Speakers

THE
Speakers
Becky A. Aistrup
SBIR/STTR Program
Director, MN Science
& Technology
Authority
Dr. Gary
Archamboult PhD
Director, South Dakota
SBIR Center, University
of South Dakota
Clara Asmail
Sr. Technical Advisor
NIST Manufacturing
Extension Partnership
20
Becky joined the Minnesota Science and Technology
Authority in 2010 as SBIR/STTR Program Director.
Prior to joining the State of Minnesota, Becky’s
professional background includes over 20 years of
experience working within the medical, biotech,
advanced materials and electronics industries and
as a consultant to technology companies helping
them successfully win SBIR/STTR funding. She has
presented numerous workshops beginning in 1993
for NSF, state organizations and private clients about
the SBIR program and SBIR commercialization. Becky
holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Kansas, postgraduate work in Biochemistry
and an MBA in Marketing Management from the
University of Minnesota, and a Master’s Certification
in Interactive Marketing from the University of San
Francisco.
Dr. Gary Archamboult has served as the Director
of the South Dakota Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program since September of 2001, assisting small technology-business and start-up companies to identify federal grant funding for high-risk
research and development of new technologies and
innovative products. He serves on the South Dakota
EPSCoR REACH Committee, Advisory Boards of two
state funded research centers including: Center for
Bioprocessing R&D and Center for Detecting Rare
Physics Processes with Ultra-Low Background Experiments at Sanford Lab/DUSEL, and as a judge for the
Governor’s Giant Vision Business Plan Competition
since its inception in 2004. Dr. Archamboult works
closely with the Governor’s Office of Economic
Development, most recently authoring the SBA
FAST proposal to fund the SBIR/Innovation Fellows
program and Student Technology Entrepreneurs.
Clara Asmail joined the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) as Senior Technical
Advisor in July 2010 where she is responsible for
developing approaches to provide small R&D and
manufacturing businesses with the services and
access to resources that can help them grow and improve their productivity. She works closely with federal SBIR programs and their awardees to cultivate
partnerships with the MEP network. Prior to this,
Clara managed the NIST SBIR Program and was also
responsible for marketing NIST technologies. She
proposed, designed and implemented an innovative
NIST-wide Technology Transfer program.
Roger
Beachy PhD
Director
USDA/NIFA
Wanda K. Bird
Small Business
Specialist, Smith &
Gesteland, LLP
Edsel M. Brown, Jr.
Director, US
Small Business
Administration
Roger Beachy, Ph.D., is the new Director of the
National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA),
part of the United States Department of Agriculture.
As founding president of the Donald Danforth Plant
Science Center, he was responsible for setting the
scientific mission of the Center. Beachy is recognized
for his work in molecular virology, gene expression
and in particular for development of transgenic
plants that are resistant to virus infection. Beachy
held academic positions at Washington University,
St. Louis, and The Scripps Research Institute, La
Jolla, California, where he was co-founder of the
International Laboratory for Tropical Agricultural
Biotechnology. He is a member of the U.S. National
Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American
Academy of Microbiology, and a Foreign Fellow of
the National Academy of Sciences of India and the
Indian National Science Academy, among others.
Wanda Bird is a Small Business Specialist with Smith
& Gesteland,LLP, where she assists start-up and
emerging businesses with their tax and accounting needs. She has over 30 years experience in
public accounting including a focus in working with
SBIR companies since 2000. Bird assists clients in
software selection and implementation of accounting systems, indirect rate calculations, assistance in
preparing for audits, payroll, sales and income tax
filings, and grant accounting and reporting. Smith &
Gesteland, LLP is dedicated to helping business leaders manage growth and their service areas include
tax, accounting, assurance services, including A-133
audits, profitability consulting, strategic planning,
human resource management and information
technology.
Mr. Brown oversees the SBIR and STTR programs as
the Assistant Director for the Office of Technology at
the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), where
he has served in numerous different capacities since
1990. He.has owned and operated a number of
financial service businesses and served as a Policy
Analyst with the Department of Human Services in
New Jersey. He is active in numerous community
organizations including the Rotary. A native of Plainfield, New Jersey, Brown holds B.A. (Government)
and M.A. (Public Administration) degrees from Ohio
University. He also holds a J.D. (Law) degree from
the University of Toledo, College of Law.
Mark Brown
President, RedPhone
Security, Inc.
Stephen
Brueckner
Technical Director
of Cyber Security,
ATC-NY
Scott Button
Managing Director,
Venture Investors
Mark Brown is Founder and President of RedPhone
Security which provides semiconductor intellectual
property to enable secure communications and
secure computing and holds patents in this field.
He is co-author with Russ Housley of RFC 5878 TLS
Authorizations, an Internet Draft for the Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF). Recently, Mark was
a Principal Investigator on SBIR Phase II projects for
Navy SPAWAR and JPEO JTRS, leading software and
hardware system design efforts. Mark was formerly
a practice manager for Alebra, a security consulting
firm for banks. Research interests include: provably
secure computing and how to share contextuallydefined messages such as identity, authorization,
demands, and consent.
System
of Care
Research
Foundation
Applied
Sciences
• 56 patient care, research and education facilities
• 800 physicians in over 85 medical specialties
• 3.7 million patient encounters annually
• 30+ Ph.D./M.D. scientists leading 500 projects
• 150 additional physicians involved in active research
• $13+ Million annually in extramural funds
• Providing clinical resources to accelerate
technology from bench to bedside
• Promoting exchange of information between
patient care, research, and emerging public
health issues
Stephen Brueckner is Technical Director of Cyber
Security at ATC-NY in Ithaca, New York. A subsidiary
of Architecture Technology Corporation, ATC-NY
specializes in software for information security &
management, digital forensics, and reliable computing. Mr. Brueckner leads efforts to design and rapidly prototype innovative system-of-system solutions.
He is experienced in productizing ATC-NY technologies through advanced Technology Readiness Levels.
A former geologist, he received his Master’s degree
in computer science from Oregon’s Portland State
University in 2004.
Scott is a Managing Director and heads the firm’s
technology practice. He focuses on investments in
engineering and physical sciences, software, energy
technology and medical devices. Scott has over
twelve years of venture capital experience and six
years of operating experience. He created the Venture Igniter program, an entrepreneur-in-residence
strategy designed to create technology start-ups
out of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Scott is
a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison
(BS–Mechanical Engineering), The University of Chicago (MBA) and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
For more information:
1-800-782-8581
Growing People,
Jobs, & Communities
Empowering a spirit of innovation
w w w. w i s c o n s i n . e d u
2011 National SBIR/STTR Spring Conference
21
Leigh Cagan
Chief Technology
Commercialization
Officer, Wisconsin
Alumni Research
Foundation
Jeff
Carpenter, PhD
National Chair of
the CleanTech Open
Investors & Grants
Program and member
of the North Central
CleanTech Open
leadership team
Charles F.
Cleland PhD
SBIR National Program
Leader, U.S. Dept. of
Agriculture
22
Cagan oversees WARF’s technology commercialization team while maximizing the economic opportunities for WARF’s technology portfolio. Prior to
joining WARF, Cagan served as director of intellectual property licensing for Hewlett-Packard and
as manager of the business development group at
IBM Research Division’s Almaden Research Center.
Earlier in his career, he held management roles with
two entrepreneurial small businesses in the IT sector,
one a venture-financed high performance systems
startup and the other a middleware company that
received multiple SBIR grant awards. Both of these
firms were focused on commercialization of information technology innovations associated with the
Department of Computer Science at Yale University.
Jeff was director of product development for a
clean tech start-up in the mid 90’s, also supporting
manufacturing, patenting, marketing, and sales. He
licensed University of Minnesota inventions during
nearly 10 years in the UM tech transfer office. Over
the past decade, Jeff has performed technology
scouting for an international medical device company, served as reviewer on NSF SBIR commercialization plan panels, assisted applicants in preparing
SBIR commercialization plans, and performed opportunity assessment of emerging technologies from
the private sector. Dr. Carpenter holds a PhD in Cell
and Developmental Biology, from the University of
Minnesota; a Masters of Science degree in Forestry,
from the University of Montana; a Bachelors of Science degree in Forestry/Range Resource Management from the University of Montana. Jeff previously
served as a Congressional Science Fellow in the U.S.
Senate.
Charles Cleland received his B.A. from Wabash College, and a Ph.D. in Plant Physiology from Stanford
University. He spent two years at Michigan State
University as a postdoctoral research fellow studying
the hormonal control of flowering. He continued
his research on the physiology and biochemistry of
flowering as an Assistant Professor of Biology at
Harvard University, Visiting Assistant Professor of
Botany at the University of North Carolina-Chapel
Hill, and Plant Physiologist at the Smithsonian Institution Environmental Research Center. During
this period, he authored over 30 scientific publications. Dr. Cleland joined the USDA as Director of the
SBIR program in May of 1987. In 1998 he received
a National Tibbetts Award in recognition of his contributions to the SBIR program. Today he continues
to work with the USDA SBIR program as one of six
National Program Leaders.
