2015
CONFERENCE
MAY 18, 2015
Fitzpatrick Center for
Interdisciplinary Engineering,
Medicine and Applied Sciences
(FCIEMAS)
#DukeFrontiers2015
FRONTIERS 2015
CONFERENCE AGENDA
7:45 A.M.
Pre-function area
ARRIVAL AND REGISTRATION
Coffee and continental breakfast available
8:30 A.M.
Schiciano Auditorium
OPENING AND WELCOME
George Truskey, PhD
Senior Associate Dean for Research
Pratt School of Engineering
BREAK/MOVE TO SESSIONS
9:00 A.M.
9:15 A.M.
Schiciano Auditorium
Side A
RESEARCH SESSION I-A:
MATERIALS/ENERGY
Moderator: Nan Jokerst, PhD
Speakers:
Jeff Glass, PhD: “Nanostructured materials for enhanced
electrocatalysis, energy storage, and solar fuel generation”
David Mitzi, PhD: “Solution Processing of High-Performance
Thin-Film Solar Cells: Opportunities and Challenges”
David Smith, PhD
Responders:
Ann Pitruzzello, Northrup Grumman
Neill Pounder, Bioventus
Schiciano Auditorium
Side B
RESEARCH SESSION I-B:
MEDICAL DEVICES
Moderator: George Truskey, PhD
Speakers:
Nenad Bursac, PhD: “Human Engineered Muscle for Drug and
Toxicity Testing”
Warren Grill, PhD: “Timing is Everything: Temporal Pattern is
a New Dimension in Nervous System Pacemakers”
Jennifer West, PhD: “Nanomedicine: Novel Materials Enabling
Advances in Diagnostics and Therapeutics”
Responders:
Gemma Budd, Lucideon
Shaun Gittard, Cook Medical
Sonia Grego, RTI
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CONFERENCE AGENDA
10:45 A.M.
Schiciano Auditorium
Side A
RESEARCH SESSION II-A:
MATERIALS/ENERGY
Moderator: Richard Newell, PhD
Speakers:
Voker Blum, PhD: “Predictive Simulations of Materials
for Electronic and Energy-Related Applications Based on
Quantum Mechanics”
Nico Hotz, PhD: “Solar-Powered Hydrogen Generation”
Adrienne Stiff-Roberts, PhD: “Resonant Infrared MatrixAssisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation (RIR-MAPLE): An Enabling
Technology for Polymeric Thin Films”
Responders:
Brandon Cole, SCI
James Gaillard, IBM
Schiciano Auditorium
Side B
RESEARCH SESSION II-C:
DATA ANALYTICS/INFORMATICS
Moderator: Ingrid Daubechies, PhD
Speakers:
David Dunson, PhD: “Analyzing networks: brains, creativity,
and economic graphs”
Guillermo Sapiro, PhD: “What can big data analytics do for
ordinary consumers?”
Responders:
Shaun Gittard, Cook Medical
Ann Pitruzzello, Northrup Grumman
Atrium
BUFFET LUNCH
1:30 P.M.
Schiciano Auditorium
Side A
REASSEMBLY TIME
1:40 P.M.
Schiciano Auditorium
Side A
INTRODUCTION OF SPEAKER
12:15 P.M.
Thomas Katsouleas, PhD
Vinik Dean, Pratt School of Engineering
PLENARY ADDRESS: “TECHNOLOGY
CHALLENGES IN THE POWER INDUSTRY
IN THE 21ST CENTURY”
Jim Rogers
Former Chairman and CEO of Duke Energy
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FRONTIERS 2015
BREAK AND REASSEMBLY
2:30 P.M.
2:45 P.M.
Schiciano Auditorium
Side A
STUDENT/INDUSTRY PANEL
Moderator: Thomas E. Healy
Panelists:
Andrew Berger, Parsons
Stephanie Chalk, NetApp
David McDonald, Duke
Eli Nichols, EG-GILERO
Brian Ridout, Biogen
Jenn Scrimshaw, RTI
Deborah Stokes, EMC
Schiciano Auditorium
Side B
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PANEL
Moderator: Barry M. Myers, PhD
Panelists:
Brian Lowinger, JD, Office of Research Support
Jesko W. von Windheim, Professor of the Practice of
Environmental Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Pre-function area
POSTER SESSION AND RECEPTION
Mumma Commons
INDUSTRY PARTNERS MEETING
5:00 P.M.
