Speakers
Hemai Parthasarathy is the Scientific Director of Breakout Labs, a philanthropic program to support deep-technology, startup companies as they bring groundbreaking science out of the laboratory and into the market. She is responsible for establishing the scientific priorities of the program, evaluating submitted proposals, and advising portfolio companies. She is also CSO and Partner in Breakout Ventures, a new, early stage fund that backs bold scientist-entrepreneurs working at the intersections of technology, biology, materials, and energy. Previously, Hemai served as the North American Editor for Nature and was a founding editor of PLOS, the open-access publisher of PLOS ONE. She holds a Ph.D. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. in Biophysics from The Johns Hopkins University.
Katie Rae is the CEO and Managing Partner of The Engine. Previously, Katie was a founder and Managing Director at Project 11 Ventures and Managing Director of Techstars Boston. Katie spent her early career building significant Internet businesses as the Head of Product for Microsoft Startup Labs and SVP of Product at Eons. She learned the ropes of product and business development at AltaVista, RagingBull, Zip2, and Mirror Worlds. Katie currently serves as Chairman of Startup Institute where she is also a founder. She holds an MBA from Yale University and a BA in Biology from Oberlin College.
Jeff Chamberlain has a long record of industrial product R&D and commercialization in energy, integrated circuit, and water treatment technology. Dr. Chamberlain's industrial experience is complemented by his ten years leading the energy storage technology licensing and research initiatives at Argonne National Laboratory. In collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, Jeff led the effort to successfully transfer advanced battery technology from Argonne to LG Chem, BASF, General Motors, Toda Kogyo, General Electric, and others. Dr. Chamberlain also led the team that was awarded the grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop advanced energy storage technologies for transportation and the grid, through the U.S. consortium JCESR. Jeff received his Ph.D. in the Physical Chemistry of Surfaces from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Rohit Shukla is the CEO and Founder of Larta, and is an established thought leader and respected practitioner on innovation, commercialization, and enterprise and technology-led economic development. He has advised governments, multilateral organizations, communities and enterprises throughout the world, creating initiatives that expand entrepreneurship, and enhance the competitiveness of regions across many parts of the globe. Rohit's knowledge of key issues in several industries has led to a unique career. He directed a prominent group of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in the defense, electronics and aerospace industries, which included Peter Drucker, Bill Perry (former U.S. Secretary of Defense), and Malcolm Currie, CEO of Hughes. Rohit has a Master's in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University, England, and a Master's in Communications Arts and Sciences from Loyola Marymount University, LA.
David Berokoff is the Director of the Energy Practice at Larta. David has over 38 years of experience in the energy industry, covering a wide range of disciplines including C-level suite executive support, business strategy and the development and commercialization of emerging technologies. David was lead developer and manager of Sempra Energy's uniquely successful emerging technology investment portfolio. Throughout his career. He has ample experience with the identification of customer needs and related business opportunities, design of innovative solutions, implementation of project plans, contract negotiations, construction and commissioning activities. David holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from California State University Los Angeles with post-graduate studies in energy systems analysis and economics at UCLA and the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Bill Farris is the Associate Laboratory Director for Innovation Partnering and Outreach at NREL. Bill directs efforts to accelerate commercialization and the transfer of laboratory technologies to the marketplace. He also oversees all licensing, sponsored research agreements, enterprise development, and innovation management functions at NREL. Prior to joining NREL, Farris was responsible for the Commercialization, Economic Development, Business and Competitive Intelligence, and Commercial Relationships offices at PNNL. In addition, he managed new venture activities at the Pacific Northwest Division of the Battelle Memorial Institute and served as a primary point of contact for interactions with venture capitalists. Bill holds a bachelor's degree in Geological Sciences and a master's in Radiological Sciences from the University of Washington, and a master's in Management of Technology from the National Technological University.