Cathy Cohn
SBIR Program
Manager, DOC/NIST
Robin Conger
Program Manager,
Economic
Development Office,
Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory
Mike Corcoran
Intelligence,
Surveillance and
Reconnaissance (ISR)
Systems Program
Manager, Ulteig
Cathy Cohn is the NIST SBIR Program Manager.
Cathy also serves as the Marketing and Outreach
Coordinator for the NIST Technology Partnerships
Office where she is responsible for marketing and
improving the visibility of promising NIST technologies as well as assessing the commercial potential
of inventions. Prior to joining NIST in 2008, Cathy
acquired 18 years of sales and marketing experience, working for both small and large companies,
developing revenue growth and profit by understanding product positioning, pricing, competition
and new product development in the biotechnology
industry. Cathy received her MBA from the University of Maryland and her M.S. in Biochemistry from
Purdue University.
Robin Conger is a Program Manager in the Economic Development Office at Pacific Northwest National
Laboratory in Richland, WA where she has worked
since 1987. Conger works with several regional
universities in developing technology-oriented entrepreneurship programs. She also works with the small
business community in identifying and applying for
SBIR and other forms of funding to commercialize
technology. Her background in market and business
intelligence has been useful in the development of
a number of business and commercialization plans
for technologies developed at the laboratory. She
received her MBA from the University of Washington
in 1991.
Mike Corcoran is an Intelligence, Surveillance and
Reconnaissance (ISR) Systems Program Manager
at Ulteig. In this role Corcoran provides expertise
in managing remote sensing programs within the
aviation industry including Unmanned Aircraft
System development, FAA Next Generation airspace
systems, and airfield infrastructure support functions. He develops technology and implements
flight applications that will deliver remotely-piloted
systems safely into military, civil and law enforcement mission areas. Corcoran’s extensive aviation
experience includes his most-recent role as Director
of Air Operations for the Department of Homeland
Security’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations
Center - North Dakota (Predator-B UAS)
Randy
Cortright, PhD
Executive Vice
President & Chief
Technology Officer,
Virent
Pat Dillon
Regional Director,
Wisconsin
Entrepreneurs’
Network
John
Dobrinsky, PhD
VP Research,
Minitube of America
Randy Cortright Co-Founded Virent Energy Systems,
Inc. in 2002 and serves as its Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Cortright has
extensive experience in the catalysis field in both
industry and research environments. In the private
sector he worked as a process engineer for UOP,
LLC in Asia, the Middle East and South America. In
the laboratory, he spent several years specializing
in catalytic systems for the clean manufacturing
of fuels and petrochemicals at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison where he pioneered Virent’s
novel APR process. Dr. Cortright holds 4 patents and
is the author of over 30 technical publications. He
has a PhD. in Chemical Engineering.
Ms. Pat Dillon has more than 17 years of extensive
experience in the federal SBIR and STTR Programs
where she assisted more than 35 companies to win
more than $30 million in funding leading to new
products and services. Dillon was awarded the
prestigious Small Business Administration Tibbetts
Award for SBIR Excellence in 1999, and in 2001, she
was recognized by City Business (Minneapolis/St.
Paul Business Journal) as one of the 25 Most Innovative Women in Minneapolis. Ms. Dillon holds a MBA
and is a Commander in the United States Navy with
more than 33 years of service.
Dr. John Dobrinsky is VP of Research at Minitube
U.S. He worked from 1992-2004 at the USDA Agriculture Research Service and developed a livestock
embryology program that led to several major breakthroughs, including: the first successful cryopreservation of swine embryos by cytoskeletal stabilization
and vitrification, and, co-developed technology for
sex pre-selection of sperm. At the Roslin Institute
with Sir Ian Wilmut, John co-developed somatic cell
cloning technology in swine. He was awarded the
USDA-ARS Research Scientist of the Year, and a U.S.
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and
Engineers. John has secured funding from the NIH,
USDA and corporate funding mechanisms, including
SBIR and STTR grants.
Russ Farmer is the Founder, President and Corporate
Executive of PBC inc., the nation’s premier SBIR
support services company. His client list includes
companies in over 40 states and 8 that have made
the Inc 500 List of Fastest Growing Closely Held
Companies. Mr. Farmer was one of the founders of
and serves as Executive Director for SBIR Colorado
(www.SBIRColorado.org), a non-profit organization
dedicated to the education and promotion of the
SBIR and STTR programs within the state of Colorado. He is also a member of the Board of Directors
of the Small Business Technology Council (www.
SBTC.org), the national advocacy organization for
the SBIR community.
Russ Farmer
President, PBC inc
Dr. Lenka Fedorkova serves as the Assistant Program
Manager for the SBIR/ STTR programs at the NIH.
She is responsible for providing resources and access
to critical information to small business communities
and managing NIH’s commercialization assistance
programs. Prior to joining the SBIR/STTR office, she
was a congressional liaison in the NIH Office of
Legislative Policy and Analysis for three years, most
notably overseeing intellectual property, commercialization and small business innovation (SBIR/STTR
programs) matters, and provided strategic intelligence and advice to NIH leadership. Lenka holds a
doctorate from the Kent State University in neuroscience with a specialty in sleep research and plasticity
of the mammalian biological clock.
Lenka
Fedorkova, PhD
Assistant Program
Manager, National
Institutes of Health
John S. Fisher MD
CEO, Biopsy Sciences
John Fisher MD is the CEO of Biopsy Sciences.
After founding the company in 2001 Dr. Fisher has
navigated the company to become a stand alone,
successful medical device company. With angel seed
money of $ 500,000 and several NIH SBIR phase
1 and phase 2 grants Dr. Fisher and his team were
able to develop, patent, file for regulatory clearance
and ultimately sell the VMark breast biopsy site
marker, Maxi-Cell biopsy needle and the Bio-SEAL
lung biopsy site sealant to Angiotech for $19 million in 2007 while completing the SBIR CAP Larta
program in California. Following that acquisition
the company turned it’s focus to commercialize the
HydroMARK breast biopsy site marker which is now
sold in the U.S. and worldwide in over 30 countries
through a network of distributors.
2011 National SBIR/STTR Spring Conference
23
Scott Fletcher
COO - Aviation &
UAS, Northland
Community & Tech
College
Helen Forbeck
Field Representative
for State
Representative Tammy
Baldwin
Dave Franchino
President and
Principal, Design
Concepts, Inc.
24
As the Chief Operating Officer of Aviation for
Northland Community Technical College, Scott
Fletcher oversees the daily operations and strategy
of maintenance training and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Scott has over 20 years of experience in
aviation maintenance with various aircraft types and
has worked in the capacity of Director of Maintenance for major commercial carriers. As the Director
of Maintenance, Scott was responsible for the day
to day interaction with the FAA on maintenance and
operational issues. He currently serves as the lead
in the direction and organization of all UAS efforts
for the College and serves on various industry, community, and regional advisory boards.
Helen Forbeck has been a Field Representative
for Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin since 2003,
working as the manager of her Beloit Congressional Office. Helen represents the Congresswoman
in Rock, Green and Jefferson Counties and acts as
Congresswoman Baldwin’s liaison for a number of
issue areas including federal grants and contracts.
Prior to working with Representative Baldwin, Helen
was a Special Assistant in the Office of the Secretary
of Defense at the Pentagon where she concentrated
on defense industries, and community redevelopment and outreach to base closure communities. She also was the Ombudswoman for Representative
Les Aspin; running his District Office in Janesville
prior to his being named Secretary of Defense by
President Clinton.
Dave Franchino is President and Principal of Design
Concepts, Inc., a product innovation consultancy
specializing in helping clients build brands and
business through product strategy, research, human
factors, design, engineering and prototyping. Drawing on nearly 25 years of diverse experiences as a
manager within a Fortune 50 business, a small business owner, an entrepreneur and a consultant, Dave
coaches and mentors clients on creating world-class
design solutions with true business impact.
Ray Friesenhahn,
MBA, CLP
Through TechLink’s SBIR & Transition programs,
Ray has helped clients win $125M in SBIR-related
awards, advancing new technologies to the warfighter. TechLink is Partnership Intermediary for DoD’s
Office of Technology Transition, and Ray is DoD liaison to APC, as well as Adv. Tech Scout for MilTech.
Ray had 10 years in Defense industry tech development and 15 years in NASA & DoD tech transfer. He
received a 2007 Individual Tibbetts award for SBIR,
and is a Certified Licensing Professional.
SBIR & Technology
Transition Manager,
TechLink
Michael P.
Gay, CEcD
Managing Director,
BioAg Gateway
Jere W. Glover
Executive Director,
Small Business
Technology Council
Michael is the Business Development Coordinator
with the Office of Business Resources inside the
City of Madison’s Economic Development Division. He serves as the official liaison between city
government and the Madison business community.