Pre-function area
POSTER SESSION AND RECEPTION (CONTINUED)
5:30 P.M.
Atrium
DINNER
3:45 P.M.
Summary remarks and responses
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ABSTRACTS & BIOS
ABSTRACTS & BIOS
RESEARCH SESSION I-A:
MATERIALS/ENERGY
NAN JOKERST, PHD
MODERATOR
Nan Jokerst is the J. A. Jones Professor of Electrical
and Computer Engineering in the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University. She is also the executive director of the Shared Materials Instrumentation Facility (SMIF), which is a shared user facility at
Duke for cleanroom and characterization research
with over 640 current users that supports research
totaling over $99 million.
She joined the Duke faculty in 2003, after 14 years
on the faculty of Georgia Tech following her PhD at
the University of Southern California. Her research
areas are in nanotechnology, lasers, metamaterials, imaging systems, and sensing. She is currently
funded by the National Science Foundation, Nation-
al Institutes of Health and the US Department of
Defense. Her work is highly collaborative and multidisciplinary, and addresses applications such as
imaging for breast cancer margin assessment, integrated sensing for biomedical diagnostics, metamaterials, and optical interconnect.
She has published over 250 journal and conference papers, and was awarded the IEEE/HP Rigas
Medal for teaching, and a Presidential Young Investigator Award and IEEE Third Millennium Medal for
research. She is a fellow of IEEE and a fellow of the
Optical Society of America, and has served on the
boards of both societies, and on the National Academies Board on Global Science and Technology.
JEFF GLASS, PHD
NANOSTRUCTURED MATERIALS FOR ENHANCED ELECTROCATALYSIS,
ENERGY STORAGE, AND SOLAR FUEL GENERATION
Abstract: Our laboratory investigates the
use of nanostructures to enhance electrode
performance in a variety of applications, including; disinfection of liquid waste, neural
stimulation, micro-ion sources for miniature mass spectrometers, electrocatalysis,
energy storage, and the production of solar
fuels. This presentation will focus on the
latter three areas which are relevant to our
need for clean energy.
The applications of the new hybrid graphene-carbon nanotube materials reported at Frontiers 2014, termed graphenated
carbon nanotubes (g-CNTs), have recently
been extended to electrocatalysis. The
electron transfer kinetics of the ferri-ferrocyanide couple were examined for a g-CNT
film and compared to the kinetics of standard carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The g-CNT
film exhibited much higher catalytic activity,
with a heterogeneous electron-transfer rate
constant approximately two orders of magnitude higher than for standard CNTs. Scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy were used to correlate the higher
electron transfer kinetics with the higher
edge-density of the g-CNT film. This reactivity indicates that such materials may be a
useful material to enhance rates of electrochemical reactions in industrial and energy
conversion processes.
Regarding energy storage, g-CNTs have also
been investigated as the scaffold for MnO2
composite cathodes in aqueous asymmetric supercapacitors. The electrode performance could be tuned by optimizing the
density of graphene foliates on the g-CNTs
which enabled geometric/morphologic con-
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FRONTIERS 2015
trol over the MnO2 electrodeposits. The synergy and optimization of the g-CNT hybrid
structure led to a high specific capacitance
(640 F/g) at high MnO2 specific loading (2.3
mg/cm2), thus creating a unique pathway
toward improved performance.
With respect to solar fuel production, atomic layer deposition of TiO2 has been integrated with a nanoparticle FTO scaffold to
enhance the conversion of sunlight to fuel
via water splitting. The TiO2 provides the
stability and band structure needed for the
conversion process while the FTO acts as
a more effective charge transport medium
while simultaneously providing increased
surface area. This nanostructure offers advantages that include decoupling charge
carrier diffusion length from optical peneJeffrey T. Glass is currently a professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and
the Hogg Family Director of Engineering Management and Entrepreneurship in the Pratt School of
Engineering at Duke University. Previous appointments have included the Joseph F. Toot Professor of
Engineering at Case Western Reserve University and
the vice president of R&D for Kobe Steel USA Inc.,
where he directed their Electronic Materials Center.
He has published over 155 papers and book chapters, edited six books, is a co-inventor on 15 patents,
and is an ISI Highly Cited Researcher in Materials
Science. He has been a short-course instructor for
several professional societies and companies and
has organized numerous conferences. He served as
a member of a Presidential Science Advisor’s committee for the assessment of diamond technology in
Japan, and has received two teaching awards and
the National Science Foundation Presidential Young
Investigator award. His technical work involves the
development and processing of new materials to
improve device performance. He has studied car-
tration depth, increased photon absorption
probability through scattering, complimentary photon adsorption, and favorable interfaces for charge separation and transfer
across the various junctions.
