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Keynote Speakers
Panelists
Presenters - Lunch & Learn Networking Session


Keynote Speakers
Roger Frock (MBA '59) Former General Manager, FedEx; President and CEO, Quest Management, Inc.
Mr. Frock began his business career with AT Kearney Management Consultants in Chicago and later served as the Principal in charge of Kearney’s Transportation practice in Manhattan. After completing the concept feasibility study for Federal Express, he joined that organization as Senior Vice president and General Manager in 1972, assuming responsibility for managing operations during the critical startup of the company. In 1982, Mr. Frock left Federal to start his own consulting company. He currently is President and CEO of Quest Management, Inc., a consulting group specializing in logistics, supply chain management and startup ventures. Mr. Frock has been a guest speaker at the National Council of Physical Distribution Management (now the Council of Logistics Management), the American Management Association, the American Trucking Association, and has made frequent presentations to other industry associations, private business groups, and business schools on a variety of subjects. He is the author of “Changing How the World Does Business; FedEx’s Incredible Journey to Success – The Inside Story” published by Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco. Mr. Frock holds a Bachelors Degree in Industrial Engineering and a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Michigan. He lives with his wife Linda in Annapolis, Maryland.

Ravi Mohan (MBA '96), Co-founder and Managing Director, Shasta Ventures
Ravi Mohan has focused his entire career on the software business. Prior to co-founding Shasta Ventures, Ravi was a general partner at Battery Ventures where he led eight investments and served on the boards of 12 software and technology-enabled service companies. Prior to joining Battery Ventures, Ravi built transaction-processing systems at Accenture, sold and implemented packaged software applications for Hyperion Software Corporation, and ran MIC, a software development firm based in India focused on business intelligence solutions to multinational corporations. Ravi also spent time at McKinsey & Company working with consumer packaged goods companies. Ravi is very active in entrepreneurial circles and helped found the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Indian Venture Capital Association (IVCA) to leverage entrepreneurial activities between India and America. In addition, he is an active Charter Member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) and regularly volunteers his time helping put together TiE events. He also serves on the Corporate Advisory Board for the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

Panelists

Launching & Growing Your Business
David Galbenski (BBA ’90), Founder, President and CEO, Lumen Legal
The founder of the company in 1993, Dave has guided development of one of the industry’s most innovative database-driven human resources systems. He has pioneered both domestic and offshore outsourcing solutions for both corporate clients and law firms. Dave is also Chairman of the Global Board of Directors of the Entrepreneurs ’ Organization (EO) with over 7,000 members and 110 Chapters in 40 countries. Recent awards include: · Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association President’s Award for extraordinary contributions to the organization; “Treasure of Detroit” recognition from Wayne State University Law School; Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (for Staffing and IT Consulting Services, Central Great Lakes region); Crain's Detroit Business "40 Under 40" award. Under Dave’s leadership, Lumen Legal (formerly Contract Counsel) has also been recognized as: Three-time recipient of “Metropolitan Detroit’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For”; Two-time member of the Inc. 500 which honors the 500 fastest-growing, private companies in the United States; Four-time recipient of the Future 50 of Greater Detroit award based upon the significant economic impact it has made on the Southeast Michigan region; One of “50 Companies to Watch in Michigan” based upon its entrepreneurial success. Dave graduated with distinction from the University of Michigan Business School in 1990 and cum laude from Wayne State University Law School in 1993. Prior to founding the company, Dave worked as a commercial litigation attorney in the Detroit law firm of Timmis & Inman.

