2005 Speakers
Bryce Benjamin
CEO, Language Weaver
Bryce is a successful serial entrepreneur and a member of
the Tech Coast Angels, an alliance of investors who fund early-stage Southern
California companies. He has been a practitioner of hands-on investing since
the early 1980s, alternating between stints as investor, CFO, COO or CEO
in nearly a score of companies. From 1991 to 1997, he served as COO of Brandon
International, a component manufacturer, where he was instrumental in expanding
the firm from $3MM to $18MM annual revenues through a combination of organic
growth and acquisition. He received his Master in Business Administration
with Distinction from the Harvard Business School.
David
Bowser
Vice President of Technology Transfer & Academic Relations, Johnson
and Johnson
Dave Bowser is Vice President, Technology Transfer & Academic Relations in the Corporate Office of Science & Technology. He assumed this position in September 2004. He is responsible for establishing a corporate presence for Johnson & Johnson at the top-tier universities in the world. This is a new function within the Corporate Office of Science & Technology, and focuses on identifying early-stage transformational products and technologies within research-intensive universities. An additional key role is to identify emerging thought leaders and inventors throughout academia, and create the knowledge management infrastructure to facilitate the sharing of this information across Johnson & Johnson.
Dave joined Johnson & Johnson in 2001 as Senior Director, Global Functional Leader for the Global Development and Strategic Marketing unit at J&J Pharmaceutical Research & Development, LLC. Dave then moved on to become Senior Director and Head of R&D Systems & Visual Communications at Centocor. Dave was a member of the Centocor R&D Management Board and the J&J Pharmaceutical Information Management Council. He was responsible for developing and implementing information technology across Centocor R&D, evaluating and recommending strategic partnerships focused on new technologies, and conceiving and applying an innovative regulatory compliance initiative to proactively address 21 CFR Part 11 and other broad regulatory requirements.
Before joining Johnson & Johnson, he was Director, Global Project Management
at Pfizer Global Research & Development.
Lee
Bruno
Senior Editor, Red Herring & Editor, Innovation Pipeline "Connecting
Labs and Markets"
Lee Bruno is a senior editor at Red Herring, and oversees technology coverage
of several key industry sectors. He is the founding editor of the monthly
newsletter Innovation Pipeline, co-produced by Red Herring, which covers
tech innovation and early stage spin offs from university, corporate and
government research labs. He has been with the new Red Herring since July
2003. Prior to that, he was the technology and briefing editor at Red Herring
magazine for nearly four years from 1999 to 2003 where edited the briefing
section of the magazine which examined new trends, issues and technologies
shaping hi-tech industry sectors. Mr. Bruno has been reporting and writing
about technology for the past 15 years and has written for computer trade
magazines, Scientific American, Popular Science, MIT Technology Review and
The Economist. He has appeared on CNN and radio programs, providing commentary
on technology and business issues. Mr. Bruno graduated with a Bachelor's
degree in Biology from San Francisco State University and received a Master's
degree in Journalism from Boston University.
Dr.
Rudolf (Ted) Cais
Vice President, Mitsubishi Chemical Company
Dr. Ted Cais has been the Vice President of MC Research & Innovation
Center, Inc. in Santa Barbara, California (http://www.mcric.com/) since
2002 and is responsible for steering and transferring new technology developed
by the research alliance of Mitsubishi Chemical with the University of California,
Santa Barbara.
His previous position was Senior Director of the Virginia Development Center of Mitsubishi Chemical America, Inc. where he spent 8 years in Research and Development of organic photoreceptors for the US market. Dr. Cais worked in Japan with Mitsubishi Kasei from 1990 to 1993, where he investigated photoreceptor abrasion mechanisms at the Yokohama Central Research Center, and developed new formulations at the production site in Odawara. Previously, he spent two years in product development at Mitsubishi's toner plant in Hackettstown, New Jersey.
Prior to joining Mitsubishi, Dr. Cais was a research scientist with AT&T
Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey for 13 years, where he authored
over 75 research papers and received the Distinguished Member of Technical
Staff award.
Dr.