Acknowledgement: Funding from various
sources is gratefully acknowledged, including APPA-E, NSF, NIH, DARPA, DOE, The
Gates Foundation, and the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security. Management of the
laboratory and research projects is enabled
by the efforts of Drs. Charles Parker, Jason
Amsden, Matt Kirley, and Qing Peng. The
numerous graduate students who have
conducted the research discussed in this
presentation are also gratefully acknowledged.
bon and related materials for more than 25 years,
and currently focuses on carbon-based nanostructures for electrode applications, including carbon
nanotubes, graphene and graphenated carbon
nanotubes. He also utilizes in vacuo surface analysis and atomic layer deposition in his research. He
has an interest in technology management and his
paper entitled “Managing the Ties Between Central
R&D and Business Units,” received the 2004 Industrial Research Institute’s Maurice Holland Award.
He received BSE and MSE degrees from Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and
Engineering from the University of Virginia, where
he studied the Oxygen Reduction Reaction on platinum alloys. He also holds an MBA from the Fuqua
School of Business at Duke University. He has held
adjunct faculty appointments at North Carolina
State University, Case Western Reserve University,
and the Kenan Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina where he has taught executive courses on Managing Innovation.
DAVID MITZI, PHD
SOLUTION PROCESSING OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE THINFILM SOLAR CELLS: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
Abstract: While photovoltaics (PV) is rapidly
expanding to play a much larger role in our
energy portfolio, cost remains one of the
key remaining challenges for ubiquitous
adoption. Solution-processing of semiconductor thin films provides an important
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pathway to lower fabrication costs, but generally comes at the unacceptable price of
lower performance compared to vacuumdeposited structures. This talk will address
several particularly promising thin-film PV
technologies, for which deposition from
ABSTRACTS & BIOS
solution has enabled record device power
conversion efficiencies. For the Cu-Zn-Sn-SSe (CZTS)-based system, the combination of
progressively higher record efficiency (up to
12.6 percent), earth-abundant metal starting materials, and lower-cost solution-based
processing opens opportunities for development of a potentially pervasive PV technology. Likewise, the perovskite-structured
compounds based on metal halide frameworks provide a high degree of opportunity
for chemical tunability, and unprecedented
improvement in efficiency to the 20-pluspercent level over only a few short years of
development. These two technologies provide outstanding examples of how solutionbased processing may not only lead to an
avenue for low cost PV but also to performance levels that can rival and sometimes
even beat vacuum-based deposition, which
is crucial if these technologies are to have
market penetration.
David Mitzi is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at the
Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University. His
research interest lies in the area of developing new
materials that enable high-performance and lowcost thin-film photovoltaic technologies, as well as
other energy-related applications.
ing and device applications for organic-inorganic
perovskite semiconductors, which are currently at
the focus of much excitement in the photovoltaics field. Between 2009 and 2014 he managed the
Photovoltaic Science and Technology department at
IBM, with a focus on developing solution-processed
high-performance inorganic semiconductors for
thin-film photovoltaic (PV) devices. Since 2009, his
team has held the world record for power conversion efficiency in devices based on the promising
kesterite family of earth-abundant solar cell materials.
Prior to recently joining Duke, he developed a program at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center focused on examining crystal structure-property relationships, low-cost thin-film deposition techniques
and device applications for a variety of electronic
materials (e.g., oxides, halides, chalcogenides, organic-inorganic hybrids). His team worked to develop the concept of organic-inorganic electronics (i.e.,
combining useful attributes of organic and inorganic materials within a single molecular-scale composite) and pioneered the materials understand-
He received a BS in electrical engineering from
Princeton University in 1985 and a PhD in applied
physics from Stanford University in 1990. He holds
a number of patents, and has authored or coauthored more than 180 papers (H-index = 62) and
book chapters.
DAVID R. SMITH, PHD
SPEAKER
David R. Smith is currently the James B. Duke Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and
chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering at Duke University. He is also director
of the Center for Metamaterial and Integrated Plasmonics at Duke and holds the positions of adjunct
associate professor in the Physics Department at
the University of California, San Diego, and visiting
professor of physics at Imperial College, London.
