Judges

Grand Prize Judges (13 May 2008)

The Grand Prize Judges will choose the $200,000 Grand Prize Winner and also the winners of the each the $20K MIT Student Team Prize and the $20K Community Prize

Jacques Beaudry-Losique

Program Manager, Office of Biomass, U.S. Department of Energy 

Jacques Beaudry-Losique serves as the Program Manager of the $200 million U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Office of Biomass Program. The Office leads federal efforts to develop technologies that will enable clean biofuels from abundant domestic resources to significantly reduce U.S. dependence on oil. Partners include large technology leaders, small businesses, universities, national laboratories, states and non-governmental organizations.

Mr. Beaudry-Losique initially joined the Department as Manager of the Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) in June 2005, serving in that capacity until reappointed to the Office of Biomass Program (OBP) in December 2006. He brings to the Office extensive experience in executive management, business development and commercial negotiations.

He was instrumental in modernizing ITP’s portfolio and is positioning the accelerated growth of the Biomass program toward market results. Prior to joining DOE, he served two years as a mergers and acquisitions consultant, acting CFO and board member to many small and midsize technology companies. Before that he was the business development leader of General Electric Power Systems investment activities. There, he was responsible for the placement of more than $20 million in equity investments into strategic technology companies, and oversight of more than $75 million of GE investments. Prior to that, he devised growth strategies for Aspen Technologies, a leading engineering and supply chain software company with strong ties to MIT. Mr. Beaudry-Losique also has many years of experience as a management consultant with McKinsey and Company in Toronto and Boston.

Mr. Beaudry-Losique holds a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Montreal and a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management from Stanford University. As a recipient of a Canadian Science Foundation Fellowship, he attended the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he received a master's degree in management in 1992.

Ian Bowles

Secretary, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs

Secretary Ian Bowles oversees the Commonwealth’s six environmental, natural resource and energy regulatory agencies. Massachusetts is the first state in the nation to combine energy and environmental agencies under one Cabinet secretary. He also serves as Chairman of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority and Chairman of the Energy Facilities Siting Board.

He brings nearly 20 years of experience in the energy and environmental sectors. He was a Director or Advisor to three early stage clean energy technology companies and has broad leadership experience in environmental policy. Bowles served in the Clinton Administration as Associate Director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and as Senior Director of the Global Environmental Affairs directorate at the National Security Council. Following his service in the Clinton Administration, Bowles held appointments as a Senior Research Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and as Senior Advisor at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, a multibillion dollar charitable foundation established by Intel Corp. co-founder Gordon Moore. Bowles also served as President & CEO of MassINC, a Boston-based research institute, and as Publisher of CommonWealth magazine. Earlier in his career, Bowles was Vice President of Conservation International, a leading national conservation organization. Bowles played a key role in the creation of one of the world’s largest tropical forest national parks: the four million acre Central Suriname Nature Reserve. Bowles began his career as a Legislative Assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives.

A Cape Codder, Bowles grew up in Woods Hole and is a graduate of Falmouth High School. He holds an A.B. in economics cum laude from Harvard College and a Masters degree from Oxford University, where he remains an adjunct member of the teaching faculty at the graduate school of the Environment and Geography. He has an honorary Doctorate from Emerson College. He lives in Charlestown with his wife Hannah and daughter Margaret.

Gerd Goette

Managing Partner, Siemens Venture Capital

Gerd is Managing Partner of Siemens Venture Capital based in Palo Alto, CA. He specializes in investments in energy, communications and industrial solutions.

He manages SVC’s investments in BPL Global, G2 Microsystems, GenBand, MontaVista, Newmerix, Prenova, Reactive NanoTechnologies, SmartSynch and Zolo Technologies. Earlier investments include Broadlight, Dune Networks, IP-Unity Glenayre, Kagoor Networks (acquired by Juniper Networks), Myrio (acquired by Siemens) and Verimatrix.

With more than 20 years of worldwide industry experience, he combines a strong technical background with wide-ranging operational skills. Prior to joining Siemens Venture Capital in September 2000, Gerd held the position of Vice President and Head of CableTV Solutions in Siemens Information and Communication Networks.

Gerd received a master’s degree in electrical engineering (Dipl. Ing.) from Technical University Darmstadt, Germany.

