2006 Events

Entrepreneurial Challenges and Opportunities for Nanotechnology Companies

On December 5, 2006, Rahul Vahid, General Partner of Pacesetter Capital Group presented an overview and discussion of "Entrepreneurial Challenges and Opportunities for Nanotechnology Companies".

Rahul Vaid is a General Partner with Pacesetter Capital Group and its private equity, mezzanine and venture capital funds. Rahul heads the Firm’s technology investing activities and leads private equity deals in the specialty services sector.  Rahul presently serves as a director or observer on the boards of Force10 Networks, Chelsio Communications, Erlang Technology, Sonics, Metrikus, Onsite Design, E-Z Shipper and Widevine. His previous investments at Pacesetter include Volterra (Nasdaq: VLTR), Gain (Nasdaq: SMSC), Sychip (Murata Manufacturing Japan, TYO: 6981), ipGen (Tech Mahindra India, NSE: TECHM), Nayna Networks (OTCBB: NAYN.OB), SOSI (Nasdaq: TXC), Silicon Bridge (Promise Technology Taiwan, TW:3051), Atoga (Nasdaq: ARRS), and White Rock Networks.  Prior to joining Pacesetter, Rahul was Vice President of Investments at Doublespace LLC, an early-stage investment firm. Prior to Doublespace, Rahul was one of the founding members of Wit Capital's (now part of Charles Schwab - Nasdaq: SCHW) investment banking group through the firm's initial public offering in 1999 and served as Vice President of Investment Banking.  Rahul holds a Masters in Engineering Management degree, a joint business and engineering degree, from the Amos Tuck School of Business and the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College.  He also holds an M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Dartmouth College, a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from Government College of Engineering Pune, India, and an Advanced Diploma in Enterprise Systems Management from NIIT, India.

Business Issues Regarding Future Computers

On November 7, 2006, Dr. Douglas Matzke, Chief Technology Officer of Syngence, LLC presented an overview and discussion of "Business Issues Regarding Future Computers".

Nanotechnology business opportunities abound as a result of applying nano-scale thinking to materials, products and nano-machines.   Computing machines have historically benefited from this kind of  “small” thinking and the results have been institutionalized as Moore’s law. Unfortunately, limits to the design and construction of smaller computers will soon be reaching a critical stage because molecular and other physical limits will most likely require alternatives to deterministic classical computers.

This change may require a big infrastructure and paradigm shift, as is the case with probabilistic based quantum computers. This presentation first reviews the technical/business issues due to the limits of computers/computing facing the traditional semiconductor based computing industry. The presentation further surveys the next central paradigm changing concepts behind quantum information that are contrasted to classical computers. Finally, the business scaling challenges and opportunities are discussed for both classical and quantum based computing systems. The talk concludes with my forecasts about the critical issues that investors must be aware of when investing in future information/computing technology.

Additional Biographical Infromation and Quantum Computing Resources are available at Dr. Matzke's website at http://www.matzkefamily.net/doug/.

Douglas J. Matzke has been interested in the limits of computing and computers for over 30 years. These interests have led to a diverse career with efforts in object oriented computing, symbolic computing, incremental computing, reconfigurable computing, computational noise, multiple representation systems, limits of semiconductors, limits of architecture, quantum computing, high dimensional computational models of the brain (Correlithm Objects), modeling of meaning and philosophical models of knowing.  Since joining Lawrence Technologies, LLC in 2001, Doug has contributed to over 10 new patents and finished a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at UT Dallas by developing a novel geometric algebra model for quantum computing. He joined Syngence in Jan 2006 to help transition Syngence tools into enterprise level solutions. During his 30 year career, he has been elected to IEEE Senior Member, elected by his peers to grade of Senior Member of Technical Staff, hosted two conferences on physics and computation (PhysComp92 and PhysComp94), has published over 30 papers/presentations (4 in major conferences or Journals), has been granted 6 patents and has disclosed 8 other patents. He is a regular speaker at IEEE Society meetings in both Dallas and Fort Worth.