Smith received his PhD in 1994 in physics from the
University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Smith’s
research interests include the theory, simulation
and characterization of unique electromagnetic
structures, including photonic crystals and metamaterials.
Smith is best known for his theoretical and experimental work on electromagnetic metamaterials.
Metamaterials are artificially structured materials,
whose electromagnetic properties can be tailored
and tuned in ways not easily accomplished with
conventional materials. Smith has been at the forefront in the development of numerical methods to
design and characterize metamaterials, and has
also provided many of the key experiments that
have helped to illustrate the potential that metamaterials offer. Smith and his colleagues at UCSD demonstrated the first left-handed (or negative index)
metamaterial at microwave frequencies in 2000 – a
material that had been predicted theoretically more
than 30 years prior by Russian physicist Victor Veselago. No naturally occurring material or compound
with a negative index-of-refraction had ever been
reported until this experiment.
In 2001, Smith and colleagues followed up with a
second experiment confirming one of Veselago’s
key conjectures: the ‘reversal’ of Snell’s Law. These
two papers – the first published in Physical Review
Letters and the second in Science – generated enormous interest throughout the community in the
possibility of metamaterials to extend and augment
the properties of conventional materials. Both papers have now been cited more than 3,000 times
each.
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FRONTIERS 2015
ANN PITRUZZELLO
RESPONDER
Ann Pitruzzello is a research engineer at Northrop
Grumman. She received a BS in physics from
Vanderbilt University and a PhD in biomedical engineering from Duke University in 2007.
In 2008, she joined the Research Triangle Institute,
where she conducted remote sensing research for a
variety of defense applications, and also led an NIHfunded program to develop a non-invasive seizure
detection device.
Since March 2013, she has worked at Northrop
Grumman, where she initiates and leads research
and development efforts geared toward new business development, and serves as a subject matter
expert on several programs. Her research areas
include signal processing, machine learning, datadriven modeling, and complex systems analysis.
NEILL POUNDER
RESPONDER
Neill Pounder holds a PhD in physics from the University of Leeds and has over 20 years’ experience in
the medical device field.
He entered the industry as a scientist for Smith &
Nephew, performing research on a variety of technologies including adhesives, carbon fiber knee
braces, and compression bandaging for leg ulcers.
He subsequently moved into product development,
obtaining FDA approval for an electrical muscle
stimulator.
He is now the director of project management for
Bioventus LLC, a spin-off from Smith & Nephew, and
is responsible for the cross-functional projects for
active healing therapies, which includes ultrasound
for fracture healing and hyaluronic acid for knee
osteoarthritis.
RESEARCH SESSION I-B:
MEDICAL DEVICES
GEORGE TRUSKEY, PHD
MODERATOR
George Truskey is the R. Eugene and Susie E. Goodson Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Research in the Pratt School of Engineering. Truskey’s
current research interests include microphysiological systems, cardiovascular tissue engineering and
the role of physical forces in atherosclerosis.
He received a BSE in bioengineering in 1979 from
the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in 1985 in
chemical engineering from MIT. He was an assistant
professor of chemical engineering at Tufts University from 1985 to 1987. He has been a faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Engineering
at Duke since 1987. From 2003-2011, he was chair
of the department. During that time, he directed
Duke’s Translational Research Partnership with the
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Coulter Foundation and the successful transition to
an endowed program.
He is the author of 115 peer-reviewed research
publications, a biomedical engineering textbook entitled Transport Phenomena in Biological Systems,
six book chapters, one patent and two patent applications. He is a fellow of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Biomedical
Engineering Society (BMES), the American Institute
of Medical and Biological Engineering, and the
American Heart Association. He was president of
BMES from 2008 to 2010.
ABSTRACTS & BIOS
NENAD BURSAC, PHD
HUMAN ENGINEERED MUSCLE FOR DRUG AND TOXICITY TESTING
Existing in vitro models of human skeletal
muscle do not exhibit contractile behavior.
We for the first time bioengineered electrically and chemically responsive, contractile human muscle tissues (“myobundles”)
made of primary myogenic cells. These biomimetic tissue constructs exhibit aligned
architecture, multinucleated and striated
myofibers, and a satellite cell pool and, similar to natural muscle, respond to electrical
stimuli with twitch and tetanic contractions.
