David Cash is the Assistant Secretary for Policy in the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA). In this role, Dr. Cash advises the Secretary of Energy and Environment on an array of issues including energy, land management, water management, oceans, wildlife and fisheries, air and water quality, climate change, environmental and energy dimensions of transportation, and waste management. The Assistant Secretary works across agencies (e.g., with transportation and economic development agencies) to develop and analyze policy options to further EEA's mission. Prior to working for the Commonwealth, Dr. Cash was a research associate at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, and a Lecturer in Environmental Science and Public Policy. He also taught science in the Amherst, Massachusetts public schools from 1990-1993. He received a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the Kennedy School at Harvard in 2001, and a B.S. in biology from Yale University in 1987.
Dr. Abigail Barrow is the Founding Director of the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center (MTTC). She is responsible for the overall management of the MTTC and the development of its programs. Prior to joining the MTTC, Dr. Barrow served as managing director of William J. von Liebig Center at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). The von Liebig Center was created in 2001 to support the commercialization of research being performed in the UCSD Jacobs School of Engineering. She has also served as a member of the board of directors of the Center for the Commercialization of Advanced Technologies Consortium (CCAT), which assisted in the identification and commercialization of technologies in the area of crisis and consequence management and received more than $25 million in federal funding from the Office of Naval Research. Dr. Barrow worked in a variety of roles at UCSD CONNECT from 1990 to 2001. At CONNECT, she developed and expanded many of its programs to support early-stage company formation and technology commercialization. The CONNECT program is now internationally recognized and has been successfully replicated in other regions of North America and in Europe. Dr. Barrow is on the board and is Chair of the Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment (MOITI) and is on the board of the National Collegiate Inventors and innovators Alliance (NCIIA). In addition, she is a Fellow of the Beyster Institute at the Rady School of Management at UCSD. Dr. Barrow received her Ph.D. from the Science Studies Unit and a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh.
Naïm Batani is President & CEO of ISR Technologies, a company in Montreal he co-founded in 2002. He holds a M.Eng degree from McGill university and has over 35 years of experience in wireless communications. He was with Canadian Marconi Company from 1974 to 1985 and a professor with the department of Electrical Engineering at the Ecole de Technologie Superieure (ETS) since 1985. At ETS he held the position of E.E. department Chair from 1993 until 1999 and he is the co-founder of the Telecom R&D laboratory, LACIME. He has personally spearheaded University/Industry research and development collaboration activities at ETS. He implemented, and overseen the implementation of a number of projects in telecommunications, in both military and commercial areas. He is co-holder of a number of patents, and has written many scientific publications. His main research interest is in digital modem and Software Defined Radio (SDR) development for improving the performance of wireless communication systems.
John is the Director of Technology Programs for the Bernard M. Gordon Center for Subsurface Sensing and Imaging Systems and co-teaches the Engineering Leadership course for the Gordon Engineering Leadership Program. Mr. Beaty has extensive experience managing research and development for the scientific instrument, semiconductor, and government contract industries. John spent 30 years with three companies, Thermo Electron Corporation, Schlumberger Test and Transactions, and FEI Company developing a wide variety of instruments and tools, using diverse technologies. In most instances, John procured development resources from a variety of sources: government, industry, industry consortia, and venture capital.
Joseph P. Biondi is the Vice President of the Advanced Technology Directorate for Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems (IDS). In this role, he is responsible for enabling the growth of the IDS business by working with customers and business partners to develop, capture and execute new Contract Research and Development (CRAD) programs. Joe and his team focus upon technologies and capabilities that support both short and long term IDS business strategies. His group's advanced technology programs span market areas including: RF Systems and Radars, Maritime Systems and Sensors, Radiation and Nuclear Detection, Modeling and Simulation, Software Development, Advanced Materials, Acoustics and Dynamics, Environmental Systems, Whole Life Systems, Advanced Manufacturing, Electro-Optics, Robotics, Power Systems, and Advanced Semiconductors. Prior to his current assignment, Joe was the Advanced Technology Directorate Deputy where he was responsible for tactical operations and strategic alignment. During that time, he was instrumental in helping to lead the organization to steady growth and was a key contributor in winning several new programs that have enabled adjacent market growth for IDS. Joe also held numerous other positions of leadership. As a program manager he successfully led several technology programs and process initiatives spanning across multiple IDS business areas. Before that, he held positions of increasing responsibility within the Electrical Design Directorate at IDS. As a project leader and program manager he led and directed development, production, and testing of components, sub-systems, and systems for programs including PATRIOT, AMRAAM, HAWK, PHOENIX, SPARROW, and AEGIS. Joe began his career with Raytheon in July of 1987 as an electrical engineer supporting the Missile Guidance Laboratory after graduating from Pennsylvania State University with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. His first position at Raytheon was as a design engineer for the Antenna and Microwave Department. Joe went on to receive his master's in electrical engineering in 1990 as part of the University of Massachusetts Microwave Scholars Program, sponsored by Raytheon and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Joe holds numerous patents and Program Management awards and has authored and presented numerous technical papers in areas of microelectronics, antennas & microwaves, radars, and advanced materials. He is a prior Recipient of IDS Engineering's Technical Honors Award, a Trained 6-Sigma Specialist, and a Graduate and Charter Member of the IDS Mentoring Program. Additionally, he has completed the Principles of Program Leadership Program, Front Line Leadership, the Leadership Development Program, and is a Graduate of the Raytheon Program Manager College (PMC). He also supports Pennsylvania State University as Campus Manager, promoting diversity, education, technology and recruiting for Raytheon Company.
