Technology Transfer and Innovation Forum Series
Fall 2007 – Spring 2008
at
Cafritz Conference Center/The Marvin Center
George Washington University
800 21st Street, NW
Co-organizers:
Technology Transfer Society, Washington Chapter (T2SDC.org)
George Washington University - Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer
& Commercialization
The Federal Laboratory Consortium
The Angel Investors of Greater Washington (AIoGW.org)
The Entrepreneur Center @ The Northern Virginia Technology Council
Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO)
Rockville Economic Development, Inc.
The Washington DC Technology Council
The Forums are intended to provide critical links and enhanced
understanding, in the unique and vital area of the Nation's capital, among the
diverse communities concerned with all aspects of the transfer of technology
from research to application and commercialization. The meetings provide
insight into evolving ideas and present working models, as well as offering
networking opportunities, to the various groups concerned with producing
economic benefits by technological innovation. These include:
+ Entrepreneurs and business leaders concerned with viable
commercialization of technological innovations,
+ Federal, State, and local economic policy makers,
+ Practitioners of technology transfer and technology based economic
development, and
+ Academics concerned with the theory and evaluation of the process.
September 26, 2007
Topic: Entrepreneurial Opportunities - So you want to be an entrepreneur.
Panel Organizer:
Ronald W. Kaese, Senior Program Manager, Maryland Technology
Development Corp. (TEDCO)
Panelists:
Mark A. Grovic, Managing Director, New Markets Growth Fund; Mona
Jhaveri, Ph.D., Founder & CEO, Foligo Therapeutics, Inc.; John Hnatio is
President and Chief Scientist of ThoughtQuest LLC.; and Sean P. Gorman,
CEO and Cofounder, FortiusOne
Presentation Abstract:
What does it REALLY mean to start your own company; what is it like to
work for a start-up company; and how to evaluate a young company as a
potential employer. Receive an introduction to start-up funding programs,
get the investors’ perspective, and hear stories from real life entrepreneurs.
Hear from those that have “been there and done that.” Learn about what it
takes, where you can get help, where you can get funding, support networks,
investors, and whatever you want to ask the panel about.
The Speakers:
Ronald W. Kaese, TEDCO Senior Program Manager, Federal Lab
Partnerships
Mr. Kaese came to TEDCO from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center,
where he retired after 32 years of government service. He has worked
primarily in an R&D environment within the U.S. Army and NASA. While
assigned to the NASA Goddard Technology Commercialization Office
(TCO) he served as the Acting Chief of TCO, re-engineered the Software
Release Process and records system, and revamped the Patent Office
Technology Licensing files. Mr. Kaese’s work experience also includes
working in the COMSAT Labs and the Maryland Department of Business
and Economic Development, Investment Finance Group. Mr. Kaese has
been working in Technology Transfer and Economic Development since
1998.
Mr. Kaese holds a Masters of Business Administration and a Masters of
Science in Technology Management from the University of Maryland
University College, a Masters of Engineering in Industrial Engineering from
Texas A&M University, and a B.S. in Electronic Engineering from the
University of Maryland at College Park.
Panel Members:
Mark A. Grovic, Managing Director, New Markets Growth Fund
Mark is the Managing Director and a Co-Founder of the New Markets
Growth Fund since its inception in 2003. He has over 13 years of venture
experience as Portfolio Manager of the Small Enterprise Assistance Fund
(SEAF), Co-Founder of the Templeton Emerging Europe Fund, and
Portfolio Manager of Private Equities at the Calvert Group. He is the
Venture Capitalist in Residence and a Professor of Venture Capital and
Entrepreneurship at the Business School at the University of Maryland.
As Deputy Director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the
UMCP Business School between 2001 and 2003, Mark directed the Center’s
staff of 15 professionals, created and managed a successful University wide
program in Technology Commercialization, launched the Capital Access
Angel Network, and oversaw a 10 times increase in service revenues to the
Center. In 2004, Mark received the US Association of Small Business and
Entrepreneurship National Outstanding Course Award for Excellence in
Entrepreneurship in Education.
Mark graduated with Honors from the University of California, Berkeley,
where he majored in international politics and economics. Mark received a
Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center, where his focus
was in international, tax, and corporate law. Mark has also completed
graduate work in accounting and finance at the George Washington
University School of Business and Public Management and Pace University.
Mark is married with two children.