Use of GCaMP6-reported calcium respons-
es enables long-term non-invasive tracking of myobundle function and response
to drugs. When made of muscle cells from
Pompe disease patients, myobundles show
reduced levels of alpha acid glucosidase,
increased glycogen accumulation, and deficit in contractile force, all reflective of typical clinical symptoms. Overall, tissue-engineered myobundles provide an enabling
platform for modeling of human disease
and development of next generation muscle therapeutics.
Nenad Bursac, the Rooney Family Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Pratt School
of Engineering at Duke University, obtained his
undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering at
Belgrade University, Serbia, and his PhD degree in
Biomedical Engineering at Boston University. He is
one of the pioneers of the cardiac tissue engineering field. In 1999, as a member of Robert Langer’s
group at MIT, he published the first manuscript on
functional cardiac tissue engineering using mammalian heart cells. His postdoctoral research with
Leslie Tung at Johns Hopkins University involved
the development of novel methodologies to control
architecture and function of 2- and 3-dimensional
cardiac tissue models for use in physiological studies and cell-based cardiac therapies.
cardiac cell cultures that replicate micro- and macrostructure of native myocardium, 2) development
of specialized co-culture assays to study structural
and functional interactions between cardiomyocytes and other cells, 3) a novel mesoscopic hydrogel molding technique for fabrication of aligned
and highly functional skeletal and cardiac muscle
tissues derived from adult or pluripotent stem cells,
and 4) generation of novel biosynthetic excitable
cells and tissues for basic studies of ion channel
function and use in somatic cell therapies for excitable tissue disease.
He joined Duke Biomedical Engineering as an Assistant Professor in October 2003, and since July
2010, he has been appointed as an Associate Professor with tenure. Currently, Dr. Bursac’s research
involves the use of cell, tissue, and genetic engineering techniques and electrophysiological and biomechanical studies to advance fields of somatic and
stem cell based therapies for cardiac and skeletal
muscle disease. Some examples of this work include: 1) combining MRI and cell micropatternining
techniques to create novel 2- and 3-dimensional
He is an author of more than 70 scientific articles,
6 book chapters, and has given a number of invited
seminars nationally and internationally. He is a
recipient of numerous awards including the Stansell Family Distinguished Research Award, Mendel
Center Award, and Stem Cell Innovation Award. He
has participated in organization of national and
international conferences including the North Carolina Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
Society and tissue engineering track of Biomedical
Engineering Society annual meetings in 2014. Dr.
Bursac serves as a standing member of an NIH review panel. In 2015, he has been elected as a fellow of American Institute for Medical and Biological
Engineering.
WARREN GRILL, PHD
TIMING IS EVERYTHING: TEMPORAL PATTERN IS A NEW
DIMENSION IN NERVOUS SYSTEM PACEMAKERS
Abstract: The application of electrical stimulation for treatment of neurological disorders, or to restore function following disease
or injury, has relied for decades on control-
ling the effects of stimulation through selection of stimulation amplitude (voltage
or current), stimulation pulse duration, and
stimulation pulse repetition frequency. I will
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FRONTIERS 2015
introduce a new dimension of parameter
adjustment – the temporal pattern of stimulation – and demonstrate how design of
appropriate patterns of stimulation enables
increases in the efficacy and energy efficien-
cy of neural stimulation therapies, including
deep brain stimulation for the treatment of
Parkinson’s disease and spinal cord stimulation for the treatment of chronic pain.
Warren M. Grill is a professor of biomedical engineering in the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke
University, with secondary appointments in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Neurobiology, and
Surgery. He received a B.S. degree in biomedical engineering with honors in 1989 from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering in 1995
from Case Western Reserve University.
electrical stimulation for treatment of pain. He has
published over 140 peer reviewed journal articles
and 17 book chapters, and has been awarded 22
US patents.
He teaches courses on circuits and instrumentation, bioelectricity, and on the fundamentals and
applications of electrical stimulation. In 2008, he
received the Capers & Marion McDonald Award for
Excellence in Teaching and Research at Duke University, in 2013 was awarded Outstanding Postdoc
Mentor at Duke University, and in 2014 received
the University Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award at
Duke. His research interests are in neural engineering and neural prostheses and include design and
testing of electrodes and stimulation techniques,
the electrical properties of tissues and cells, and
computational neuroscience with applications to
restoration of bladder function, treatment of movement disorders with deep brain stimulation, and
He is co-founder, director, and chief scientific officer of NDI Medical, a medical device incubator,
director and chief scientific advisor at SPR Therapeutics, which has developed a novel therapy for
treating pain, and co-founder, director, and chief
scientific officer of DBI, which is commercializing a
novel approach to brain stimulation to treat neurological disorders. He serves as a consultant to
the Neurological Devices Panel of the FDA Medical
Devices Advisory Committee, a member of the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary’s Advisory
Committee on Prosthetics and Special-Disabilities
Program, and on the editorial boards of Brain
Stimulation and the Journal of Neural Engineering.