Peter Herbert

Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Lux Capital Management

Peter is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Lux Capital, focusing on investments in advanced materials and energy. Peter began his career at Lehman Brothers, where he worked in the firm's top-ranked Equity Research group. In 2000, he co-founded Lux Capital. In 2003, Peter led the spin-off of Lux Research. As founding CEO, he helped build Lux Research into the leading emerging technology research firm. Peter launched the publicly-listed Lux Nanotech Index [AMEX: LUXNI] and the $150 million PowerShares Lux Nanotech Portfolio [AMEX: PXN].

Peter manages Lux Capital's investments in Accelergy, Angstrom Publishing and Lux Research. He was a Chancellor's Scholar and graduated cum laude from Syracuse University's Newhouse School. Peter was the Founding President of Syracuse's first venture organization, Future Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs. He has been an invited speaker, guest lecturer and panelist at CNBC, Bloomberg, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, MIT, and the National Science Foundation. Peter also co-founded Young Wall Street, a charitable organization supporting youth-related causes in New York City.

Mark Kalpin

Parner, WilmerHale

Mark Kalpin is a partner in the firm's Regulatory and Government Affairs and Corporate andTransactional Departments, and a member of the Environmental, Bankruptcy and Financial Restructuring and Real Estate Practice Groups. Mr. Kalpin is the co-chair of the Emerging Energy Technology Group. He joined the firm in 1995.

Mr. Kalpin regularly advises clients on all aspects of energy law, and focuses on the development of traditional and renewable energy generation projects. He has negotiated equipment purchase agreements, EPC and facility construction contracts, fuel supply agreements, and power sales agreements, and has assisted in obtaining government grants and loan guarantees, for projects ranging in size from large merchant power plants to small-scale wind power projects. Mr. Kalpin frequently represents entities on regulatory issues before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and state Public Utility Commissions .

Jim Matheson

General Partner, Flagship Ventures

Jim joined Flagship Ventures in 2000 and focuses on new ventures in the IT and special technology (e.g. nano-technology, specialty materials, and energy) arenas. He brings to this task 20 years of technology and leadership experience across a variety of organizations and roles designing, engineering and deploying sophisticated technology platforms. Jim formerly served as a Navy fighter pilot including duties flying combat missions from aircraft carriers, and as a TOPGUN Instructor. He also gained broad experience in emerging weapons system design, testing and procurement, and was deeply involved in many of the military’s IT modernization initiatives.

Jim earned an MBA from The Harvard Business School, and a Bachelor of Science (with honors) from the United States Naval Academy and he continues to serve as a Commander in the US Naval Reserves. He serves on the boards of Flagship portfolio companies Avidimer Therapeutics, e-Dialog, Genstruct, Mascoma Energy Corporation, Novomer, Tira Wireless and vmSight, and is Chairman of the Board of Ze-gen. He was previously a director of Yantra (acquired by Sterling Commerce / SBC) and Flamenco Networks (acquired by SOA Software). Jim is on the Board of New York-based hedge fund Black Horse Capital, Common Impact (a non-profit providing IT services to other non-profits), and the Center for Women & Enterprise, and is actively involved in numerous entrepreneurial and venture capital organizations including the New England Clean Energy Council, the MIT Enterprise Forum, The Deshpande Center, and The Service Academy Business Network.

Ken Morse

Managing Director,  MIT Entrepreneurship Center

Ken Morse is a serial entrepreneur, having played a key role in launching several high-tech start-ups. As head of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center, Ken is responsible for inspiring, training, and coaching new generations of entrepreneurs from all parts of MIT. Ken has been profiled and quoted in numerous publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Economist, and Red Herring.

Since Ken joined the MIT Entrepreneurship Center in 1996, the number of students taking Entrepreneurship Courses has increased from 220 to 1,500 per year while the number of professors and lecturers has grown from two to thirty. He has raised $ 20+ million endowment for the E-Center and was named “Education All Star” by Mass High Tech magazine. Ken serves as an advisor to China Capital Ventures, LLC, Darby Overseas Investments, Ltd., PolyTechnos Venture-Partners GmbH, and SINTEF A/S. Concurrent with his MIT duties, Ken holds the Chair in Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Competitiveness in the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management at the Delft Technical University.

