OFFICERS OF THE BOARD

 

Marina F. Cunningham

Marina F. Cunningham is a Managing Partner with McCormick, Paulding & Huber, an Intellectual Property firm with offices in Hartford, CT and Springfield, MA. Marina worked as a design supervisor for AT & T Bell Laboratories and, subsequent to obtaining her law degree, as an intellectual property attorney for United Technologies Corporation. She is admitted to practice before the State and Federal Courts of Connecticut and before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Marina is also Co-Chair of Technology and Intellectual Property Committee of the Hartford County Bar Association; Advisory Board Member for UCONN School of Law Intellectual Property Clinic; Committee member for INTA; and member of CPLA; AIPPI; and AIPLA. Marina has experience in domestic and foreign patent prosecution, trademark and copyright matters, e-commerce related issues, negotiation of licenses and other types of agreements relating to intellectual property, and litigation. She is fluent in Russian and Ukrainian.

Marina holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Columbia University and a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. She received a Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut's School of Law. Marina has served as Chair of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Connecticut since 2000.

Reginald L. Babcock

Reginald (“Reg) L. Babcock is an attorney and adviser to start-up and early stage companies that seek rapid growth and typically also require external financing. Those clients span most industries and represent many of the region’s most promising entrepreneurs and businesses. Through his firm, Endeavour Advisors, he provides strategic and business guidance and counsels private and public companies in matters of governance. He has invested successfully in a number of early-stage companies and has guided these businesses in securing additional funding. Reg is a Founder and Chairman of Resolute Partners, LLC, a Connecticut-based logistics and telecommunications firm. He has extensive experience with the managements and boards of more than 20 private and public companies in various industries. Reg co-founded and served as a Managing Partner of Connecticut’s Angel Investor Forum, Inc., an organization of individual, accredited investors. He previously served for more than 20 years as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of an energy and utility company listed on the NYSE. He is currently Director of two privately owned utility companies.

Reg received his Bachelor’s degree and his Juris Doctor degree, both from American University.

Tom Flynn

Tom Flynn is a Partner with Shipman & Goodwin LLP, in the firm’s Hartford, Connecticut office and has been a member of the Board since 1996. Tom’s practice includes corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, technology development and transfer, and product development and commercialization. He acts as general outside counsel to various emerging growth and middle market companies.

Tom is a member of the Connecticut Venture Group and the Licensing Executives Society, is counsel to the Board of the Connecticut Optics and Photonics Association and the Board of The Hartford Club, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Chapter of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals.

Tom is a Connecticut native, is a graduate of the University of Connecticut (B.A. 1986, summa cum laude) and the University of Connecticut School of Law (J.D., 1989, summa cum laude).

Richard Harris

Richard (“Rick”) Harris is a Partner in Day Pitney LLP's New Haven office where he leads the firm's Technology, Telecommunications, and Outsourcing practice group. Rick’s practice includes structuring, negotiating, and documenting the acquisition, disposition, and recapitalization of technology-related business enterprises. In addition, Rick advises leading technology companies in connection with computer and other technology licenses; technology transfer and joint venture agreements; system development agreements; and copyright, trademark, and trade secret matters. Much of Rick's technology licensing practice is devoted to the transfer and commercialization to private industry of technology from research universities around the United States. He has been on the board of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Connecticut since 1992, is a former Chair of the Board and also serves as a Director and Secretary of the Connecticut Technology Council.

Rick received a Bachelor's of Science in Economics from the Wharton School at the University Pennsylvania and a Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut's School of Law.

Guy Hatch

Guy Hatch is the CEO of On Site Gas, one of the world’s leaders in the design and manufacturing of systems that generate Oxygen or Nitrogen. These systems operate in mission-critical applications, across dozens of industries, in over 75 countries. Prior to On Site Gas, he was the COO for the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, a non-profit technology-based economic development corporation. Guy has a broad business and technology background with Fortune 50 companies. He spent several years at United Technologies Corporation (UTC) in technology, finance and general management roles at UTC Research Center, Corporate Headquarters and UTC Fuel Cells and was with Johnson & Johnson’s medical devices company, Ethicon, in operations and engineering.

Guy received a Bachelor’s degree from West Point in Engineering and an M.S. in Management from MIT's Sloan School and teaches technology management as an adjunct professor at the University of Hartford's Barney School of Business.

Brian Kelleher

Brian Kelleher is a Partner at Fiondella, Milone & LaSaracina LLP (FML) and is responsible for managing public and private financial statement audits and other business advisory services. Brian has over ten years of public accounting experience, which includes assisting early phase companies with their unique accounting and auditing issues. Prior to joining FML in January 2003, Brian worked as a Senior Financial Analysis at CIGNA and as a Senior Auditor at Ernst & Young LLP.

