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Ed Zschau, Co-founder & Chairman of the Board
Dr. Zschau (pronounced like the first syllable of "shower") is a Visiting Lecturer with the 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 Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University, and a Doctor of Laws degree (honoris causa) from University of San Francisco.
Philippe Inagaki, Co-founder, CEO & Board Member
Prior to founding Polyera, Mr. Inagaki worked in operations and business development roles at high-tech start-ups in various fields, including biomaterials and embedded electronics. He has also led technology scouting and investment efforts in universities across the U.S., and has given guest lectures on Entrepreneuership at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management. Mr. Inagaki holds an A.B. in Physics magna cum laude and received the Allen Goodrich Shenstone Prize for excellence in research from Princeton University.
Pierre P. Barthélemy, Board Member
Dr. Barthélemy leads development efforts in Organic Electronics as Senior Vice President, Global Business Development at Solvay. He obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Liège, Belgium in 1987, working on lanthanide coordination chemistry. After one year of postdoctoral studies at Florida State University, he joined Solvay in 1988. He worked for several years in the field of fluorocarbons until he became the Technical Service Manager for Solvay Fluor und Derivate GmbH, Hannover, Germany in 1996. In 2000 he moved back to Belgium to join Peptisyntha SA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Solvay, and was the Managing Director of Peptisyntha SA. In 2008 he moved to his current position at Solvay. Dr. Barthélemy is a member of the Board of Plextronics, Inc., and of the Organic Electronics Association (OE-A).
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 & Co. Mr. Murdock received his MBA and Masters in Engineering Management from Northwestern University. He holds a BA in Economics from the University of Notre Dame.
William J. White, Board Member
Mr. White has been a Professor at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science since January 1998. He received Northwestern Alumni Association’s Teaching Excellence Award In 2004. He was named McCormick teacher of the year in 2001. Associated Student Government named him to the Faculty Honor Role in 2000, 2005 and 2008. Prior to Northwestern he served as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Bell & Howell Company from 1990. Previously he 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 shows. Currently, 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 also has served 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 from Northwestern University and received his MBA from Harvard University.
Jean Pfau, Co-founder & Board Observer
Mr. 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. In 2002, he retired as the chairman of Swissquote, the Swiss market leader in on-line banking, 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, or 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. |