Mona Jhaveri, Ph.D., Founder & CEO, Foligo Therapeutics, Inc:
Dr. Jhaveri has been involved with oncology research since 1993. Upon
completion of her Doctorate in Biochemistry from the Bowman Gray School
of Medicine of Wake Forest University, she continued her training as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Cell and Cancer Biology of the
National Cancer Institute. Dr. Jhaveri was granted the SPORE Fellowship
Award for Breast Cancer Research in the laboratory of Dr. Esther Chang at
the Lombardi Cancer Center, Georgetown University, where she studied
development of antisense therapeutics. She then developed expertise in
intellectual property and technology transfer at the Ludwig Institute for
Cancer Research. Dr. Jhaveri has publications in multiple peer-reviewed
journals on the subject of oncology and medical biochemistry and is a
named inventor of FOLIGO 001, the Company's lead antisense therapeutic
designed to inhibit the protein production of a cancer-promoting gene called
the folate receptor.
In October of 2005, Dr. Jhaveri founded Foligo Therapeutics, Inc. to develop
and commercialize FOLIGO 001 for the purposes of ovarain cancer
treatment. FOLIGO's start-up was assisted by ACTiVATE, an
entrepreneurship training program for women based at the Technology
Center of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Foligo
has been selected winner of two local business plan competitions: the
Rockville Economic Development Center's (REDI's) "Start Right"
competition and the Monte Jade-DC competition. FOLIGO currently
participates in the Virtual Incubator Program at the Maryland Technology
Development Center (MTDC) in Rockville, Maryland.
John Hnatio is President and Chief Scientist of ThoughtQuest LLC.
ThoughtQuest LLC is a small Maryland based company specializing in the
development of next generation computer-supported decision support
systems. Dr. Hnatio’s research at The George Washington University lead to
a Navigator Award in 2004 for his research on advanced complex adaptive
systems and the integration of quantitative and qualitative research methods
to produce more effective computer supported decision support systems.
Before he started ThoughtQuest, LLC, John Hnatio served as a senior
manager at the Department of Energy, where he created and oversaw
industry consortia and hundreds of cooperative research and development
agreements (CRADAS) involving industry and the ten national laboratories.
In this role, he successfully managed technology transfer project budgets
totaling hundreds of millions of dollars and was responsible for the
leadership of major programs involving hundreds of government and DOE
laboratory contactor personnel. John Hnatio holds a BS from the University
of New York, College at Buffalo, an MLS from Georgetown University
(organizational management), a PHD (honoris causa) from the Russian
Academy of Sciences (applied physics) and an EdD (higher education) from
The George Washington University. John and his wife Melinda have made
Frederick County their home for over 30 years. They have two children,
Kathryn and Elizabeth.
Sean P. Gorman, CEO and Cofounder, FortiusOne
Sean Gorman founded FortiusOne in 2005 to bring advanced geospatial
technologies to market. Dr. Gorman is a recognized expert in geospatial
analysis and visualization. He has been featured around the world in media
such as, Wired, Der Spiegel, ABC, Washington Post, Business 2.0 and
CNN, and his expertise is sought after by organizations such as, the Critical
Infrastructure Task Force and the Homeland Security Advisory Council.
Dr. Gorman brings over 10 years of experience at the forefront of the
geospatial revolution as a researcher, practitioner, and entrepreneur to
FortiusOne. Prior to FortiusOne, Dr. Gorman served as VP of R&D for
GeoTel, a telecommunications mapping company, and Director of Strategy
for iXOL, a Washington D.C. based incubator. Dr. Gorman received his
PhD from George Mason University as the Provost's High Potential
Research Candidate and Fisher Prize recipient.
October 10, 2007
Topic: How Incubators Help Entrepreneurs Succeed
Speaker: John Korpela, Manager, Business Incubator Development,
Montgomery County Dept. of Economic Development
with a Panel of Graduated or Resident Entrepreneurs
Presentation Abstract:
John Korpela, Director of the Montgomery County Incubator Network will
discuss the County's award winning incubator program along with two
CEO's who have built their technology based businesses in the incubator
network. Mr. Korpela is a seasoned, national award winning
entrepreneur with a unique perspective to share.
The Speaker:
John A. Korpela is the Manager of Montgomery County’s Business
Incubator Network, a program of the County’s Department of Economic
Development. He oversees the operations and management of four existing
incubator facilities (115,000sq.ft.), 100+ tenant companies and a fifth
facility under development. Graduate companies plus current tenants
account for approximately 1,500 jobs in the local advanced technology
markets.