Currently, Michael’s time and resources are focused
on technology transfer, innovation, and the creation
of new economy employment centers and business
incubators. Michael serves as staff to the BioAg
Gateway, the Midwest Biolink Commercialization
and Business Center (BioLink), the Madison Public
Market, and Capital East District.
Jere’s experience with the SBIR is extensive, as he
is one of the fathers of the program. As counsel to
the House Small Business Committee, he directed
an extensive set of hearings on small business and
innovation that laid the groundwork for the SBIR
in 1978. Jere also was counsel to the Senate Small
Business and Entrepreneurship Committee in 2001
and worked on STTR Reauthorization. More recently,
he won a jury trial in a major False Claims Act case,
where a small business was accused of submitting
false SBIR claims to the government.
Sean J. Greene
Associate
Administrator for
Investments and
Special Adviser
for Innovation,
US Small Business
Administration
Doron Grinstein
CEO, BiTKOO
James F.
Groelinger
Executive Director,
Clean Energy
Alliance, Inc.
Sean Greene is the Associate Administrator for
Investment, and Special Adviser for Innovation at
the U.S. Small Business Administration. He brings 20
years of experience as an entrepreneur, investor, and
business strategist to the SBA. He was the founder
and CEO of Away.com, an online travel company
that he sold to Orbitz. He was also a Co Founder
of Rock Creek Ventures and LaunchBox Digital,
a seed-stage investment firm in Washington DC.
Previously Greene was a management consultant
with McKinsey and Co. Greene holds an AB from
Princeton University, an MBA from Yale’s School of
Management, and also was a Fulbright Scholar at
the National University of Singapore.
Doron Grinstein is the CEO of BiTKOO, a company
he co-founded with a team of engineers from The
Walt Disney Company. Prior to forming BiTKOO in
2006, Doron was director of software development
at Disney where the first version of Keystone, now a
BiTKOO flagship product, was developed. After realizing Keystone was a tremendous success at Disney,
Keystone was spun-off and BiTKOO was started to
bring innovative security products to the marketplace. A testament to Doron’s vision and ability to
execute, BiTKOO has by far the largest number of
customers in the entitlement management market.
Mr. James F. Groelinger is the Executive Director of
the Clean Energy Alliance, Inc., a rapidly growing national association of clean energy business
incubators and related companies and Chairman,
President, and CEO of Heartland Bridge Capital, Inc.,
a publicly-traded private equity fund focusing on
clean energy technology investments. Previously, he
was CEO and President of EPV Solar, Inc., a solar energy technology company that designed, manufactured, and sold amorphous silicon (“a-Si”) thin-film
photovoltaic (“PV”) modules and manufacturing
facilities for power and BIPV applications. Earlier, he
was Senior Vice President for business development
for CHI Energy, Inc., a Stamford, CT-based renewable energy company operating in hydroelectricity,
biomass cogeneration, wind, and solar. Before that
he was a director of Putnam, Hayes & Bartlett, Inc.,
an international energy strategy firm.
innovation thrives.
[the Madison Region]
The Madison Region’s entrepreneurial business and research
community provides a robust base for the innovation ecosystem.
With an educated, creative workforce and an unparalleled quality
of life, the Madison Region abounds with opportunity for your
business to grow.
Find out why Forbes Magazine hails Madison as #7 among
innovative cities nationwide. Visit www.thrivehere.org or stop by
our booth in the Captiol Promenade.
Columbia • Dane • Dodge • Green • Iowa • Jefferson • Rock • Sauk
2011 National SBIR/STTR Spring Conference
25
Thomas K
Guelzow II
Business
Development
Consultant, JEH
Government Services,
Inc.
Marty A.
Gustafson
Thomas K Guelzow II is an independent consultant
for JEH Government Services Inc. (JEH) and works
with companies, from multinationals to LLCs,
interested in breaking the barriers to doing business
with the federal government. Guelzow has been
able to continue JEH’s eighteen year track record of
selling and marketing to the US Government which
has aided companies in successfully securing over
$300M in military and foreign military sales through
defense contracts for production, operations and
maintenance, advanced research and development,
and test & evaluation. He has a Master’s Degree in
Business Administration (MBA) and over 18 years of
experience in the electronics technology industry.
Marty Gustafson manages ORBITEC’s commercial
products, successfully launching products including Sunbow LED Lighting Systems, SpaceGarden
Biomass Production Systems for Education, JSC-1A
Lunar and JSC-Mars-1A Martian Soil simulants, and
Hypercosm 3D software. She also coordinates ORBITEC’s intellectual property strategy and manages
ORBITEC’s 3D Software Business Unit, managing
numerous SBIR and commercial projects for NASA,
the DoD and aerospace customers.
Chief Strategy Officer,
Larta Institute
26
Director, Wisconsin
Security Research
Consortium
G. Duncan
Hitchens PhD
Co-founder & Vice
President, Lynntech,
Inc.
Manager, Commercial
Products, Orbital
Technologies
Corporation
Carlos Gutierrez
Jack Heinemann
Carlos E. Gutierrez is the Chief Strategy Officer at
Larta Institute, overseeing all aspects of the organization’s strategic focus and business development
efforts with partners and clients, including U.S.
federal agencies, universities, industry partners, and
regional economies around the world. Carlos also
is involved in program execution and has served as
an advisor to companies on several programs. Prior
to joining Larta, Carlos served on the management
team of FirstLook.com, an Idealab company and
venture-backed start-up in the online entertainment
and media space. Carlos also previously held senior
management and marketing positions with the Los
Angeles Times Online (latimes.com) and Mecklermedia Corporation. Carlos holds an MBA from the
Marshall School of Business at the University of
Southern California and a BS in Business Management from California State University, Northridge.
Charles B. Hoslet
Managing Director,
Managing
Director, Office of
Corporate Relations,
UW-Madison
Jack Heinemann is the director of the Wisconsin
Security Research Consortium, a non-profit organization dedicated to delivering world-class science
and technology solutions in response to our nation’s
homeland security requirements. The WSRC was
formally launched in 2005 and continues to develop
federal relationships with Wisconsin business,
industry and academia. Prior to his position at
WSRC, Jack worked at the University of Wisconsin
-Oshkosh in business development for the Center of
Community Partnership and as an adjunct professor
of finance and project management courses. Jack
earned his bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from UW-Madison moving on to earn his MBA
from UW-Oshkosh.
Dr. Duncan Hitchens is co-founder and Vice President of Lynntech Inc, a research and technology
development company with a twenty year history of
successful innovation. His work has led to several licenses to leading companies in the fields of consumer products, infection control and fuel cell power
sources. He currently oversees early-stage technology development programs valued at over $5
million annually. Recently, he established Lynntech’s
Technology Transfer Office with the goal of promoting collaborative activities between Lynntech Inc.
and nationally recognized academic research groups.
Dr. Hitchens received a B.Sc. Degree in Microbiology, and Ph.D. Degree in Microbial Physiology from
Aberystwyth University (Wales) after which he carried out post-doctoral research in electrochemistry at
Texas A&M University.
Charles Hoslet serves as Managing Director of the
Office of Corporate Relations at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. His office is responsible for
promoting company growth and economic development by facilitating relationships between companies, organizations and entrepreneurs and university
faculty, staff and units in areas such as student
recruitment, research expertise and technology
transfer. Hoslet is also the Principal Investigator on
a $4 Million grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman
Foundation to expand entrepreneurship education
to students across campus. He serves on the Advisory Boards of University Research Park, the Center
for International Business, Education and Research,
the Waisman Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility,
Competitive Wisconsin Inc. and the Wisconsin Technology Council.
Douglas A.
Hutchings PhD
Douglas Hutchings is the founder and CEO of Silicon
Solar Solutions, an advanced materials company
spun out of research at the University of Arkansas.
Douglas founded the company while completing his
PhD at the University of Arkansas in the Microelectronics-Photonics program and was supported by
the National Science Foundation Graduate Research
Fellowship. Douglas has successfully raised private
capital in addition to state and national grants which
include a current NSF SBIR award.
CEO & Managing
Member, Jameson &
Company CPAs, LLC
CEO, Silicon Solar
Solutions
Brian Isle
CEO, Adventium Labs
Paul Jadin
Secretary, Wisconsin
Department of
Commerce
Edward G
Jameson, CPA
Mr. Brian Isle is CEO and a technical staff member at
Adventium Labs. His current technical focus is in assessment of critical infrastructure safety and security.
Mr. Isle recently supported a Defense Department
program developing approaches for automating aspects of vulnerability assessment for force protection
at military bases and a Department of Homeland
Security program to apply advanced cyber protection
technology to control systems for critical infrastructure. Mr. Isle was chair for the Process Control Systems Forum special interest group on cyber security
for manufacturing and process control systems. He
provides consulting services to commercial clients,
technical program reviews, advice on effective engineering operations, integration of new technology
and go-to-market strategies.