Elsie Quaite-Randall is the Chief Technology Transfer Officer at LBNL. Elsie is a recognized expert in developing new, effective models for moving technologies from the lab to the marketplace, where they can benefit the public. Previously, she was a molecular biologist and biochemist at Argonne and Brookhaven National Laboratories. Her interest in managing scientists' intellectual property led her to pass the U.S. Patent Bar exam and become a patent agent at Argonne. Elsie then moved on to manage IP development, commercialization and marketing for Argonne's Office of Technology Transfer. Subsequently, she joined McMaster University in Canada as Executive Director of the Industry Liaison Office. Elsie holds a B.S. in Biology from Queen's University, Belfast, an M.B.A. from North Central College, and a Ph.D.in Agricultural Biochemistry from Queen's University, Belfast.
Mike Dobbs is the Deputy Chief Counsel for Intellectual Property at DOE, Office of Science - Integrated Support Center in Chicago. Mike leads the Department's Center of Excellence in Intellectual Property Law, which is responsible for over $5B in R&D efforts, including 9 of the 17 DOE Laboratories and a yearly workload including over 1,600 inventions reports, 2,000 award closeouts, 100 Cooperative Research and Development reviews and 250 Strategic Partnership Project reviews. Mike drafted and prosecuted over seventy-five patent applications, drafted the intellectual property provisions for the SBIR/STTR awards and worked with the Small Business Association (SBA) on changes to the SBA's Policy Directive. Mike earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Valparaiso University and his Juris Doctor from Valparaiso University Law School.
Manny Oliver has served as the Director of the SBIR/STTR Programs Office within the Department of Energy since 2010. He manages a portfolio of approximately 800 early stage R&D projects that encompass the diverse mission areas of the Department of Energy. Manny has focused on improving outreach to under-represented groups, streamlining the operation of the programs, working with the DOE National Laboratories, and improving commercialization outcomes. Prior to joining DOE, Manny spent 16 years leading applied R&D and commercialization efforts at Motorola where he received 18 U.S. patents. Manny held positions as an Assistant Professor 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
As a Larta Principal Advisor, Gunjan Siroya brings over 27 years of experience in innovative business development, technology, business operations, partner management, marketing, and product management strategies to generate revenue and profit growth. Gunjan is a Principal Partner at Netspective, a business consulting and technology services firm in regulated markets. Gunjan was P&L vertical head at a $5B global organization, where he led the establishment of the consumer and industrial electronics business unit. Prior to that, Gunjan has led IT, Engineering, Infrastructure, and Business Process Outsourcing business units across various industries. Gunjan has an Engineering Degree in Digital Electronics and developed a novel Gamma Ray monitor for his thesis.
Doug Campbell is start-up veteran who has spent his entire career in a small business environment many of whom were active participants in the SBIR-STTR program. In 2011 he co-founded both Roccor and Solid Power, leading companies in the small satellite and electric vehicle (EV) battery industries, respectively. Both companies were established based on utilizing Federal Funding from sources such as the SBIR-STTR program to serve as seed-stage capital. Despite their early reliance on this source of funding, both companies have successfully transitioned to majority equity-based financing and/or product sales revenues.
Mr. Campbell’s talk will focus on his experience in utilizing non-dilutive funding from Federal sources in order to position a company for commercialization. Topics to discuss include strategy & tactical approach, the strength of Federal non-dilutive funding and risks associated with and has successfully transitioned numerous technologies from R&D - scale to commercial products in markets such as thermal management, aerospace components and energy devices. Mr. Campbell received his B.S. and M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of New Mexico.
Claudia Cantoni has served as the Commercialization Program Manager for the DOE SBIR/STTR Programs since 2016. She manages the Commercialization Assistance Program implemented by Larta, and the Phase I PI Meetings, which she introduced in 2017. Claudia focuses on improving SBIR/STTR commercialization outcomes and grantees collaborations with the DOE National Laboratories for technology transfer. Prior to joining DOE, Claudia was a materials scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory for 16 years. Her research resulted in 5 R&D 100 Awards, 3 U.S. patents and 150 technical publications. Claudia holds a masters' degree in Physics from The University of Naples Federico II, Italy, and a Ph.D. in Physics from The University of Salerno, Italy.