Neil Cater is a registered professional engineer with a degree in Electrical Engineering from Memorial University of Newfoundland (1981). Neil joined CCMC in July 1999. Following the establishment of the Marine Institute's School of Ocean Technology in 2008, CCMC was repositioned to become the core of the School's Applied Research and Industry Outreach unit. Neil currently manages a program that provides Applied R&D and industry support in the area of Ocean Instrumentation to marine sector partners as well as to research initiatives within the Fisheries and Marine Institute. Prior to the creation of the School of Ocean Technology, Neil served as the director of the SeaComm Program at CCMC. He was responsible for a program that built capacity and competitiveness and seeks global market opportunity for Canada's marine communications industry. Neil maintains an active industry presence. He continues to serve as Chair of the Canadian Sub Committee for IEC Technical Committee (TC) 80. This committee provides Canadian interests with a forum and accredited Canadian representatives to IEC Technical Committee 80, which governs international standards for Marine communication and navigation equipment and services. Neil has recently been instrumental in the formation of the Smart Ocean Sensor Consortium, a group with the common interest in the promotion and adoption of standards for interoperable ocean sensors and serves as the groups first Chairperson.
Michael is the President and Chief Technology Officer at Trophos Energy, a Somerville, MA-based startup that is commercializing bio-voltaic energy harvesting technology licensed from Harvard University. Prior to starting Trophos, Michael spent 12 years at Teradyne where he held a variety of positions in product development, marketing and general management. He has developed several successful commercial products and has managed a global business with staff in the US, Asia and Europe. Previous work included research at the National Institute of Standards, Pacific Northwest Labs and Ford Motor Company. Michael holds a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received and MBA as part of the MIT/Sloan Fellows program. He has been awarded multiple patents and is a past recipient of an R&D100 award.
Dr. John W. Farrington completed both bachelor's (1966) and master's degrees in chemistry (1968) at Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Institute (then Southeastern Massachusetts University) before taking his doctorate at the Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, in January 1972. He spent the bulk of his distinguished career at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in a succession of positions from postdoctoral investigator to Senior Scientist (equivalent of full professor in WHOI's system) in the Chemistry Department. He held leadership positions as Director of WHOI's Coastal Research Center (1981-1987), Associate Director for Education and Dean of Graduate Studies (1990 to 2002), and then with a change of titles as Vice President for Academic Programs and Dean (2002-2005). Dr. Farrington retired from WHOI in March 2006, and since that time holds the title of Scientist Emeritus at WHOI. From 1988 to 1990, Dr. Farrington was the Michael P. Walsh Professor and Director of the Environmental Sciences Program at UMass Boston. His professional interests are: biogeochemistry of fossil fuel and anthropogenic compounds in the marine environment; environmental sciences; science-policy interactions, especially as related to environmental issues and diversity issues; leadership in academic, research, educational and non-profit organizations; education in the sciences, both formal and informal, including progress for a diversity of learners; science and religion interactions; organic geochemistry of the marine environment; biochemistry of marine organisms; and petroleum geochemistry. He has published 119 scientific papers and chapters in the scientific literature and more than 30 papers about science-policy interactions and education in marine sciences. Dr. Farrington is currently President of the Ocean Sciences Section of the American Geophysical Union. He serves as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the New Bedford Oceanarium, which operates as the Ocean Explorium at New Bedford Seaport; a member of the Board of Trustees of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences; and a member of the Board of Overseers of the Sea Education Association.