Paul Jadin is Wisconsin’s Secretary of Commerce.
This department provides development assistance
in marketing, business and community finance,
exporting, small business advocacy, and manufacturing assessments. The agency issues professional credentials for the construction trades and administers
safety and building codes, among other activities.
For the prior 7-years Jadin served as President and
CEO of the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce. In partnership with Northeast WI-Technical
College, he led the development and growth of a
50,000-sq.-ft. business incubator. From 1995-2003,
Jadin served two terms as Mayor of Green Bay. In
this role, he led economic development efforts that
yielded a 50-percent increase in the tax base over his
two terms in office.
Kris Johansen,
PhD, MBA
SBIR/STTR Program
Administrator, OIPTT,
Iowa State University
Ralph Kauten
CEO, Quintessence
Biosciences, Inc.
Ed Jameson is a second-generation CEO of Jameson
& Company, LLC, which was founded by his father
Gordon in 1977. Ed joined the firm in 1988, having
previously served as a senior consultant in the small
business and tax departments at Price Waterhouse,
Boston. Ed has helped SBIR clients secure billions of
dollars in government grants and contracts. He has
extensive experience in the indirect rate recovery
process and has settled hundreds of incurred cost
submissions. In addition to overseeing all client
relationships, Ed consults on cost recovery, strategic
and tactical management issues, and contract and
grant cost procurement. A longtime member of
Rotary International, Ed served as the president of
the Burlington Rotary Club and was given the Paul
Harris Fellow Award for service above self. He graduated from Bentley College in 1985 with a degree in
Accountancy.
Dr. Kris Johansen serves as the SBIR/STTR Program
Administrator in the Office of Intellectual Property
and Technology Transfer at Iowa State University.
She earned her BS in Microbiology and MS in
Immunobiology from Iowa State University, her PhD
in Microbiology from the University of Missouri,
and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the
University of Colorado. Dr. Johansen worked as a
Senior Scientist at Xtrana, Inc. and Invenux, Inc.,
both located in Denver, Colorado. While at Xtrana
and Invenux, Kris participated in the preparation of
multiple successful Phase I and Phase II SBIR grant
applications to the USDA and NIH.
Mr. Kauten serves as Chairman and CEO of
Quintessence Biosciences, Inc. located in Madison,
Wisconsin. Mr. Kauten has served as co-founder
and leader in a number of biotechnology companies including Promega Corporation, PanVera
Corporation, and Mirus Corporation. Designated as
an Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young, Mr.
Kauten serves on Boards of Directors and Advisory
Boards for companies in the biotechnology industry
and in other industries. Mr. Kauten holds an MBA
from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a
BBA, from the University of Iowa.
2011 National SBIR/STTR Spring Conference
27
Louis G. Kelly
Director, SDSU
Research Foundation
Shaun P. Kennedy
Director, National
Center for Food
Protection & Defense
Sangtae “Sang”
Kim , PhD
Executive Director,
Morgridge Institute
for Research
28
Mr. Lou Kelly is Program Director of the San Diego
Advanced Defense Technology Cluster funded by
the SBA focused on supporting small innovative
businesses to prepare and transition their technologies into key defense systems. Mr. Kelly is Chairman
of the Executive Board for the Center for Commercialization of Advanced Technologies (CCAT) in San
Diego. CCAT invests in companies and technologies
which could benefit defense and national security.
CCAT works in partnership with SPAWAR Systems
Center Pacific and was awarded an Office of the
Secretary of Defense’s (OSD) 1401 contract for
transition of defense technologies into the first
responder market.
Shaun Kennedy is Director of the National Center
for Food Protection & Defense, and Director of Partnerships and External Relations of the University of
Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine. At the
University, he has taken a leadership role in research
on animal health, food safety, and food-system
biosecurity. Mr. Kennedy received the FDA Commissioners Special Citation for leadership in fostering
effective partnership in international food safety
capacity building programs to improve the safety of
food imported into the U.S. and consumed globally.
Prior to his work at the University, he held global executive positions with Ecolab and Procter & Gamble.
Sangtae “Sang” Kim is the executive director of
the private not-for-profit Morgridge Institute for
Research, a world-class interdisciplinary biomedical research organization. His past work experience includes serving the NSF as director of shared
cyberinfrastructure, six years of executive industry
experience gained at Lilly Research Laboratories,
Pfizer Global R&D and Parke-Davis. Kim serves on
the science board of the FDA and on the scientific
advisory board of Venture Investors of Wisconsin.
Steven E.
Koonin, PhD
Undersecretary
for Science, U.S.
Department of Energy
(DOE)
Lisa M. Kurek
Managing Partner,
BBCetc
Larry A.
Kuusisto PhD
Vice President of
Education, LifeScience
Alley
Steven E. Koonin, Ph.D. is the Undersecretary for
Science in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). He
was a professor of theoretical physics, Chairman of
the Faculty and finally Provost at Caltech. As Chief
Scientist at BP, Dr. Koonin developed long-range
technology strategy for alternative/renewable energy
and managed the firm’s university-based research
programs. He is a member of the National Academy
of Sciences, Council on Foreign Relations and a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, and
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a
former member of the Trilateral Commission.
Lisa is Managing Partner of Biotechnology Business
Consultants and BBCetc based in Ann Arbor, MI.
BBC works with universities, economic developers,
large and small companies to assist in securing federal funding, and with commercialization planning
for early technology companies. Lisa is nationally
recognized as a trainer in grant-writing and commercialization for researchers and entrepreneurs.
Her experience includes R&D, product development,
sales and marketing, and executive management.
Lisa earned two degrees in Biomedical Engineering,
a ScB from Brown University and a MS from the
University of Michigan.
Dr. Kuusisto is Vice President of Education for
LifeScience Alley, a regional health industry trade
association based in Minneapolis, and Executive
Director of Alley Institute, its non-profit research
affiliate. LifeScience Alley provides a broad-range
educational curriculum for its 650+ organizational
members. Dr. Kuusisto holds a PhD in Educational
Policy & Administration: Higher Education, and an
MS in Health Services Research & Policy from the
University of Minnesota.
Chip Laingen
Executive Director,
Advanced Power and
Energy Cluster
Robert
Lowery, PhD
President & CEO,
BellBrook Labs
Chip Laingen is the Communications and R&D Director for Minnesota Wire, and Executive Director of
the Defense Alliance of Minnesota, an organization
working to network the growth of the regional defense and homeland security industries. The Alliance
operates the Defense Advanced Power and Energy
Cluster. In 2010 he was appointed to the Minnesota
Science and Technology Authority Commission.
Commander Laingen is a 21-year Veteran of the U.S.
Navy.
Dr. Robert Lowery received his B.S. in Biochemistry
at the University of California, Berkeley and his Ph.D.
in Biochemistry at UW-Madison in 1988. He previously served as Vice President of R&D at PanVera
Corporation, and Director of Manufacturing at
Promega Corporation, both in Madison, Wisconsin.
Dr. Lowery founded BellBrook Labs with John Majer
in May of 2002, financing the company through a
combination of federal grants and a private equity
placement. He has been participating in the SBIR
program as a principal investigator since 1991, with
several successful Phase I and Phase II projects.
Darcy Luoma
Office Director, U.S.
Senator Herb Kohl
Darcy Luoma is the Director for U.S. Senator Herb
Kohl’s Madison, Wisconsin office. In this role Darcy
routinely visits community based organizations
and businesses, represents the Senator at events,
speaks on his behalf to numerous groups about
specific federal issues, manages the full-time staff
and interns, and serves as the casework specialist
for several areas. Darcy serves on various boards and
committees such as past president of the Wisconsin
Women in Government, TEMPO professional women’s organization, and the Greater Madison Federal
Agency Association. Darcy graduated summa cum
laude from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
with degrees in Mathematics and German; and she
has a Masters of Science in Organization Development (MSOD) degree from Pepperdine University.
Today’s Research for Tomorrow’s Jobs
Facilitating partnerships and collaborations,
and managing funding and patenting for the
UW System.
Two Opportunities for SBIR Partnerships:
WiSCAP
Anissa C.
Lumpkin
AF SBIR/STTR Deputy
Program Manager, US
Air Force
Ms. Anissa Lumpkin has been serving the US Air Force
for the past 10 years. Her service has included active
duty and reserve time in the United States Air Force.
She began her career at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base in Ohio working first for the Air Force Research
Laboratory and then the Aeronautical Systems
Center. She has served as both an engineer and
acquisitions program manager throughout her career.
She now serves as the Air Force SBIR/STTR Deputy
Program Manager in the Air Force Research Laboratory Headquarters. Ms. Lumpkin has a Bachelor’s of
Aeronautical and Industrial Engineering Technology
from Tennessee State University and Master’s of Public
Administration from Central Michigan University.