Nanoelectronics:  The Challenges of Designing and Analyzing an Active Nanotechnology

On October 3, 2006, William Frensley, Ph.D. and the Head of the Electrical Engineering Department at The University of Texas at Dallas presented "The Challenges of Designing and Analyzing an Active Nanotechnology".

Theoretical and simulation techniques are well established for passive quantum systems in their ground, or thermal equilibrium, state.  Active systems, on the other hand, are defined by their ability to move some part of the system away from thermal equilibrium by drawing on a source of free energy.   Electronics is necessarily an active technology. We will examine how the engineering problems of Nanoelectronics are simply examples of the problems posed by active systems throughout history.  We will also show how the far-from-equilibrium conditions in active quantum systems require a different set of theoretical and simulation techniques and tools than passive Nanotechnologies.

Feature of this Presentation Embedded within the presentation is a feature known as "Live Figures" which allows for interactive device simulation of: - Page 23 - "Resonant Tunneling Diode"  and - Page 24 - "Super Lattice" These interactive simulations operate within the Adobe Acrobat Program and require the Java Runtime environment to execute. Once downloaded (see the correct directory structure to the right)  the user can click on either figure.  The presentation activates a Java Web Start application to download the correct runtime environment software from a server located in the EE Department of UTD. When the runtime environment download is complete, The graphical simulation program becomes active.  The user can change many of the simulation variable values and the graphical representation of the effected variable will change accordingly. The complete of simulation software in the correct directory format is available using the ZIP format feature.  To Download WinZIP software, click here.

"Band Profiler" - Device Simulation The correct target directory tree structure for the presentation and simulation software would appear as follows: Activation of the simulation software begins when the user clicks on the Illustration.

William R. Frensley received a B.S. in Physics from Caltech in 1973 and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Colorado in 1976.  His dissertation work produced the first microscopic theory of semiconductor heterojunctions.  After a postdoctoral position at the University of California at Santa Barbara, he joined the Central Research Laboratories of Texas Instruments in 1977, working on microwave semiconductor devices.  In 1984 he joined TI’s pioneering Nanoelectronics Program.  In 1990 he became a Professor in the Electrical Engineering program at the University of Texas at Dallas, serving as Department Head from 1995 to 2000.  He continues to work on the development of interactive quantum-mechanical simulation tools for both research and teaching applications.

September 2006

Presentation #1

Bill Sproull is the President and CEO of the Metroplex Technology Business Council (MTBC).  The council was formed in 1994 and is the oldest and most active technical business advocacy center in North Texas.  Bill's presentation on Nanotechnology and the MTBC will focus on three topics:

1)  The support of the MTBC for the Nanotech Industry in North Texas

2)  The Texas Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) - a $200 Million research and seed/venture capital fund and how nanotech companies can apply for these funds.

3)  The upcoming NanoTX '06 convention in Dallas.

Bill began his duties as President and CEO of the Metroplex Technology Business Council in October, 2004. One of his first accomplishments was his leadership in a statewide coalition that got legislation passed to create the $200 million Texas Emerging Technology Fund, which will help commercialize innovations out of emerging companies and universities and into the marketplace. Previously he was Vice President for Economic Development at the Greater Dallas Chamber. He personally took the lead on several key projects, such as $3 billion Texas Instruments/UTD Project.

Mr. Sproull was President and CEO of the McKinney Economic Development Corporation from July 1996 to November 2000. Before working in Texas, Mr. Sproull worked in economic development in Kansas City, Missouri. Sproull is a graduate of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he received a BA degree with a double major in Economics and Political Science. He is on the Boards of Directors of the International Economic Development Council, Texas Economic Development Council, the University of Texas at Dallas Development Board and the North Texas Commission. He was appointed by Governor Perry in 2005 to the 17 member Texas Emerging Technology Fund advisory Board.