He was elected as a fellow of the American Institute
of Medical and Biological Engineering in 2007, and
as a fellow of the Biomedical Engineering Society in
2011.
JENNIFER WEST, PHD
NANOMEDICINE: NOVEL MATERIALS ENABLING
ADVANCES IN DIAGNOSTICS AND THERAPEUTICS
The increasing capability to manipulate
matter at the nanoscale is generating new
materials with unique properties that
promise to address unmet medical needs
for future generations. As an example,
metal nanoshells are a relatively new class
of nanoparticles with highly tunable optical
properties. Metal nanoshells consist of a dielectric core nanoparticle such as silica surrounded by an ultrathin metal shell, usually
composed of gold for biomedical applications. Depending on the size and composition of each layer of the nanoshell, particles
can be designed to either absorb or scatter
light over much of the visible and infrared
regions of the electromagnetic spectrum,
including the near infrared region where
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penetration of light through tissue is maximal.
These particles are also easily conjugated to
antibodies, aptamers, peptides and other
biomolecules for specific targeting. Further,
the biocompatibility of these particles is excellent. For photothermal cancer therapy,
nanoshells can be fabricated to achieve
strong near infrared absorption, injected
intravenously to accumulate at tumor sites
due to the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect and/or molecular targeting,
then generate heat upon illumination with
near infrared light, leading to destruction of
the tumor. This has shown very promising
results in several animal models. For example, in a mouse colon carcinoma model,
we demonstrated 100% tumor-free survival
ABSTRACTS & BIOS
of nanoshell treated mice at 1 year. These
materials are now in three phase I human
clinical trials.
For use in diagnostics and imaging,
nanoshells can be designed to strongly scatter near infrared light. Molecularly targeted
nanoshells have been used as optical contrast agents for cancer imaging with subcellular resolution. For example, anti-HER2
conjugated nanoshells allow near infrared
imaging of HER2+ breast carcinoma cells.
Furthermore, integrated imaging and therJennifer West joined the faculty at Duke in 2012, after having been the department chair and Cameron
Professor of Bioengineering Rice University. Professor West was one of the founding members of Rice’s
Department of Bioengineering, building it to a top
ten program over the prior sixteen years.
Professor West’s research focuses on the development of novel biofunctional materials. Part of her
program has developed nanoparticle-based approaches to biophotonics therapeutics and diagnostics. An example of this work is the application
of near-infrared absorbing nanoparticles for photothermal tumor ablation. In animal studies, this
therapeutic strategy has demonstrated very high
efficacy with minimal side effects or damage to surrounding normal tissues. In 2000, Professor West
founded Nanospectra Biosciences, Inc. to commercialize the nanoparticle-assisted photothermal ablation technology, now called AuroLase. Nanospectra Biosciences, Inc., located in Houston, TX, is the
recipient of a NIST ATP Award and a grant from the
Texas Emerging Technology Fund. Professor West is
a director of the company. The company has built
manufacturing facilities, and AuroLase cancer therapy is now in human clinical trials.
Professor West has received numerous accolades
for her work. In 2015, she received the Society for
Biomaterials Clemson Award. In 2014, she was
recognized by Thomson Reuters as a Highly Cited
Researcher, the top 1% in the field of materials science. In 2010 she was named Texas Inventor of the
Year and also Admiral of the Texas Navy (highest
honor the governor of Texas can bestow on a civilian). In 2008, The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas honored her with the
apy applications have been accomplished
with nanoshells designed to provide both
absorption and scattering, potentially enabling “see-and-treat” approaches to cancer therapy. Gold nanoshells also provide
x-ray contrast due to the electron density of
gold and can be conjugated to MR contrast
agents such as gadolinium to provide highly
multi-modal imaging capabilities in addition
to therapy as well.