Arthur J. Carty
National Science Advisor to the Prime Minister,
Canadian National Research Council
Dr. Arthur Carty is the National Science Advisor (NSA) to the Prime Minister. Before his appointment as NSA in April 2004, he was President of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), the federal government's leading knowledge and innovation organization for 90 years. Dr. Carty has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Nottingham University. Prior to joining NRC in July 1994, he spent two years at Memorial University and then 27 years at the University of Waterloo where he was successively, Professor of Chemistry, Chair of the Chemistry Department and Dean of Research.
Dr. Carty still maintains an active research group at NRC and continues to publish in his field of synthetic chemistry and metallic clusters. He has over 300 publications in refereed journals, and 5 patents in addition to book chapters and review articles. He is a former President of the Canadian Society for Chemistry, Honorary Fellow of the Chemical Institute of Canada and of the Fields Institute for Research in the Mathematical Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Among his many awards are the Alcan Award of the Chemical Institute of Canada, the E.W.R. Steacie Award of the Canadian Society for Chemistry, the Montreal Medal of the Chemical Institute of Canada and the Purvis Award of the Society of Chemical Industry. He has received ten honorary degrees from Canadian and foreign universities, is an Officer of the Order of Canada and Officier de l'Ordre national du Mérite of France.
He serves on several Boards including The Canadian Space Agency, the Communications
Research Centre and MITACS a Federal Network of Centres of Excellence. He
is Chairman of the Board of the Canadian Light Source and of the International
Advisory Board of the APEC Centre for Technology Foresight.
Bill
Decker
Assistant Director of Physical Science Licensing, UCSD
Bill Decker grew up in Michigan and Virginia. He received his Ph.D. from
the University of Virginia in Engineering Physics, with a dissertation entitled
"Numerical Studies of Bifurcations and Chaos in Natural Convection".
Prior to joining UCSD, Bill was employed for five years at a small biomedical
device start-up first based in Florida, then in Orange County, California,
where he held positions of increasing responsibility with duties that were
increasingly cross-functional between business and R&D. Bill's work
at the company resulted in four issued US patents, and other patents pending
in the US and Europe.
Over the years he has delivered talks at meetings of the American Physical
Society, the American Nuclear Society, the Society for Industrial and Applied
Mathematics, the International Society for Analytical Cytology, the Association
for Women in Science, and the National Association of College and University
Attorneys.
Sherylle
Mills Englander
Director, Office of Technology & Industry Alliances, UCSB
Co-Chairperson, Larta Institute's Network T2 Consortium
Sherylle Mills Englander is the Director of the Office of Technology &
Industry Alliances at UC Santa Barbara. As Director, she oversees the management
and licensing of UCSB intellectual property and the negotiation of research
agreements with the for-profit sector. Prior to arriving at UCSB, she practiced
entertainment litigation with Katten Muchin & Zavis in Los Angeles and
served as an attorney for the Smithsonian Institution, where she negotiated
copyright and trademark licensing arrangements. Ms. Englander received a
Bachelor of Music from the Eastman School of Music and her Juris Doctorate
from the University of California, Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law.
Kay
Etzler
NIH SBIR/STTR Program, National Institutes of Health
Ms. Etzler joined the National Institutes of Health in 2000 and is now a
Program Analyst in the NIH Office of Extramural Programs where she assists
with implementing the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small
Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. She currently is managing
NIH's SBIR Commercialization Assistance Program that helps translate research
results into successful ventures to benefit the economy and to improve people's
lives. Prior to her current position, Ms. Etzler worked in the Office of
Technology and Industrial Relations (OTIR) of the National Cancer Institute
(NCI) where she was responsible for the coordination of the SBIR and STTR
programs across NCI and assisted with the development of industry collaborations
for cancer research.
Ms. Etzler's experience with SBIR/STTR goes back a way. For several years,
she worked as a small business counselor with the North Carolina Small Business
and Technology Development Center where she developed a statewide SBIR/STTR
outreach program and assisted individual researchers with how best to utilize
Federal research grant programs. Ms. Etzler also served for eight years
as the SBIR/STTR Spokesperson and Administrative Coordinator at the Department
of Energy. These experiences have provided the unique opportunity of having
worked with SBIR and STTR from both the Federal and small business perspectives.
