MEET OUR TEAM

Barry W. Johnson was named Division Director of the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) in the Directorate for Engineering at NSF in March 2015. Prior to that, Barry was the Senior Associate Dean in the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Virginia. He was also the L.A. Lacy Distinguished Professor of Engineering. He is founder and director of the University of Virginia Center for Safety-Critical Systems. In 1998 he was a founder of Privaris, Inc. While on leave from the University of Virginia from 2002 to 2006 he served as Chairman, President, and CEO of Privaris, and he continues to serve as Chairman. He represents the University of Virginia on the Board of Directors of the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM) and served as its founding Chairman, President, and Executive Director. He also represents the University of Virginia on the Board of Directors of the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Logistics Systems and currently serves as Chairman. Previously he was with Harris Corporation in Melbourne, Florida where he designed and analyzed fault-tolerant computer systems for aerospace applications.

Graciela (Gracie) Narcho has been the Deputy Division Director of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP) Division and the Director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization and Small Business Research and Development at the National Science Foundation (NSF) since March of 2015. She has 25 years of experience in science and engineering administration and management. Gracie came to IIP in 2013 from the Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) where her most recent position was Staff Associate in the Office of the Assistant Director. During her 10 year tenure at CISE, she served in multiple senior positions including Deputy Assistant Director for the CISE Directorate, Deputy Division Director for the Division of Computer and Network Systems, and Special Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Grants at the Department of Health and Human Services. She was also the program manager for several large CISE grants, including the Global Environments for Networking Innovation (GENI), the National Center for Women in IT (NCWIT), and the Computing Community Consortium (CCC). Prior to joining CISE, Gracie was a Grants Officer in the NSF Division of Grants and Agreements, where she provided business oversight of NSF’s Federally Funded Research and Development Centers and large facility projects. Gracie holds a MPA in Government Contracting from George Washington University and a B.A. in Economics from Tufts University.

Joseph Hennessey serves as Senior Advisor for the SBIR/STTR Program in the Industrial Innovation and Partnerships Division within the Directorate for Engineering. He has also held placements as Acting Director for IIP, Program Director for SBIR, Program Director for the Management of Technological Innovation (MOTI) program, and as Acting Deputy Assistant Director for ENG. He came to NSF in June 1996 after retiring as Vice President and Director, Innovation at Armstrong World Industries. Armstrong is a $3 billion global company recognized as a world leader in interior furnishings. During his 27 years at Armstrong, he led global innovation organizations, identified and leveraged technologies into commercially successful new products and designed multi-functional organizations consistent with global strategies. Joe received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Maryland and is a member of the Industrial Research Institute (IRI), the Center for Innovation Management Studies (CIMS) at North Carolina State University, and a trustee of Millersville University.

Peter Atherton joined the National Science Foundation in 2013 as a Program Director for Information and Communication Technologies. Prior to joining NSF, he was Chief Technology Officer at MIKOH Corporation, a company he founded in Sydney, Australia. Prior to MIKOH he spent time at the Overseas Telecommunications Commission (OTC Australia) – including a 12 month posting to British Telecom’s Martlesham Heath R&D laboratories in the UK – where he managed the development and commercialization of a number of optical fiber and optoelectronic component technologies, and was instrumental in establishing a commercialization center for specialized optical fibers at the University of Sydney. Since founding MIKOH Corporation, he has commercialized technologies in the fields of diffractive optics, laser-based marking and radio frequency identification, and developed a new approach to internet-based personal authentication for use in mobile banking. Peter holds a Ph.D. in Physics (quantum optics), and a BEng in Mechanical Engineering, both from the University of Queensland (Australia).

Prakash Balan joined the SBIR/STTR Program at NSF in 2011 as a Program Director leading the Chemical and Environmental Technology funding focus.  He has 20 years of broad experience spanning R&D, new technology development and commercialization in both large and small entrepreneurial company environments. After a career with ARCO Chemical and Lyondell Chemical Company where he led innovation with several chemical technologies and was recognized with technology achievement awards for his significant contributions, he co-founded two successful companies, first an environmental engineering technology company and thereafter a biofuels company. These companies served to commercialize his patents related to industrial multiphase reactors applicable to chemical and biochemical production, as well as energy efficient patented oxygenation technologies for biological wastewater treatment.  In municipal wastewater treatment, an installed capacity of 1.8B gallons per day of US municipal wastewater (roughly 5% of US wastewater) is currently being treated using technologies he developed, achieving 20-30% energy efficiency improvements in each installation.  In the biofuels arena, he led the development, design and commercialization of a proprietary process technology and directed the successful construction and commissioning of a grass roots chemical plant with capacity to produce 10-15 million gallons per year of biodiesel from waste oils and animal fats.  Prakash holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University.

Steven Konsek joined the National Science Foundation in September 2012 as a SBIR/STTR Program Director.   Prior to joining NSF, he was the Chief Technology Officer at Illumitex, a venture-backed company developing light emitting diode chips, packages and fixtures for general illumination.  He previously served as Chief of Technical Staff at Glo, recognized as one of Europe’s top LED startups.  Prior to Glo, he was the Director of Device R&D at Nantero, a memory startup. Throughout his career, he has developed innovative, game-changing technologies across a range of semiconductor applications.  Steve has a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Washington and a B.S. in Mathematics from Purdue University.  He holds numerous patents and publications in LEDs, memory, process integration and nanoscale devices.