Sue Hares, Director, Networking Solutions, Green Hills Software, and Founder, NextHop Technologies
Recognized as one of the world's foremost experts in routing technology, Sue is currently focusing on Secure Networking at Green Hills Software. Previously, Sue led the technology qualification, development and strategic planning functions at NextHop. Prior to launching NextHop Technologies, Ms. Hares spent 13 years at Merit Network Inc. where she most recently directed the Merit GateD Consortium. While at Merit Network Inc., she was a part of the NSFNet project that first deployed border gateway protocol (BGP) in the Internet. Ms. Hares was also a senior engineer at both Allen-Bradley Corp. and ADP, Inc. An active participant in the design, specification, and implementation of routing protocols, Ms. Hares co-chairs the Internet Engineering Task Force's (IETF's) inter-domain routing group that is standardizing border gateway protocol. She is a co-author of the latest draft of BGP. Ms. Hares earned a bachelor of science degree in computer engineering from the University of Michigan.

Shri Thanedar, PhD, CEO, Chemir Analytical Services
Thanedar's success story begins half way around the world; he grew up in poverty in a small town called Belgaum in southern India. As one of six children in a low income family, Shri was taught at an early age about the importance of education and need for financial independence. At the age of 18, Thanedar earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Karnatak University in 1973 and ranked First for Masters' in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Bombay. Once moving to the United States, he also completed a PhD in Organometallic/Polymer Chemistry from the University of Akron in 1982, post-doctoral work at the University of Michigan from 1982-1984, and an MBA from Fontbonne University in 1987. In 1990, Thanedar purchased a small manufacturing quality-related problem solving company; Chemir Analytical Services (www.chemir.com), for $75,000. At the time of the acquisition, the company had annual sales of $150,000 and three employees. In 2008, Chemir Inc. had sales of nearly $60 million and over 390 employees including 75 PhD chemists. The largest holding of Chemir Inc. is Azopharma Product Development Services (www.azopharma.com) which helps develop new medicines through services like pre-clinical, clinical research, formulation and niche manufacturing of drugs. Thanedar has established a family foundation to promote the arts and to encourage under-privileged youth to seek entrepreneurship in America and India. Thanedar lives in Miami, Florida, with his sons, Neil and Samir, and his wife, Shashi.

Moderator: Zachary Campau (MBA Eve) and Shomit Manapure (MBA Eve), Ross School of Business

Got Money? Financing Your Business
Ned Hill, Managing Director, DFJ Mercury
Ned Hill has nearly 20 years of experience as an operator, consultant, and investor in technology companies, with a particular focus on communications, computing, and data center technologies Prior to joining DFJ Mercury, Ned was a Director with Sternhill Partners, a Texas-based early-stage venture capital firm, where he worked closely with pioneering start-ups in several important emerging markets, including WiMAX (Navini Networks, acq. by Cisco); blade servers (RLX Technologies, acq. by Hewlett-Packard); and virtualization (Surgient). Prior to Sternhill, Ned was with BellSouth Internet Services where he managed broadband operations during the initial deployment and growth of BellSouth’s DSL service. Prior to BellSouth, Ned was a consultant with McKinsey & Co., focusing primarily on the communications industry; BroadBand Technologies, a start-up fiber-in-the-loop, telecom equipment manufacturer that went public in 1992, where he managed deployments throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico; Alcatel Network Systems; and Siecor Corporation, a fiber optic cable manufacturer owned by Siemens and Corning. Ned earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from N.C. State University and an MBA from The Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College where he was named an Edward Tuck Scholar. Ned currently serves on the boards of the Texas Venture Capital Association, the Rice Alliance for Technology & Entrepreneurship, and the Houston Technology Center’s IT Screening Committee. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University where he teaches a course on venture capital.

Lisa Kurek, Managing Partner, Biotechnology Business Consultants
Ms. Kurek joined BBC as a Managing Partner in 1997. She holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Biomedical Engineering. Ms. Kurek’s experience in the biomedical technology field is extensive. She spent 15 years in product development, sales, sales management, product management and business development within the industry. She has experience in large, publicly-held corporations as well as small entrepreneurial start-up companies. From 1980 to 1982, Ms. Kurek was involved in medical device development as a product development engineer for Baxter. From 1983 to 1995, she held positions in research and development, worldwide marketing, product management and sales management for Millipore Corporation in Bedford, Massachusetts. Her activities included market research, technical feasibility studies of new technologies, worldwide product introductions and key account management. In 1995, when the Biosearch Division of Millipore was sold to PerSeptive Biosystems, Ms. Kurek facilitated the transfer of sales and marketing functions to PerSeptive Biosystems and co-managed its North American sales. Later that year, Ms. Kurek became Vice President, Sales and Marketing, for Bio Image, a small entrepreneurial company. There she assisted in reestablishing the company as an entrepreneurial player in the worldwide market. Ms. Kurek was an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist in 2001.

