and services we use at work and at home. Sonali has over 20 years of experience in Venture Capital, Innovation consulting, Investment Banking and Project Finance. She has a diverse and deep understanding of different business sectors including Software, SaaS, Enterprise, Technology, Electronics, Energy, Industrial, Mobility, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical. Prior to launching Augment Ventures, Sonali in 2005 founded a venture advisory practice Augment Capital, LLC in Ann Arbor, MI. Prior to 2005, She worked in Mumbai, India with organizations such as PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) and Edelweiss Capital where she raised over $100 million for her clients and advised start-up companies from incorporation to fund raising to successful listing. She current serves on the Board of RayVio, LLamasoft, Mercatus, Revolights and Lumenetix. She serves as an advisor to Zell Lurie commercialization fund at University of Michigan Ross Business School. Sonali is also the Chair for Michigan TiE Angel network.