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Presentation #2

As the Events Coordinator, Ashley Cockerill has been focused for the  next key component in a unique Texas initiative - the nanoTX'06 Conference and Expo to be held this year at the Dallas Convention Center, September 27-28. This world-class conference and trade expo will serve as an annual tidal wave to focus and energize economic development throughout the state, beginning here in the Metroplex.

Many special events are being included in nanoTX'06   as we construct this tidal wave one molecule at a time. From the spectacular (and invitation-only) Nobel Laureates Legends Reception on the evening of September 26, to the Exhibitor's Party and Reception the following night, to the many extra features and surprises in the Business Hall, the film documentary on the lives of Dr. Kilby and Dr. Smalley, previews of the dramatic and breakthrough announcements to be unveiled at the event, a glimpse of all of the exciting highlights will be shared in this presentation.

Ashley C. Cockerill is also the senior analyst for the nanoTX'06 Conference and Expo to be held here in Texas, at the Dallas Convention Center on September 27-28, 2006. She joined the production team, nanoTech Business Inc., in June 2005.  Responsibilities include identifying and inviting an all-star cast of speakers, being the primary reviewer for all abstracts and presentations, and assisting in organizing this annual world-class conference and trade expo. Ms. Cockerill recently co-authored a white paper with Dave Hofman of Haynes & Boone, LLP, about the coming Nanotech Corridor in Texas. Ms. Cockerill has been active in the Texas nanotechnology community since 2002 when she made a transition from the semiconductor industry to nanotechnology.

Ms. Cockerill began her career in the semiconductor industry nearly 18 year ago at IBM, East Fishkill, New York, as a product assurance engineer for the bipolar semiconductor line. At IBM Manassas, Virginia, she conducted process and equipment qualifications as a packaging engineer for the chip encapsulation line and as an etch process and equipment engineer in the line for advanced mounting substrates for multi-chip modules used in mainframe computers. Ms. Cockerill received an IBM Division Award and took a staff assignment reporting to the manufacturing operations executive. Ms. Cockerill later transferred to the IBM Burlington, VT 16Mb memory and PowerPC line, where she was the shallow trench isolation module leader (process development) and a member of the process integration team for the PowerPC chip. She went on to become the etch process and equipment development engineer for the 3-D stacked memory and logic (Cube) program acquiring 2 issued patents during this assignment.

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August 2006

Tim Driscoll, Ph.D. is VP of Global Operations for Authenitx, Inc. based in Addision, Texas.   On August 1, 2006, Tim gave the NFG a presentation on brand protection solutions for Fortune 500 companies in the oil and gas, pharmaceutical, spirits, tobacco, and agrochemical industries, as well as fiscal tax recovery services for governments worldwide. Authentix, Inc. provides complete anti-counterfeiting and anti-diversion solutions which typically include unique and innovative applications of nano-materials and associated detection systems. Tim's presentation on "The Application of Nano-Technology in the Fight Against Fraud" is an overview of the emerging anti-counterfeiting and brand protection industry, and discuss a range of material and device technologies that Authentix is developing to combat the growing level of fraudulent and counterfeit trade throughout the world.

Dr. Driscoll brings over a decade of brand protection and anti-counterfeiting experience to Authentix. As VP of Global Operations, Dr. Driscoll oversees the design, development and implementation of security solutions for clients. Prior to joining the company, he was the VP of Materials Engineering for Spectra Systems Corporation, a company that provides anti-counterfeiting security systems based on advanced materials. During his tenure there, Dr. Driscoll developed high level covert and public security features for major world currencies and passports. Dr. Driscoll has published more than 15 journal articles and holds several patents. He holds a Ph.D. and a M.S. in Physics from Brown University and a B.Sc. in Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

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July 2006

Presentation #1

Dave Hofman is an Intellectual Property (IP) attorney at Haynes and Boone, LLP, and concentrates his practice in a wide variety of both business and technical areas of Nanotechnology.  Dave is also a founding member of the Nanotechnology Focus Group and is listed on the "Our People" page of this website.  Dave's presentation on July 11, 2006 entitled "Patents and Intellectual Property Issues Related to Nanotechnology" is an overview of many of the business and technical issues related to nanotechnology and their asociated value to  Early Innovators, Start-Ups and Small Businesses.