Armando Pauker (MBA '95), General Partner, Apex Venture Partners
Armando is a general partner with an investment focus in enterprise infrastructure (hardware, software, security) and networking hardware. Prior to joining Apex, Armando served as Vice President of Networking Products for Cybernet Systems Corporation, a Linux-based software start-up. Previously, he was a senior product manager for Electronics for Imaging, a developer of high performance digital imaging servers. Armando also served as a management consultant with Booz.Allen & Hamilton, where he worked with clients in technology industries. Prior to Booz, Armando was a senior engineering manager at Tandem Computers, Inc., where he led product strategy, and hardware and software development in computer subsystems. Armando holds an MBA with High Distinction from the University of Michigan, and he received his BS in Engineering from California Institute of Technology. Armando currently serves on the boards of Cogency Software, Initiate Systems, Metallect Corporation, and ThreatStop. He previously served on the board of Informative (acquired by Satmetrix).

Tim Trapp, Vice President, Comerica Bank
Tim joined Comerica Bank in December of 2000. His background is diverse, both personal and professional, and his current role is as a relationship manager/business banker. During his time at Comerica Bank his experiences have centered around developing customized financial packages for businesses. These businesses are in varied industries and are at varied stages of a business life-cycle, including the start-up phase for many businesses. He obtained his B.S. and M.B.A. from Western Michigan University. Tim and his wife, Megan, just recently welcomed their first child into the world.

Moderator: Alok Jena and Jeff Rodrian (MBAs '10), Ross School of Business

Making Money and Doing Good: Getting Started as a Social Entrepreneur
Kipp Baratoff (MBA/MS '07) CFA, Principal and Founding Member, Equilibrium Capital Group LLC
Kipp has charted a professional career at the intersection of finance and sustainability for over a decade. His passion emerged from his work in financial services, education in public policy, love of science, and nearly 20 years of mountaineering. He joined Equilibrium Capital Group in late 2007 to help establish the investment firm focused on growth equity investing and financial product innovation in sustainability. Just prior to joining Equilibrium, Kipp developed an investment thesis and set of tools for mission related investing (MRI) for Meyer Memorial Trust; these tools are now part of the More for Mission Campaign. Currently working in an operating role, Kipp serves as President of Gerding Edlen Sustainable Solutions (GESS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Equilibrium portfolio company, Gerding Edlen Development, Inc. – the leading green building developer in the United States. GESS is a resource efficiency company that provides comprehensive retrofit services to large institutional public and private real estate portfolio owners. Prior to Equilibrium, Kipp worked at two leading emerging market public purpose investment funds (Acumen Fund and E+Co) pioneering innovative debt and equity financings to achieve sustainability and poverty alleviation in developing countries. At Cambridge Associates, LLC, in addition to specializing in all aspects of portfolio monitoring, planning and investing for several large universities and pension plans’ dedicated private equity programs, Kipp spearheaded the firm’s initial research in clean energy venture capital in 2004 and helped advise a large U.S. pension fund with a $250 million allocation to clean technology. Kipp is a CFA charter holder, earned his B.A. from Wesleyan University, and attended the University of Michigan where he earned an M.B.A. from the Ross School of Business and an M.S. Environmental Science from the School of Natural Resources & Environment. While at Michigan, Kipp worked under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative (UNEP-SEFI) to co-author and design a report, “Renewables, Policy and the Cost of Capital,” that analyzed policy’s ability to promote efficient capital market development in renewable energy. Kipp currently serves as a member of the E+Co investment committee, member of Portland’s Eco District Technical Advisory Committee, a guest lecturer on sustainable finance at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and actively works on various initiatives with state and local officials in Oregon to design better policy and programs fostering financial innovation and sustainable economic development.