Between 1982 and 1996, Morse held a number of strategic positions in a venture-backed startup, Aspen Technology, Inc., which commercialized process modeling software originally developed at MIT. He crafted the company's global strategy and secured customers in Europe and Asia. As a member of AspenTech's Board of Directors from 1986 until 1995, he focused on AspenTech's entry into new global markets. From 1992 to 1996, he served as AspenTech's Managing Director for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) where he opened and managed new offices in France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and South Africa.

Dan Nova

General Partner, Highland Capital Partners, Inc.

Dan is a General Partner at Highland Capital Partners, a leading venture capital firm specializing in funding development-stage companies. Dan has been recognized by the prestigious Forbes Midas List as one of the top venture capitalists in the industry. He is actively involved in Highland's consumer investments and is Chairman of the Highland Consumer Fund Investment Committee. He has also served as a panelist in Dow Jones’ Alternative Energy Innovations which brings together key players in the alternative energy markets to discuss investment opportunities.

Dan currently serves on the boards of CMI Marketing, Coremetrics, GlobalStreams, Gotuit Media, Navic Networks, Qihoo, StyleFeeder, Top Ten Media, TriStar Investors, UUSee and Yoga Works. Prior to joining Highland in 1996, Dan was a Partner at CMG@Ventures where he co-led the partnership's investment activities in early-stage Internet companies. While at CMG@Ventures, Dan co-founded Lycos, Inc. in June of 1995, and played an integral role from its inception to its IPO in April of 1996, and finally through its sale to Terra Networks in 2000.

Prior to joining CMG@Ventures in January of 1995, Dan was a Senior Associate at Summit Partners focusing on later-stage technology and environmental investments. He also worked at Wang Laboratories from 1983 through 1989 in a variety of sales management and sales positions. Dan holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Boston College and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Werner J. Schweiger

Senior Vice President, Operations, NSTAR.

Werner J. Schweiger is the senior vice president of operations at NSTAR, Massachusetts’ largest investor-owned electric and gas utility engaged primarily in the transmission and distribution of energy, serving 1.4 million customers statewide with assets of over $7 billion.

Werner overseas both electric and natural operations for the company as well as engineering, metering, fleet and materials management functions. He is responsible for ensuring reliability, and achieving solid performance and efficiency for both NSTAR’s electric and natural gas systems – including the application of new technology innovation.

A veteran of more than 25 years in utility industry management, Werner was a vice president for Long Island Lighting Co. and later Keyspan Corporation where he had operational responsibility for the company’s construction, transmission and distribution systems as well as overseeing its electrical engineering and project management organization. Werner was also the head of electric systems engineering, managing the company’s capital budget for all transmission and substation construction projects, and manager of the electric service department, where he served as the chief restoration coordinator of the company’s 24-hour emergency and non-emergency response.

Werner holds a master’s of science in energy management from the New York Institute of Technology, a master’s of business administration from Nichols College, and a bachelor’s of science from Manhattan College.

Finalist Judges (8 May 2008) 

The Finalist Judges will choose the top five teams to promote to the Grand Prize Judging Round.

Howard Anderson

Bill Porter Professor of Entrepreneurship, MIT Entrepreneurship Center

Howard Anderson is the founder of The Yankee Group and the Co-Founder of Battery Venture Capital. He was intstrumental in the founding of A123 battery ventures.  He is a successful serial entrepreneur.

At MIT, he teaches 15.390 New Enterprises, 15.398 Companies at the Crossroads,15.966 Managing in Adversity and 15.387 High Technology Sales and Sales Management.

He sits on several high technology boards in the communications, computing, and advanced materials industries. He recently was voted on of the top 25 people in the communications industry by Network World. His commentary can often be read in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine and Technology Investor.

This winter he will be a Visiting Professor at the India School of Business in Hyderabad, India.

Beth Cohen

Director of Emerging Growth Services, WolfBlock, LLC

Ms. Cohen joined WolfBlock in 2004 and is the director of Emerging Growth Services. She is a business development, marketing and legal executive with broad experience in both domestic and international markets. She has led diverse strategic and marketing initiatives and negotiated key business relationships for large and small companies, including technology transfer arrangements, strategic alliances and acquisitions.

Ms. Cohen was a member of the international legal department of Tadiran Ltd., Israel's largest electronics company, and served as chief outside counsel to Tadiran's largest U.S. subsidiary. She has also advised Israeli companies on entering the U.S. market as part of her involvementwith the Wharton Global Consulting Practicum.