WisMEF
Partnership for Small
Business Development
Partnership for Medical
Innovation
The Wisconsin Small Company
Advancement Program
connects the high-tech
research and development
needs of Wisconsin small
companies with the technical
expertise of faculty at the UW
comprehensive campuses to
stimulate economic growth,
create new jobs and educate
students.
The Wisconsin Medical
Entrepreneurship Foundation
is a groundbreaking effort
that aims to leverage the
unique skills and resources
available at Wisconsin’s leading
clinical institutions along
with the technical expertise
of UW System researchers to
develop cutting-edge medical
technologies.
For More Information Contact:
Maliyakal John
608.265.2135
[email protected]
www.wisys.org
2011 National SBIR/STTR Spring Conference
29
Keith Lurie, MD
Founder, Chief
Medical Officer,
Advanced Circulatory
Systems, Inc.
Dennis Malecek
CEO & President,
Dynatronix, Inc.
Marianne O’Brien
Markowitz
SBA Regional
Administrator, US
Small Business
Administration
30
Dr. Keith Lurie is Founder, Chief Medical Officer and
Chairman of the Board. Dr. Lurie founded ACSI in
1997 and remains active in the development of its
technology and strategic direction. Dr. Lurie also
maintains a clinical practice as a cardiac electrophysiologist and is a faculty member at the University of
Minnesota, and is currently a Professor of Internal
Medicine and Emergency Medicine. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles and
is considered an international expert in the field of
cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He received his medical degree from Stanford University.
Dennis Malecek is CEO & President of Dynatronix,
Inc., a custom manufacturer of power supplies
for the semiconductor, medical, nanotechnology,
defense, and surface finishing industries. Based
out of Amery, Wisconsin, the company, founded in
2004 employs 75 employees including a department of electrical and software design engineers
with specialty in power supplies. Previously, Dennis
worked as director of operations for BMC Industries
and in various engineering and management positions for Cargill, Inc. He holds a Master’s in Industrial
Relations from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson
School of Management and a Bachelor’s Degree in
Industrial Technology from Iowa State University.
Marianne O’Brien Markowitz is the Administrator for
SBA’s Midwest Region. She has responsibility for the
states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio
and Wisconsin. As Regional Administrator, Markowitz is the principal representative of Administrator
Karen Mills in the Midwest and provides interface
with regional, state and local elected and appointed
officials, trade organizations and small business
communities across the region. Markowitz recently
served as the Chief Financial Officer for Obama for
America and was previously a financial operations
consultant for the launch of the Obama Exploratory
Committee and resulting Campaign. Markowitz
received her B.S. in business administration from
the University of Missouri and her MBA from DePaul
University.
Robert
McClain PhD
Associate Vice
President for
Research, University
of North Texas Health
Science Center
David P. Metzger
Partner, Arnold &
Porter LLP
Sandra Miller
Director, Kauffman
Foundation
Robert McClain is Associate Vice President for
Research at the University of North Texas Health
Science Center in Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. McClain
oversees the University’s Technology Transfer &
Commercialization program, including its partnership with a local business incubator, whereby the
University provides lab space and services to emerging startup companies. Dr. McClain earned his BS in
Chemistry at Abilene Christian University and PhD
in Chemistry from the University of North CarolinaChapel Hill. He is an inventor of nine patented
industrial technologies.
Mr. Metzger is a partner in the Government Contracts Group of Arnold & Porter, an international
law firm. Mr. Metzger served on Capitol Hill as Staff
Director and General Counsel to a House Small
Business Subcommittee, and participated in drafting
the original SBIR legislation. He worked four years
at the Small Business Administration and assisted
the passage of the original SBIR Act in 1982. He
has lectured widely on the SBIR Act, including data
rights issues. He represents numerous small high
technology firms and assists them in resolving SBIR
and data rights issues, as well as a wide variety of
other federal contracting issues.
As Director of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s new initiative, Labs for Enterprise Creation,
Sandra Miller develops dynamic educational
programs to catalyze entrepreneurs of high-growth,
scalable businesses. The first of such programs is
the Kauffman Entrepreneur Postdoctoral Fellowship
program, which educates and trains scientist-founders who are creating the high-growth technology
companies of tomorrow. Sandra is an invited lecturer
on the topics of entrepreneurship education, the
commercialization of university research and related
policies. Sandra joined the Kauffman Foundation in 2008 after 13 years at Stanford University,
where she had a major role in the formation of the
Stanford Biodesign Program and counseled numerous inventors and entrepreneurs on issues such as
technology licensing, new firm formation, founding
teams, advisor and fundraising strategy. She has also
served as a Phase II reviewer for the National Science
Foundation’s SBIR/STTR grants program’s Biotechnology section.
Gregory
Milman, PhD
Director, Office of
Innovation and
Special Programs,
National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious
Diseases
Gregory Milman, Ph.D., is Director of the Office for
Innovation and Special Programs in the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
He manages the $100 million NIAID small business
programs and is acclaimed for his advice on NIH
grant preparation and research funding. Dr. Milman
has served as Assistant Professor of Biochemistry
at the University of California, Berkeley, Associate
Professor of Biochemistry and Immunology at Johns
Hopkins University, and visiting Professor in Honors
at the University of Maryland College Park. In 1985,
he obtained NIH SBIR funding to start a biotechnology company focusing on viral diagnostics, and in
2000, Dr. Milman was on the NIH staff in President
Clinton’s White House Office of Science Policy.
Joseph E. Misanin
Deputy Director,
Program Operations,
Office of Small
Business Programs,
Office of the
Undersecretary of
Defense
Joseph Misanin is the Deputy Director at the
Department of Defense Office of Small Business
Programs, responsible for the SBIR, SBTT, MentorProtege, and Indian Incentive programs. Mr. Misanin
has served in a number of program management
and engineering positions at the Department of the
Navy, including his last assignment as the Deputy
Program Manager for the Command and Control
Directorate, Program Executive Office (Integrated
Warfare Systems), where he managed an ACAT 1D
program. Mr. Misanin holds a Bachelor’s of Electrical
Engineering from the University of Rochester, a
Master’s of Engineering Administration from Virginia
Tech, and a Master’s of Science in National Resource
Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed
Forces.
We make it easier for
a growing business
to keep growing.
www.design-concepts.com
800.344.2623
Our product and service design solutions build our clients’
brands, grow their businesses and improve their bottom lines.
That’s the power of innovation. That’s the promise of design.
2011 National SBIR/STTR Spring Conference
31
Leisa M. Moniz
SBIR Program
Director, U.S.
Department of
Transportation
Deepa Narayanan
Program Director, NCI
SBIR, National Cancer
Institute
Eric M. Ness
District Director,
U.S. Small Business
Administration
- Wisconsin
32
Ms. Moniz has been with the U.S. Department of
Transportation for 17 years and has been serving
as the SBIR Program Director for the past 2 years.
Prior to her tenure as the SBIR Program Director,
Leisa managed large scale technology research
and development programs in the areas of transit
operations and security planning, highway tolling,
emergency preparedness and response and critical
infrastructure protection. She has considerable
expertise in RF and infrared technologies for road
tolling, smart card systems for both ticketing and
access control, and counter terrorism technologies
for transit security.
Deepa Narayanan is a Program Director in the
SBIR Development Center at the National Cancer
Institute (NCI), where she assists small businesses
in securing funding for research and development
of innovative medical devices with high commercial
potential for cancer diagnosis and therapeutics.
Previously she was the Director of Clinical Data
Management at Naviscan, Inc where she managed
all aspects of clinical trials including FDA-regulated
multi-center clinical trials for 510(K) clearance as
well as phase IV post marketing studies. Prior to
this, she was a Scientific Associate with the Molecular Imaging laboratory at Fox Chase Cancer Center.
Deepa is a certified Clinical Data Manager and has
a Masters Degree in Biomedical Engineering from
the University of Virginia and a Bachelors degree in
Biomedical Engineering from University of Mumbai.
Eric Ness is the District Director for the U.S. Small
Business Administration (SBA) Wisconsin District.
Eric joined the SBA in 1990 as a Commercial Loan
Officer where he had the opportunity to work
in both processing and liquidation of loans. He
has served as Finance Chief and Assistant District
Director for Economic Development. In December
of 2001, Eric assumed the position of Wisconsin
District Director. Prior to coming to SBA, Eric worked
for Impact Seven as a Business Analyst and was
General Manager of Western Wisconsin Development Corporation in Northwestern Wisconsin.
Eric graduated from the University of Minnesota
with a Degree in Agricultural Engineering and later
obtained a Masters in Business Administration from
Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
Susan Nichols
Program Director,
DARPA Small
Business Programs
Office
Manny Oliver
Director, SBIR/STTR
Programs Office,
Department of Energy
Fred Patterson
President & Head
Coach, The SBIR
Coach
During her 22 year tenure with the Department of
Defense, Ms. Susan Nichols has held a variety of
positions in budget, program analysis and program
management starting at the US Army Corps
of Engineers where she worked from 1988 until
2004. From 2004-2008, she served as the US Army
SBIR Program Manager at the US Army Materiel
Command. In 2008, she was selected to serve
as Program Director, DARPA Small Business Programs
Office, SBIR/STTR Program Manager. Her activities
are focused on managing programs that provide
small, high-tech businesses and academic institutions the opportunity to propose radical, innovative,
high-risk approaches to address existing and emerging national security threats. Ms. Nichols
has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Management/
Computer Information Systems from Park University.
