Speaker:
Moderator:
Panelist:
Event Description:
Transforming a start-up culture focused on fundamental R&D into a market-focused product commercialization culture is a daunting challenge faced by many early-stage companies operating at the convergence of biotechnology and nanotechnology. There are so many potential opportunities to explore, and such a wide variety of challenges to manage. Creating well-defined products matched to real market needs requires thoughtful discipline. Novel platform technologies and applications also require carefully crafted business models to ensure that the full value of an innovation is captured. Completing this transformation usually requires the introduction of new skill-sets into the company.
Nanomix is developing a pipeline of industrial and medical detection and sensing devices, based on its Sensation(tm) technology platform. These nanoelectronic devices use ultra-sensitive carbon nanotube detection elements combined with proprietary functionalization chemistries to achieve unprecedented detection sensitivity and specificity. Sensation devices can be deployed across a broad range of applications where the benefits of nanoelectronic technology – low power consumption, small form factor, and high sensitivity – offer breakthrough performance advantages and enable immediate access to critical information. Nanomix is located in Emeryville, California. For additional information, please visit the Nanomix web site at http://www.nano.com/.
David Macdonald, CEO, will discuss the transformation of Nanomix’s initial R&D culture into a commercial business, with a pipeline of innovative products coming to market. David will focus on how he’s laying the groundwork to consistently generate new products and new streams of revenue, the basis for long-term success. Topics will include the thought process that led to focusing on the medical sensor market, defining a business model that captures the full value of the technology platform, matching product and process strategies with opportunities and partners, and the personal challenges involved in leading the transition.
The event moderator and panelists have been chosen for their experience in both life sciences and nanotechnology, and with the convoluted process of transforming academic research breakthroughs into market-leading products. They will bring a range of informed and challenging perspectives to bear on the question of how to create a successful business in this complex space.
Speaker:
David Macdonald 
President & CEO
Nanomix, Inc.
David Macdonald, joined Nanomix in March of 2004, bringing over 20 years of product development and commercialization experience. Mr. Macdonald has successfully built several high performance teams that achieved aggressive goals in technical product and service environments, developing and launching hundreds of products sold directly in the United States and Western Europe, and through independent distribution relationships worldwide. Mr. Macdonald served as President and COO of Nichols Institute Diagnostics (a division of Quest Diagnostics), as President and CEO of Progeny Systems and Medical Electronic Systems, in operational roles at Behring Diagnostics and Nova Biomedical, and most recently as the Senior VP of Global Operations and Business Development at Nanogen. Mr. Macdonald holds BS and BA degrees from Northeastern University, and an MBA degree from Babson College.
Moderator:
Faysal Sohail
Managing Director
CMEA Ventures
Faysal Sohail joined CMEA Ventures in 2002 as a Managing Director. CMEA focuses on companies that exploit exponential Moore’s Law trends to develop new technologies that provide order of magnitude improvements in specific application domains. Faysal is currently on the Board of Directors of Alien Technology, Applied Wave Research and Inovys. Before joining CMEA Mr. Sohail was CEO of Cadabra Design Automation, and managed its acquisition by Numerical Technologies, where he served as Sr. VP of Worldwide Field Operations. Previously, Faysal was Senior VP of Corporate Strategy for Synopsys. In 1990, he founded Silicon Architects, acquired by Synopsys in 1995. Earlier, Faysal worked in IC design engineering and marketing at Actel and LSI Logic. Mr. Sohail holds a BS in computer engineering from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) where he serves on the College of Engineering Advisory Board.
Panelist:
Wasiq Bokhari PhD
Managing Partner
Quantum Insight
Wasiq is a co-founder of Quantum Insight, where he works with Fortune 500 clients to commercialize materials and nanotechnology with applications in energy, IT and medicine. Wasiq also works with entrepreneurs, start-ups and venture funds to help emerging nanotechnologies cross the valley of death. Before Quantum Insight, he was a co-founder and Senior VP of Products at Clickmarks, an enterprise infrastructure software company, acquired by Semotus Solutions. Wasiq received his PhD in physics from MIT, where he studied under Nobel laureate Jerome Friedman, and participated in discovering the top quark particle at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in 1995. He is an author of more than 50 scientific and technical publications, and is cited as an inventor on 8 US patents. Wasiq co-authored a recent report on the potential of nanotechnology for the California Commission for Science and Technology (CCST), and is a co-founder and Steering Committee Chair of the MIT-Stanford-Berkeley Nanotechnology Forum. Wasiq currently works with the Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology on issues related to energy.
Michael Knapp PhD
President & CEO
Cambrios Technologies
Dr. Knapp is a scientist and entrepreneur who has helped grow several companies from the R&D stage to commercial success. Prior to joining Cambrios, Dr. Knapp co-founded Caliper Technologies (now Caliper Life Sciences), where he played an integral role in the creation and development of the company. As VP of Corporate Development he configured the company’s technology access program and drove the creation of partnerships with larger pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. He also created the Applications Developer Program that enabled applications of Caliper’s microfluidic technology in other fields. In addition, Dr. Knapp co-founded Amphora Discovery Corp., a chemical genomics company that was spun out of Caliper with independent funding and management. Before starting Caliper, Dr. Knapp served as President and Scientific Director at Molecular Tool, Inc., a genetics technology company that he co-founded. Previously, Dr. Knapp was on the staff of the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior at Columbia University and was Scientific Director of Genetica SARL, an affiliate of Rhone Poulenc SA. Dr. Knapp holds a B.S. in Biology from Trinity College (Hartford) and a Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology from Stanford University.
Srinivas Rao PhD
CEO & CTO
Molecular Nanosystems, Inc.
Dr. Rao has over 20 years of product development and commercialization experience in the electronics industry. Prior to Molecular Nanosystems, he served as VP of Technology at Solectron, where his responsibilities included product development and deployment of support programs in engineering design, test and assembly. Previously, he held senior technical positions at Raychem, Eastman Kodak Labs, and RCA Labs. He has received numerous honors including EP&P’s Engineer of the Year (2000) and the ‘Outstanding Achievement Award’ at RCA. Dr. Rao holds six issued patents and has authored several papers. He serves on the Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nanotechnology (BRTFN), a joint federal-state venture to promote California as a national and worldwide center for research, development, and commercialization of nanotechnology. Dr. Rao holds a BS in metallurgy from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, and MS and PhD degrees in metallurgy and materials science from the Stevens Institute of Technology.
