In this Expert Panel Session, a unique group of successful engineers-entrepreneurs, angel investors and venture capitalists will share their experiences and offer valuable insights on how to transform a research idea into a commercial product in the instrumentation and sensing marketplace. Specifically, panelists will discuss opportunities and risks associated to the transition from the academic lab to the “real world”, protection of intellectual property, financing strategies and continued collaborations between the academia and the newly formed startup. In addition, our experts will inform the audience on research funding opportunities opened exclusively to small businesses established in Europe and United States. Ample time will be allocated for discussion and Q&A with the audience.
Currently confirmed panelists:
- Sridhar Madala, PhD — Founder and CEO, Indus Instruments, Webster, TX
- Rob Tucci —Head of Life Science Group, Houston Angel Network, Houston, TX
- Tom Campbell — Executive Director of Office of the Intellectual Property Management, University of Houston, TX
- Graham Randall, PhD — President and CEO, Noninvasix, Houston, TX
Co-Chairs
Luca Pollonini (University of Houston, IEEE M’10–SM’15) holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering (2000) and a Ph.D. in Information Engineering (2004) from the University of Brescia, Italy. He is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Technology at the University of Houston, TX, USA where he directs the Optical Bioimaging Lab. His primary research interest is in development of instruments and algorithms for optical sensing and imaging using near infrared spectroscopy and diffusion optical imaging. Dr. Pollonini is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine and an active member of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) and the Society for Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (SfNIRS).
Antonio Pietrosanto (University of Salerno, ) born in 1961, senior member IEEE, PhD in Electrical Engineering, has been full Professor of Instrumentation and Measurement at the University of Salerno, since 2001. Chief of the Measurement Laboratory of UniSA, he has been teaching a number of university courses of Electronic Measurement, Electronic Instrumentation, for the MS degree of Electronic Engineering at the University of Salerno. He’s been founder of three spin off of the University of Salerno: “SPRING OFF”, “Metering Research” and “Hippocratica Imaging”. His main research activities are in the fields of: Instrument Fault Detection and Isolation (IFDIA), sensors, WSNs, real-time measurements, embedded systems, metrological characterization of measurement software, advanced system for food quality inspection, image based measurements. He co-authored more than 150 papers international journals and conference proceedings. He’s the today President of the Didactic Board of Electronic Engineering of UniSA.