Robert
Gruetzmacher
Director
of Technology Commercialization, DuPont Center for Collaborative Research
and Education
Dr. Gruetzmacher is the Director of Technology Commercialization in DuPont's
Center for Collaborative Research and Education. During his 30-year career
with DuPont, his responsibilities have included research, development, manufacturing,
and marketing in the imaging products and medical diagnostic businesses.
He managed DuPont's infectious disease diagnostics research group in Boston,
co-managed a food quality assurance business venture, and helped lead development
of DuPont's technology transfer group and intellectual assets business.
In his current role in the Center for Collaborative Research and Education he helps lead DuPont's efforts to find appropriate university partners for sponsored and collaborative research, negotiates agreements and seeks new business opportunities with the academic setting.
Dr. Gruetzmacher holds a B.A. degree in chemistry from Hope College, a
Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University, and was the recipient of a National
Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship where he spent two years conducting
research in the field of biomaterials. He is a Licensing Executives Society
(LES) USA/Canada past Trustee and Chairs the LES International Industrial
Sectors Committee. He serves on a number of other committees dealing with
professional development, licensing in the chemicals and allied industries
(past Chair), intellectual asset strategy, valuation and pricing. He is
one of the co-founders of ICM Gathering, a group of intellectual capital
managers representing large, diverse international companies. He is a member
of the American Chemical Society, the Association of University Technology
Managers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Paul
Grand
Director, RCT BioVentures
Paul M. Grand is Director, Pacific Coast for RCT BioVentures, a technology venture investment firm and management company that provides early-stage venture funding for promising biomedical companies and technologies. RCT has assets of more than $300 million to advance technology and product development. Prior to joining RCT, Grand was co-founder and VP of Operations of Imagine Pharmaceuticals. Imagine is developing a platform to selectively deliver therapeutics and other compounds across the blood brain barrier. He was also co-founder and CEO of MicroSurgeon in Los Angeles. MicroSurgeon is developing a microwave thermal ablation device for the treatment of solid tumors.
Grand has extensive experience in new company formation and fund raising. Since 1990, he has built, operated, recruited management and raised financing for eight high technology, medical device and biotechnology companies. He has employed more than 300 people in the Los Angeles area and served as CEO in companies with up to 150 employees. Grand also was a managing director for Fruition Ventures, a group of private equity investors focused primarily on early-stage information technology companies.
Grand is a frequent panelist at biomedical conferences, and he is a member
of the Los Angeles Life Science Roundtable. Grand has lectured on entrepreneurship
and venture funding to faculty, students and scientists at the University
of California in Los Angeles, and he serves as an investment advisor to
the LARTA NIH Commercialization Assistance Program for National Institute
of Health Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program awardees.
Grand has spoken at more than 100 conferences, been featured in hundreds
of articles in publications including Forbes, New York Times and Wall Street
Journal and appeared as an expert on Bloomberg Television, CNN, and CNN/FN.
Grand has a BA from Tufts University.
Victor
Hwang
President, Larta Institute
Victor W. Hwang is the President of Larta Institute, where he oversees the
formation and execution of strategy. Larta Institute is among the most prominent
national organizations that accelerate the transition of technology into
the marketplace. Since 1993, Larta has helped thousands of technology companies
grow.
Before joining Larta, Victor was an attorney in the Corporate Securities and High Technology groups of Irell & Manella in Los Angeles. Victor practiced in a variety of legal areas, including structuring public and private equity placements, credit and leasing transactions, venture capital investments, mergers and acquisitions, securities registrations, and counseling on general corporate issues. Victor has also counseled on a range of new technology matters for many years, including software development and programming services, telecommunications, multimedia, and the internet. Prior to joining Irell & Manella, Victor practiced corporate and finance law with the international firm of Mayer, Brown & Platt
Victor graduated from Harvard University with an A.B. with Honors, studying Government plus additional studies in Computer Science, Computer Architecture, and Operating Systems Design. He graduated from the Law School of the University of Chicago with a J.D. He served on the staff of President Clinton's election campaign from 1995 through the inauguration in 1997. He was appointed as a Law Clerk in the General Counsel’s office of the U.S. Agency for International Development in 1997.