Dale Green is the Chief Scientist at Teledyne Benthos with responsibilities for advanced developments in acoustic communications and signal processing. He specializes in theory, algorithm development, and implementation of digital communications and signal processing adverse underwater channels. He currently is the Principal Investigator for multiple US Government research programs. He is the principal architect for enhancements to the Teledyne Benthos line of acoustic modems and has for eleven years supported the navy laboratory SPAWAR in the development of networked acoustic communications. Mr. Green has developed several innovative modem-based technologies for autonomous undersea sensing and navigation assistance. Education: M.S., Electrical Engineering, San Diego State University; M.S., Applied Physics, University of California, San Diego; M.S., Ocean Engineering, University of Hawaii; B.A., Mathematics, University of California, Los Angeles.
Tom Hopcroft is President & CEO of the Mass Technology Leadership Council, Inc., an organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship and promoting the success of companies that develop and deploy technology across a variety of industry sectors. A Massachusetts attorney, Mr. Hopcroft formerly led and founded the New England Business and Technology Association (NEBATA) which merged with the Mass Software Council in 2005. Since the merger he headed up cluster activities for the organization, growing the cluster portfolio from three to ten active groups. Prior to founding NEBATA, Hopcroft served on the American Bar Association's Information Security Committee, where he contributed to the drafting and editing of the ABA's Digital Signature Guidelines: Legal Infrastructure for Certification Authorities and Secure Electronic Commerce, published in 1996.
Clayton Jones is a Senior Director at Teledyne Webb Research where he is involved in the design and development of buoyancy driven ocean instruments including ALACE, APEX , and Slocum Gliders with an emphasis on system integrations, control algorithms, and pressure tolerant antenna design. Prior to joining Webb Research (now Teledyne Webb research) in 1992, Jones was President of CJ Enterprises. Jones has published extensively on Slocum and Thermal Gliders and has a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Robert Lynch is a senior electronics engineer with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, RI. In 1984 and 1991, respectively, he received BS and MS degrees, both in Electrical Engineering, from Union College in Schenectady, NY. In 1999, he received a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. His research interests are in the areas of pattern recognition and classification, data and information fusion, tracking, and signal processing. Dr. Lynch is a senior member of the IEEE, and is Vice President-Communications of the International Society of Information Fusion (ISIF). Dr. Lynch is an associate editor of the IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Part B, Cybernetics, and is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Connecticut.
Kevin McClurg is the Global Business Development Manager for the Integrated Systems Division of YSI Inc. YSI is an employee-owned company that develops, manufactures, integrates, and services instrumentation and sensor systems for measuring and monitoring inland and coastal water resources. The ISS division is focussed on the development and integration of Environmental and Marine platforms, sensors, and communications systems. YSI sensors and monitoring devices are used widely by the military, research institutions, and state & federal agencies worldwide. Kevin is presently managing YSI's autonomous underwater vehicle program, (EcoMapper), a low cost, person deployable vehicle, that provides high resolution mapping of water quality, bathymetry, and sonar imagery, and is built on the Ocean Server Iver2 platform technology. Kevin has worked in the marine and environmental industries for the past 28 years and has particular expertise with marine instrumentation, anti-fouling of sensor technologies, data acquisition systems, and wireless communications platforms. Kevin's background is based in Electronic Engineering and RF Communications.
David J. McLaughlin is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and director of the Center for Collaborative Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA). A National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center, CASA is a partnership among academic, industry, and government researchers from 20 different organizations pursuing the fundamental knowledge, enabling technologies, and system-level prototypes behind a new dense radar network technology that has the potential to revolutionize how we detect, track, forecast, warn, and respond to hazardous weather events. McLaughlin received his BS and PhD degrees from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1984 and 1989, respectively. He spent the period from 1989 through 1999 on the engineering faculty at Northeastern University and joined the UMass Electrical and Computer Engineering faculty in January of 2000 where he was the first recipient of the UMass College of Engineering Armstrong Professional Development Professorship and he served as director of the Microwave Remote Sensing Laboratory (MIRSL). His research and teaching interests include radar design, systems engineering, and policy-mediated dense radar networks. He is a Distinguished Lecturer for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and was named a Distinguished Faculty member by the UMass Amherst Alumni Association. He has held research fellowships at the US Naval Research Laboratory and the USAF Rome Laboratory and recently completed a sabbatical as an Engineering Fellow at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems.
Francesco Peri is the Managing Director for the Center for Coastal Environmental Sensing Networks at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. He is responsible for managing all technical aspects of projects in support of Environmental Earth and Ocean Sciences (EEOS) Research. This includes data management and data mining systems and all necessary software to ensure data integrity and redundancy.