Ms. Cohen holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, a J.D. from Rutgers University where she was an editor of Law Review, and she received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Brandeis University.

Steven Connors

Director of Analysis Group for Regional Energy Alternatives (AGREA), MIT Energy Initiative

Philip Giudice

Commissioner, Division of Energy Resources, Massachussetts Commonwealth

Mr. Giudice is Commissioner of the Massachusetts Division of Energy Resources (http://www.mass.gov/doer/). He has over 30 years in the energy business. Appointed commissioner in July 2007, Giudice also serves as a board member, board executive committee member and treasurer of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and as a board member of the Commonwealth's Energy Facilities Siting Board. Prior to DOER, Commissioner Giudice served as senior vice president at EnerNOC, a start-up company providing electricity demand-management services to businesses, institutions, utilities, and grid operators. Giudice also was a senior partner and leader of Mercer Management Consulting's global energy utilities practice. He currently serves as board chair of the Center for Effective Philanthropy and serves on the President's Council of ACCION. Guidice is a geologist with a B.S. from University of New Hampshire and M.S. in Economic Geology from the University of Arizona and a management professional with a M.B.A. from Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth

Christine A. Gulbranson, Ph.D. MBA

Director, Advancing Innovations

Dr. Christine A. Gulbranson provides leadership in Advancing Innovation for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, to support the development of commercial innovation at the university level. Dr. Gulbranson’s work emphasizes traditional and non-traditional technology transfer activities conducted in collaboration with existing entrepreneurial networks, angel organizations and professional organizations. Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. Gulbranson was founder and CEO of Christalis LLC, a high-tech consulting firm specializing in nanotechnology implementation and business strategies. Previously, she founded two nanotechnology companies with applications in multiple markets. She was a partner at Global Catalyst Partners, a Bay Area venture capital firm that specializes in seed and early-stage investments in information technology. She was a Specialist in the Industrial Partnership and Commercialization Division at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Previously, she served as director of research collaborations for the University of California, Office of the President.

Dr. Gulbranson has received many accolades for her work, most notably as one of the "Top ‘Forty under 40’ of Business Leaders in Silicon Valley", and as the Cal Aggie Alumni Association’s Young Alumna of the Year in 2002. In 1999, she was named one of the "Top 100 Young Innovators in the World" by MIT’s Technology Review magazine. She holds a US patent in the field of nanotechnology with more patents pending.

By the age of 25, Dr. Gulbranson earned dual bachelor degrees in physics and materials science and engineering, an MBA, and a masters and Ph.D. in materials science and engineering, all from the University of California, Davis.

William D. Lese

Managing Director, Braemer Energy Ventures

William D. Lese has more than 24 years of research, operating and venture capital experience in the energy and environmental businesses. Prior to co-founding Braemar, Mr. Lese was a partner with Mantis Holdings, Inc., a venture capital firm focused on investing in environmental and energy efficiency companies where he concentrated on emerging technologies for converting industrial waste streams into value added products. Prior to Mantis Holdings, he was the Director of Business Development for NPS Industries, Inc., an international manufacturer of engineered equipment for the power industry. Mr. Lese’s business development activities included managing a joint venture with Consolidated Edison Co., and managing other key customer relationships. Prior to joining NPS Industries, he was one of the original employees of Sithe Energies, Inc. (an affiliate of Vivendi, SA), which became one of the world's largest independent power producers. At Sithe Energies, Mr. Lese had project and technical oversight responsibilities, including managing several power projects.

Mr. Lese has both chaired and participated on numerous panels focusing on energy technology investment opportunities and major energy issues. He currently serves on the board of directors of EnerNOC, Celunol, Coaltek, Utility Associates and is Chairman of the Board of Solicore and serves as a board observer for Stion, Enerkem and Fractal Systems. Mr. Lese has both a B.A. in Physics and an M.S. in Energy Science from New York University.

Aaron Mandel

Founder and Managing Partner, Great Point Ventures

Mr. Mandell is co-founder and Head of Technology for GreatPoint Energy; a leading technology-driven natural resources company producing clean natural gas from coal, pet coke, biomass and wastes. Mr. Mandell is also founder and Chairman of the Board of Ethos (Latin American agro-energy development) and founder and Chairman of the Board of Coskata (a leader in next generation cellulosic fuels). In 2007, he also joined the board of directors of Altarock, an enhanced geothermal power development company he co-founded.