Similar to biotech in the 1980s, nanotech is an emerging field in its infancy.  Early innovators that are fortunate enough to secure strong intellectual property in this area may be well-positioned to control fundamental market segments for years to come.

As indicated by the number of nanotech-related patent applications filed in the US Patent and Trademark Office, a barometer for technology trends, the turf war for intellectual property related to nanotechnology is heating up.  Ironically, because of nanotech’s broad reach and its status as an emerging technology, the ability of governmental agencies to properly address this technology may hinder an entrepreneur’s ability to obtain and/or enforce patents critical to commercial success.

Topics on IP included:

• Can a nano-sized material be patentable over a similar material simply because of size?

• Patent filing statistics

• Issues at the US Patent and Trademark Office

• Examples of patents that may significantly impact nanotech commercialization

• Trade secrets vs. patents

• Defensive and offensive IP strategies

• NDAs and public disclosure of nanotech R&D developments

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Presentation #2

Ashley C. Cockerill is the event coordinator and senior analyst for the NanoTX '06 Conference and Expo - held here in Texas, at the Dallas Convention Center on September 27-28, 2006.

Ms. Cockerill's presentation of July 11, 2006 depicted how an all-star cast had been assembled for this conference and an overview of the exciting schedule for "NanoTX '06 Highlights".  Also included were selected  behind-the-scenes previews of the trade expo pavilions in the Dallas Convention Center Business Hall.  Ms. Cockerill has been active in the Texas nanotechnology community since 2002 when she made a transition from the semiconductor industry to nanotechnology.

With over 18 years of semiconductor process experience, Ms. Cockerill was originally born and reared in Newark, Delaware. She received her BA with Honors from Randolph-Macon Woman's College, Lynchburg, VA, where she double-majored in physics and mathematics (thesis in biophysics). She obtained her MS in physics from the University of Delaware, Newark.  Ms. Cockerill also holds an MBA from Drexel University specializing in statistics-operations research and operations management.

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June 2006

Dr. Wade Adams is the Director of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology at Rice University. His June 6, 2006 presentaion was reflective of "Nanotechnology and Energy: The Smalley Vision".  The Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology is devoted to the development of new innovations on the nanometer scale by coordinating and supporting nanoscience and nanoengineering research. Some of the current thrusts in research include carbon nanotubes, molecular electronics and computing, and diagnostic and therapeutic medical applications of nanoshells. For the past 32 years Dr. Adams 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 190 publications on these topics, including several review articles and two edited books.

Because of the size of Dr. Adams presentation, it has been divided into eight (8) parts, each of which is listed below.

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May 2006

Dan Hanson, cofounder of Technology Innovation Group, presented “Stakeholder Alignment for Commercialization Success”.  The presentation was framed within the progression of the commercialization process, and it included challenges and actions necessary to advance technologies like Nanotechnology from just after their inception to their use in products and services in mature industries.

Dan Hanson has a keen interest in promoting economic development in regional economies. He helps build economic engines by forging partnerships among business, government, and non-governmental organizations. Dan has over 20 years experience in financial management, technology commercialization, and governmental policy development. His professional experience has included investment portfolio management and risk management and raising capital through the equity, bond, and securitization markets.  Dan is a cofounder of Technology Innovation Group, a company whose mission is to connect innovation to societal needs.   He also participates in leadership roles on the board of directors of several local and state nonprofit and government organizations. These organizations include the North Texas Life Science Society, Big Thought: A Learning Partnership, and the State of Texas Product Development and Small Business Incubator Board.  Dan’s holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Industrial and Labor Relations from the University of the Oregon and is also a graduate of Harvard University’s - Kennedy School of Government with a Master of Science in City and Regional Planning.