Manny Oliver has been serving as the Director of the
SBIR/STTR Programs Office within the Department
of Energy since December, 2010. Prior to joining
DOE, Manny spent 16 years leading R&D efforts at
Motorola in Li ion polymer batteries, microfluidic
biochips, haptics, and mobile surveillance. He has
previously held positions as an Assistant Professor in
the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT and as a Member of Technical Staff at
AT&T Bell Laboratories. He received both his B.S and
Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science from MIT.
Fred Patterson has been guiding companies through
technology development into commercialization for
40 years including all aspects of the SBIR Program.
Currently enjoying a well-recognized nationwide
consulting practice as “The SBIR Coach”, Fred
teaches the SBIR ropes and helps clients strategically
navigate technology development and achieve success. A focus is preservation of SBIR Data Rights and
commercializing SBIR funded technology “Beyond
Phase II”. Fred also works with technology accelerator initiatives, Angel Funds, Venture Capital, and
other investment sources to refine his trademarked
“Funding Readiness Level (FRL)” index. Fred utilizes
the FRL to help clients prepare for the challenges of
funding for commercialization and growth.
Gregory R.
Piefer PhD
CEO, SHINE Medical
Technologies
Ryzsard (Rich)
Pisarski PhD
Level II Technology
Infusion Manager,
NASA
Larry Pollack
Chem-Bio Defense
SBIR Program
Manager, Joint
Science and
Technology Office
for Chemical and
Biological Defense
Dr. Piefer received Bachelor’s degrees in physics, electrical,
and computer engineering from UW-Madison in 1999,
and received a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering in December of 2006. In 2004, he joined Gillware, Inc. as their
CTO, helping lead that company to profitable operations. In November of 2005 he founded Phoenix Nuclear
Labs, where he led efforts to create an intense neutron
source and authored several patents on the use of those
sources. In 2010, he founded SHINE Medical Technologies, a company based on a cleaner, safer, more reliable
method for producing medical imaging products.
Dr. Ryszard Pisarski is the level 2 SBIR/STTR Technology
Infusion Manager for NASA. His position coordinates all
other NASA center Technology Infusion Managers and
facilitates the infusion of SBIR/STTR technology into other
NASA programs. Dr. Pisarski obtained his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Columbia University and his MBA from the
Stern School of Business at NYU. He worked at NASA/
Goddard Space Flight Center developing software for the
Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) and as project manager for the US/German/UK astrophysics mission ROSAT.
Dr. Pisarski was a branch head for the Astrophysical Data
Facility at GSFC. In 2000 Dr. Pisarski worked at NASA
Ames Research Center Computer Science Division as well
as the Technology Partnerships Office.
Mr. Pollack is the Program Manager for the Chemical and
Biological Defense Small Business Innovation Research
(SBIR) program at the Joint Science and Technology
Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JSTO-CBD) in
the Chemical/Biological Technologies Directorate at the
Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). His technical expertise encompasses field and laboratory chemical
analysis (detection & identification) and environmental
sample collection. Mr. Pollack received his Master of
Science degree from the Florida Institute of Technology
(Melbourne, FL) and a Bachelor of Science degree from
the University of Maryland (College Park, MD).
Matthew E.
Portnoy
NIH SBIR/STTR
Program Manager,
NIH Office of
Extramural Research
Dr. Matthew Portnoy received his B.S. in molecular
and cell biology from Penn State University. He
received his Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular
biology from Johns Hopkins University School of
Public Health. Dr. Portnoy then joined the intramural program of National Human Genome Research
Institute as a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory
of Dr. Eric Green. Dr. Portnoy joined the National
Institute of General Medical Sciences in 2005 as a
program director. Over his time at NIGMS, he managed R01 grant portfolios in DNA repair, recombination and replication, SBIR/STTR grants, F32 post-doctoral fellowships, cooperative agreements for E. coli
databases, and R25 education grants. Dr. Portnoy
also served as SBIR/STTR lead for NIGMS for nearly
6 years. Recently, he joined the Office of Extramural
Research as Director, Division of Special Programs,
OEP, OER and NIH SBIR/STTR Program Coordinator.
Traci Pretsch is the Business Manager at BellBrook
Labs LLC located in Madison, Wisconsin. She has
over fifteen years of accounting experience, with
the last ten years being in the biotech field. Traci
has served as the internal grant administrator for
multiple SBIR awards the company has received
over the last five years. She has broad experience in
grant accounting and A-133 audits. Traci graduated
from Upper Iowa University in 1997 with a degree
in Accounting.
Traci Pretsch
Business Manager,
BellBrook Labs LLC
Gary
Rawlings, PhD
Director, Technology
Commercialization,
TechColumbus
Dr. Gary D. Rawlings is Director, Technology
Commercialization at TechColumbus focusing on
opportunities emerging from state institutions, such
as The Ohio State University. Dr. Rawlings has B.S.
and M.S. degrees in nuclear physics from Southwest
Texas State University and a Ph.D. in environmental
science and engineering from Texas A&M University.
He has spent the majority of his career at multinational corporations, such as Monsanto, creating
new products and business units for a large variety
of advanced technologies. Some of the technology arenas for which he has special skills include
polymers and plastics, flame retardants, conductive
polymers, fibers, filtration, electronic components,
coatings, nonwovens, displays, composite materials,
and specialty chemicals. Dr. Rawlings has over 60
publications, including chapters in 3 books.
2011 National SBIR/STTR Spring Conference
33
Maria Redmond
Biofuels Sector
Specialist/Grants
Administratorp,
Wisconsin Office of
Energy Independence
Kevin P.
Reilly, PhD
President, University of
Wisconsin System
Bryan Z. Renk
Executive Director,
BioForward
34
Maria Redmond serves as the Biofuels Sector
Specialist and Grants Administrator for the Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence. She has ten
years of experience and extensive knowledge of
renewable energy and alternative transportation
fuels. Redmond has experience in developing and
implementing competitive energy programs and
services. Redmond currently manages $81.1 million
in federal grant funding for energy related programs
for local governments and businesses in Wisconsin.
She has served as advisor on legislative committees
and as an energy project liaison with state agencies,
universities, granting agencies, contractors, municipalities, private sector, national and international
organizations.
Dr. Kevin P. Reilly began his tenure as the sixth
president of the University of Wisconsin System on
September 1, 2004. His vision for the state’s public
university system is that it should be Wisconsin’s
premier developer of advanced human potential,
of the jobs that employ that potential, and of the
flourishing communities that sustain it. He has
authored and edited books and articles on higher
education policy, accreditation, biography and autobiography, and Irish studies. He has co-taught the
James Joyce course at the University of WisconsinMadison. Dr. Reilly earned his B.A. at the University
of Notre Dame, and his M.A. and Ph.D at the
University of Minnesota.
Bryan Z. Renk is Executive Director of BioForward,
a member-driven state association that is the voice
of Wisconsin’s bioscience industry. Bryan has over
25 years of progressively responsible management
expertise, with previous roles as President and CEO
of aOva Technologies, and has held positions as
Director of Licensing at Wisconsin Alumni Research
Foundation, and Director at Wm. F. Renk and Sons.
Mr. Renk holds MS and BS degrees in Meat and Animal Science and Muscle Biology from the University
of Wisconsin-Madison.
Alex
Reyter JD, MBA
Chairman and CEO,
Caseus Energy Inc.
April Richards
Acting Program
Manager, EPA SBIR
Program
Christopher
Rinaldi
Program
Administrator, DOD
SBIR STTR
Alex Reyter is responsible for formulating and overseeing strategic and operational development and
managing corporate financial activities. Alex has 14
years experience making equity and venture capital
investments, M&A, complex cross-border transactions, restructurings, acquisition and disposition of
portfolios of distressed debt. Alex is a Managing
Director of Reyter Holdings LLC., a private equity firm
with a focus on investments across a range of sectors
including real estate, energy and agribusiness. Alex
currently serves on the Boards of a number of portfolio companies of Reyter Holdings LLC. Alex graduated
magna cum laude from the University of California,
Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts degree and holds
joint Juris Doctorate and Masters of Business Administration degrees from Loyola Marymount University,
Los Angeles, California.
April Richards is the Acting Program Manager of the
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program
for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The EPA’s SBIR program focuses on developing and
commercializing technologies needed to address
high-priority environmental issues in areas such as
green building, manufacturing, pollution prevention,
water and air pollution control, climate change, environmental monitoring, and homeland security. She
has worked as a fellow on the Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee where she provided
technical expertise on environmental issues. She
worked for five years in private industry with an
environmental engineering consulting firm in Florida
primarily in the area of drinking water treatment.
