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OEN's Venture Northwest 2008 Speakers

Keynote Speakers

Luncheon Keynote: Dr. Brian Druker
 
Dr. Brian Druker is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Director of the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Cancer Institute, and JELD-WEN Chair of Leukemia Research at OHSU. Dr. Druker is also a Scientific Founder of the successful molecular diagnostics start-up company, MolecularMD, in Portland, Oregon.
 
Upon graduating from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in 1981, Dr. Druker completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Barnes Hospital, Washington School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. He then trained in oncology at Harvard's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
 
Dr. Druker then returned to the lab to begin his research career studying the regulation of the growth of cancer cells and the practical application to cancer therapies. His work was instrumental in the development of Gleevec (imatinib), a drug that targets the molecular defect in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). After completing a series of preclinical studies, Dr. Druker spearheaded the highly successful clinical trials of imatinib for CML. Imatinib is currently FDA approved for CML and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST).
 
His role in the development of imatinib and its application in the clinic have resulted in numerous awards for Dr. Druker, including the John J. Kenney Award from The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, the AACR-Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Award, the Warren Alpert Prize from Harvard Medical School, the American Society of Hematology’s Dameshek Prize, the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s Pioneer of Survivorship Carpe Diem Award, the American Cancer Society’s Medal of Honor, the Kettering Prize from General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, the David A. Karnofsky Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Robert-Koch Award, and the Keio Medical Science Prize from the Keio University Medical Science Fund. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies in 2003, the American Association of Physicians in 2006, and the National Academy of Sciences in 2007.
 
 
Afternoon Keynote: Dr. Desh Deshpande

Gururaj "Desh" Deshpande co-founded Sycamore and has served as chairman of the board of directors since Sycamore's inception in February 1998. He also served as treasurer and secretary from February 1998 to June 1999 and as president from February 1998 to October 1998. Before founding Sycamore, Dr. Deshpande co-founded Cascade Communications Corp., a provider of wide area network switches.

From October 1990 to April 1992, Dr. Deshpande served as president of Cascade and, from April 1992 to June 1997, he served as Cascade's executive vice president of marketing and customer service. Dr. Deshpande was a member of the board of directors of Cascade since its inception and was chairman of the board of directors of Cascade from 1996 to 1997.

Dr. Deshpande also serves on the board of directors of Airvana, Inc., a provider of network infrastructure products used by wireless carriers, and as chairman of the board of A123 Systems, a leading supplier of high-power lithium-ion batteries. In 2007, Mass High Tech, the journal of New England Technology, honored Dr. Deshpande as the first recipient of the Distinguished All Star Alumnus Award.
 

Presentation Speakers

Dave Chen, Equilibrium Capital Group
 
His focus on sustainability is a result of his work in the region’s economic development policy, energy policy, and as a venture capital investor.  In August 2007, he formed Equilibrium Capital Group, an investment firm committed to building the leading companies for a sustainable future. 
 
Dave brings more than 20 years of operating experience in the software and communications markets. He began his career in 1979 as one of the early team members at Solectron, a $16 billion market leader in electronics manufacturing. He went on to join  the McKinsey & Co. Technology Practice in Chicago, and later ran marketing at Mentor Graphics. Dave was founder and managing partner of The Ascent Group: a strategy consult inf firm   serving  clients  like Intel, Microsoft, Sun, Bell Atlantic and Fujitsu.  In 1999,  Dave founded GeoTrust (acquired by Verisign 2006).  At OVP, he served on the boards of @mobile prior to its acquisition by software.com ,  @once, Ambic, Intelligent Results, Net6 , UXComm , and tzero.  He served on the  public board of HNC Software until its merger in 2002 with FICO.
Dave has a B.A. in biology, from the University of California, Berkeley, and a M.M. from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University. 
 
Dave serves as a Board Member of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s Portland Branch, is the Governor-Appointed Chairman of the Oregon Innovation Council, Chairman of the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI), Advisory Board Member of the Oregon Investment Fund (OIF), Advisory Board of the X Prize for Energy & Environment, and past chairman of the Oregon Entrepreneurs Forum (2006).
 

Randall Edwards, Oregon State Treasurer
 
Randall Edwards has served as Oregon State Treasurer since January 2001. He is Oregon's chief financial officer, directing an agency that invests over $75 billion and processes more than $120 billion in transactions. As one of Oregon's principal financial leaders, he is leading efforts to improve the State's credit and to provide stable and adequate funding for public schools.
 
State Treasurer Edwards is distinguishing himself as a leader in budget finance, economic development, school funding, corporate governance, and environmental management.
Edwards was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives in 1996. In the legislature he was a financial leader - improving school funding, saving taxpayers money through the creation of the Oregon School Bond Guaranty Act, and pushing into law an innovative financing plan to rebuild State parks.
Before his election, Edwards was a manager and senior advisor at the Oregon State Treasury from 1992-1996. His professional experience also includes serving as a managing partner for EDJE Consulting and as an international trade analyst for the U.S. Department of Commerce.
 

Scott Keeney, President and Chief Executive Officer, nLIGHT
 
Scott Keeney has been President and CEO since co-founding nLIGHT in 2000. Previously, he was CEO of Aculight Corporation and consultant with McKinsey & Company. Scott holds a B.A. from the University of Washington and an M.B.A. from Harvard. In 2006, he was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Technology in the Pacific Northwest.
 
 
Bob Komin, Chief Financial Officer, Solexel
 
Bob joined Solexel in January 2008 as Chief Financial Officer and leads finance, administration and human resources.  Bob was previously at Tellme Networks, Inc. where he was CFO from 2001 until its sale to Microsoft for a reported $800 million in April 2007.  He was responsible for overall financial leadership, planning, treasury, investor relations and human resources and during 2005 was also acting SVP, Service Delivery leading 225 of 300 employees in all functions except sales and marketing.
 