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On April 4, 2006, Dr. David Deeds of the Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at the University of Texas at Dallas presented on the "Lessons Provided by 30 Years of Entrepreneurship Involving Emerging Technologies".       

Dr. Deeds is currently an associate professor at The School of Management at The University of Texas at Dallas.    Prior to coming to The University of Texas at Dallas he held faculty positions at The Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and The Fox School of Business at Temple University.  He received a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1994.  His articles have appeared in Inc. Magazine,  The Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, The Journal of Management Studies, The Strategic Management Journal, Research Policy, The Journal of Engineering & Technology Management and The Journal of Product Innovation Management.  He received the Mescon Award for best empirical research in Entrepreneurship at The National Academy of Management meetings in 1996, was awarded the NASDAQ Fellowship in Capital Formation in 1997 and received The Fast Company Award for best paper on high growth firms at The National Academy of Management meetings in 2000.  His current research interests include the management of strategic alliances, entrepreneurial finance, and the management of high technology ventures.  Prior to pursuing a career as an academic, Dr. Deeds was co-founder and president of LightSpeed Corporation, a computer hardware and software developer specializing in custom CAD/CAM computer systems, from 1983-1989.

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On March 7, 2006, Dr. Robert R. Doering, the Director of the Microelectronics Manufacturing Science and Technology (MMST) Program, presented an “An Overview of the 5-year MMST R&D Effort”, funded by DARPA, the U.S. Air Force, and Texas Instruments, which developed a wide range of new technologies for advanced semiconductor manufacturing.   Dr. Doering is a Senior Fellow and Technology Strategy Manager at Texas Instruments.

Since the invention of the integrated circuit almost 50 years ago, the, cost-per-function, operations-per-second, and energy-per-operation have improved by many orders of magnitude over this same period.  The resulting growth in applications has propelled IC industry growth to serve a worldwide market now well-exceeding $200B per year.  Of course, as we have been approaching perceived limits to further scaling, the industry has responded with new R&D consortia in which IC companies that may be business rivals jointly fund pre-competitive R&D.  Most of this R&D is conducted by university researchers although federal and state governments are also funding partners on some of these activities.  For both consortia and individual funding of university research, most of the IC industry is guided by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). The ITRS forecasts technology evolution trends out to a 15-year rolling horizon and attempts to highlight the major obstacles to continued scaling.  Along with overall industry Trends, this presentation will highlight the newly published 2005 ITRS report and its 2020 horizon that coincides with the target timeline of the latest Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) Nanoelectronics Research Initiative.  Dr. Doering will present his observations of the next commercially-viable IC fabrication processes following CMOS.

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On January 3, 2006, the topic of the MTBC luncheon-meeting presentation was "The Long-Term Potential of MEMS" by Linda Lee Bower, Director of Research of MegaTech Resources.

MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical systems) are systems on a chip, similar to semiconductors. The difference is that MEMS add mechanical functions to the electrical properties of a semiconductor, producing machines about the size of a human hair.

The premise of the presentation is that, in the long term, MEMS will become as pervasive as the semiconductor, and as important to the economy. A quantitative model developed by Ms. Bower forecasts $2 trillion in worldwide MEMS in 2025. The presentation explained the model, identified major applications and market segments, and discussed R&D programs around the world that will bring about this huge potential.

Linda Lee Bower is an economist, consultant and writer on the leading edge in assessing the potential of new and emerging technologies. She has authored dozens of technology assessment and market forecast reports. She holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in Economics from The George Washington University.

MegaTech Resources is a consulting, research and publishing firm focusing on the economic and market aspects of new technologies.

The presentation is based on a technology assessment/market forecast report on MEMS published by MegaTech Resources. For more information about this report, author Linda Lee Bower, or MegaTech Resources, visit http://www.megatechresources.com.

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