She has a Master’s degree in Civil/Environmental
Engineering and is a licensed, professional engineer.
Mr. Chris Rinaldi is the Program Administrator for the
Department of Defense SBIR and STTR Program responsible for policy and oversight of $1.4B in research
annually. Previously, Mr. Rinaldi served as the Program
Manager for the Army SBIR program, where he directed and managed an approximately $300M annual
program and a unique venture capital arrangement
for the Army SBIR Commercialization Pilot Program.
Mr. Rinaldi has received numerous honors and awards
for his professional accomplishments including the
Secretary of Defense Team Excellence Award, the US
Army Research, Development and Engineering Award,
and the US Army Acquisition Streamlining Excellence
Award. He holds multiple patents and authored numerous publications. Mr. Rinaldi has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Manhattan College and a MS in
Engineering Management from Rensslaer Polytechnic
Institute. He is also a licensed Professional Engineer.
Charles
Russommano
Mr. Charles Russommano is the Department of Energy
SBIR Portfolio Manager for Office of Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy focused on clean energy technology commercialization initiatives such as the Phase III
Xlerator Program and the DOE Small Business and Clean
Energy Alliance Partnership. Mr. Russommano earned
a master’s degree in chemistry from Rutgers University
in 1989 and has received several awards (2010 Milton
Stewart Award; SBIR Person of the Year by Rick Shindell,
SBIR Insider, and the prestigious Tibbetts Award).
Department of
Energy SBIR Portfolio
Manager, Office of
Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy
Winslow
Sargeant, PhD
Chief Counsel
For Advocacy,
Small Business
Administration Office
of Advocacy
Martha
Schlicher, PhD
Bioenergy Technology
Lead, Monsanto
Jenny C.
Servo, PhD
President/Business
Acceleration Manager,
Dawnbreaker Inc.
Dr. Winslow Sargeant is the Chief Counsel for Advocacy
of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of
Advocacy. The Office of Advocacy’s mission is to encourage policies that support small business start-up, growth,
and development. He directs operations which include;
research on the U.S. small business sector, advocating for
small businesses within federal government’s agencies
and rulemaking processes, reaching out to regional and
state small business advocates and policymakers, and
fostering public awareness of small business contributions and concerns. Prior roles include managing director
of Venture Investors, LLC a seed and early stage venture
capital firm, program manager in electronics for the
National Science Foundation’s SBIR Program. He received
his PhD in electrical engineering in 1995. In 1997, Dr.
Sargeant and partners co-founded Aanetcom, a “fabless” semiconductor integrated circuit design company. In
March 2000, Aanetcom was acquired by publicly traded
PMC-Sierra.
Martha Schlicher leads Monsanto’s bioenergy efforts
in the technology organization focused on utilizing
Monsanto’s scientific expertise and capabilities to support
and respond to policy. The responsibilities of this effort
include supporting the US corn based ethanol industry
by generating and providing accurate and timely data to
help inform sound policies related to bioenergy. Martha
has over 20 years of agricultural and biofuels industry
experience from her previous roles at Monsanto, her
leadership of the National Corn to Ethanol Research Center (NCERC) and as the head of Technology and Business
Development for GTL Resources plc. Martha has a B.S.
degree in Chemistry from Indiana University, a Ph.D. in
Bio-organic Chemistry from the University of Illinois and
an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Rick Shindell
President, Zyn
Systems
Ruth M.
Shuman, PhD
Program Director,
National Science
Foundation
Dr. Jenny Servo founder and president of Dawnbreaker, has written extensively on the topic of innovation with articles appearing in The Futurist, Intrepreneurial Excellence, Innovation in the Work Place
and the books Business Planning for Scientists and
Engineers; Knock Their Socks Off: Making Winning
Presentations to Investors; and Indicators of Commercial Potential. Dr. Servo specializes in program
design for Federal and State Agencies, assisting
firms with business planning, market research, and
strategic planning. Jenny consulted with Kodak’s
Office of Innovation developing training programs
for innovation facilitators and monitoring customer
satisfaction and venture management teams. She
received her MS from the University of Kansas and
her Ph.D. from the University of Rochester.
Rick Shindell, president of Zyn Systems and a long
time SBIR advocate, is perhaps best known for his
hard hitting SBIR Insider’s newsletter providing the
SBIR community with news and critical information
on proposed legislation and current events. Readership includes small businesses, providers, federal
program managers, and congressional staffers. Rick
created and manages Zyn’s SBIR Gateway (www.
zyn.com/sbir), a free cross-agency SBIR/STTR information web site serving over 5,000 users daily. Rick
provides support to the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) Far West and Mid-Continent regional
networks, working with over 100 of the nation’s
premier federal laboratories. Rick was honored in
2006 with an SBIR Tibbetts Award for outstanding
contributions to the SBIR program.
Ruth Shuman joined the National Science Foundation in August 2009 and is currently serving as Program Director for Biology and Chemical Technologies in the SBIR/STTR Program. Formerly, she was
the founder, president and CEO of a 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 served as CEO-InResidence for Life Science with the University of
Minnesota’s Venture Center evaluating the business
potential of University-developed technology. Ruth
began her career as a faculty member at North
Carolina State University working in the area of
gene transfer and genetic engineering technology.
She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota’s
Department of Genetics and Cell Biology.
2011 National SBIR/STTR Spring Conference
35
John Smith
Program Manager,
Army SBIR, Army
SBIR
Elissa (Lisa) I.
Sobolewski
DHS SBIR
Program Director,
Department of
Homeland Security
Phyl
Speser, J.D., PhD
CEO, Foresight
Science & Technology
36
Michael John Smith is the Program Manager for the
Army Small Business Innovation Research Program
(SBIR). Mr. Smith has over twenty years experience
managing DoD Research and Development programs, primarily in weapons systems development
within the US Air Force and Defense Intelligence
Agency (DIA). He led system development within
several programs, including C-130 Aircraft, Global
Positioning System, Strategic Defense Initiative, and
Measurement and Signature Intelligence (MASINT).
He also served on the Secretariat of the Air ForceAcquisition staff at the Pentagon. He is a graduate
of the US Air Force Academy and served as a career
Acquisition Program Manager while on active duty.
Ms. Elissa Sobolewski DHS SBIR Program Director
since January 2009, has over 25 years experience
managing R&D initiatives funded by the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS), Commerce and
Defense. Prior to joining DHS, Lisa held numerous
management and technical positions at the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Her
past experience includes work at DARPA, David Taylor Naval Ship Research and Development Center,
Department of Defense Technology Analysis Office
and McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company
(Engineering Services). Lisa is an IEEE member
and a member of the IEEE Microwave Theory and
Techniques Society. She holds a B.S. degree in Mathematics from Duquesne University, and an MBA
from George Mason University.
Dr. Speser has had a thirty year career as a business
executive, lobbyist, active in developing SBIR/STTR
programs and has authored many publications on
technology transfer, commercialization, and science
policy - including the best selling textbook The Art
and Science of Technology Transfer (John Wiley and
Sons, 2006). Dr. Speser is a member of the District
of Columbia Bar Association, the Association of
University Technology Managers (Public Policy Committee), the Licensing Executives Society (Chair of
the Strategic Alliance Committee), and the Product
Development and Management Association.
Frank
Staniszewski
President, Madison
Development
Corporation
Jim Stike
Founder & CEO Materials Innovation
Technologies
Tom Still
President, Wisconsin
Technology Council
As President of Madison Development Corporation,
Mr. Staniszewski directs all business lending, business assistance, real estate development and housing management programs. He has provided service
to over 400 small businesses with financing and/
or financial management assistance. He oversees a
portfolio of over $5 million of direct loans, and management of 210 units of housing for lower income
residents. He supervises a staff of 10. MDC has been
lending to technology businesses since 1995, and
has helped several successful tech companies go
from start up to mergers or IPO. Mr. Staniszewski
received his B.A. from The Ohio State University and
received his M.A. and post graduate study in Public
Administration at the University of Texas.
Jim Stike is responsible for building collaborative
partners, sales, marketing, grant writing, customer
service and general management. Throughout his
career, Stike has amassed extensive knowledge of
emerging technologies and acquired more than
28 years of business experience, including valuable
expertise with managing companies and licensing technology, writing and obtaining government
grants, negotiating joint development agreements,
and earning long-term business contracts with Fortune 100 companies (Alcoa, GM, Ford, United Technologies). He was previously founder and president
of J.E. Stike Business Development Solutions. He
has also held positions as founder and president of
Porvair Advanced Materials; founder and president
of Porvair Fuel Cell Technology; and vice president of
sales with Selee Corporation. He served three years
as the Treasurer of the U.S. Fuel Cell Council and
was educated at West Virginia University.
