Speaker Bios

Raymond B. Biagini

A distinguished counselor and litigator, Ray Biagini is a leader of the Product Liability defense practice at McKenna Long & Aldridge. He has risen to national prominence in a number of high profile tort cases, defending companies in the Exxon Valdez litigation; the Cell Phone Radiation Hazards lawsuits; the "Fen-Phen" litigation; the nationwide Repetitive Stress Injury suits; claims arising out of "friendly fire" accidents during Operation Desert Storm; and "war crimes" allegations filed against manufacturers of military weapons systems sold to Israel. Mr. Biagini also has an extensive product liability prevention practice, counseling companies on mechanisms for reducing their tort exposure for products/services sold to government and commercial entities. He is significantly involved in providing such counseling to companies selling "homeland security" products and services, such as chemical/biological detection devices; perimeter security systems; biometric identity products; and airport security systems. Mr. Biagini conceptualized and authored key provisions of the SAFETY Act, a new federal statute that is part of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 which protects companies from tort lawsuits arising out of the sale of homeland security products and services.

In addition to his role as a litigator, Mr. Biagini is a member of the Firm's Board of Directors. He previously served as the co-vice chairman of McKenna Long & Aldridge from 2002-2003 where he held several leadership positions including that of vice chairman and a member of the Management Committee. In 2007, The Washington Business Journal named Mr. Biagini a Finalist in its "Top Washington Lawyers" in Government Contracts. He has represented some of the world's largest aerospace and defense and pharmaceutical companies including Unisys, Harsco, Lockheed Martin, BAE SYSTEMS, Boeing, Textron, SAIC, Teledyne, Eon Labs and Philips Electronics.

H. Lee Buchanan

The Honorable H. Lee Buchanan, PhD, former assistant secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, was responsible for all research development and procurement of defense systems for the Navy and the Marine Corps. Dr. Buchanan also served as the deputy director of the Defense Advanced Research Agency in the role of chief operating officer for the central Research and Development organization for the Department of Defense. There, he directed a multibillion-dollar program of basic and applied research conducted by industry, universities and national/military laboratories.

Mark Camillo

Mark Camillo is recognized internationally as a law enforcement and security professional, with exceptional expertise in the area of major event security. He is credited with directing the security operations of some of the most critical infrastructures in the world.

Mr. Camillo began his distinguished career in law enforcement as a special agent in the US Secret Service which included three separate assignments at the White House. Specialized assignments at the White House required protecting four US Presidents and family members in various capacities and ultimately to the position of head of the White House Security Branch. Following his final White House tour of duty, Mr. Camillo was appointed to the position of deputy assistant director and assigned to the headquarters of the newly created Department of Homeland Security. He later returned to Secret Service headquarters as chief technology officer for the agency. Mr. Camillo held several key positions in major event planning, the most notable being appointed as coordinator for the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics. Under his direction, the Secret Service designed and implemented the Federal operational security plan that weaved an unprecedented force from thirteen different agencies to create and maintain a safe environment for all those attending and competing in the Games. The White House Office of Homeland Security recognized the plan as an excellent model for security designs at Events of National Significance. Also, the Departments of Justice and Treasury awarded Mr. Camillo numerous awards for his Olympic accomplishments. As a result, he has earned the distinction as an Olympic Security Expert and as such has addressed audiences both nationwide and worldwide.

Mr. Camillo received his BS in Education from California University of Pennsylvania and his MA in Education from the University of Pittsburgh.

Thomas Cellucci

Tom Cellucci is an accomplished serial entrepreneur, seasoned senior executive and board member possessing extensive corporate and venture capital experience across a number of worldwide industries. An authority on rapid time-to-market new product development, Mr. Cellucci accepted last July a five-year appointment at the Department of Homeland Security as chief commercialization officer (CCO) for the Science and Technology (S&T) Directorate. Dr. Cellucci is responsible for initiatives that identify, evaluate and commercialize technology for the specific goal of rapidly developing and deploying products and services that meet the specific operational requirements of the Department of Homeland Security’s Operating Components and its end users. He also develops and drives the implementation of DHS-S&T’s outreach with the private sector to establish and foster mutually-beneficial working relationships to facilitate cost-effective and efficient product/service development efforts.

