Guest Entrepreneurs for September 26, 2006
Fred Molinari ‘63
President
As a breed, entrepreneurs are nothing if not resilient. Take the case of Fred Molinari, president of Data Translation and a '63 WPI electrical engineering graduate. Despite all of today’s publicity about dot.commers, the human genome, and other hot technologies of the week, entrepreneurism has been around for a while. Molinari started his life as an entrepreneur thirty years ago, back when the transistor was a recent invention and Boolean algebra had nothing to do with search engines.
Molinari, like many entrepreneurs, came to the calling in a roundabout way. There was no epiphany. No crystalline moment of "Eureka!". No. Molinari simply realized after several bouts of employment that "I gotta do it my way" and quietly founded one of the most successful data acquisition and imaging companies in the country.
Data Translation, founded in 1973 and headquarted in Marlboro, Mass., is a leading supplier of data acquisition software and hardware to the test and measurement market. With expertise in the design of high-accuracy, high-quality analog hardware and application software, the Company partners with end users and OEMs alike to help them achieve their test and measurement goals. With over thirty years of experience, customers have come to rely on Data Translation because of its world-class software, design proficiency, high-quality manufacturing, and respected customer service. Data Translation has a worldwide presence, with distribution in more then 40 countries and subsidiaries in Germany and the U.K.
Mark A. Tepper, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Drug Discovery
Dr. Tepper was the President and co-founder of our prior subsidiary CytRx Laboratories (formerly Araios, Inc.) and is now our Senior Vice President, Drug Discovery. Dr. Tepper is an entrepreneur/scientist with over 25 years of experience in biomedical research. Before founding Araios, he was chief executive officer of Arradial, a venture backed microfluids based drug discovery company. He has also held positions as vice president, research and operations at the Serono Pharmaceutical Research Institute, and at the Bristol Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute. Dr. Tepper was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Czech, and received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Columbia University in 1985. In 1979 he graduated Clark University with a B.A. in Chemistry with highest honors. He has authored over 40 scientific publications and holds 6 patents.
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Mitch Sanders, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President
Dr. Sanders, ‘88MS, ‘92PhD, founded ECI in 1998. Dr. Sanders is a leader in the field of protein engineering, purification and assay development. Dr. Sanders worked as a Senior Scientist II at Genome Therapeutics in the Pathogen Genetics Program. He holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from WPI, and completed postdoctoral training at the Whitehead Institute at MIT. Dr. Sanders has dual assistant research professor appointments in the Bioengineering Institute and the Biology and Biotechnology Department at WPI. He serves on numerous scientific and entrepreneurial boards at local universities (Clark and WPI) and is a Trustee of Brewster Academy. For ECI, Dr. Sanders secured an aggregate $12M in equity, corporate development funding, and SBIR grants.
Bob Barton
Owner and Founder
Bob Barton has been in the high tech industry for over thirty years holding a variety of hands-on, manager and executive positions in Honeywell, Data General and EMC. He was a founding member of InfiniSwitch Corporation, a high speed computer network switch manufacturer, serving as Director of Engineering Services.
Bob has been creating technical products, solutions and gadgets his whole life. He was recently awarded a second patent for a novel safety light that is integrated with electrical switches and outlets. He founded TechLite Designs in early 2003 with a mission to improve safety of residential homes by helping people to see in the dark when the lights go out. PowerSURE™ brand Safety Lights are the company’s first products, and they have garnered serious interest from homeowners, electricians and homebuilders alike.
In earlier entrepreneurial efforts, Bob founded and self-funded TechniGraphic Designs, where he designed, built, and marketed a color video graphics controller including a graphics software package for personal computers. He also designed and built one of the first auto-dialer messaging systems for direct marketing programs.
As an independent product developer, Bob started building custom electronic digital clocks and music devices, and he designed and wrote a software package for veterinarians to use for animal diagnosis. He has extensive experience in web site design and development, corporate logo design, and graphic arts for product packaging. Bob has designed several residential home additions and supervised their construction, and he has designed and installed electrical wiring and heating systems. His interior design and furnishing experience includes designing and building custom hand-made fine cabinetry and furniture, fine wooden clocks, office furniture, novelty bedroom furniture, unique home entryways, and fireplace mantles and surrounds.
TechLite Designs is a self-funded startup and is seeking investors to help bring its products to market.
Patrick Faucher
President & CEO
Prior to founding Nimbit, Patrick was responsible for developing the E-commerce technology and R&D team for Stumpworld Systems, launching BuyItOnline.com, which led to the acquisition of the company in 2000, at a value of over $60 million. Mr. Faucher spent several years developing interactive solutions for companies such as Computerworld (IDG), Navisite Inc, and Polo Ralph Lauren. Over the past 15 years, Mr. Faucher has performed around the globe and across the U.S. as a professional trumpet player, arranger and vocalist. An Honors Graduate of Berklee College of Music, Patrick has also completed studies in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
Barbara Van Reed
Founder and President
Barbara Van Reed founded Addendia, Inc. to design, develop, and manufacture household products. She was granted US Patent #6419195 for a “stabilizing device in 2002 and US Patent # 6892651 for a “modular storage platform” in 2005. She manages operations, marketing, sales and distribution for Addendia, Inc. products and began active sales and marketing of the Hi & Dri Storage Pallet in 2005. Addendia, Inc. increases sales volume 50 % annually.
Van Reed’s former experience includes working for Data General Corporation’s Westboro, MA operation where as Corporate Program Manager, Federal Division, she managed contracts with the US Environmental Protection Agency, the National Security Agency; determined product and pricing strategies to maximize contract margins; and managed the coordination of all corporate groups involved in account planning and support. Prior to that she was Manager, Personal Computer Marketing where she managed the group responsible for all external marketing programs worldwide; was responsible for all major customer opportunity support, bid pricing, new business development; and managed product introductions, forecasting, and pricing. Prior to that, she was a Product Manager, Portable Products, responsible for laptop computers and accessories preparing product specifications, business plans, pricing, forecasting, and competitive analysis. As International Product Manager, Van Reed managed an International Product Marketing Group; defined international requirements for products; and prepared product announcement plans for subsidiaries and distributors. Van Reed earned a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University.
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