Tom Still is President of the Wisconsin Technology
Council (WTC), an independent, nonprofit organization that serves as the science and technology
advisor to the Governor and the Legislature and as
a catalyst for technology-based economic development in Wisconsin. Still is also President of the Wisconsin Innovation Network Foundation, managed
by the Technology Council, and is responsible for
supporting efforts (conferences and other informational gatherings) to foster technology development
in the state. He is former Associate Editor of the
Wisconsin State Journal, and he continues to write
a weekly political column, “Inside Wisconsin,” that
is syndicated in 21 Wisconsin publications. Still is a
graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa,
and attended the UW-Madison Law School.
Barbara J. Stoller
Director SBIR
Resources, Technology
Ventures Corp.
Laura E.
Strong PhD
President and
COO, Quintessence
Biosciences, Inc.
Kenneth J
Thurber, PhD
President, ATCorp
Barbara Stoller is the Director of SBIR Resources at
Technology Ventures Corporation in Albuquerque, New
Mexico. Stoller, who has managed the New Mexico
SBIR program since 2000, is part of the TVC team that
provides funding and entrepreneurial resources for earlystage technology companies in New Mexico. In 2004,
TVC received the Tibbetts Award. After 18 years, TVC is
credited with 105 business formations, 1,249 technology companies served, 12,700 jobs created and $1.088
Billion in venture funding. Ms. Stoller’s background
includes an MBA in Management from the University of
Oregon, and a BS from Oregon State University. In addition, Stoller’s technical experience includes 20 years as a
Registered Nurse.
Dr. Laura Strong is the President and COO of Quintessence Biosciences, a clinical stage cancer drug
development company. She started with Quintessence
as the first employee and developed a business plan
for commercialization of five proprietary technologies
licensed from WARF. After recruiting a CEO in 2002, Dr.
Strong has supported additional fundraising campaigns
for a total of over $15 million. Dr. Strong’s primary
responsibility is advancing the company’s proprietary
cancer therapies through human clinical trials to
market. Dr. Strong developed the company’s strategy
for government funding programs, including the Small
Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. She has
served as President of the Board of Directors for the
biotechnology association for Wisconsin, BioForward.
As an NIH fellow, Dr. Strong earned a Ph.D. in organic
chemistry at the UW-Madison.
Kenneth J. Thurber has written or led over 500 technical
proposals (winning over 200) leading to over $2.5 billion
dollars in research, development, and product derived
work, has consulted on the purchase by end users and/
or product introduction by manufacturers of over $10
billion dollars worth of equipment and was the system
architect for the specification of the Local Area Network
and distributed processor concepts that resulted in the
deployment of a real time system worth over $7 billion
dollars. He developed the concepts of technology big
wave surfing as a metaphor for ways to capitalize on
the disruption that technology brings to the product
marketplace.
Eric S. Veidel
ND SBIR/STTR Director,
Entrepreneur & Tech.
Commercialization
Consultant, Center for
Innovation
Renee M. Wagner
Technology Transfer
Coordinator, USDA,
Agricultural Research
Service, OTT
Ahson Wardak
Senior Advisor,
Small Business
Administration Office of Investment
and Innovation
Eric is a graduate of the University of North Dakota,
graduating with a Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He joined the Center for Innovation team in
January 2010 and specializes in engineering entrepreneurship. As a small business owner himself, Eric
has an eye for operational assembly. In his role at
the Center for Innovation Eric coordinates the ND
SBIR/STTR program and works closely with the University of North Dakota to commercialize technologies it develops.
Renée received her B.S. in Chemistry from Wake
Forest University. After a brief career as a mass
spectrometrist at the Research Triangle Institute in
North Carolina, she attended graduate school and
received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Pennsylvania State University. Renée began her career
with ARS as a Research Chemist in College Station,
TX, and later in Beltsville, MD. She was a Research
Leader and Laboratory Director in Columbia, MO
before joining the ARS Office of Technology Transfer
in Peoria, IL in 2003. As a Technology Transfer
Coordinator, Renée is responsible for facilitating
collaborations and identifying potential mechanisms for transfer of ARS technologies and research
results generated by scientists in the ARS eight-state
Midwest Area to the public and commercial sectors,
as appropriate.
Ahson Wardak currently works in the Office of
Investment and Innovation on the Small Business Innovation Research program and innovation-related
activities. Before joining the Small Business Administration this year, Ahson worked in the IT Strategy
practice for Booz Allen Hamilton. Ahson’s previous
experience includes founding a Web 2.0 startup,
developing a consulting practice in nanotechnology,
and academic research on public policy in science
and technology. Ahson received a B.S. in Electrical
Engineering, a M.S. in Systems Engineering, and has
completed coursework towards a Ph.D. in Systems
Engineering at the University of Virginia.
2011 National SBIR/STTR Spring Conference
37
Charles
Wessner, PhD
Director of the
Program on
Technology,
Innovation, and
Entrepreneurship, The
National Academies
Jeffrey W.
Williams, PhD
President, Lucigen
Corp.
John Williams
Director, NAVY Small
Business Innovation
Research (SBIR)
Program, Small
Businesses Technology
Transfer (STTR) and
Technology Transfer
(T2) Programs
38
Charles Wessner, Ph.D. is a National Academy Scholar
and Director of the Program on Technology, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship. He is recognized nationally and internationally for his expertise on innovation
policy. Currently, he directs a series of studies centered
on government measures to encourage entrepreneurship and support the development of new technologies and the cooperation between industry, universities, laboratories, and government to capitalize on
a nation’s investment in research. Foremost among
these is a congressionally mandated study of the
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program,
reviewing the operation and achievements of this
$2.3 billion award program for small companies
and start-ups. He is also directing a major study on
best practice in global innovation programs, entitled
Comparative Innovation Policy: Best Practice for the
21st Century. A complementary analysis entitled
Competing in the 21st Century: Best Practice in State
& Regional Innovation Initiatives is now underway.
Dr. Williams joined Lucigen as President in 2009.
Before that he had over 20 years of senior management experience in leading life science and
diagnostic companies, such as Roche Diagnostics,
Ambion and Promega. Most recently, he was President and CEO at Platypus Technologies. In these
roles he has participated as PI, as well as co-author,
on numerous SBIR grants. Dr. Williams holds a PhD
degree in Pharmaceutical Biochemistry and a BS in
Biochemistry, both from the University of Wisconsin
- Madison.
John Williams is Director of the Navy’s SBIR, STTR
and T2 Programs. He has dedicated his last 15 years
to the Office of Naval Research, initially serving as
Deputy of the Navy SBIR Program until his promotion to Director in 2005. Williams’ naval career has
spanned 24 years and has managed projects across
all technology disciplines starting in the Navy’s ManTech when he held positions at Naval Surface Warfare Center and the Naval Sea Systems Command.
In 2000, he initiated the TAP program, an 11 month
process to educate and assist all Navy Phase II
awardees in the Technology Transition process with
its annual Navy Forum attracting over 1400 people.
He expanded this effort to include the Primes Initiative, aimed at increasing the involvement of DOD
prime contractors. Williams is also Director of the
Navy T2 program which oversees all Navy CRADA’s
and sets policy for the Navy ORTA’s.
Kelly K. Wright
Kelly Wright is the SBIR Program Manager at the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA). She has worked at NOAA for 19 years, the
last 15 in the SBIR Program. Prior to working with
SBIR she was with the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information service where she worked
on special projects for the Assistant Administrator.
She graduated from George Mason University with a
degree in Conservation Biology.
NOAA SBIR
Program Manager,
National Oceanic
& Atmospheric
Administration
(NOAA)
Delore D.
Zimmerman, PhD
Delore is the President of Praxis Strategy Group, an
economic research, strategy and development company that works with leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs in business, government and education to
create more globally competitive, technology-based
ventures and communities. He also serves as the
Executive Director of the Red River Valley Research
Corridor an epicenter of UAS research, technology
and training. Praxis Strategy Group is a 9-time SBIR
winner.
President, Praxis
Strategy Group
Kurt A
Zuelke DVM, PhD
Center Director, USDA
ARS National Animal
Disease Center
Dr. Kurt Zuelke is the Director of the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s National Animal Disease
Center located in Ames, IA. The NADC is the
largest federal animal health research facility and
has recently moved into newly constructed $470M
state-of-the-art facilities. In 1995, he joined the
Victorian Institute of Animal Science in Melbourne,
Australia where he led a research program performing functional genomics and gene discovery research
in cattle and indigenous Australian fauna to enable
development of genetically-engineered cattle
capable of producing novel proteins in their milk.
His team produced the first transgenic cloned calf
in Australia. He returned to the US and joined the
USDA ARS as the Research Leader of the Biotechnology and Germplasm Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland in 2001. Prior to his present role, he served for
a year as USDA’s representative on President Bush’s
National Science and Technology Council in the Office of Science and Technology Policy.