Brian received a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from the University of Connecticut. He is a Certified Public Accountant, serves on the Advisory Council of the Connecticut Society of Certified Public Accountants (CSCPA), is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and is the Treasurer of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Connecticut.

Lisa Lucarelli Chandler, D.B.A.

Dr. Lisa Lucarelli Chandler is an Assistant Professor at Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Ct. Her research and teaching focus factors affecting innovation and new venture creation. Her current research develops business models reflecting effects of excess firm resources on innovation. Her research interests include gender perceptions, risk, and entrepreneurship. Lisa worked in the telecommunications industry where she designed, and directed merger and acquisition integration programs for both Fortune 500 and start-up companies. She continues to advise entrepreneurs and specializes in the effects of disruptive innovation.

Lisa holds a bachelors degree in Business Administration from Eastern Connecticut State (Magna Cum Laude), an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a D.B.A from Nova Southeastern University. She was the Leon Radde Educator of the Year Award nominee for 2004.

Alan Mendelson

Alan Mendelson is the Founder and Managing General Partner of Axiom Venture Partners, which invests in both information technology and life sciences. As Head of Life Sciences, Alan has invested in a number of successful biotechnology companies. Prior to founding Axiom, he spent 25 years at Aetna Life and Casualty, where he was a Vice President. He ran Aetna’s venture program, generating significant profits, helped create MBIA, the country’s largest municipal bond insurance company, and helped Aetna develop strategy and policy for their commercial mortgage loan portfolio. Alan has been involved in technology policy and development in Connecticut for over 20 years. He was the Finance Committee Vice Chairman of the state’s first High Technology Task Force in 1984, where he created the Connecticut Seed Ventures and two Centers of Excellence. He has also been on the Advisory Board of Connecticut Innovations since 1989 and is currently on the Board of the Connecticut Technology Council and the MIT Enterprise Forum. In his industry roles for the State, he has received the Distinguished Service Award from the Connecticut Venture Group of which he was a past president.

Alan has a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Economics from Trinity College and a Doctor of Law (LLD) from the University of Connecticut.

Charles Moret

Charles (“Charlie”) Moret is a managing director at Connecticut Innovations where he directs Business Development, a Pre-seed program which provides assistance to entrepreneurs, and CTech, a technology business incubator. CTech provides entrepreneurs and technology-based start-ups with access to facilities, resources and potential funding. He is also responsible for managing relationships with a strategic network of key partners including universities and colleges. Charlie held senior executive positions with New England Bank, Fleet Financial Group, Central National Bank in Chicago and Irving Trust Company. Charlie joined Connecticut Innovations in 2000 with more than 25 years of experience in business, finance, international, marketing and entrepreneurship.

Charlie holds a Bachelor's degree in Marketing from Pace University and a Master's degree in Business Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University. He is active on the several boards and has been a member of the Board of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Connecticut since 2007.

Michael F. Newborg

Dr. Michael F. Newborg is the Executive Director of the University of Connecticut’s Center for Science and Technology Commercialization (CSTC), the patent and licensing component of the Office of Technology Commercialization. Mike heads the office that solicits, evaluates, patents and licenses University of Connecticut technologies from all of the University’s campuses. He helps coordinate activities between the CSTC and R&D Corporation, which starts new companies based on University of Connecticut inventions, as well as with the Technology Incubation Program, which provides space and services to young companies with a relationship to the University. Mike came to the University of Connecticut to head their revitalized CSTC in 1999. Previously, he was Director of Research Licensing at Bayer Corporation. He also served as Manager of the Immunopharmacology Group at Pfizer Central Research in Groton, Connecticut.

Mike received his Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Maryland, College Park, and did subsequent post-doctoral work in immunology at the Trudeau Institute in Saranac Lake, New York. In 1980, he joined the faculty of the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, Maine.

Jacqueline Pennino Scheib

Jackie Scheib is a Partner at Robinson & Cole, LLP where she leads the Intellectual Property and Technology Law Practice. Jackie's practice focuses on prosecuting, maintaining, enforcing and leveraging intellectual property and technology assets and negotiating, drafting and providing solutions for related to day-to-day commercial contract needs, strategic alliances, acquisitions, investments, and e-business needs. Jackie is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Hartford chapter of the Connecticut Venture Group, a Committee member for the International Trademark Association, a Trustee of the Board of the Children¹s Museum,
Inc., and a member of various American Bar Association and American Intellectual Property Law Association sections. Ms Scheib has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Information Technology Law since 2010 (Copyright 2010 by Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC) and has been recognized as one of the Hartford Business Journal's "40 Under Forty."

Jackie holds a B.A. in Experimental Psychology from Franklin & Marshall College and a J.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Law where she graduated with honors and was a member of the Law Review. Jackie is a prior law clerk to the Connecticut Supreme Court and is admitted to the bars of the States of New York and Connecticut.