Previously, Mr. Mandell co-founded and was CTO of Coatue. Mr. Mandell has a technical background in environmental engineering and conducted his graduate research on groundwater remediation and modeling with Dr. George Pinder under a joint fellowship at the University of Vermont and Tel-Aviv University in Israel. Since his early undergraduate years, Mr. Mandell’s passion has always been in the science and engineering of the environment and in the interaction human beings develop with the planet and our natural resources. Mr. Mandell holds a Bachelors and Masters of Science in Civil & Environmental Engineering from the University of Vermont and has held visiting scientist appointments at MIT and Tel-Aviv University. Mr. Mandell is a member of the Board of Advisors of the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Vermont.

Michael Pomianek

Shareholder, Wolf Greenfield, LLC

Mike Pomianek is a shareholder and a member of the Chemical Practice Group, with secondary membership in the Biotechnology and Mechanical Practice Groups. His practice involves patent prosecution, opinion work, due diligence, and IP counseling. Mike assists clients in the areas of biomedical engineering, medical devices, chemical processes, chemistry, analytical devices, food products, textiles, environmental technologies, nanotechnology, and mechanical testing devices.

In addition to his legal experience, clients benefit from Mike’s industry educational and educational background. Prior to joining the firm, he gained industrial chemical engineering experience through engineering internships and positions with Rohm & Haas, Dow Chemical and General Electric. Mike’s Ph.D. research involved the design, construction, and testing of an immunoaffinity membrane-based device for selective blood cell separation via cell immobilization and release from the membrane. In addition, a portion of his thesis involved determining the effect of fluid mechanical shear stress in blood on cytokene production by white blood cells. His work was conducted in collaboration with Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts.

While in law school, Mike received the Daniel J. Fern Award for graduating first in his class.

Mike is a member of the Massachusetts Bar and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. He is a member of the Boston Bar Association and the Boston Patent Law Association. Michael has been named one of the Massachusetts Super Lawyers’ “Rising Stars” in the field of intellectual property.

John Preston

Senior Lecturer, MIT Entrepreneurship Center

John Preston has broad experience analyzing inventions and converting inventions into technology-driven businesses. Mr. Preston has founded, directed, and invested in many technology companies and is an advisor to three venture capital firms.  He is on the board of directors of Clean Harbors and several private companies, and is also the CEO of Atomic Ordered Materials.

He is a contributor to Thinking Ecologically: The Next Generation of Environmental Policy, (Yale University Press, 1997), which outlines an environmental policy for the United States and other nations.

Mr. Preston’s areas of expertise include energy, environment, materials, and new high tech venture creation.

Steve Taub

Senior Vice President, Strategic Marketing - Renewables GE Energy Financial Services

Steven Taub analyzes the global renewable energy industry to guide GE's investment activities along three dimensions: renewable energy resources and technologies, regional markets and value chain position.

Prior to joining GE, Steve was with CERA, where he was engaged in research and strategic consulting on energy technology and electric power for a wide range of clients worldwide.  At CERA, Steve worked on policy issues including electric transmission, distribution, energy metering, wholesale market design, power market modeling, long-range scenario planning, and corporate strategy development. Prior to CERA, Mr. Taub was with the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, D.C., where he served as a career employee in the office of the Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management and the Office of New Production Reactors.

Steve earned masters' degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Technology and Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University. He also completed a U.S. DOE engineering intern program at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, VA.

Matthew Trevithick

Venrock Partner

Place of birth: Toronto, Canada

Education:

B.S., Electrical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

M.S., Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management

Matt joined Venrock in 2004 after a 4-year investigation of energy-related applications of nanotechnology. Matt previously co-founded and sold two software companies - LiquidMarket, a product search and comparison shopping service, acquired by NBC Internet in 1999 and Flash Communications, a developer of instant messaging technology, acquired by Microsoft in 1998. In addition to his entrepreneurial efforts, Matt worked in project finance and currency trading in Tokyo, London, Singapore and New York. As a co-founder of two acquired companies, combined with his energy and finance background, Matt has an in-depth understanding of the entrepreneur and what it takes to get across the finish line.