Victor has served as a reviewer for the National Science Foundation's grants for small business commercialization. Victor has served on the Board of Directors of the Harvard Club of Southern California and on the Board of Directors of San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity. Victor has also been a political adviser and speechwriter for various public officials and private citizens, and he has been a pro bono attorney for various public interest organizations around Los Angeles. His opinions have been cited in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times, among others. He has served on the Steering Committee of the International Banking and Finance Committee of the American Bar Association. He is the co-author of "Selected Developments in Federal Securities Law and California Corporate Law," Annual Review (Business Law Section of the State Bar of California: 1997); Hollywood Unstrung (Entertainment in a Wireless Age); Sand Dollar Report (An Analysis of Venture Investing); and numerous other publications.
Shirley
Jamieson
Head of External Relations, Cambridge Enterprise, University
of Cambridge
Shirley is Head of External Relations at Cambridge Enterprise, University of Cambridge. During the mid 1990s she ran her own consultancy firm specialising in top appointments for technology based companies. In 1999 Shirley co-authored the successful bid on behalf of the University of Cambridge to create the Cambridge Entrepreneurship Centre. In 2002 she was Cambridge Evening News "Business Woman of the Year." She has been a Governor of Anglia Polytechnic University since 1993.
Ken
Lynn
President, Kauffman Innovation Network
Upon the launch of the Kauffman Innovation Network, Ken Lynn will oversee
the Network's operations to improve the process by which innovations are
brought to the commercial market. Prior to joining the Foundation, Lynn
was a cofounder and consultant with Jurvaris BioTherpeutics, a biotechnology
company in Colorado that develops potent active immunotherapeutic vaccines.
He also worked with Deltagen, Inc., heading the firm's commercial development,
negotiation, and transition efforts. Previously, Lynn was senior vice president
of corporate development and legal affairs with RxKinetix, Inc. and Valentis,
Inc. From 1984 to 1991, he served as corporate counsel for Marion Merrell
Dow. Lynn graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in history
from Washburn University in Topeka, Kan. He also earned a law degree from
the University of Kansas and an MBA from Rockhurst University in Kansas
City, Mo.
About the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation works with partners to encourage entrepreneurship
across America and improve the education of children and youth. The Kauffman
Foundation was established in the mid-1960s by the late entrepreneur and
philanthropist Ewing Marion Kauffman. More information about the Kauffman
Foundation is available at www.kauffman.org.
Richard
Morganstern
Board of Governors, Tech Coast Angels
Richard Morganstern has over thirty-five years of legal, business and finance
experience.
He was the former Managing Partner of a Beverly Hills based intellectual
property and business litigation and counseling law firm. He was the former
Chairman of a NASD licensed investment-banking firm, which focused on arranging
funding, principally from foreign sources, for domestic early stage technology
companies. He is a member of the Bars of California, New York, United States
Patent Office, U.S. Supreme Court and various federal Circuit Courts of
Appeals. Mr. Morganstern currently serves on the Board of Governors of the
Tech Coast Angels, the largest seed round technology investment group in
Southern California. He devotes his time to mentoring and investing in early
stage technology companies. He serves as a member of the Advisory Board
of USC's Technology Commercialization Alliance, a guest lecturer for the
California Institute of Technology Entrepreneurial Fellowship Program and
a Distinguished Speaker at USC's Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial
Studies.
Chris
Moulding
Senior Licensing Associate, Office of Technology Transfer, USC
Co-Chairperson, Larta Institute's Network T2 Consortium
Christopher T. Moulding is a Senior Licensing Associate in the USC Office
of Technology Licensing, where he has been employed since August 2004. Prior
to that he was at headquarters of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute where
for four years he was the Science Administrator for Intellectual Property.
Mr. Moulding has significant experience in university technology transfer
in the Los Angeles area, having been employed 1991-2000 in licensing positions
at both UCLA and Caltech. He also has experience in the biotechnology industry,
with business development positions at Chiron and Systemix. Mr. Moulding
has a B.A. degree in Biology from Colorado College and an MBA from Stanford
University.
