Annual Gala
Dinner Buffet, Program, and Networking
Tuesday, January 29, 2009, 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
NRECA Bldg, 4301 Wilson Blvd,
Ballston, Arlington, VA
RSVP: http://www.mitef.org
Welcoming Remarks
• Jean-Luc Park, Chairman MIT Enterprise Forum of DC and Baltimore
• Antoinette Muller Mathews, MIT Enterprise Forum, Inc. Global Initiatives
MITEF Business Success Stories
Host: Al Mink, Principal Systems and Engineering Strategy, SRA International
• Cindy Crump, Founder, President & CEO, AFrame Digital
• Fredric Abramson, President & CEO, AlphaGenics
• Shirley Collier, CEO, Optemax
Technology and Entrepreneurship Perspective
Two Leading International Educational Institutions
Keynote Speakers
Massachusetts
• Joshua Schuler, Executive Director
Lemelson Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Program
Maryland
• Aris Melissaratos, Senior Advisor to the President for Enterprise Development
Johns Hopkins University
Wrap Up
• Roy Morris, Past Chairman, MIT Enterprise Forum of DC and Baltimore
About the Speakers
Technology and Entrepreneurship Perspective
Two Leading International Educational Institutions
Keynote From Massachusetts
Joshua Schuler
Executive Director
Lemelson Massachusetts Intitute of Technology
As executive director of the Lemelson-MIT Program, a non-profit organization within MIT’s School of Engineering, Joshua Schuler focuses on advancing strategic goals that support the program’s mission to recognize outstanding inventors, encourage sustainable new solutions to real-world problems, and enable and inspire young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention. Since 2007, Schuler has been responsible for managing the daily operations of this educational initiative and leading a staff of six. From August 2003 to July 2007, Schuler held the post of InvenTeams grants officer, a supervisory position for the Lemelson-MIT Program’s national initiative to inspire a new generation of inventors. This program awarded high school teams grants of up to $10,000 each to develop an invention that solves a problem they have identified. Through Schuler’s vision, leadership and entrepreneurial spirit, Inven- Teams evolved from a pilot that served three New England teams to a pedagogical prototype for handson problem solving that funded grants for as many as 20 schools from Alaska to New Mexico to Florida. Schuler also established continuation grants as a means for former grantees to sustain inventive communities through the experiential learning of InvenTeams. Prior to joining the Lemelson-MIT Program, Schuler was a consultant for Axxon Biopharm, Inc. and also served as a consultant on the Renault-Nissan Alliance for Renault. He earned his MBA in 2001 from the Collège des Ingénieurs in Paris, France. Schuler received his S.M. in technology and policy at MIT in 2000, where he was involved in several positions as a teaching and research assistant, and completed a rotation with The Far East Organization, an international real-estate developer, in Singapore.
Keynote From Maryland
Aris Melissaratos
Senior Advisor to the President for Enterprise Development
Johns Hopkins University
Aris Melissaratos, recently joined The Johns Hopkins University as Senior Advisor to the President for Enterprise Development. Melissaratos, a 1966 Johns Hopkins graduate and longtime member of the Whiting School of Engineering's National Advisory Council, has overall responsibility for building the university's relationship with business and forging new connections between the research and corporate communities. Specific assignments include supervision of Johns Hopkins Technology Transfer, the office that links university researchers and businesses interested in commercializing their inventions. Melissaratos also markets opportunities for businesses to locate at Johns Hopkins-related research parks such as the Montgomery County Campus, the nearby Belward Research Campus and the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins, now under construction as part of the comprehensive New EastSide redevelopment in East Baltimore. Melissaratos, whose undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins is in electrical engineering, spent most of his career with Westinghouse Electronics in Baltimore, eventually becoming vice president of science and technology and chief technology officer at corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh. Before joining state government in 2003 as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, he also served as vice president of Thermo Electron Corp. and founded Armel Private Equity Investments. He was a founding co-chair of the Greater Baltimore Technology Council and is a former vice president of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce. He holds a master's degree in engineering management from George Washington University and did graduate work in international politics at Catholic University of America. Melissaratos also completed a program for management development at Harvard Business School.
Business Success Stories
Cindy Crump, Founder, President & CEO, AFrame Digital
Cindy Crump is Founder, President & CEO of AFrame Digital, Inc., a provider of intelligent health and wellness management and alerting solutions for outpatient and home settings. Prior to starting AFrame Digital, Cindy spent over 20 years in the networking industry, dividing her time between financial institutions, network service providers, and network equipment manufacturers. Most recently Cindy was Sales Director for Federal and North America for Caspian Networks as well as Director, Research. Cindy also held an executive-level position with MCI Metro, leading the Information Systems Development and Production Systems Operations divisions. Prior to MCI, Cindy was Sr. Director, Systems Development, Finance and Trading Systems at Freddie Mac, where her teams delivered state-of-the-art trading room systems and financial services for Freddie Mac, Wall Street and 4000 financial institutions. Cindy holds an M.A. in Economics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a B.A. in Economics from George Mason University.
