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EntrepreneurshipGaelen Entrepreneurship Speaker Series bringsworld-class entrepreneurs to Penn StateThe Norbert and Audrey Gaelen Entrepreneurship SpeakerSeries was established in fall 2008 through a generousendowment from Norbert and Audrey Gaelen. The speakerseries features three speakers each semester. The first twospeakers are sponsored by <strong>the</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong> EntrepreneurshipMinor and <strong>the</strong> third speaker is sponsored by ano<strong>the</strong>r college,such as <strong>the</strong> Smeal College <strong>of</strong> Business or <strong>the</strong> College <strong>of</strong>Agricultural Sciences.Norbert Gaelen, a 1947 industrial engineering graduate, isone <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> College <strong>of</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>’s most generous donors.His previous gifts include student funding for <strong>the</strong> Norbert P.Gaelen Industrial and Mechanical <strong>Engineering</strong> Scholarshipas well as <strong>the</strong> foundational endowment for <strong>the</strong> <strong>Engineering</strong>Entrepreneurship Minor in 2000, <strong>the</strong> Gaelen Endowment for<strong>Engineering</strong> Entrepreneurship and Leadership.Fall 2009Speaker:Igor JablokovCEO, Yap, Inc.Presentation: “The origins <strong>of</strong> Yap, Inc.: How do youstart a company in an industry filled withloud mouths?”Sep. 24, 2009Founded in 2006, Yap pioneered <strong>the</strong> world’s first automatedspeech-to-text platform. It reached wide acclaim for its workin curbing texting while driving when Yap was selected as afinalist in Silicon Valley’s first ever TechCrunch event, <strong>of</strong>tenreferred as <strong>the</strong> “American Idol” <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> technology industry,followed by being named North Carolina’s Early StageCompany <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Year in 2007.Yap has assembled a world-class research and developmentteam focused on audio semiconductors and speechrecognition. Their staff members helped create market leadingproducts such as Apple’s iPod, IBM’s ViaVoice, and Nuance’sDragon. The company’s technologies provide <strong>the</strong> foundationfor innovative analytics, messaging, search, translation,and voicemail services for commercial or governmentapplications. Sample customer applications include IM+ forBlackBerry and iPhone, which uses Yap’s platform to convertyour speech into instant messages, and YouMail, whichconverts your incoming voicemails into text for you to read.The company is headquartered in Charlotte, NC, and isventure financed by SunBridge Partners and Harbert VenturePartners. For more information, visit www.yapme.com.Igor Jablokov has served as Yap’sCEO since its inception. He isconsidered a speech technologypioneer, especially focused onhuman–computer user interfaces onmobile devices. Prior to co-foundingYap, Jablokov served as programdirector <strong>of</strong> IBM’s multimodal andvoice portal groups and was anIgor JablokovExtreme Blue mentor. During histenure <strong>the</strong>re, he led his team tocreate <strong>the</strong> world’s first ever speech-enabled Web browser.Jablokov has more than a dozen patents issued or pending inhis field and was named an industry luminary by <strong>the</strong> editors<strong>of</strong> Speech <strong>Technology</strong> Magazine. He holds an undergraduatedegree in computer engineering from Penn State and anMBA from <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> North Carolina.Speaker: Paul HowesPresident and CEO, Inotek PharmaceuticalsPresentation: “Innovating in health care with no revenue!(From big pharma to <strong>the</strong> world <strong>of</strong> venturefundedbiotech)”Oct. 12, 2009Paul HowesPaul Howes joined InotekPharmaceuticals in September2008 as <strong>the</strong> company’s presidentand CEO and as a director. InotekPharmaceuticals is a Boston-areabiotechnology company thathas developed new drugs for <strong>the</strong>treatment <strong>of</strong> glaucoma and elevatedintra-ocular pressure, retinal diseases,and irritable bowel disease in <strong>the</strong> preclinicaland clinical phases <strong>of</strong> testing.Howes has more than twenty years <strong>of</strong> commercial strategy,product development, and sales and marketing experience inpharmaceuticals and medical devices, with a recent focus in<strong>the</strong> field <strong>of</strong> ophthalmology. Prior to joining Inotek, Howeswas president <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Americas region for Bausch & Lomb,with leadership responsibility for <strong>the</strong> United States, Canada,Latin America, and South America across Bausch & Lomb’svision