Mark Sojka is one of two Department of Energy, Integrated Support Center – Chicago Office SBIR/STTR Team Leaders, and has been since May 2012 when the first SBIR/STTR team was created. Mark currently manages a team of five specialists who evaluate, negotiate, award and administer over 500 grants annually under the DOE Office of Science's SBIR/STTR Program. Mark has 27 years of Federal Government experience in the procurement field including 9 years with the Department of Veteran Affairs, 4 years with the General Services Administration and 14 years with the Department of Energy.
Zandra Smith is a supervisory patent examiner (SPE) at the USPTO. She joined the agency in June 1996 as an examiner in optical measuring and testing in Technology Center (TC) 2800.Prior to joining the USPTO, Smith earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from Virginia Tech. In 2005, she became a trainer for new examiners in the Patent Training Academy. Later that same year, she became a supervisory patent examiner in the semiconductor art area, where she supervised more than 20 examiners who worked a variety of patent applications related to semiconductors and the method of making semiconductors. As a supervisor, she has had the opportunity to work on several projects within TC 2800 and the Patent Corps, including serving as being the TC lead of the Diversity Council. Smith has also worked on creating career development opportunities for the Patents Technical Support Staff and currently serves as the Transition Coordinator for TC 2800, assisting new examiners in their move from the training academy to their home art unit. She enjoys cooking, reading, and good wine and lives in Virginia with her kids and her dog.
Scott Davis works for Department's Office of Inspector General, specifically under the Office of Investigation's Hotline and Analysis section. He has worked for the Department since his retirement from the US Army last year, where for the majority of his 20-year career he was a Criminal Investigation Division Special Agent. He has worked and supervised hundreds of criminal investigations, from fraud and narcotics investigations to murder. He will address the topic of fraud within the SBIR/STTR Programs.
Marcos Gonzales Harsha is the Deputy Director of the Energy Investor Center (EIC) in the Office of Technology Transitions at DOE. The EIC works to enable commercialization of DOE technology through public-private partnerships. Marcos previously served as an Advisor to the Under Secretary for Science and Energy working to design and obtain funding for cross-cutting research programs in priority areas such as the energy-water nexus, grid modernization, subsurface science and technology, and advanced materials. These programs comprised nearly $1 billion of coordinated investments across DOE's science and energy programs. Before joining the DOE, he spent time working with Genworth Financial researching Latin American financial markets, with the Council of the Americas developing programming on trade policy and business climate, and with Innovations for Poverty Action measuring impact of microfinance programs in Peru. Marcos holds a BA in Economics from Princeton University and an MA in International Affairs from The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
Etosha Cave is chief science officer and co-founder of Opus 12, which is a startup recycling CO2 into higher-value products. She works with both the engineering team and the business development team to build the technology and grow the organization. Etosha has been passionate about energy and climate change since her childhood. She received her PhD from Stanford University, where she gained the foundational knowledge for this technology. In 2015, Etosha was a speaker at TedXStanford and the winner of the 2015 Cool Companies Competition at the Fortune Brainstorm E Conference. Prior to starting at Stanford, Etosha worked in Antarctica at the McMurdo Research Station. Etosha graduated from Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in its first graduating class.
Jim Wasson brings more than 37 years of experience in leading research, product development and technology commercialization in the electronics manufacturing industry, and has extensive experience in the aerospace, defense, and energy sectors. In 2010, Jim founded Growth Strategies International, LLC (GSI) to provide technology commercialization business consulting services. Before founding GSI, Jim was Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at BAE Systems Inc. where he planned and directed new product development for 16 product lines with 600 engineers at 7 plants in the US and UK. Jim also created and led the BAE Systems Innovation Venture. Jim served in a similar role as Director/Manager of Engineering, Program Management and Business Development Director at McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) and Smiths Aerospace (now GE Aviation) for 20 years. He also served as Chair of the University of Phoenix West Michigan Campuses Graduate Business and Management College and was an MBA Adjunct Professor for 15 years. In addition, he founded and sold two successful high-technology small businesses. Jim holds a BS in Engineering Technology from Northrop University, and MBA from the University of Phoenix, and a PhD in Business Administration from Stamford Hill University.