Frederic Abramson, President & CEO, AlphaGenics
Dr. Frederick Abramson’s multi-disciplinary career in business, technology and scientific experience includes financial management, law, retail sales, management consulting, computers and information technology, marketing, statistics, public health & public policy, human genetics, and teaching in higher education. His technology background includes over 40 years in computers and information management. In the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s, he helped software companies enter global markets, and served as Chairman of the Software Publisher’s Association Business Section. Using mainframes, he developed a computerized tracking system for Dengue Fever in the Caribbean, an advanced decision support systems that reduced hospital-acquired infections, and special statistical software to analyze over 500,000 pregnancy records to uncover a 75% spontaneous abortion rate. His education includes a Ph.D. in human genetics from the University of Michigan (1972) and a Master of Science in Management from MIT (1977), where he was an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. He also has degrees from the University of Pennsylvania (A.B. mathematical biology, 1963), University of Rochester (M.S. biology, 1965), and the American University Washington College of Law (J.D., 1987), where he also received a certificate in European Integration.
Shirley Collier, CEO, Optemax
Shirley Collier is CEO of Optemax, LLC, a wireless optical networking company and is a nationallyknown speaker, author and technology entrepreneur. For over 25 years, she has worked in the technology, university, government, and financial services industries in a variety of technical and managerial positions. She was co-founder and CEO for 15 years of Paragon Computer Services, Inc, a systems integration and telecommunications services company which was acquired in 2004. Paragon was a pioneer in developing products and services to help businesses understand and leverage the power of the Internet for strategic advantage. Shirley has an undergraduate degree in Marketing with a Master’s degree in Management. She has published over 50 articles and spoken extensively on aligning business and Information Technology, IT security/governance, strategic planning and e-commerce. She serves on an advisory board of BB&T Bank, is the past chair the Board of the Howard County Economic Development Authority, and is a founding member and past President of the International Alliance of Technology Integrators. Shirley serves on the Howard County Superintendent's Advisory Council for Educational Partnerships and is a founder and Vice Chair of the Center for the Multi-national Development of Women in Technology and chairs the International Committee. She also sits on the Board of Trustees of the Horizon Foundation, which focuses on community health, chairing the Policy and Communications Committee. Shirley received the 1999 Woman of the Year award from the Business Women's Network of Howard County. She was awarded the EBO Outstanding Woman in Business award in 1997. Shirley was named one of Maryland's Top 100 Women in 1996, 2000 and 2005 and inducted into the “Circle of Excellence” by The Daily Record.
Welcoming Remarks
Jean Luc Park, Chairman, MIT Enterprise Forum of DC and Baltimore
Jean-Luc is the current and recently appointed Chairman MIT Enterprise Forum of DC and Baltimore. He has dedicated his career to venture capital investments. For the past 5 years, he has been working as an Associate at Calvert Funds' Special Equities Program focused on socially responsible private equity investments. Prior to this, Jean-Luc was a Associate at Lycos Ventures and Draper Triangle Ventures. He received his MBA from Carnegie Mellon University Graduate School of Industrial Administration (now Tepper) in 1998. His blog can be found at www.j-lp.com/blog
Antoinette Muller Matthews, Director, MIT Enterprise Forum Global Office
Antoinette Matthews is Director of the MIT Enterprise Forum Global Office, having joined MIT upon moving to Boston from her native South Africa in 2001. Under her directorship over the last five years, Antoinette has strengthened the Enterprise Forum's 25 global chapters on a local level through successful volunteer management practices. Simultaneously, she has helped raise the visibility of the MITEF brand globally by connecting and collaborating with over 200 separate MIT and non-MIT entrepreneurial organizations across the world, with a view to supporting the technology entrepreneur. Prior to coming to the US, Antoinette was the Relationship Marketing Manager for JD Group Pty Ltd, the largest group of national retail chains in the Southern hemisphere, and the Marketing Manager for the first IT chain in South Africa. She received her Bachelor's in Marketing and Financial Management from the University of Pretoria.
Al Mink, Immediate Past Chair, MIT Enterprise Forum of DC and Baltimore
Al Mink is Principal Systems Engineering and Strategy, SRA International. Al Mink is past Chairman and President of the regional MIT Enterprise Forum. Formerly, Al was CEO of Systems Value; Vice President, Defense and Intelligence for Unisys Corporation; and COO/CTO of the Systems and Software Consortium. Al retired from the United States Air Force as a Colonel and decorated combat pilot. Al serves on the board of Advisors of several local firms. He's Past President and Strategic Board Member of the Armed Forces Electronics Association (Northern Virginia) and currently Chairs AFCEA International's Solutions Committee. He is an advisor for the Entrepreneurship Center at the Northern Virginia Technology Council. Al also serves on the Board of Directors for the local MIT Alumni Association and in the past served on MIT's Education Council. Al received his Bachelor’s degree from MIT, his masters degree from CMU, and is pursuing his PhD from George Mason University. Al also serves as an adjunct professor, teaching IT Strategy, for graduate students at American University.
Roy Morris, Past Chair, MIT Enterprise Forum of DC and Baltimore
Roy Morris has over 20 years experience in investing, law, financial analysis and management, and is a pioneer in telecommunications competition, deregulation and engineering design. He has worked with firms and institutions including Bell Telephone Laboratories, MCI , US One Communications, and the Federal Communications Commission. He has served as an advisor and/or investor to numerous startups and is an adjunct professor at Capitol College Graduate School. Roy is former chair of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Washington-Baltimore and a member of the MITEF, Inc. advisory board. Roy received a master's in electrical engineering from MIT, an MBA from the Wharton School at Penn, and his JD from George Washington University.