Profitably growing high technology firms at the start-up, mid-range and large corporate level has been Dr. Celluci’s trademark. In 1999, he founded a highly successful management consulting firm—Cellucci Associates, Inc. – that raises capital and provides strategic business services to top-tier global high technology firms. He serves on both public and private boards and has authored or co-authored over 120 articles on Nanotechnology, Laser physics, Photonics, Environmental disturbance control, MEMS test and measurement, Mistake-proofing enterprise software and Sales & Marketing. He has also held the rank of lecturer or professor at institutions like Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania and Camden Community College. Dr. Cellucci also co-authored ANSI Standard Z136.5 “The Safe Use of Lasers in Educational Institutions.” As a result of his consistent achievement in the commercialization of emerging technologies, Dr. Cellucci has received numerous awards and citations from industry, government and business. In addition, he has significant experience interacting with high ranking members of the United States government—including the White House, US Senate and US House of Representatives—having provided executive briefs to the President of the United States and ranking members of Congress.

Dr. Cellucci earned a PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from Rutgers University and a BS in Chemistry from Fordham University. He has also attended and lectured at executive programs at the Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan School, Kellogg School and others. He is regularly asked to serve as keynote speaker at both business and technical events.

Jay M. Cohen

The Honorable Jay Cohen was commissioned in 1968 as an ensign upon graduation from the United States Naval Academy. His early Navy assignments included service on conventional and nuclear submarines. From 1985 to 1988 Cohen commanded USS HYMAN G. RICKOVER (SSN 709). Following command, he served on the US Atlantic Fleet as a senior member of the Nuclear Propulsion Examining Board, responsible for certifying the safe operation of nuclear powered ships and crews. From 1991 to 1993, he commanded USS LY SPEAR (AS 36) including a deployment to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation DESERT STORM.

After Spear, he reported to the secretary of the Navy as deputy chief of Navy Legislative Affairs. During this assignment, Mr. Cohen was responsible for supervising all Navy-Congressional liaisons. Mr. Cohen was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral in October 1997 and reported to the Joint Staff as deputy director for operations responsible to the President and Department of Defense leaders for strategic weapons release authority. In June 1999, he assumed duties as director of the Navy Y2K Project Office, which was responsible for transitioning all Navy computer systems into the new century.

In June 2000, Mr. Cohen was promoted in rank and became the 20th Chief of Naval Research. He served during war as the Department of the Navy chief technology officer (a direct report to the Secretary of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations and Commandant of the Marine Corps). Responsible for the Navy and Marine Corps Science and Technology (S&T) Program (involving basic research to applied technology portfolios and contracting), Mr. Cohen coordinated investments with other US and international S&T providers to rapidly meet war fighter combat needs. After an unprecedented five and a half-year assignment as chief of Naval Research, Rear Admiral Cohen retired on February 1, 2006. Under Secretary Cohen was sworn in to his current position at the Department of Homeland Security on August 10, 2006.

Mr. Cohen holds a joint Ocean Engineering degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Master of Science in Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture from MIT.

Joseph Fiksel

Joseph Fiksel is Executive Director of the Center for Resilience at The Ohio State University, an interdisciplinary research center that is developing a unified approach for modeling risk, resilience and sustainability in complex systems. As senior research scientist for Integrated Systems Engineering, he engages in collaboration with companies, government agencies, non-profits and other research organizations to develop new methods and tools for understanding the interdependence among social, environmental and economic interests. Currently he is leading the development of a toolkit for optimization of industrial ecology networks, with support from the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Dr. Fiksel is also principal and co-founder of the consulting firm Eco-Nomics LLC and is an internationally recognized authority on sustainable business practices. He has over 20 years of experience in applied research and management consulting, specializing in environmental risk assessment, product stewardship, design for environment and sustainability.

A native of Montreal, Dr. Fiksel began his career at DuPont of Canada and then joined Arthur D. Little, Inc., where he led the Decision and Risk Management group. Later, he served as vice president for Life Cycle Management at Battelle and directed the Responsible Care® Product Stewardship program. His clients have included leading multi-national companies in the chemical, pharmaceutical, agricultural, electronics, defense, automotive, consumer products, glass, cement and electric power industries. He has managed several major projects for the Global Environmental Management Initiative (GEMI), a consortium of over 40 leading US companies, to develop tools that capture the business value of environmental excellence and sustainability. In 2001, he directed a $2.5 million study of the global cement industry for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, leading to an agenda for action adopted at the Johannesburg Summit in 2002.