Ed Wall

Program Manager -FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies, EERE, US Dept. of Energy

Edward J. Wall, is Program Manager of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies Program Office at the U. S. Department of Energy. He is responsible for a $188 million research budget for hybrid drivetrains, advanced batteries, lightweight materials, advanced combustion and fuels, vehicle systems integration, and deployment activities. He is responsible for two major government industry partnerships, the FreedomCAR and Fuel Partnership and the 21st Century Truck Partnership.

Prior to joining this office, Mr. Wall developed DOE technology utilization and commercialization policies for the Deputy Under Secretary for Research and Development Management. Mr. Wall was also the point of contact for implementation of numerous interagency activities relating to sustainable technologies, and the primary analyst for major partnership activities in the Department.

With the Department of the Interior, Mr. Wall directed policy analyses related to exploration and production of oil and gas on the U.S. outer continental shelf. These ranged from assessments of the effectiveness of offshore inspection procedures and the potential advantages of offshore oil terminals in U.S. oil distribution to the expected impacts of domestic content legislation on offshore platform fabrication.

Mr. Wall received a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Muhlenberg College in 1972, and a Master's degree in Geology from the Johns Hopkins University in 1975.

Semi-finalist Judges (6 March 2008)

The judges narrowed the nearly 100 team entries to the top 20 known as the Semi-Finalists.

Kerry Bowie

Special Assistant to the Undersecretary for Environment, Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs

Kerry Bowie joined the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a manager in 2007.  In addition to serving as an internal liaison between the environmental agencies and recently integrated energy agencies, Kerry assists with policy and permitting issues, evaluates operations, and tracks metrics to ensure the secretariat is targeting its priorities.

Prior to joining the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Kerry received his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management where he was one of the Co-presidents of the Sloan Energy & Environment Club and the recipient of the 2006 MIT Sloan Seley Achievement Award, considered the highest award of the MBA Program.  Kerry spent the eight years prior to business school at Texas Instruments in Dallas supporting semiconductor manufacturing in various Facilities, Environmental, Safety, and Health roles.  Kerry holds master's and bachelor's degrees in Environmental Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, respectively.

Bowie is the Vice President of Global Medical Knowledge, a non-profit organization improving access to medical knowledge in developing countries and lives in Somerville with his wife, Sherri-Ann, and daughter, Alexis.

Nol Browne

Director of Business Development, Evergreen Solar

Nol is a director of business development at Fraunhofer USA where he is founding a Center for Sustainable Energy (Solar, Building Efficiency, Prototyping Lab). Prior to this he worked for Evergreen Solar where he developed the strategic relationships necessary to meet ESLR's planned capacity expansion and helped site Evergreen Solar’s latest 80MW integrated solar factory in Devens, MA. In addition to his responsibilities at Evergreen, Nol served as a senior associate at Cambridge Energy Research Associates where he started up CERA's Clean Energy Study. As a graduate student he founded the MIT Energy Conference and was involved with a number of MIT startups including GreenFuel Technologies. During school, Nol worked as a summer associate at McKinsey & Co.

Nol began his career in Japan, founding an import/export operation in Kumamoto. Thereafter he worked as manager in corporate venture capital and founded two web-enabled startups.  He holds a MA in International Economics / Strategic Studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Tom Burton

Chair of Energy and Clean Tech, Mintz Levin

Tom is chair of Mintz Levin's Energy and Clean Tech. Practice Group.  He regularly represents emerging growth Energy and Clean Tech and life sciences companies as well as larger established public companies.

He routinely counsels clients on their growth and development, advises their boards of directors and participates in an array of transactions, from private and public offerings to merger and acquisitions and technology transfer matters.

Tom's corporate and finance experience has included completing over 100 venture capital and private equity financings, which have raised over a billion dollars, representing both the funds providing the capital and the emerging growth companies seeking funding. Tom has been involved in the formation and financing of numerous energy and clean technology companies in markets such as clean coal, biofuels, energy and demand management, solar and fuel cells. some examples include: EnerNOC, Inc.; Coaltek, Inc.; and GreatPoint Energy, Inc.

Robert M. Day

Principal, @Ventures

Rob Day joined @Ventures (www.ventures.com) in 2007, and operates out of the firm’s Boston-area office Rob observes on the Boards of @Ventures portfolio companies Powerit Holdings and M2E Power, Inc.

