MIT Ent Forum: Lab to Market

When: Tue September 21, 2010 3:00 pm

Organization: MIT Enterprise Forum

Location: MIT's Kresge Auditorium

Website: http://enterpriseforum.mit.edu/network/broadcasts/201009/index.html

Lab to Market:
Success is Not Final, Failure is Not Fatal

Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Live Global Webcast

3:15 - 3:45 pm (EDT): Meet the TR35
3:45 - 5:00 pm: Lab to Market Panel
5:00 pm: Networking Reception
(MIT Kresge Auditorium live audience)

presented in partnership with

and the EmTech@MIT 2010 Conference

PANEL:
-- Lili Cheng, Microsoft's FUSE Labs
-- Pamela McNamara, Cambridge Consultants
-- Nitin Parekh, Palo Alto Research Center
-- Alexander Wong, D.E. Shaw Group
-- Jason Pontin (moderator), Technology Review

Innovation in business and technology no longer takes place when a lone scientist screams “Eureka!” in a dusty lab.  Corporations are turning to centers of research and launching their own labs where the expressed mission is for diverse groups of interdisciplinary experts to collaborate on ideas that transform our world.

Our panel will share stories of their decades of real-world wisdom in leading teams to cutting edge breakthroughs and frustrating dead ends, and what makes labs such a powerful and challenging work environment. 

Preceding the panel will be members of the TR35; 35 young innovators whose inventions and research is inspiring and revolutionary.

Lili Cheng
General Manager
Microsoft's FUSE Labs

Lili Cheng is the general manager of FUSE Labs, and has been at Microsoft since 1995. Previously, she was the director of the Creative Systems Group (CSG) and the Social Computing Groups (SCG) within Microsoft Research. Before her time in MSR, she was the director of user experience for Microsoft Windows. She is also a registered architect; she worked in Tokyo and Los Angeles for Nihon Sekkei and Skidmore Owings and Merrill on commercial urban design and large-scale building projects. She has taught at NYU-Interactive Telecommunications as well as Harvard University. She was born in Tokyo, and is married with three boys.

Pamela McNamara
President of U.S. Operations
Cambridge Consultants

Pamela joined Cambridge Consultants in February 2009 as President of U.S. Operations.

Prior to this, Pamela was CEO of CRF, Inc. a leading global provider of eDiaries and wireless data collection solutions for the life sciences industry.  Pamela was also part of Arthur D. Little for more than 20 years, holding a number of senior technology and management positions in Global Health Care, during which she worked closely with Cambridge Consultants on the commercialization of drug delivery solutions.  She went on to serve as CEO of the entire Arthur D. Little organization. 

Pamela also serves as a Director on the boards of GTC Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:  GTCB) and Southcoast Health Systems, and is a member of the Corporation of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.  She holds a bachelor’s in civil engineering from Tufts University.

Nitin Parekh
Director of Business Development
Palo Alto Research Center

Nitin Parekh leads PARC’s Cleantech business development activities, including spin-outs and strategic research/ co-development engagements with industry partners and government. He is also responsible for developing and managing client relationships in Singapore, the Middle East, China, and India.

Nitin's business experience comes from a 25-year career with both Fortune 500 and high-growth entrepreneurial companies in the USA, Europe, and Asia. He has created and run business units within large corporations, raised venture capital funding for startups, and led the acquisition of multimillion-dollar public and private companies.

Before joining PARC, Nitin served as vice president of business development, marketing and product management at NanoNexus, Inc. Previously, he was general manager of Novellus Systems’ Optical Products business unit and led the strategic marketing and business development organization. Nitin also held prior management positions at Silicon Systems, Texas Instruments, and Philips Netherlands, and has chaired numerous international industry committees. He currently serves on the board of Solutions Benefiting Life, a non-profit that creates micro-enterprises and designs safe drinking water solutions for developing countries.

Nitin launched his career as a Xerox PARC researcher, and has authored/ co-authored more than 25 publications and patents. He holds an MBA from UCLA and an M.S. degree from Stanford University.

Alexander Wong
Managing Director
D.E. Shaw Group

Alexander Wong is a managing director of
D. E. Shaw & Co. and head of venture capital at the D. E. Shaw Group. Prior to joining the firm in 2005, Dr. Wong was a partner at Apax Partners, a global private equity firm. Before that, he served as a managing director at Intel Capital and in technical roles at Motorola and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Infinite Power Solutions, Solaicx, and Natrix Separations. Wong holds a bachelor's in computer engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his master's and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Moderator:
Jason Pontin
Editor in Chief and Publisher
Technology Review

As editor in chief, Jason Pontin is responsible for the editorial direction of the award-winning magazine Technology Review and TechnologyReview.com. Pontin took on the role of publisher in September 2005, overseeing all aspects of the company's growth strategy, which includes a rapidly expanding website, specialty e-newsletters, an aggressive international expansion, and signature events, such as the annual Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT.

From 1996 to 2002, Pontin the was the editor of the technology business magazine Red Herring. Most recently, he was editor in chief of the Acumen Journal, covering the business, economic, and policy implications of discoveries in biotechnology and the life sciences. He has written for many national and international publications, including The New York Times, The Economist, The Financial Times, Wired, and The Believer. He is a frequent guest on television and radio shows, including ABC News, CNN, and National Public Radio.