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Ed Zschau, Founder & Chairman of the Board. Dr. Zschau (pronounced like the first syllable of "shower") is a Visiting Lecturer with rank of Professor at Princeton University in the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Operations Research and Financial Engineering and in the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education. After serving as a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Harvard Business School in the 1960s, Dr. Zschau was the founder and CEO of System Industries, a Silicon Valley computer products company, from 1968 to 1982. He served as a director and Chairman of the American Electronics Association in the 1970s and as a U.S. Congressman representing the Silicon Valley area for two terms in the 1980s. In 1987, Dr. Zschau became a General Partner of Brentwood Associates, a California-based venture capital firm, and in 1988 he left to serve as CEO of Censtor Corporation, one of Brentwood’s portfolio companies, until 1993, when he became the General Manager of the IBM Storage Systems Division. Dr. Zschau was a Professor of Management at Harvard Business School, teaching entrepreneurial management courses from 1997 to 2000, while also on the Princeton faculty. Dr. Zschau is the Founding Chairman, Emeritus, and a member of the National Advisory Board of the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, California, is on the Board of Scholars of the ACCF Center for Policy Research in Washington, DC, and is a Fellow of the California Council on Science and Technology. Currently, he is Chairman of Princeton Power Systems, Inc. and StarTek, Inc. (NYSE), and a director and investor in several other private technology companies. Dr. Zschau received an A.B. degree from Princeton University, MBA, M.S., and PhD degrees from Stanford University, and a Doctor of Laws degree (honoris causa) from University of San Francisco.
Philippe Inagaki, Founder, CEO & Board Member. Mr. Inagaki is founder and CEO of Polyera Corporation. Prior to founding Polyera, Mr. Inagaki worked in operations and business development roles at high-tech start-ups in a variety of fields including biomaterials and embedded electronics. He has also led technology scouting and investment efforts in universities across the US, and has given guest lectures on Entrepreneurship at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management. Mr. Inagaki holds an A.B. in Physics magna cum laude from Princeton University where he received the Allen Goodrich Shenstone Prize for excellence in research.
Sean Murdock, Board Member. Mr. Murdock is Executive Chairman of the NanoBusiness Alliance, the premier nanotechnology policy and commercialization advocacy group in the United States, and is one of the nation’s foremost experts on nanotechnology policy. He has led the effort to amend and reauthorize the 21st Century Nanotechnology R&D Act, which provides roughly $1.5 billion of federal nanoscience funding annually. Mr. Murdock has testified before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the Senate Commerce Committee and the House Science Committee on issues ranging from national competitiveness to technology commercialization and economic development. In addition, Mr. Murdock has advised the Committee to Review the National Nanotechnology Initiative of the National Academies. In recognition of Mr. Murdock’s leadership and impact, he received the 2006 Advocate of the Year award from Small Times Magazine, the leading publication for nanotechnology. Mr. Murdock has also been widely recognized as a thought leader in the business media. He has appeared on CNBC, closed the NASDAQ exchange with leaders throughout the nanotechnology community and has been widely cited in publications including Fortune and the Economist. Prior to formally making nanotechnology a career focus, Mr. Murdock had more than 7 years experience in management consulting, most recently as Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company. Mr. Murdock received his Masters in Business Administration and Masters in Engineering Management from Northwestern University. He holds a BA in Economics from the University of Notre Dame.
Jean Pfau, Founder & Board Observer. Mr. Jean Pfau is a successful Swiss inventor, entrepreneur, executive, and angel investor. Mr. Pfau began his career as a researcher at Charmilles Technologies, where he pioneered the field of electro-erosion machinery and became Head of Research & Development. He was instrumental in establishing Charmilles as the world leader in this technology market and served as the company’s CEO during the 1970s and early 1980s. He recently retired as chairman of Swissquote in 2002, the Swiss market leader in on-line banking, a company which he guided from its founding in 1992 to its IPO in 2000. He has also participated in many other entrepreneurial technology ventures as an advisor, board member, and angel investor. These ventures covered a large spectrum of products, systems, and services based on innovations in the fields of precision mechanical engineering, electrical discharge, electrochemical machining, micro and nano-machining, electronics, computer controls, robotics, CAD – CAM systems, electron-beam and ion-beam material processing, thermoplastic processing, and RFID. During the 1970s and 1980s, Mr. Pfau served as a Member of the Council of the Swiss National Bank and as Vice-President of the Swiss Machine Association. Mr. Pfau received a ‘License en physiques’ from the University of Geneva.
William J. White, Board Observer. Mr. White is a Professor in the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois since January 1998. In 2004 he received Northwestern Alumni Association’s Teaching Excellence Award. He was named McCormick teacher of the year in 2001. Associated Student Government named him to the faculty Honor Role in 2002 and 2008. Prior to Northwestern he served as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Bell & Howell Company since 1990. Previously he had served as Chairman of Whitestar Graphics, Inc., an Executive Vice President and Director of USG Corporation, and president of Masonite Corporation. His latest book “From Day One: CEO Advice to Launch an Extraordinary Career” was released in November 2005. He is a sought after speaker and frequent guest on TV and radio interview shows. Mr. White is a member of the Board of Directors of Intermatic Incorporated, and has served on the boards of nine public companies and several start-ups including The Reader’s Digest Assoc., Harris Bank, USG Corporation, Ivex Packaging Corporation and TJI Inc., ForestOne, and NextPart. He serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations including, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, The Field Museum and the National Association of Corporate Directors. Mr. White is an Industrial Engineering graduate of Northwestern University and he received an MBA degree from Harvard University. |