Dr. Fiksel has served on numerous advisory boards, including the US Technical Advisory Group for ISO 14000 and the advisory boards for sustainable enterprise MBA programs at both University of Michigan and University of North Carolina (UNC). He was an officer and founding member of the Society for Risk Analysis and has testified on health risk analysis issues before Congressional and White House committees. He has published over 70 refereed articles and several books and is a frequent invited speaker at business and professional conferences. His most recent book, “Design for Environment: Creating Eco-Efficient Products and Processes,” has been translated into Spanish and distributed worldwide.

Dr. Fiksel holds a BS from MIT, a PhD in Operations Research from Stanford University and an advanced degree in applied mathematics from La Sorbonne.

Lawrence Gordon

Larry Gordon is the Ernst & Young Alumni Professor of Managerial Accounting and Information Assurance and the director of the PhD program at The Robert H. Smith School of Business. He is also an affiliate professor in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies. An internationally renowned scholar in the area of managerial accounting, Dr. Gordon's research focuses on such issues as information security, corporate performance measures, cost management systems and capital investments. He is the author of more than eighty-five articles, published in such journals as The Accounting Review, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Accounting Organizations and Society, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, ACM Transactions on Information and System Security, Journal of Computer Security, Decision Sciences, Omega, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Accounting and Business Research, Managerial and Decision Economics, Communications of the ACM and Management Accounting Research. Dr. Gordon's current research emphasizes the importance of utilizing concepts from managerial accounting and economics within an information-based economy. In particular, he is considered one of the pioneers in the emerging field of cybersecurity economics. Dr. Gordon also is the author of several books, including “Managerial Accounting: Concepts and Empirical Evidence”, “Managing Cybersecurity Resources: A Cost-Benefit Analysis” and “Capital Budgeting: A Decision Support System Approach”. In addition, he is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Accounting and Public Policy and serves on the editorial boards of several other journals. In two authoritative studies, Dr. Gordon was cited as being among the world's most influential/productive accounting researchers.

Prior to joining Maryland, Dr. Gordon was a faculty member at McGill University and the University of Kansas. He also served as a visiting scholar at Columbia University while on sabbatical from Maryland. Dr. Gordon earned his PhD in Managerial Economics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Krishna Guha

Krishna Guha is chief US economics correspondent for the Financial Times where he covers the US Federal Reserve and the US Treasury. Mr. Guha’s beat includes US economics, financial markets and business. Previously, he served as editorial leader writer at the Financial Times in London where he covered economics and economic policy, as well as UK, US and Asia politics. Mr. Guha spent 2003 and 2004 on leave from the FT as a Fulbright scholar at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Prior to that, he served as a Lex columnist commenting on the financial markets and then as political correspondent covering the Blair government, domestic policy and the Iraq crisis. Between 1997 and 2000, Mr. Guha served as the FT's Bombay correspondent.

Educated at Cambridge, Mr. Guha is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and has held several visiting fellowships in Japan.

Frances Hardin

Frances Hardin is head of Hardin Media Strategies, which currently has a contract with the Hollywood-based American Film Institute to promote cross-cultural relations between filmmakers around the world. The work has taken her to Lithuania, Israel, South Africa and South America. She has also advised the government of the country of Georgia on communications and public relations issues. This new venture still has Ms. Hardin globetrotting as she did at the International Monetary Fund where she produced videos on economic themes and was also a senior press officer with responsibility for Francophone and Lusophone Africa. Before joining the IMF, Ms. Hardin was a CNN White House correspondent during the Reagan and Bush administrations. She also worked in Moscow where she directed the public information campaign for privatization. Ms. Hardin was born in Louisiana, grew up in San Francisco and has lived in France. She speaks French and passable Russian. She amuses herself by studying voice -classical and jazz- and the piano.

Ms. Hardin graduated the University of California at Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in political science and English literature. She has master’s degrees from Cornell and Columbia Universities in labor history and journalism respectively.