From 1999 - 2001 he was EVP and CFO of XOR, Inc. a custom web development and hosting company in Boulder, Colorado that grew from $18 million in revenue to $35M in less than 18 months.
From 1995 to 1999 he held corporate financial management positions at Cincinnati Bell and Convergys, ultimately serving as vice president of finance and treasurer during the spin-off and IPO that created Convergys as a new public company. Bob was responsible for corporate planning and reporting, mergers and acquisitions and oversaw $2.25 billion raised in the public equity and debt markets for both companies. Previously, he worked in marketing and finance roles at Rogue Wave Software and Mentor Graphics.
Bob began his career as a Certified Public accountant at KPMG. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Oregon and Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School.
 

Paul G. Lorenzini, PhD – Chief Executive Officer, NuScale Power
 
Paul Lorenzini has extensive experience in both executive management and nuclear operations.  Prior to co-founding NuScale, Lorenzini held several executive positions with PacifiCorp and its domestic and international subsidiaries.  These positions included president of Pacific Power & Light, CEO of PacifiCorp Turkey, and CEO of Powercor Australia.
 
Lorenzini previously worked with Rockwell International where he was named vice president and general manager of Rockwell’s Hanford operations.  Rockwell employed more than 5,000 people and was responsible for nuclear waste management, fuel reprocessing, the Basalt Waste Isolation Project and major site services.  In earlier service with Rockwell, Lorenzini was involved in developing safety analysis codes for design of the Liquid Metal-Cooled Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR).
 
An attorney as well as a nuclear engineer, Lorenzini worked with a Portland law firm where he represented community leaders in Eastern Oregon who intervened in state regulatory proceedings in support of a proposed nuclear plant in their community.
 
Lorenzini holds a PhD in nuclear engineering from Oregon State University and a JD from Loyola University in Los Angeles.  He is the current chair of the OSU Foundation and has served in leadership positions on numerous community organizations.
 
 
Greg Love, CEO and President, Micro Power
 
Greg Love joined Micro Power in 2001 with 25 years experience in leading and growing both private and public high-tech systems companies. Under his leadership, Micro Power significantly increased profits, streamlined its manufacturing processes, secured $14 million in private equity funding, and expanded sales operations nationwide.
 
Previously, as president and CEO for Microscan Systems, which offers custom solutions in the electronics controls marketplace, Mr. Love introduced unique R&D and sales practices that resulted in a 90 percent growth in sales and a profit level 300 percent higher than industry standards. As vice-president and general manager of the commercial division of FLIR Systems, Mr. Love was integral to FLIR's Initial Public Offering (IPO), generated 400 percent growth in international sales and introduced five new product lines, including the world's first handheld digital video infrared camera. He gained extensive experience in the power supply industry when he held senior management positions with Advance Transformer, a division of Philips, N.V., and ASTEC, a $400 million Hong Kong-based division of Emerson Electric. Mr. Love earned both a master's degree of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Drexel University.
 
 
Steve Sliwa, CEO and President, Insitu, Inc.
 
Steve Sliwa is the CEO and President of Insitu, Inc. and has been providing leadership for Insitu since 2001.
He was a classmate of founder Tad McGeer while studying aerospace engineering at Princeton and Stanford Universities. He started his career at NASA, ultimately becoming Deputy Division Chief for the Guidance & Control Division at Langley Research Center.
 
He founded one of the first PC-based educational software firms, selling it prior to returning to Stanford for an MBA as a Sloan Fellow. He then joined Integrated Systems, Inc. as VP of Product Development, producing tools for control system design. He helped lead ISI to a successful IPO in 1990, and to high rankings among 1991 tech stocks for profitability and growth.
 
Steve then served as the president of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University from 1991-98, increasing revenues over 40 percent and serving over 18,000 students in aviation and aerospace. In 1998-99 he was CEO of New Colt Holding Corp., where he helped to reposition Colt's Manufacturing as a defense supplier and led the development of early versions of a personalized smart gun. As the founder of Capital Synergy Partners he helped emerging businesses raise capital, grow, or reposition. This included serving as temporary COO for firms in London and Atlanta. This activity resulted in joining Insitu as the 4th person in the office at that time.
 
Steve is a commercial pilot, multi-engine instructor and former designated flight examiner with over 3,500 hours in airplanes and sailplanes. He has been active as a board member for charitable activities and is currently serving on the boards of Mid-Columbia Economic Development District and the Gorge Technology Alliance.
 

Jean Wilson  CEO, SkySource Renewable Energy
 
Jean is Founder and CEO of SkySource, a newly-formed company focused on utility-scale wind and solar development. 
 
Prior to starting SkySource, Jean was Senior Vice President, Renewable Energy at PPM Energy, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of ScottishPower PLC (which is now owned by Iberdrola, a Spanish utility).  In this role she was responsible for all of PPM's renewable (primarily wind and solar) business chain, overseeing development, construction and engineering, operations and maintenance, asset management and origination. Earlier Jean was VP Business Development, responsible for PPM's wind power supply business, including greenfield development, project acquisitions, joint ventures and long term power purchase agreements. Her experience in wind power development and marketing spans back to 1993, including four years as Director of Wind Development for Kenetech Windpower.
 
Before she joined PPM, Jean co-managed PacifiCorp's green power marketing business. Her pre-wind energy career includes four years in corporate banking with Bank of America and four years in commercial real estate development with Tishman Realty Corp.
 
Jean holds a Bachelor of Science in finance from the University of Southern California and a Master of Business Administration from Stanford University.