Mr. Korpela is a seasoned business executive with extensive experience in
the engineering, manufacturing and plastics industries. He successfully built
and then sold Kreative Plastics, Inc. a plastics company specializing in
premium product packaging.
His contributions include participation in local and state chambers of
commerce, economic development organizations and several advisory
boards. Mr. Korpela has lectured on numerous college campuses, testified on
Capitol Hill and participated in the 1995 White House Conference on Small
Business Legislative Issues. He is also the 1991 recipient of the U.S. Small
Business Administration’s “Business Person of the Year Award” for the
State of Maryland.
November 14, 2007
Topic: Top Mistakes High-Tech Entrepreneurs Make
Speaker: Julie Lenzer Kirk
President & CEO, Path Forward International
Lead Instructor, ACTiVATE program
Author, The ParentPreneur Edge: What Parenting Teaches About
Building a Successful Business (John Wiley & Sons)
Presentation Abstract:
Starting a business is hard, especially when it is based on technology, but
why not learn from the mistakes of the others who have gone before you? In
this presentation, Julie Lenzer Kirk will share what she has learned both
from her own experience and through helping other entrepreneurs about the
top mistakes start-up business owners make with special emphasis on those
with are technology-based.
The Speaker:
Julie Lenzer Kirk is an award-winning entrepreneur who is passionate about
empowering others into entrepreneurship. She is a business owner, mentor,
author, international speaker, community volunteer, and mother of two. Julie
founded her first company, a software and services firm called Applied
Creative Technologies, Inc. (ACT), in 1995 and grew it to multi-millions in
revenues over 10 years. After cashing out and selling ACT’s software to a
business partner, she now teaches entrepreneurship at the University of
Maryland, Baltimore County, and will be the instructor for a new
Technology Entrepreneurship class being offered at Montgomery College in
Spring 2008. She is also the Founder of Path Forward International which
offers workshops, consulting, and keynotes to give entrepreneurial
companies and individuals a “Boot in the Butt™” to launch new ideas, grow
existing ventures, find their work/life balance, and fine-tune their leadership
skills. Her book, “The ParentPreneur Edge: What Parenting Teaches About
Building a Successful Business” which is published by John Wiley & Sons
is available online and in bookstores internationally.
www.JulieLenzerKirk.com.
December 12, 2007
Topic: Get Rich Quick From Tech Transfer? – How the business community
is waking up to the opportunity of tech transfer startups.
Speaker: Gerard Eldering
Founder and CEO of InnovateTech Ventures
Formerly Director of Technology Transfer at MITRE Corp
Presentation Abstract:
Can you get rich quick by licensing from a research institution and building
a startup? Probably not. But the investment and entrepreneur communities
are starting to recognize the opportunities in tech transfer startups. Gerard
will discuss some of the pitfalls and opportunities with tech transfer startups,
and explain what motivated him to step in the role of a tech transfer
entrepreneur.
The Speaker:
Gerard Eldering is an accomplished licensing executive and an emerging
entrepreneur. Gerard spent more than 11 years building the technology
transfer program at The MITRE Corporation and putting together multiple
tech transfer startup deals including SquareLoop, Quickpath Bioscience and
Mogility. Gerard recently moved to the private sector and founded
InnovateTech Ventures. InnovateTech Ventures specializes in technology
transfer venture creation based on technologies licensed from universities
and research institutions in areas including information technology, software
and electronics. Gerard is active in the national technology transfer
community and regional business community, and a passionate believer in
the opportunity of tech transfer.
February 13, 2008
Topic: The Trillion Dollar Clean Tech Opportunity
Speaker: Dr. Joseph Romm
Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
Editor, ClimateProgress.org
Presentation Abstract:
The approach of peak oil production and the urgent need to reduce global
carbon dioxide emissions 50% or more by mid-century has begun to drive an
exploding market in clean technology. This talk will cover the underlying
market conditions and the technologies that is most likely to benefit in the
coming years.
The Speaker:
Dr. Joseph Romm is one of the world’s leading experts on clean energy
technologies and greenhouse gas mitigation. He is author of the book Hell
and High Water: Global Warming—the Solution and the Politics (Morrow,
2007) and former Acting Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy
Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) during 1997.
Romm is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, where he
oversees the blog ClimateProgress.org, which receives over 400,000 pageviews a month. His articles also regularly appear on Salon, HuffingtonPost,
and Gristmill. Dr. Romm is coauthor of the Scientific American article,
“Hybrid Vehicles Gain Traction” (April 2006), and author of the report,
“The Car and Fuel of the Future: A Technology and Policy Overview,” for
the National Commission on Energy Policy (July 2004). His previous book,
The Hype About Hydrogen: Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the
Climate, was named one of the best science and technology books of 2004
by Library Journal.