Gregory D. Hoobler

Greg Hoobler is the senior coordinator for Threat Assessment with the Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC), US Department of State. He is an expert on threat analysis and manages a staff of analysts providing research and assessments on terrorist attacks, political stability and violence and trends in international politics and security for the US private sector. He previously served as a global security analyst for The World Bank in Washington DC and has served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. His research on international communication and conflict resolution is published in the journals International Journal of Conflict Management and International Negotiation as well as in edited scholarly volumes.

He is pursuing his PhD at Michigan State University and earned both BA and MA degrees at San Diego State University.

Brent J. Houlahan

Brent Houlahan currently serves as the Unisys chief architect for Global Infrastructure Security Services within the Enterprise Security Strategic Program Office. Prior to joining Unisys Mr. Houlahan was vice president of Managed Security Services at MCI and the chief technical officer and vice president of Operations for venture-backed MSSP NetSec, which was acquired by MCI in January of 2005. Mr. Houlahan also served as chief technical officer of innovative visual collaboration upstart Powwow Networks. He was the founding manager of the Global Security Product Engineering team at UUNET where his virtual private network product development team won DataCom Magazine's "Product of the Year" in 1998.

Mr. Houlahan served on active duty during the Persian Gulf War. He has also lived in Japan and the UK while supporting overhead and conventional signals intelligence missions as a contractor.

Mr. Houlahan is an Electronic Warfare Graduate of the US Army Military Intelligence School and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional.

Vinod Jain

Vinod Jain is the founding director of the Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland and an affiliate professor in the department of Logistics, Business & Public Policy. Previously, he served as academic director for the Smith School’s Executive MBA program in China as well as director of the Center for Global Business. Prior to joining the Smith School in 2005, he taught for 12 years at universities in the United States, UK and Bahrain. In 2005, he taught on the Executive MBA program at the Polish-American Management Center, University of Lodz, Poland as a Fulbright Scholar. A true cosmopolitan, Dr. Jain has lived, studied and worked in India, United States, Europe and the Middle East.

Dr. Jain teaches courses in strategy, global strategy and clusters and competitiveness on Smith’s MBA and Executive MBA programs in College Park, China and Switzerland. His current research involves measuring the innovation economy in the United States, a project funded partially by the IBM Center for the Business of Government. His research and publications have been in fields as diverse as strategy evolution, foreign direct investment, performance measurement and knowledge management. During the last nine years, he has received and managed five competitive grants from the US Department of Education, with a total budget of over four million dollars.

Prior to returning to academia in 1989, Dr. Jain worked in industry for 20 years and held a variety of junior, middle and senior executive positions with multinationals corporations. He has also consulted for a number of multinational corporations and non-profit organizations and has conducted over 100 executive seminars worldwide.

In 2004, Dr. Jain received a citation from Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich, Jr., recognizing him for his services promoting international understanding with people from different parts of the world in business and education. In 2001, he won the “E” Award for Excellence in Exporting from Ohio Governor Robert Taft for the services he provided to multinational companies in the state.

Dr. Jain is a member of Academy of International Business, Academy of Management, Maryland-Washington DC District Export Council, Mensa, Strategic Management Society and the World Affairs Council. He is president emeritus of the board of directors of the Toledo Area International Trade Association and served on the boards of governors of Ohio’s Information Technology Alliance and the IT Alliance for Northwest Ohio during April 2000 - April 2002.

Dr. Jain has a PhD in Strategy and International Management from the University of Maryland at College Park and Master’s degrees in Management (UCLA) and Statistics (Indian Statistical Institute).

Ron Knode

Ron Knode is a director in the Global Security Solutions business unit of CSC. Prior to his current assignment, he was responsible for the design, provisioning, deployment and measurement of end to end security solutions that support CSC’s commercial and government clients around the world. In this capacity, he guided global teams of information risk management specialists in the generation, planning, design, development and initial deliveries of security services that respond to client and market needs not only for protection and compliance, but also for “business value” in return for a security investment.