Leon A. Pintsov

Dr. Leon A. Pintsov is Chief Scientist and Vice President of International Standards and Advanced Technology at Pitney Bowes, Inc. He is an internationally recognized authority in the fields of payment security and information security, computer imaging, Optical Character Recognition and postal economics. Leon authored a book on computer modeling of imaging devices and authored or co-authored over 40 publications. He is inventor and co-inventor in 79 US and 125 international patents in 16 countries. Leon is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and in 2007 was the recipient of Elliptic Curve Cryptography Visionary Award from Certicom. Leon is a Founding Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Center for Applied Cryptographic Research at the University of Waterloo (Canada), one of the most important centers for cryptographic research in the world. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of ONETS Corp (China) and is on the Board of the Connecticut Technology Council and is also on the Advisory Board of Axiom Venture Partners in Hartford, CT.

Leon holds a M.S. degree in Mathematics (Magna Cum Laude) from the University of St. Petersburg (Russia), an Executive M.S. degree in Management Science from the Hartford Graduate Center of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Ph.D. degree in Applied Mathematics from the Institute of Telecommunication Engineering in St. Petersburg.

Mark Proft

Mark Proft is a Vice President for Bohan & Bradstreet, a management and executive recruiting firm based in Guilford, Connecticut. Mark leads the firm’s Engineering and Manufacturing practice where his focus is on technology-driven industrial companies, particularly businesses involved in energy, the environment, and biotechnology. Prior to Bohan & Bradstreet, he was Vice President of Marketing for Ortronics/Legrand and Director of Strategic Marketing & Product Management for Pitney Bowes Document Messaging Technologies. Mark also has an extensive international business background and spent over a decade in Europe and Asia with United Technologies Corporation (UTC), working on business development projects for Otis Elevator, Pratt & Whitney, and Carrier Corporation, at one time serving as General Manager of the first UTC joint venture in Russia. He is a former U.S. Air Force pilot.

Mark received a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Lehigh University and an M.S. in Management from MIT's Sloan School.

Manny Ratafia

Manny Ratafia serves as CEO of Ratafia Ventures, an investment firm; CEO of Lyon-Ratafia, a medical device and software venture; and CEO of Technology Management Group, a management consulting firm, and is responsible for the management of each of these organizations. Ratafia has more than 20 years of experience in technology-based ventures and in management consulting and has been an angel investor for more than ten years. He has founded and run ventures in a variety of technology areas and has provided consultation to CEOs, owners, and senior executives of companies on business development and technology strategy. He has served on the boards of directors and advisory boards of several start-up companies and not-for-profit organizations and has been a judge at numerous business plan competitions and at the FIRST Robotics Competition. Manny’s research and opinions have been published and quoted in more than 100 publications in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. He has been interviewed on U.S. and international television and radio programs.

Manny received a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from The Cooper Union; a Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from MIT; a Master’s degree in Engineering and Applied Physics from Harvard University, and an MBA from Dartmouth College.

Carroll Schilling

Carroll Schilling is Vice President of Cammack LaRhette, an employee benefits and human resources consulting firm, where she focuses on health and productivity management. Previously, Carroll served as Vice President at Health Dialog and was responsible for strategic consulting and the seamless delivery of disease management and wellness products and services in the employer environment. Prior roles included Senior Vice President, Business Development of Premier Heart where she designed and deployed a go-to-market strategy. Her business plan presentation received the award for “Best Early Stage Business” at the largest venture capital conference in the Northeast. The Connecticut Technology Council also recognized her for “Excellence in Strategic Planning”. Previously, Carroll served as Chief Executive Officer of The Enterprise Center at Yale University, a technology business incubator, and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Yale University School of Management. These prestigious appointments followed her successful 12-year career as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CARE-at-HOME, a home health care company that she sold to a Fortune 500 corporation.

Carroll received a Bachelor’s degree from Boston University in Nursing Science and a Master’s degree from Yale University in Public Health.

David R. Wilson

Dr. David Wilson serves as Director of Engineering for the Instrumentation Division of Sperian Protection. He is responsible for new product development and related engineering functions. David has 30 years of experience in the development and manufacture of high technology products for instrumentation in the gas detection and photonics industries. His prior experience includes Engineering Manager of the Precision Positioning Solutions Department at Zygo Corporation and Vice President of Operations at three startup companies, two of which were acquired. He has been on the Board of the MIT Enterprise Forum of CT since 1992 and has also served on the national board. Wilson has served two terms on the MIT Corporation, MIT’s board of trustees.

David received a Bachelor's degree from MIT in electrical engineering and Master's and Ph.D. degrees from MIT in Mechanical Engineering.

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