Dr. Plueddemann received the B.S. degree in engineering from the
University of Michigan in 1980 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees
from the University of California, San Diego (Scripps Institution of
Oceanography) in 1981 and 1987, respectively. He joined the Woods
Hole Oceanographic Institution in 1987 as a postdoctoral
investigator, where he currently holds a Senior Scientist position
in the Department of Physical Oceanography. He is an active seagoing
oceanographer, having participated in about 40 cruises and
expeditions, including 20 collaborative field stuies. His
research is focussed on upper ocean processes, including the fluxes
of momentum and heat at the air-sea interface, the structure of the
oceanic surface boundary layer, and the response of the upper ocean
to surface forcing. He is also interested in the development and
application of oceanographic instrumentation.
Daniel Stuermer responsibilities include the successful operation of the Office for Applied Oceanography, the Development Office, the Office of Board Relations, and the external aspects of the four Ocean Institutes. Reporting to the Director and President and working closely with the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, the Vice President, External Relations is responsible for planning and implementing a comprehensive capital campaign in support of the Institution's research and educational mission and for all fundraising activities in the private, foundation and industrial sectors. Oversees the creation and execution of short- and long-term goals of activities for the Board Relations Office. Functions as an advisor on Institutional issues to the Director and President of the Institution. Within the Office for Applied Oceanography, responsibilities include fostering an environment where innovation and entrepreneurship are encouraged, supported and rewarded.
Before joining Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Daniel was a President of Thermo Analytical Inc.. His responsibilities included all aspects of laboratory operations, financial performance, marketing/sales efforts, and strategic future planning activities. Thermo Analytical Inc. is a subsidiary of Thermo Electron Corporation. It is a commercial chemical and microbiological laboratory company that serves the environmental, pharmaceutical, and foods industries. Annual revenues are approximately $40 million and the staff is comprised of 650 scientists and support staff. The company is the market leader in each of the sectors it serves.
Harry L. Tuller is Professor of Ceramics and Electronic Materials; Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Head of the Crystal Physics and Electroceramics Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Eng.Sc.D. in Solid State Science & Engineering from Columbia University, NY; served as Postdoctoral Research Associate; Physics, Technion, Israel 1974-5; MIT Assistant Professor 1975-9, Associate Professor 1979-86 and Full Professor 1986-present. His research focuses on sensors, fuel cells; electroceramic thin films; microphotonics; organic transistors and MEMS devices. He has published over 330 articles, co-edited 14 books and awarded 22 patents. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Electroceramics and Series Editor of Electronic Materials: Science and Technology published by Springer. His honors include: elected fellow of the American Ceramic Society -ACERS- (1984); recipient of Fulbright (1989-1990) and von Humboldt (Germany) Awards (1997-2002); docteur honoris causa, University Provence, Marseilles (2004); ACERS F.H. Norton Award (2005); elected to World Academy of Ceramics (2006); ACERS Edward Orton Jr. award (2007); The Joseph Meyerhoff Visiting Professor, Weizmann Institute of Science (2008); Honorable Guest Professor (HGP) of Shizuoka University, Japan (2009); technices doctor honoris causa, University of Oulu, Finland (2009). Dr. Tuller is co-founder of Boston MicroSystems, a pioneer in silicon carbide-based MEMS technology and devices.
Dr. Christopher Wallsmith is the Chief Technology Officer at Bluefin Robotics. He manages Bluefin internal research and development activities and has experience leading Bluefin programs of all sizes, including the Battlespace Preparation AUV for Littoral Combat Ship program. He has previously served as Bluefin's Chief Knowledge Officer and Software Department Manager. Dr. Wallsmith holds a doctorate in Ocean Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His doctoral research focused on integrating mapping and localization for autonomous underwater vehicles. Dr. Wallsmith worked on a variety of robotics systems for land, sea, air, space, and virtual applications at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory and iRobot before joining Bluefin Robotics in 2002.
Mr. Withrow is Project Leader for the Regional Technology Development Corp.(RTDC) of Cape Cod's Innovation Accelerator for Marine Sciences (IA/MS) and also currently serves as an Ocean Technology Advisor to the Provincial Government of Newfoundland & Labrador. Over the past 30 years, he has worked with a wide variety of marine science and technology companies to strengthen their competitive global positions in commercial, academic, and government market sectors worldwide. In 1997, Mr. Withrow founded Trinity International Consultants, a business development consulting firm specializing in investment funding, strategic market planning, market research, new product introduction, and international market penetration strategies, with a particular focus on the global marine science and technology marketplace. Mr. Withrow's previous industry positions include Anti-Submarine Warfare Marketing Manager for Hazeltine Corp., Director of Undersea Systems Marketing for General Instruments Corp., Vice President of Business Development for SeaBeam Instruments, and Managing Director of ORE Offshore. He also served as Chairman of the Board for the Slater Center for Ocean Technology, a small-business incubator funded by the state of Rhode Island; and as Executive Director of the Marine & Oceanographic Technology Network, a New England-based nonprofit business development association.