Mr. Knode has been working in the field of computer security and information risk management since 1970, first as an officer in the US Naval Security Group and then in a series of program and business unit leadership roles serving both government and commercial clients. From 1998 2002, Mr. Knode was CSC’s corporate representative to the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Council (NSTAC) Network Security Information Exchange (NSIE). Additionally, he is a charter member of the System Security Engineering Capability Maturity Model (SSE CMM) Project Steering Committee and served as chairman for two years.

Prior to joining CSC in 1994, Mr. Knode was an executive scientist at the Atlantic Research Corporation, where he led the development of multi-level security technologies and applications and managed a business base across multiple government agencies.

Author of more than a two dozen articles on information security systems, technologies, Mr. Knode is frequently requested to speak at symposia and national technical panels in the fields of security metrics, information risk management and the generation of enterprise value through security technology and service. He has appeared on television and radio as an expert in cyber security threats and as a commentator on industry trends in security service and recommended courses of action for businesses large and small. In addition to his role within CSC, Mr. Knode also served as an adjunct faculty member at the Information Resources Management College (IRMC) of the National Defense University (NDU) where he created and taught a unique course offering on security program planning and measurement to federal government CIOs-in-training. He is currently an adjunct faculty member at Towson University in the Center for Applied Information Technology (CAIT). At Towson, Mr. Knode established and now teaches a graduate course in Information Risk Management. He is on the industry advisory council for Towson University in support of a new master’s level degree in Homeland Security Management and serves in the same capacity for Anne Arundel Community College.

Mr. Knode holds bachelor and master’s degrees in mathematics from the US Naval Academy and the US Naval Postgraduate School and he has completed doctoral coursework in computer science at the University of Maryland. He is a Certified Information Security Manager. He is also a fully trained Black Belt in Six Sigma quality improvement processes.

Kathryn Kobe

Ms. Kobe has a BA in Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park where she was graduated sum cum laude and an MS in Economics from the George Washington University in Washington DC.

C. Thomas McMillen

Tom McMillen has served as the company's chairman, chief executive officer and president since August 2005. He also serves as vice chairman of Fortress International Group Inc., formerly Fortress America Acquisition Corporation, a special-purpose acquisition corporation focused on the homeland security industry and traded on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol FIGI.

Previously, Mr. McMillen co-founded and served as CEO of Global Secure Corp., a homeland security company providing integrated products and services for critical-incident responders. He was appointed by President Clinton to co-chair the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports from 1993 to 1997. From 1987 through 1993, Mr. McMillen served three consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives from the 4th Congressional District.

Mr. McMillen graduated from the University of Maryland with a BS in Chemistry. He earned a BA and MA from University College, Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

Hisham Melhem

Hisham Melhem is the Washington bureau chief of Al-Arabiya, the Dubai based satellite channel. He is also the correspondent for Annahar, the leading Lebanese daily. For four years he hosted "Across the Ocean", a weekly current affairs program on US-Arab relations for Al-Arabiya.

Mr. Melhem's writings appeared in publications ranging from the literary journal Al-Mawaqef to the LA Times, as well as in magazines such as Foreign Policy, Middle East Report, Middle East Insight, and Middle East Policy. He is the author of Dual Containment: the Demise of a fallacy, published by the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University. In addition, Mr. Melhem appears regularly on a number of television programs such as the News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Nightline, Good Morning America, CNN, MSNBC, The Charlie Rose show, as well as National Public Radio and its national affiliates.

Mr. Melhem speaks regularly at college campuses, think tanks and interest groups on US-Arab relations, political Islam, intra Arab relations, Arab-Israeli issues, media in the Arab World, Arab images in American media , US public policies and the Arab World, and other related topics.

Mr. Melhem has interviewed many American and international public figures, including President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others.

Mr. Melhem received his BA in Philosophy from Villanova University in 1976. He was awarded the 1998 Alumni Medallion, an honor bestowed upon alumni of the University for exceptional professional and personal achievements. From 1976, to 1979 Mr. Melhem enrolled in the Philosophy Department at Georgetown University for a doctorate degree.

Randall Mikkelsen

Randall Mikkelsen is Security and Justice Correspondent for Reuters. His beat includes developments in terrorism, intelligence, homeland security and the US legal system. He covered the White House during the Clinton and Bush administrations and was in fact evacuated from the White House on September 11, 2001. He also covered the US occupation of Haiti, the independence of the Baltic Republics, the takeover battle for Paramount Pictures, Bob Dole's quest for the presidency and the crash of TWA 800 off Long Island.