Jaime Ramirez, Portfolio Manager, Grassroots Business Fund
Jaime joined GBF in 2008 and is responsible for managing its Latin America investment portfolio. Prior to GBF, Jaime worked as the operations manager for an IT consulting firm in Colombia, where he managed a team of 14 consultants that implemented and trained on a hospitality specialized MIS in Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Aruba, Curacao, and Ecuador. Jaime worked as a risk analyst for a FOREX trading company in Colombia, where he developed prediction models to guide trading strategies. Jaime also worked as the general manager for an IT consulting firm in Peru, and was a business associate for Gone Rural in Swaziland, where he supported the management team through an assignment with MBAs Without Borders and became familiar with grassroots businesses. Jaime earned his bachelor’s degree in physics, with a minor in biophysics, from the Universidad de Los Andes, Bogota, Colombia, where he wrote a Thesis on Electrostatic Effects on Synaptic Vessels in 2001. In 2007 Jaime received an International M.B.A. (IMBA) from EAE Business School in Barcelona, Spain, (Master en Administracion de Empresas, Universidad Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain) where he also received a merit based scholarship. Additionally, Jaime took a specialized course in Financial Structured Products at the Institut d’Estudis Financers in Barcelona, Spain. Jaime says what he likes most about GBF are the opportunities for innovation and supporting social entrepreneurs. He has traveled throughout South America, Central America, the Caribbean, Europe, Southern and Eastern Africa, and India.

Jackie VanderBrug (MBA '94), Partner, Criterion Ventures
Criterion Ventures Criterion Ventures is a national firm that identifies, incubates and scales ventures that make a better world. Criterion develops social ventures both as consultants to nonprofits, faith-based organizations, foundations and visionary individuals and as entrepreneurs developing internal ideas across discipline and sector, including social investing, community development, education, poverty alleviation, and healthcare. As Partner, Jackie directs major client initiatives; recent projects include the launch of a social investment fund, the creation of a new model for urban Lutheran schools, the development of a public-private partnership for the Women’s Funding Network, and an model for scaling young adult service programs. Jackie began her career at the Congressional Budget Office of the U.S. Congress, providing analytical support for policy initiatives in education, health care, and income security. She used this policy foundation to enhance and lobby for funding for programs at Focus HOPE, a Detroit education and community development non-profit. She fell in love with organizational change and spent four years at CSC Index, leading consulting teams and delivering strategic marketing, process, and organizational planning counsel to Fortune 500 companies and other organizations. She worked with Chicago Public Schools for nine months, redesigning their recruiting and hiring processes. Jackie left CSC Index to join the start-up team of iBasis, now a $1 billion Internet telecommunications firm. As vice president of business development, she forged early relationships with Cisco, HP, and other technology leaders. Subsequently, she cofounded WORK IN PROGRESS, a social enterprise enabling underprivileged youth to develop the social networking skills required for finding internships and developing careers. This effort launched her into a series of consulting assignments, where she met Joy Anderson and joined Criterion Ventures. Jackie holds a degree in mathematics from Calvin College and an MBA from the University of Michigan. She was at the founding meeting of Students for Responsible Business (now Net Impact). Jackie served as member of the board of trustees for Calvin College for nine years and is currently on the vestry at Trinity Church, Copley Square.

Jackie Victor, Co-Owner, Avalon International Breads
Ms. Victor leads the wildly successful Detroit-based Avalon International Breads. In 2007 sales topped $1.5-million. The company emphasizes organic ingredients and is deeply committed to social responsibility. They feed the homeless, recycle, hire neighborhood workers, pay a living wage and offer excellent health benefits.