Dr. Romm served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at EERE from
1995 through 1998. In that capacity, he helped manage the largest program
in the world for working with businesses to develop and use clean energy
technologies—one billion dollars aimed at hybrid vehicles, electric batteries,
hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, all forms of renewable energy,
distributed generation, energy efficiency in buildings and industry, and
biofuels.
Romm holds a Ph.D. in physics from M.I.T. Dr. Romm is executive director
and founder of the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions—a one stop
shop helping businesses and states adopt high-leverage strategies for saving
energy and cutting pollution. The Center is a division of the Virginia-based
nonprofit, Global Environment & Technology Foundation. Romm’s clients
have included Toyota, IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Collins Pine, Nike,
Timberland, Texaco, and Lockheed-Martin.
March 12, 2008
Topic: Issues and trends in technology commercialization
Speaker: Lesa Mitchell
Vice President, Advancing Innovation
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
Presentation Abstract:
Mitchell will provide an overview of the research relative to issues and
trends in technology commercialization and the programmatic initiatives that
have succeeded or failed in the Kauffman Foundations attempts to
advancing innovation and commercialization.
The Speaker:
Lesa Mitchell is a vice president with the Kauffman Foundation. She is
responsible for leading the Foundation’s initiatives to advance innovations.
Mitchell joined the Foundation in 2003.
She has been responsible for the Foundation’s frontier work in
understanding the policy levers that influence the advancement of innovation
from universities into the commercial market. Under Mitchell’s leadership,
the Foundation is identifying critical research opportunities, defining and
codifying alternative commercialization pathways, and identifying new
models to foster innovation. Mitchell was instrumental in the founding of the
Kauffman Innovation Network and the iBridge Network, a founding sponsor
of the National Academy-based University–Industry Partnership, and leader
in the replication of innovator-based mentor programs at universities across
the country. In addition, Mitchell serves on the boards of Gazelle Growth in
Denmark and the University of Kansas Research Institute.
Prior to joining Kauffman, Mitchell’s professional background included
consulting for global pharmaceutical clients such as Takeda, Eli Lilly and
Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium. She spent twenty years of
her career in global executive roles at Aventis, Quintiles, and Marion
Laboratories.
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation works with partners to encourage
entrepreneurship around the world. The Kauffman Foundation is working to
further understand the phenomenon of entrepreneurship, to advance
entrepreneurship education and training efforts, to promote
entrepreneurship-friendly policies, and to better facilitate the
commercialization of new technologies by entrepreneurs and others that
have great promise for improving the economic welfare of the world.
The Foundation works with leading educators and researchers nationwide to
create awareness of the powerful economic impact of entrepreneurship, to
develop and disseminate proven programs that enhance entrepreneurial skills
and abilities, and to improve the environment in which entrepreneurs start
and grow businesses.
April 9, 2008
Topic: The Finnish Innovation Ecosystem - The Way Ahead
Speaker: Peter Westerstrahle
Head of TEKES
Washington, DC
Presentation Abstract:
In his presentation Peter Westerstrahle will describe the characteristics of
the Finnish innovation ecosystem, the challenges it is facing as well as some
of the newest initiatives aimed at helping Finland more successfully position
itself in the global economy.
The Speaker:
Peter Westerstrahle has been the head of Tekes Washington office since
August 2007. One of his main responsibilities is to promote R&D
collaboration between research institutes, companies, and universities in the
Finland and the US. Prior to his current position Peter Westerstrahle worked
as a technology adviser first at Tekes Tokyo office and then since 2005 at
Tekes Washington office. He received his M. Sc. degree in chemical
engineering at Helsinki University of Technology in 2000. After graduation
he was employed by the Finnish Foreign Trade Association (Finpro) at its
Tokyo office, where he worked for three years helping Finnish companies
enter the Japanese market.
Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, is the
main public funding organization for R&D and innovation in Finland. Tekes
funds industrial projects as well as projects in research organizations, and
especially promotes innovative, risk-intensive projects. For overseas partners
Tekes offers a gateway to the Finnish technology and innovation
community.