Mr. Mikkelsen has BA and MA degrees from the University of Minnesota in English literature and journalism respectively. He is an avid photographer and cyclist, holds a black belt in karate, has climbed Mt. McKinley, but his greatest challenge to date is raising three teenage daughters.

Dan Mote

In September 1998, C. D. (Dan) Mote, Jr. began his tenure as president of the University of Maryland and Glenn L. Martin Institute Professor of Engineering. He was recruited to lead the University of Maryland to national eminence under a mandate by the state. Since assuming the presidency, he has encouraged an environment of excellence across the University and given new impetus to the momentum generated by a talented faculty and student body. Under his leadership, academic programs have flourished. In 2005, the University was ranked 18th among public research universities, up from 30th in 1998. President Mote has emphasized broad access to the university's model, enriched undergraduate curriculum programs and launched the Baltimore Incentive Awards Program to recruit and provide full support to high school students of outstanding potential who have overcome extraordinary adversity during their lives.

He has spurred the university to lead the state in the development of its high-tech economy, especially in the information and communication, bioscience and biotechnology and nano-technology sectors. President Mote has greatly expanded the university's partnerships with corporate and federal laboratories and successfully negotiated to bring to the College Park area the first Science Research Park sponsored by the People's Republic of China. Under his leadership, the University has established a research park, The University of Maryland Enterprise Campus, M-Square, located on a 115-acre site adjacent to the University of Maryland/College Park Metro with 3 million square feet of development potential. Among its first tenants are the Center for Advanced Study of Language, a joint venture of the University and Department of Defense and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's new World Weather and Climate Prediction Center.

During President Mote's second year in office, the University began the largest building boom in its history, with more than $100 million in new projects breaking ground that year. New facilities address every aspect of university life, from the arts to recreation to classrooms and laboratories and, in creative partnership with the private sector, new residential facilities. Highlights of the construction activity include the stunning Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center; the Comcast Center, a state of the art sports complex; a high tech research greenhouse; and new classrooms for chemistry, computer science, business and engineering. President Mote also led the development of a new Facilities Master Plan for development in the next 20 years, which is noted for its emphasis on environmental stewardship.

Dr. Mote is a leader in the national dialogue on higher education and his analyses of shifting funding models have been featured in local and national media. He has testified on major educational issues before Congress, representing the University and higher education associations on the problem of visa barriers for international students and scholars and on deemed export control issues. He has been asked to serve on a high level National Academies Committee appointed at the request of the Senate Energy Subcommittee of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to identify challenges to United States leadership in key areas of science and technology and to be a member of the Leadership Council of the National Innovation Initiative, an activity of the Council on Competitiveness. He has served as vice chair of the Department of Defense Basic Research Committee and is a member of the Council of the National Academy of Engineering. In 2004-2005, he served as president of the Atlantic Coast Conference. In its last ranking in 2002, Washington Business Forward magazine counted him among the top 20 most influential leaders in the region.

Prior to assuming the presidency at Maryland, Dr. Mote served on the University of California, Berkeley faculty for 31 years. From 1991 to 1998, he was vice chancellor at Berkeley, held an endowed chair in Mechanical Systems and was President of the UC Berkeley Foundation. He led a comprehensive capital campaign for Berkeley that raised $1.4 B. He earlier served as chair of Berkeley's Department of Mechanical Engineering and led the department to its number one ranking in the National Research Council review of graduate program effectiveness.

Dr. Mote's research lies in dynamic systems and biomechanics. Internationally recognized for his research on the dynamics of gyroscopic systems and the biomechanics of snow skiing, he has produced more than 300 publications, holds patents in the US, Norway, Finland and Sweden and has mentored 56 PhD students.