care, surgical, and pharmaceuticals business segments.Prior to joining Bausch & Lomb in 2003, Howes spent <strong>the</strong>previous sixteen years in various senior management roles atMerck & Co., Inc. This experience included roles as executivedirector <strong>of</strong> hospital marketing, vice president <strong>of</strong> sales andmarketing for specialty products, president and CEO <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company, and president<strong>of</strong> Merck Frosst Canada, Inc. Prior to Merck, Howes spenteleven years at Price Waterhouse Canada.Howes is a graduate <strong>of</strong> Harvard College and earned his MBAfrom York University in Toronto, Canada. He is a member<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Canadian Institute <strong>of</strong> Chartered Accountants andcurrently serves on <strong>the</strong> board <strong>of</strong> Prevent Blindness America.Speaker: Rick GrazziniExecutive Director, GardenGenetics, LLCPresentation: “Entrepreneurship in <strong>the</strong> agriculturalsciences: small business opportunities inplant breeding and genetics"Nov. 11, 2009Rick Grazzini’s career path hasbeen a journey from being a highschool biology teacher followinghis graduation in 1975 from PennState (B.S. Biology), to startinghis own seed company followinggraduation in 1980 from PurdueUniversity (M.S. Plant Breeding),and culminating as co-founder andRick Grazziniexecutive director <strong>of</strong> GardenGeneticsin 2007.Upon receiving his Ph.D. in Genetics from Penn State in1993, Grazzini initially served as director <strong>of</strong> marketingand as quality assurance manager for Centre AnalyticalLaboratories in State College, PA. The company focused onproviding analytical services to <strong>the</strong> crop protection industry.In 1997, he ascended to vice president, and, in 1998, hebecame president <strong>of</strong> Centre Analytical. In 2001, he acquiredownership interest and renamed <strong>the</strong> company ExygenResearch to better reflect <strong>the</strong> transitioning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> company. In2006, Exygen was acquired by MPI Research, and Grazziniserved as executive director during <strong>the</strong> integration <strong>of</strong> Exygeninto <strong>the</strong> MPI corporate structure.In 2007, Grazzini returned to his plant breeding andfloriculture roots. He co-founded GardenGeneticsin Bellefonte, PA, serving as its executive director.GardenGenetics focuses on commercial plant breeding,developing new varieties <strong>of</strong> ornamental, edible, andmedicinal plants. The company also extends expertise tovarious segments <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> plant industries as a contract researchorganization.Spring 2009Speaker: John GannonGeneral Partner, SunBridge PartnersPresentation: “Career evolution and success factorsfor startups”Feb. 24, 2009John Gannon is a founder andgeneral partner <strong>of</strong> SunBridgePartners (www.sunbridgepartners.com) with an investment focusin aerospace and power. He c<strong>of</strong>oundedSunBridge Partners andits predecessor, Equitek Capital,and has played a key role inboth firms’ development andJohn Gannoninvestments, including EclipseAviation, Embedded Planet, Alien<strong>Technology</strong>, Flarion, <strong>the</strong> New Media Group, and ThinBattery Technologies.Gannon began his career as an engineer with General ElectricAstro-Space Division, working as a propulsion and orbitspecialist on <strong>the</strong> Defense Satellite Communication Systemsatellite program. Working in <strong>the</strong> design, construction,launch, and on-orbit operation <strong>of</strong> an advanced constellation<strong>of</strong> defense communications satellites, Gannon experienced<strong>the</strong> challenges <strong>of</strong> working on high-technology projects tomeet <strong>the</strong> most rigorous, long-term requirements.Following work at General Electric, Gannon earned hisMBA from <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> Chicago and began a seven-yearperiod <strong>of</strong> work in <strong>the</strong> field <strong>of</strong> currency derivative trading.He worked for Merrill Lynch, NationsBank, and <strong>the</strong>n asa director in <strong>the</strong> currency trading group <strong>of</strong> Barclays Bankin London. At Barclays, Gannon managed <strong>the</strong> Global AsiaPortfolio <strong>of</strong> currency derivative products. This expertise hasdirectly enabled him to design models to carry out valuations<strong>of</strong> SunBridge Partners portfolio companies.Gannon received a B.S. in aerospace engineering from PennState in 1989 and an MBA from <strong>the</strong> University <strong>of</strong> Chicagoin 1993.38 | SEDTAPP News | Spring 2010 Spring 2010 | SEDTAPP News | 39