Kenneth
J. Polasko
Interim Director, Office of Intellectual Property and Director, Business
Development and Marketing, UCLA
Kenneth J. Polasko is the Interim Director, UCLA's Office of Intellectual Property and Director, Business Development and Marketing. He works with UCLA's research and investment communities to bridge the "white spaces" between research and commercial products.
Ken has a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara where he worked on molecular beam epitaxy, a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University where he worked on deep-UV lithography and a MBA from Stanford University.
Prior to joining UCLA, Ken worked for 5 years at GE's Corporate Research
Lab in Schenectady, NY on silicon integrated circuits and amorphous silicon
digital x-ray detectors and then 12 years for Motorola's Semiconductor Products
Sector in Phoenix, AZ. Ken led Motorola's Advanced Custom Technologies manufacturing
line; Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector's intellectual asset group;
and Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector's R&D technology mining
and valuation efforts. In addition, he was the Director of Motorola's Semiconductor
Research Lab in Sendia, Japan and Director of Technology and Quality for
Motorola's Distribution Business Group in Phoenix, AZ.
John
J. Rodenrys
CEO, InflammaGen
Mr. Rodenrys is CEO and Senior Managing Partner of Leading Ventures LLC, www.leadingventures.com. Leading Ventures is a venture fund which identifies early stage technologies that can be accelerated to a revenue generating entity, early outlicense or sale to an acquiring firm.
Mr. Rodenrys was previously CEO of SafetyMate Corporation, which invented and distributes SafetyMate®, a portable life saving responder device with American Red Cross and Homeland Security Protocols. He was responsible for the overall strategic direction, as well as the day-to-day operational functions and he served on the company's board of directors.
Prior to joining SafetyMate, he was COO of ForHealth Technologies where he was responsible for R&D, manufacturing, quality assurance, customer service and field operations. ForHealth develops and markets an FDA-regulated medical device which is the world's first fully automated robot for filling syringes for IV uses in hospitals. During his tenure as COO, ForHealth closed a $17.5 million Series A institutional round in June, 2002, successfully commercialized a very complex IV robot with a $600,000 sales price and built a service organization providing 24/7 domestic US support.
He previously served as president of Vistant Corporation, a subsidiary of Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH), and a Fortune 50 Company. Mr. Rodenrys developed the Vistant Business Plan and Strategy and raised approximately $5 million in Cardinal corporate strategic development funds. During his tenure, Vistant achieved a run rate of over $8 million in its first year of production, shipped production quality product within seven months of launch and created a new market in the Homeland Security space for point-of-use automation technology at US airports.
Prior to Vistant, he served as vice president of R & D and IT for Pyxis Corporation, a $600 million subsidiary of Cardinal Health. As a key member of the executive committee, he helped drive annual revenues from $180 million to $400 million and double the installed base to 80,000 units in a 3 ½ year period. He managed a staff of 220 with an annual budget of $30 million.
Other experience includes managing the product development organization as vice president of Development at Micro-MRP, the world's leader in LAN-based ERP solutions with over 5000 installations; and as CEO of Medical Data Systems, a startup in the non-invasive cardiovascular monitoring area.
Mr. Rodenrys holds a BS in engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), a master's in business from US International University (USIU) and an APICS CPIM (American Production & Inventory Control Society; Certified in Production & Inventory Management). He is the author of Production and Management Systems for Business, published by Prentice Hall and is a co-inventor on two patents.
Mr. Rodenrys is an active member of the Tech Coast Angels and the Keiretsu Forum. He has lectured frequently in the academic arena, including San Diego State University and University of California at San Diego Extension, as well as speaking at worldwide public and private seminars.
Mike
Shockro
Partner, Latham and Watkins
Mike Shockro, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Latham & Watkins, is a member of the Corporate Department. He is the founder and chair of the firm's Technology Transactions Practice Group.