Moderator: Gilad Meiri (MBA '10), Ross School of Business

Making Connections: Local Resources for Start-ups
Amy Cell (BBA '91, MBA '95), VP Talent Enhancement & Entrepreneurial Education, Ann Arbor SPARK
Amy Cell joined Ann Arbor SPARK in 2006 and is currently Vice President, Talent Enhancement & Entrepreneurial Education, where she assists organizations with their talent needs, provides oversight for a variety of entrepreneurial education programs and manages the SPARK East incubator.  Helping support economic and workforce growth in the region is her dream job, since she was born and raised in Michigan and earned a BBA and MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.  In addition to working as a CPA for Plante & Moran, and launching the Office of Student Life RSB, she has spent 10 years in a variety of human resources roles at Ford Motor Company, the Stanford Research Institute, Applied Biosystems and co-founded the consulting partnership HR Drivers in Silicon Valley.

Michelle Crumm (MBA '99), Co-founder and Chief Business Officer, Adaptive Materials, Inc.
As co-founder and chief business officer of Adaptive Materials, Inc., Michelle Crumm’s leadership has been instrumental in helping the fuel cell company transition from start-up to second stage, fast-growing manufacturing company. Without outside funding, Adaptive Materials has attracted more than $34 million in investments to advance its fuel cell innovations. In her role, Crumm is focused on leading Adaptive Materials to continued high double-digit growth in revenue and profitability, as well as supporting innovation and commercialization of the company’s solid oxide fuel cells. Widely recognized for her leadership, Crumm was named one of “Most Influential Women” by Crain’s Detroit Business, one of Enterprising Women’s “2008 Women of the Year,” and "Leader to Watch" by Women in Public Policy. She is currently a finalist for Ernst and Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award and Entrepreneur Magazine's Entrepreneur of the Year award. Adaptive Materials has been recognized for its dynamic growth with Ann Arbor SPARK FastTrack, Inc. 5,000, and Inc. 100 Energy Company awards. Prior to founding Adaptive Materials, Crumm spent nearly 5 years at Kellogg Company. During her tenure at Kellogg, Crumm was able to accelerate her career with experiences in internal audit, investor relations, and procurement. In addition to Kellogg Company, Crumm has served as an accountant at an automotive supplier and obtained her Certified Public Accountant license while working as an auditor with Plante and Moran. As a dynamic community participant, Crumm is an active board member for the Washtenaw County American Red Cross, currently serves as treasurer for the Great Lakes Entrepreneur Quest executive board of directors, and is a Trustee for the Ann Arbor Hands-On-Museum. She is an enthusiastic participant of Women’s President Organization, Women in Defense, and Women in Public Policy. Crumm earned a bachelor of science degree in accounting from Purdue University and a master of business administration degree from University of Michigan.

Wes Huffstutter, Student Entrepreneurship, U-M Office of Technology Transfer
As a New Business Development Specialist, Wesley Huffstutter helps create new businesses that use technology developed at the University of Michigan. Wesley's primary focus is on software/information technology, engineering and the physical sciences. Prior to joining OTT, Wesley was a consultant in St. Louis, MO and Columbus, OH, helping start-ups and small growth companies with strategy, marketing, and operations. Before consulting, he spent several years in Austin, TX working for Intelligent Reasoning Systems (purchased by Photon Dynamics in 2001) as a researcher, Applications Engineer, and Marketing Manager. Wesley has a Bachelor's degree in computer science from DePauw University. He is also a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis where he received a Master of Engineering Management from the School of Engineering and Applied Science and an MBA from the John M. Olin School of Business where he was designated a Charles F. Knight Scholar, graduating in the top 10 in his class.