President Mote has received numerous awards and honors, including the Humboldt Prize awarded by the Federal Republic of Germany. He is a recipient of the Berkeley Citation, an award from the University of California-Berkeley similar to the honorary doctorate and was named Distinguished Engineering Alumnus. He is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering and serves on its Council and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was elected to Honorary Membership in the ASME International, its most distinguished recognition and is a fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science, the Acoustical Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was named recipient of the 2005 J. P. Den Hartog award by the ASME International Technical Committee on Vibration and Sound to honor his lifelong contribution to the teaching and/or practice of vibration engineering. He received the 2005 Founders Award from the National Academy of Engineering in recognition of his comprehensive body of work on the dynamics of moving flexible structures and for leadership in academia.

Dr. Mote received the BS, MS and PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He has received two honorary doctorates.

Roger Novak

With over 25 years of experience as a venture capitalist, "angel" investor and operating principal, Roger Novak co-founded Novak Biddle Venture Partners, a premier early stage venture capital firm backed by some of the country’s most prestigious investors. Each of NBVP’s first three funds is ranked in the top quartile of all venture funds for returns. Prior to co-founding NBVP, Mr. Novak was a private investor. In 1984, he was co-founder and three-fund general partner of Grotech Partners, where he was principally focused on information technology, with two of his investments, Verity and Secure Computing, among the top 10 performing IPOs of 1995. Earlier in his career he led the investment banking effort at Baker, Watts & Co., where he served on the firm’s executive committee.

Mr. Novak has served on many public, private and civic boards. Currently, he serves on the boards of Blackboard, Inc. where he is lead director, SpectrumK12, Trusted Computer Solutions, Digital Signal Corporation, Revive Systems, Cdigix and Centrifuge Systems. He also serves on the advisory boards of several venture fund of funds, the Department of Homeland Security’s Protected Repository for the Defense of Infrastructure Against Cyber Threats (PREDICT) advisory board and is a member of the Office of Secretary of Defense DeVenCI program. He is currently a trustee of The Walters Art Museum and serves on the board of the National Venture Capital Association. Previous NBVP boards include LifeMinders.com, Entevo, Simplexity \and NEW Customer Service Companies.

Over the years Mr. Novak has served on the advisory committee of the State of Virginia’s Joint Commission on Science and Technology to examine the digital divide, as well as telecommunications, workforce shortages and education issues. He also served as a member of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government’s project to examine the funding gap between innovation and commercialization.

In addition, Mr. Novak participated in President Bush’s High Technology Summit at the White House, a forum of the nation’s top business and technology executives who discussed strategies for a national technology agenda. A frequent speaker on venture capital, risk and innovation issues, Mr. Novak has spoken before the National Institute of Science and Technology, the World Bank/IFC, DARPA and many other institutions. He has also advised members of Congress and government agencies about ways the public and private sector can work together to improve the nation’s high-tech economy. A frequent contributor to the local and national media on technology and investment issues, Mr. Novak has appeared on The McNeil Lehrer Newshour, CNN, CNNfn, Wall Street Week and other programs.

Recently, Mr. Novak was named the winner of the 2007 Early Stage East Sal Buccieri Memorial Venture Impact Award. The honor recognizes an individual who has clearly impacted early stage technology and fast growth opportunities.

Mark Shaheen

Mark Shaheen is managing director of Civitas Group LLC and an expert on counterterrorism, national security and the homeland security market. A Foreign Service Officer from 1995-2003, he previously served as the senior advisor for the Middle East in the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State. He was responsible for leading critical counterterrorism initiatives, coordinating interagency policy and numerous bi-lateral efforts in the region. Previously, Mr. Shaheen served on the staff of the Secretary of State and also held overseas assignments as a political/economic officer at the US Interests Section in Havana and as special assistant to the ambassador at the US Embassy in London. Mr. Shaheen also served as a lieutenant in the US Army's 10th Mountain Division. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Mr. Shaheen holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Georgetown University.

Bruce Walker

Bruce is an information technology executive with a 32-year career in the design, development and management of cost-effective solutions for Federal, State and local government enterprise IT challenges.

His technical qualifications are combined with business management strengths in strategic planning, budgeting, resource allocation, contract negotiations and technology acquisition. He has extensive experience in all phases of project development and life cycle management with a consistent record for on-time delivery within budget. Mr. Walker is responsible for managing solutions development as well as Congressional and customer interfaces for key programs across the Homeland Security market for Northrop Grumman. He frequently speaks on a wide variety of Homeland Security topics at the Federal, State and local level.