May 14, 2008
Topic: Federal Manufacturing R&D Priorities and Technology Deployment
for Small Manufacturers
Speaker: David Stieren
Manager, Technology Deployment
Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Presentation Abstract:
This presentation will highlight the recent efforts of the National Science
and Technology Council (NSTC) Interagency Working Group on
Manufacturing R&D relating to Federal priorities for manufacturing
research. As a follow-on, the presentation will also preview efforts
underway within the NIST MEP to deploy technology from the Nation’s
research laboratories to the Nation’s manufacturing base.
The Speaker:
David Stieren is the Manager of Technology Deployment in the
Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST). He is responsible for overseeing the
deployment of technology throughout the National MEP System, which
includes 59 Center and over 440 service locations in all 50 U.S. states and
Puerto Rico. MEP is a Federal / state / private partnership focused on
increasing the competitiveness of the U.S. industrial base by bridging the
productivity gap for manufacturers, identifying opportunities for growth, and
encouraging technology deployment.
Mr. Stieren has served in a number of technical and managerial positions at
NIST since 1988. He was a Program Analyst in 2007 on the staff of the
NIST Director. From 2001 to 2006, Mr. Stieren was the Strategic Relations
Manager of the NIST Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory (MEL), where
he was responsible for strategic and technical partnerships between MEL
and U.S. industry, other government agencies, and academia. During the
1990’s, He was the Program Manager of the NIST Automated
Manufacturing Research Facility and the National Advanced Manufacturing
Testbed. Mr. Stieren has authored numerous technical papers on various
aspects of advanced manufacturing technology, and he also currently serves
as the Executive Secretary of the President’s NSTC Interagency Working
Group on Manufacturing R&D.
Mr. Stieren has a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree from the
Catholic University of America and a Master of Science in Technology
Management degree from the University of Maryland. He completed the
course work for a Doctor of Science in Engineering Management degree
from the George Washington University, and has also served as an adjunct
professor in the 1990s at the George Washington University School of
Engineering and Applied Science.
June 11, 2008
Topic: The ACTiVATE Program: A Regional Technology Transfer
Model for Increasing Start-ups
Speaker: Stephen P. Auvil
Director, Office of Technology Development
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
Presentation Abstract:
UMBC developed the ACTiVATE Program to address a growing
need in Maryland for more technology entrepreneurs who are skilled at
starting companies based on technologies from the region’s research
institutions. The ACTiVATE Program addresses this need by recruiting,
training, and supporting mid-career women who are serious about wanting to
become technology entrepreneurs. The program utilizes an applied model
for entrepreneurship training with a goal of forming companies based on
technologies from Maryland’s research institutions at the end of each year.
The program has been successful in accomplishing its goal. Several new
companies have been formed and a number of the graduates continue to look
for opportunities. The impact of the ACTiVATE Program is only starting to
be seen as its graduates use the skills, knowledge, and networks acquired
from the program to explore entrepreneurial opportunities. The original
vision for the ACTiVATE Program was to develop a technology transfer and
economic development model that could be duplicated in other regions of
the country and for other affinity groups. UMBC is currently exploring
opportunities to expand ACTiVATE to Montgomery County for post docs at
the NIH and in Austin, Texas, which will be another program focused on
women.
The Speaker:
Stephen Auvil has been the Director of UMBC’s Office of Technology
Development (OTD) since October 2000. During his time at UMBC,
Stephen has overseen marked growth in UMBC’s license agreement
portfolio and licensing revenues. Through collaborations with UMBC’s
Technology Center, he expanded OTD’s role in support of UMBC’s
economic development mission. In this capacity, Stephen helped to create
and fund the ACTiVATE Program, a regional entrepreneurship and
technology transfer program that has resulted in the formation of several
new companies based on technologies from Maryland’s research institutions.
Prior to his arrival at UMBC, he worked as an Assistant Director in the Office of
Technology Licensing at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where
he evaluated inventions and negotiated license agreements for a variety of
technologies. He has successfully negotiated dozens of license agreements
including several agreements involving equity and a number of agreements with
faculty initiated start-up companies. Prior to working at Johns Hopkins, Stephen
worked for two small medical device companies where he had a variety of
responsibilities ranging from rebuilding medical devices under Good
Manufacturing Practices to setting-up and networking computerized accounting
systems. Stephen began his career as a laboratory technician studying ion channels
in membranes. Stephen graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology
and Engineering Science from Loyola College in Maryland, and went on to earn a
Masters of Business Administration from the University of Baltimore and a
Masters of Science in Biotechnology from the Johns Hopkins University.