Dug Song, Chief Architect, Barracuda Networks
Dug Song is Chief Architect at Barracuda Networks, the worldwide leader in web and e-mail security appliances. Dug was formerly VP Engineering at Zattoo, an Internet TV provider based in Ann Arbor and Zurich with 5 million subscribers across Europe. Previously, Dug spent 7 years as co-founder and Chief Security Architect at Arbor Networks, responsible for products securing over 70% of the world's Internet service providers and the largest global enterprise and defense networks. Prior to Arbor, Dug was the architect of an enterprise network security product at Anzen Computing - acquired by NFR Security, acquired by Check Point (NASDAQ:CHKP).Dug is well-known for his work in Internet security and open-source software, and has organized or spoken at many academic or industry conferences around the world. He is an advisor to several angel or venture-backed startups in Ann Arbor, Silicon Valley, and Korea, and a community organizer for Ann Arbor’s tech/startup community (a2geeks.org and a2newtech.org) and the Ann Arbor Skatepark (a2skatepark.org).

Kapila Viges, Director of Entrepreneurship Initiatives, Michigan Economic Development Corporation
Kapila Viges, a native of Michigan, began her career in the optical networking industry in various technical communication roles as a liaison between marketing and engineering operations at both successful and fledgling high-tech start-ups on the east coast. Upon returning to Michigan, Kapila began consulting for small businesses to develop business plans and secure financing, until co-founding a digital imaging company, JoHo Technologies. Within this bootstrap operation, Kapila managed a variety of roles including sales and marketing, financial operations, and human resource development. Prior to joining the MEDC, Kapila also briefly served in a management consulting capacity integrating manufacturing and resource planning systems. Kapila joined the Michigan Economic Development Corporation in June 2006, as a Program Manager as part of the team executing the Governor’s 21st Century Jobs Fund initiative, contributing to the State’s efforts to diversify into a knowledge and innovation based economy. She implemented and coordinated a variety of seed funding and entrepreneurial programs to support technology commercialization and start-up companies. In her newest role as the Director for Entrepreneurship Initiatives, Kapila is launching a campaign to raise the level of awareness of the entrepreneurial assets around the state and promote best practices and policies, and hopefully begin a cultural shift toward entrepreneurial activity among Michigan citizens. Kapila received a Bachelor of Science degree in Materials Science and Engineering in 1999 from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Moderator: Todd Emaus (MBA Eve) and Katie Miller (MBA '10), Ross School of Business

Presenters

Student Luncheon & Roundtable Discussions: Launching While Earning Your Degree
Ian Dailey (MBA '09), Co-founder & President, Husk Insulation, LLC
Ian Dailey is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business with an MBA focused in Entrepreneurship. Ian has experience in commercializing new technologies with the University of Michigan’s Office of Technology Transfer. Prior to Husk, Ian planned and managed global marketing campaigns for Fortune 500 companies. Ian received a BS in Business Administration from the University of Southern California.

Merrill Guerra (MBA '08), CEO & Founder, RealKidz, Inc. (RealKidz Clothing)
Merrill Guerra is the CEO and Founder of RealKidz, Inc. RealKidz is a direct sales party plan company that provides age appropriate clothing to girls ages 5-12 in both the average sized market as well as the almost untapped plus-sized market. The company plans to launch a social network for families in 2010 to provide healthy lifestyle support. Merrill was recognized by the National Association of Women Business Owners with the 2009 Pioneering Spirit Award, Zell Lurie as its MBA Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008, as well as the Michigan Business Review as a finalist for its 2009 Innovation Michigan Awards. Merrill has raised over $400,0000 in capital from family, angel investors and Ann Arbor SPARK’s Pre-Seed Capitalization Fund. RealKidz has signed up 14 independent sales consultants as of early August, 2009 and has realized 0% rate for returned clothing since its product first reached the marketplace in May, 2008.

Adrienne Harris (MSE Biomedical Engineering), Medical Innovation Center Fellow ‘08, and Co-Founder, Tangent Medical Technologies
Adrienne Harris is a co-founder of Tangent Medical Technologies. Tangent Medical is an early stage medical device development company formed as a spinout from the University of Michigan’s Medical Innovation Center Fellowship. Tangent was created to address health and safety shortcomings of existing peripheral intravenous delivery systems. Adrienne is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering.