Glenn Larsen joined the National Science Foundation in 1987 as the computer systems engineer for NSF’s Directorate for Engineering. In 2005, he became program director for the Industry/University Cooperative Research Center’s (I/UCRC) Fundamental Research program and in 2010 joined the SBIR/STTR Program as Program Director for Education Applications and Information Technology. His entrepreneurial experience includes retailing, software services, computer manufacturing, new home construction, subdivision development, and a physical fitness center. As a lifelong learner, he holds several professional certifications including the Project Management Professional (PMP), Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), and Master Business Coach (MBC). His degrees include the Ph.D. and MBA. He has authored several books on computer graphics and computer operating systems selling over 300,000 copies which were later translated five different languages.

Rajesh Mehta joined the National Science Foundation as a SBIR/STTR Program Director for Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials and Manufacturing in August 2012.  Prior to joining NSF, he was a senior research technologist at Kodak where his 26-year career spanned work at Kodak Research Laboratories, and Manufacturing Research and Engineering Organization. His work covered a broad range of materials science based technologies related to photographic film and paper manufacturing, thermal, inkjet, and electro-photographic printing, and OLED device manufacturing.  He was granted several Kodak achievement awards for the scientific merit and commercial impact of his contributions. He also holds over 32 U.S. patents. Rajesh has a B. Tech. degree in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Penn State, and a M.S. degree in New Product Development from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Murali S. Nair is a Program Director in the areas of Electronic Hardware, Robotics, and Wireless Technologies with the SBIR/STTR Program. Prior to joining NSF, he was the Founder CEO of a Bluetooth wireless product company. In this capacity, he raised equity capital for worldwide operations in the U.S., China and India. He designed, planned and implemented the product development cycle, and managed the marketing strategy, strategic alliances and business development processes.  Before that, he was a Senior Systems Engineer at L-3 Communications where he provided strategic advice to the Executive VP for a complete re-plan of the Hughes contract for real-time, embedded ground control software for the $350M PANAMSAT communications satellite. Prior to joining L-3 Communications, he was a Mission Planner at Motorola Iridium where he was involved in all aspects of satellite operations including orbit determination, generating guidance targets and orbital slot placement. Before joining Iridium, he was a faculty member at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where he developed an entire Space Systems Design Lab from concept inception to fully operational mode and national prominence, and supervised five (5) space system designs, three (3) of which were winners in the National AIAA/Loral Design Competition. He is a recipient of a number of awards including NSF’s second highest award for meritorious service and the President’s Innovation Award for Space Systems Design courses while at Embry-Riddle.  Murali is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology and the University of Texas. He is a registered professional engineer in the State of Florida.

Ben Schrag joined the National Science Foundation as a Program Director in 2009 and leads the Advanced Materials and Instrumentation portfolio within the small business programs. Prior to NSF, he served for four years as Director of Research and Development at Micro Magnetics, where he led a development effort to commercialize a new family of high-performance magnetic microsensor products for demanding consumer and military applications. Before this, he served as manager of the metrology group at Micro Magnetics.  During this time, he also served as a visiting scientist at Brown University and as the Principal Investigator on a number of federal grants and contracts, including NSF Phase I and Phase II Small Business Innovation Research projects and an Advanced Technology Program award from NIST.  Ben received his Ph.D. in Physics from Brown University.

Ruth Shuman joined the National Science Foundation in August 2009 as a Program Director for Biological Technologies in the SBIR/STTR Program. Before coming to NSF, she was the founder, president, and CEO of a successful venture-backed life science company, Gentra Systems, Inc., that developed, manufactured, and sold products for genetic testing and research to clinical and research laboratories worldwide. Following Gentra’s acquisition, she held various consulting/advisory positions with start-up companies, and was CEO-In-Residence for Life Science with the University of Minnesota’s Venture Center evaluating the business potential of University-developed technology. She began her career as a faculty member at North Carolina State University and was a pioneer in the development of gene transfer and genetic engineering technology. Ruth holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in the area of Genetics and Cell Biology.

Jesus Soriano joined the NSF in February 2012 as a Program Director in Smart Health and Biomedical Technologies after 20 years of international experience in executive leadership in the biopharmaceutical and non-profit sectors, start-up formation and funding, technology commercialization, and academic teaching and research. Prior to NSF, he was the Senior Advisor to the Puerto Rico Trust for Science, Technology and Research, a technology-based development organization. Previously, he was Executive Vice President at QRxPharma, Ltd., a commercial-stage specialty pharmaceutical company focused in pain management and central nervous system disorders. Before, he was Senior Director of Business Development at Osiris Therapeutics, Inc. During his tenure, Osiris formed a $1.4 billion partnership with Genzyme Corp. to commercialize ProchymalTM and ChondrogenTM, two first-in-class, late-stage adult stem cell therapeutics; and divested to NuVasive, Inc. the first-to market adult stem-cell orthopedic implant, Osteocel®, for $137 million. Previously, he held several executive leadership positions at the global bioresource center ATCC for 5 years, including Vice President for IP, Licensing and International Business Development, and was Associate Director for R&D Operations and Business Development at Entremed, Inc., a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. He began his career as a family doctor in Spain; he then worked for 9 years at the University of Geneva Medical School, Switzerland initially as Research Scientist and then as Assistant Professor. He initially came to the US as a visiting scientist to the National Cancer Institute (NIH) under an advanced researcher fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation. Jesus holds a MBA in Corporate Finance from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School; a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences from the University of Geneva, Switzerland; and a M.D. from the University of Alicante, Spain.