Mr. Shockro's practice focuses on high technology issues and on the corporate and commercial questions faced by clients dealing with those issues. A substantial portion of his practice is devoted to outsourcing, licensing, development and strategic alliance relationships for clients dealing with information system challenges. He is a frequent lecturer before such forums as the Gartner Group's Best Practices Forum on Outsourcing Management, the National Conference and Research Group, California Continuing Education of the Bar, Southwestern Legal Foundation, New York Law Journal seminars, the American Bar Association, The Practicing Law Institute, and ALI-ABA. His articles have appeared in various law journals and other publications. He was named as one of the leading outsourcing lawyers in the US by Chambers & Partners in its 2004-2005 USA Directory.
Mr. Shockro has been a member of the Executive Committee of the CalTech/MIT Enterprise Forum, which provides a broad range of services and networking opportunities to emerging technology-based companies in Southern California. Mr. Shockro is a member of the Board of Directors of the Pasadena Symphony Association, and is the legal advisor to the Association. His educational background includes an LLB from Columbia University in 1967 and a BA from Stanford University in 1964.
Rohit
Shukla
CEO, Larta Institute
Rohit K. Shukla is the chief executive officer of Larta Institute. Larta
brings together people, technology, and capital to drive the innovation
process, accelerating the transition of cutting-edge technologies to the
marketplace. Companies helped by Larta Institute have raised over $1.5 billion
in capital. Since 1993, Larta has served as the official commercialization
agent for the State of California, and now manages the nationwide Commercialization
Assistance Program for the National Institutes of Health.
As a think tank, Larta Institute stands at the intersection of public policy and private enterprise, and is a central point for assisting companies and policymakers in California in meeting the challenges of an evolving economy. Shukla is one of the most well-known public figures in the technology economy in California, but his influence goes beyond tech into areas of local government and governance, infrastructure, education and training and economic transition, including the current controversy surrounding outsourcing (and “offshoring”). His expertise is also valued worldwide, and he has worked with foreign governments, organizations and businesses in Sweden, Finland, Britain, Germany, Italy, Eastern Europe, India, Japan, China, Taiwan, Israel, Australia and the Far East. He has also developed the “Global Bridge” program to facilitate enterprise-building and market access programs, with client groups in Australia, Japan, Israel, Sweden and Finland. The program is growing rapidly.
In July, 2004, Larta Institute was selected, under Shukla’s leadership, as its principal commercialization agent by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The multi-year program will feature hands-on coaching and training in regulatory issues licensing and strategic partnership strategies designed for grantees of funding under the Small Business Innovation Program (SBIR) Phase II.
In 1993, Shukla was deeply involved in the creation of a well-known technology program in the State of California, which established the regional technology alliances (RTA’s), the California Technology Partnership (or CalTIP) and a federal-State partnership program to facilitate funding for both high-profile and grass roots projects. The program operated successfully under State funding from 1994 through 2003 as the State’s principal agent on innovation in the State’s largest region (which is also the 11th largest region in the United States). Under Shukla’s direction, Larta has become recognized worldwide as a convener and facilitator, and as an active “incubator without walls.” The organization has conducted high-level research into industry and regional issues.
Since the early 1990’s Shukla has produced a range of research reports. He was the co-author of “Beyond Consolidation” (on the redeployment of defense and aerospace assets in California, and the changing economy that followed the period of downsizing), the well-received “Hollywood Unstrung” reports on the impact of digital technologies on the entertainment industry and its implications for the economy of entertainment, the equally well-known Sand Dollar Reports (on investment and innovation), the nation’s first Nanotechnology Yellow Pages and Report, the Technology Innovation Index, which mapped innovation indicators in Southern California, the Federal Technology Funding Guide, now in its 6th year, and many reports on such sectors as bioinformatics, semiconductors, wireless technology and medical devices, as well as knowledge-based issues such as technology transfer and commercialization.
Shukla also established and continues to manage the annual Southern California
Technology Venture Forum, focused on providing “guided entrepreneurship”
assistance to companies seeking private investment capital, and Project
T2, devoted to technology transfer. Reflecting the organization’s attention
and focus on technology transfer to the marketplace from the rich ground
of research in California, Shukla just Larta under Shukla announced this
month (March 2004) the creation of Network T2, the largest consortium of
universities and research institutions in the country, which serves as a
conduit for collaborative projects, a training ground for spin-offs from
universities, and a calling card to global industry and academic players.