Paul Kirsch, Program Manager, Zell Lurie Institute, Ross School of Business
As the Program Manager for the Zell Lurie Institute, Paul is responsible for mentoring Ross students through the business development process by creating programs that encourage students to follow their entrepreneurial goals. In addition, he provides external entrepreneurial experiences at intercollegiate competitions, trips to entrepreneurial conferences, one-on-one consultations with experienced entrepreneurs, and other events as they are scheduled during the year. Before joining the Ross School of Business, he contributed to the Tauber Manufacturing Institute's early growth through student development, team-based internships and recruiting, and building corporate relationships. Paul held logistics and consulting roles for the automotive industry for 11 years prior to joining the University of Michigan. He graduated with a BS in business logistics from Pennsylvania State University (1989) and an MBA from Wayne State University (1999).

Mark Maynard, Marketing Manager, U-M Tech Transfer
Mark serves as Marketing Manager for UM Tech Transfer. As such, he is responsible for the Tech Transfer presence as it develops on-line, in print and through programs, partnerships and special events. Mark's responsibilities also include the marketing of University of Michigan technologies on the internet, the management of intern and mentor programs, and the handling of issues relative to new business development. When not in the office, Mark is active with the Ann Arbor IT Zone and other local organizations dedicated to the creation and promotion of Ann Arbor as a viable technological center, capable of supporting University of Michigan start-ups. Before joining the staff, Mark was the Director of New Products and Services for The International Satellite Group (INSAT). Previous to that, he has worked in such diverse fields as historic archeology and publishing. Mark earned his BA from the University of Michigan in American Studies, with a concentration in Literature and Intellectual History, in 1993.

Robert Mazur (MBA '03), Co-founder & President, B.A. Maze, Inc. (PurrFect Opener)
Robert Mazur is the inventor of the PurrFect Opener®, co-founder of B.A. Maze, Inc. (established 2002), and 2003 MBA graduate from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. The PurrFect Opener® is a handheld tool used to open prescription and over-the-counter medication. The patented design has national exposure thanks to articles in Fortune Small Business, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek Online, Good Housekeeping, Arthritis Today, and through television on the QVC Home Shopping Network. An award-winning business plan written while at the Ross School of Business resulted in awards totaling $56,000. Since graduation, the company launched the DogGone Opener™ and is currently developing future innovative products for an aging population. Prior to his MBA, Robert received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan and had seven years of automotive engineering experience.

Aaron Nelson (MBA '09), Founder & President, Audiallo
Aaron Nelson has founded several companies over the last few years, one of which was successfully sold to a VC-backed firm. He has experience founding and directing a healthcare service company and with product development consulting.

Sherman Powell (MBA '08), Founder, ArmyProperty
Sherman Powell, a Ross '08 MBA and 1995 MIT / Sloan School of Management graduate, led the winning teams in the 2008 Michigan Business Challenge and the 2008 "Spirit of Enterprise" intercollegiate business plan competition. He spent 11 years as a U.S. Army tank and infantry officer, with multiple deployments to Korea and Iraq, totaling 46 months of overseas service in the early part of this decade. He spent 2 1/2 years as a company commander, in addition to other assignments including his final position as the Commanding General's Aide in the U.S. Army's Third Infantry Division. While a student at Ross he focused on finance and strategy, and completed internships at Google and the Boston Consulting Group. Sherman lives in Ann Arbor with his wife and two children.

Mark Thompson, (BBA '08, MACC '10), Founder, VidFlips
During his senior year at Ross, Mark Thompson developed VidFlips. Mark had conceived the idea for the company several years ago and led a team of BBAs to develop a full business plan for it. The team presented VidFlips at the 2008 Michigan Business Challenge and placed in the semi-finals. Mark was named 2008 BBA of the Year. He is currently enrolled at Ross in the MACC program.

Chair: Mary Lemmer (BBA '10) and Rajesh Nerlikar (MBA '10), Ross School of Business