Download Presenter Biographies - MIT Enterprise Forum of Texas (Houston)

Malcolm Kahn
Malcolm R. Kahn serves as Vice President for Enterprise Development &
Licensing at Stevens Institute of Technology. In this capacity, Mr. Kahn is
responsible for the full cycle of business development at Stevens, from
helping researchers and staff identify markets and technology applications,
to the spawning, development and funding of Stevens’ Technogenesis®
Companies. He also is working to establish a development fund and an Angel
Network to help better finance Stevens’ technologies.
Kahn has been a serial entrepreneur of technology-based companies for
more than 25 years. He has an extensive experience in the fields of
analytical and scientific instrumentation, membrane filtration, lab-on-chip
and technologies, and first-hand knowledge of the medical diagnostics,
clean-tech, telecommunications, analytical instrument and
biopharmaceutical markets. He began his career at Pfizer in their Medical
Diagnostics Division and then at Millipore before moving into start-ups. His
initial career path was in finance before becoming involved in marketing, and
ultimately in general management. Kahn’s past companies include Kratos
International plc, a mass-spectrometry, surface-analysis and liquid
chromatography company, which he sold to Applied BioSystems (LC) and
Shimadzu (MS & SA); Membrex, a membrane filtration company that he sold
to Osmonics, which is now part of GE; and Sensicore, a lab-on-chip watersensing technology company that he sold to GE.
Kahn also sits on the boards of several start-up companies in the fields of
Raman Spectroscopy, carbon nanotubes, sequencing using quantumcontrolled femto-second lasers and mass spectrometers, and a predictive
software company for analyzing water contamination. He also has
successfully raised considerable venture capital funding for his companies,
and he understands the full process of going from idea to delivered product.
Andrew Barron
Charles W. Duncan, Jr. - Welch Chair of Chemistry
and Professor of Materials Science
Prof. Barron is the Charles W. Duncan, Jr. – Welch Chair of Chemistry, a
Professor of Materials Science, and the Associate Dean for Industry
Interactions and Technology Transfer at Rice University.
Research in the Barron Group is currently aimed at the development of
rational molecular design approach to materials synthesis, with an emphasis
on the leap from synthesis to application of nano-based materials.
Since 2002, the focus of research within the Barron Research Group has
involved the functionalization of fullerenes and single walled carbon
nanotubes (SWNTs). Areas being investigated include: biological applications
and interactions, catalysis and materials applications.
Functionalization of fullerenes as amino acids allows for their inclusion into
polypeptides for the development of new approaches to the treatment of
flagrant diseases. The development of a catalytic approach for the
amplification of SWNTs may be likened to the polymerase chain reaction for
DNA and is aimed at the fabrication of specific nanotube structures for
energy applications.
Prof. Barron created the first educational programs at Rice to span the
Schools of Science, Engineering and Management, and is also a co-director
of the Rice Alliance for Entrepreneurship. He is also actively involved with
educational programs in collaboration with the Rice section of the Society of
Automotive Engineers.
Education
▫ Post-doctoral Research Associate (1986-1987) University of Texas, Austin
▫ Ph.D. (1983-1986) Imperial College of Science and Technology
▫ D.I.C. (1983-1986) Imperial College of Science and Technology
▫ B.Sc. (1st Class, Hons) (1980-1983) Imperial College of Science and
Technology
DR. WADE ADAMS
Dr. Wade Adams is the Director of the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale
Science and Technology at Rice University. The Smalley Institute is devoted to the
development of new innovations on the nanometer scale by its 150 faculty members.
Some current thrusts include research in carbon nanotubes, medical applications of
nanomaterials, nanoporous membranes, nanoelectronics, nanoshell diagnostic and
therapeutic applications, and nanotechnology innovations for the energy industry. The
Smalley Institute is part of a major initiative at Rice to expand activities in nano, bio, info
and enviro science and engineering, and to expand interactions with the Texas Medical
Center, the largest concentration of medical research facilities in the world.
Dr. Wade Adams retired from the US Air Force senior executive ranks in January 2002,
as the Chief Scientist of the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Air Force
Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. He was responsible for
providing advice to the laboratory director and staff on the technical and scientific merit
of the laboratory’s research and development programs, and he also directed the inhouse research program.
Wade was appointed a senior scientist (ST) in the Materials Directorate of the Wright
Laboratory in 1995. Prior to that he was a research leader and in-house research
scientist in the directorate. For the past 40 years he has conducted research in polymer
physics, concentrating on structure-property relations in high-performance organic
materials. He is internationally known for his research in high-performance rigid-rod
polymer fibers, X-ray scattering studies of fibers and liquid crystalline films, polymer
dispersed liquid crystals, and theoretical studies of ultimate polymer properties. He has
written more than 200 publications on these topics, including several review articles and
three books, and has given more than 750 presentations. He is a Fellow of the
American Physical Society and the Air Force Research Laboratory. Dr. Adams retired
from the Air Force Reserve in the rank of Colonel in 1998.
EDUCATION:
1968 Bachelor of Science degree in physics, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado
Springs, Colo.
1971 Master of Science degree in physics, Vanderbilt University
1980 Master of Science degree in polymer science and engineering, University of
Massachusetts
1984 Doctor of Philosophy in polymer science and engineering, University of
Massachusetts