Prior to joining the @Ventures team, Rob was an investor with Expansion Capital Partners;  a consultant with Bain & Company, where he worked with companies and evaluated private equity transactions in the energy/ utilities and other sectors;  and was also a founding member of the World Resources Institute's Sustainable Enterprise Program.

Rob is the co-author of The Next Bottom Line:  Making Sustainable Development Tangible, co-leads the Renewable Energy Business Network, and is a member of the Advisory Boards of the New England Clean Energy Council and GreenTech Media.  He also authors the website Cleantech Investing which appears on GreenTechMedia.com.  Rob received his MBA at Kellogg Graduate School of Management (Northwestern University), and his BA at Swarthmore College.

Jacquelynn Henke

Colliers Meredith & Grew’s Development & Advisory Services Group

Ms. Henke joined Colliers Meredith & Grew’s Development & Advisory Services Group in 2006 to focus on management of large-scale urban projects from master planning through construction. Prior to joining Meredith & Grew, Ms. Henke spent five years at Turner Construction Company, where she played integral management roles in the construction of the $140 million, 400,000-square-foot MIT Brain & Cognitive Sciences Building, the $100+ million, 200,000-square-foot Boston University Medical Center’s Biosafety Level 4 laboratory facility in Boston’s South End, and a $400 million pharmaceutical production facility for Amgen.

At Colliers Meredith & Grew, Ms. Henke focuses on assisting clients throughout the pre-construction and construction phases of projects with matters related to value engineering, design management, procurement strategies, evaluation of sustainable design elements and LEED certification, and overall project management.

Ms. Henke is one of two designated representatives from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to the Northeast Regional Council of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), the nation’s leading sustainable building advocacy and policymaking organization. In addition, she has been selected to co-represent the Northeast Regional Council on the Chapter Steering Committee of the USGBC. She is a LEED v2.0 Accredited Professional and has advised many clients on strategies to incorporate sustainable building technologies and practices into large-scale projects.

Ms. Henke is part of the Great Boston Chamber of Commerce 2008 Boston’s Future Leaders program and was recently named to the NAIOP National Sustainability Forum.

Dr. Marie Mapes

Presidental Management Fellow, US Department of Energy

Dr. Marie Mapes is a Presidential Management Fellow working as a technology manager in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Program. Her current responsibilities include coordinating internal photovoltaic R&D at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory, managing university research in advanced photovoltaic concepts, and arranging partnerships between industry, universities, and national labs wherever possible to maximize DOE’s research investments. During her fellowship in the Program, she has also initiated new program activity to capitalize on innovative financing mechanisms for solar technology in the federal sector such as power purchase agreements and other third party arrangements.  Before coming to DOE, Dr. Mapes earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where her research focused on stability of amorphous systems with applications in the shelf-life of pharmaceuticals.

John Miller

Entrepreneur-in-Residence & Operations Manager, ATMC, UMass - Dartmouth

John Miller has 25 years of experience in technology commercialization in several major industries including Materials (Micro Magnetics), Fine Chemicals (Polaroid), Telecommunications (GTE), Photonics/Measurement Sciences (Federal Products), and Cryogenics (XL Technology).  As the Entrepreneur in Residence, he has helped launch 8 new companies, helped them raise over $3 million dollars in venture capital, and is currently advising 12 startups in the Technology Venture Center, the ATMC’s incubator.

Currently he is leading the development of the Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) industry with an MRE consortium of industry and academia, and will stand up a Marine Renewable Energy Center (MREC) in 2008.  Most recently, as CEO he cofounded a startup, raised $1 million in seed funding and $2.2 million in grant funding, and led development through fielding of a Beta unit scanning magnetic microscope based on nanotechnology from Brown University.  He has been President of two companies, and has led a variety of projects including a $20 million development that yielded 40% ROI.

He has a Batchelor of Science in Engineering from the United States Military Academy, West Point, a Masters of Science in Engineering form the University of Washington, and a Masters of Business Administration form Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  He has been certified as a Quality Engineer, American Society of Quality Control and as a Project Manager by the Department of Defense.  He is a member of the University of Massachusetts Intercampus Working Group on Renewable Energy and the New England Clean Energy Council, as well as serving on the Board of Directors for several non-profit organization.