.
Prior to founding Larta, Shukla served, from 1991-94, as director of aerospace
and high technology business at the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation.
He oversaw an ambitious program funded by the federal Economic Development
Administration, the first federally-funded ‘defense adjustment’
program in the country.
Shukla has worked in high technology industry since 1983, first as an entrepreneur and founder of his own small company providing database and communications solutions and devices, and later, from 1989-1991 as the executive director of The Presidents’ Roundtable, a mentor group of CEOs from defense and aerospace companies throughout the U.S., based in Los Angeles. That group included such leading figures as Peter Drucker, Bill Perry (who later became Secretary of Defense) and Mal Currie (then CEO of Hughes Aircraft Company, who later became co-chair of Project California).
In April, 1999, he was named by the Los Angeles Times as one of the “Tech Coast 10 To Watch.” He has also been named to the “Who’s Who of High Technology” by the Los Angeles Business Journal, been inducted into the International Who’s Who of Entrepreneurs and has received numerous awards and citations. He has served on the boards of several institutions including the Integrated Media Systems Center at the University of Southern California, the Caltech/MIT Enterprise Forum, EC2, The Annenberg Incubator Project at the University of Southern California, the Digital Coast Roundtable and The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE).
In October 1997 Shukla was appointed by then Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan to both the Board of Information Technology Commissioners and a special blue ribbon task force on communications infrastructure for the City of Los Angeles. He co-authored the report for the City’s adoption of a streamlined telecommunications policy. He is widely quoted for his views in the media, has been a frequent guest on KWHY-TV, the Investment Channel, has been featured on such shows as the Lehrer News Hour, and in such news publications as the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Wired magazine, CIO magazine, Forbes and Silicon India. He speaks frequently before private and public audiences in the U.S. and overseas, and has been a frequent guest of regional and national governments in Scandinavia, Western Europe, the Far East and all over the United States.
Shukla holds a Masters in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University and a Masters in Communications Arts from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. He is a U.S. citizen and has been a resident of Los Angeles since 1979.
Partial list of keynote speaking engagements, for the following groups and organizations:
Nokia
Medicon Valley
Red Herring
Wired
Oracle
Boeing
Raytheon
IBM, London and IBM White Plains, NY
National Institutes of Health
Economic Development Administration (Clinton Administration)
NASA
Stockholm Promise
Swedish Office of Science and Technology
BusinessACT, Canberra
JETRO, Japan
Digital Coast Roundtable, Los Angeles
OECD/Lombardi, Italy
Tekes/Finnish Office of Science and Technology
Allen Sussman
Partner, Morrison & Foerster
Allen Sussman's practice focuses on the representation of emerging growth companies and investors in the technology and media sectors, with an emphasis on the following principal areas: serving as outside general counsel to clients in corporate and securities matters, public and private securities offerings, venture capital transactions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate partnering and strategic alliance arrangements, formation of investment funds and licensing of intellectual property. Mr. Sussman also represents banks, broker-dealers and underwriters in securities matters.
Mr. Sussman is a frequent lecturer in the areas of venture capital transactions,
securities offerings, strategic and other business transactions involving
technology and media companies. Prior to private law practice, in the early
1990's Mr. Sussman was an enforcement attorney with the Securities and Exchange
Commission in Washington, D.C., where he handled a number of high-profile
cases.
Lou
Witkin
Technology
Program Manager, HP University Relations,
Hewlett-Packard
Lou Witkin has been with Hewlett-Packard for over 30 years. During the
first 20 years of his career, Lou was a Project Manager in various HP businesses.
During the past 10 years, Lou has worked in HP University Relations, developing
several programs that have resulted in successful long-term collaborations
between HP's businesses and universities throughout the world. Lou is currently
a Technology Program Manager in HP University Relations, and is focused
on factors that contribute to building long-term strategic partnerships
with universities. Lou helped manage the development of the Gelato portal
(www.gelato.org) in its early stages.