O’Donnell Prize in Engineering as the top engineer
in the state. In 2006, she was named one of 20 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professors, recognizing integration of world class research and teaching. She has been listed by MIT Technology Review
as one of the 100 most innovative young scientists
and engineers world wide. Other recognitions include the Christopher Columbus Foundation Frank
Annunzio Award for scientific innovation, Nanotechnology Now’s Best Discovery of 2003, Small
Times Magazine’s Researchers of the Year in 2004,
and the Society for Biomaterials Outstanding Young
Investigator Award.
Professor West has authored more than 180 research articles. She also holds 18 patents that have
been licensed to eight different companies. She has
lectured at numerous institutions, including Harvard, Harvard Medical School, MIT, FDA, and NCI.
She was an invited speaker at the 2006 Nobel Symposium and invited back in 2014 for the 50th Anniversary Nobel Symposium.
Professor West has served as a member of the
Bioengineering, Technology, and Surgical Sciences
study section at NIH, and has served on numerous other review boards for NIH and NSF. She has
also been a member of the Defense Sciences Study
Group, a member of the NRC panel on management
of university intellectual property, and a member of
the AAMC panel on research. She is currently treasurer of the Biomedical Engineering Society and
Chair-Elect of the College of Fellows of the American
Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Her
laboratory receives funding from NIH, NSF, Howard
Hughes Medical Institute, and DOD.
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FRONTIERS 2015
GEMMA BUDD
RESPONDER
Gemma Budd is the health care business manager
at Lucideon, a materials development and consultancy business based in the United Kingdom with
offices across the United States. Lucideon commercializes breakthrough materials technologies for
sectors including medical devices, pharmaceuticals,
construction, and nuclear. Gemma holds a bachelor of science honors degree in biomedical science
from the University of Durham (UK).
She is currently responsible for developing and
commercializing the intellectual property in Lucideon’s health care portfolio. This includes identifying
new materials and processing technologies – and
finding applications for existing platforms – that
meet customer’s needs. These solutions may arise
from academic/industrial collaborations, or be
organically grown. Some of the areas currently of
interest to Gemma are drug delivery technologies,
toughened ceramics, polymer-ceramic hybrids, and
antimicrobial surfaces.
Lucideon has recently opened a new office in North
Carolina aimed at developing further applications
for advanced materials through fostering partnerships with universities and industry.
SHAUN GITTARD
RESPONDER
Shaun D. Gittard is a research engineer at Cook
Medical in Winston-Salem. He received his doctorate from the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina and
North Carolina State University.
He has authored dozens of publications in the field
of biomaterials on topics ranging from rapid pro-
totyping to antimicrobial materials to tissue engineering. He has received numerous rewards for his
research including the American Ceramics Society’s
GEMS Sapphire award and JOM’s paper of the year.
Gittard has been active at Cook Medical creating
new therapies to treat a range of medical disorders
including gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases.
SONIA GREGO
RESPONDER
Sonia Grego, senior research scientist and leader of
the Global Health Technologies group, has been at
RTI International since 2001.
Her research activities focus on bioengineering solutions for health and behavior monitoring, and for
biological studies.
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Grego has expertise in organs-on-chip, wearable
sensors, flexible electronics and microfabricated
devices. She has co-authored more than 40 scientific publications and has been awarded four US
patents.
ABSTRACTS & BIOS
RESEARCH SESSION II-A:
MATERIALS/ENERGY
RICHARD NEWELL, PHD
MODERATOR
Richard G. Newell is the Gendell Professor of Energy and Environmental Economics at the Nicholas
School of the Environment at Duke University, and
director of the Duke University Energy Initiative. In
2009, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the
head of the U.S. Energy Information Administration
(EIA), the agency responsible for official U.S. government energy statistics and analysis. He served
there until 2011. Newell has also served as the senior economist for energy and environment on the
President’s Council of Economic Advisors.
He is on the board of directors and is a University
Fellow of Resources for the Future, where he was
previously a senior fellow. He is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research
and has provided expert advice and consulted with
many private, governmental, non-governmental,
and international institutions.
Newell has published widely on the economics of
markets and policies for energy, the environment,
and related technologies, including incentives for
technological innovation and adoption. He has
served on numerous boards and National Academy
of Sciences (NAS) expert committees related to energy, environment, and innovation, including NAS
committees on Energy R&D, Innovation Inducement
Prizes, Energy Externalities, and Energy Efficiency.
He has also participated in the National Petroleum
Council (NPC) studies on the Future of Transportation Fuels, the North American Resource Base, and
Global Oil and Gas. Newell holds a PhD from Harvard University, an MPA from Princeton’s Woodrow
Wilson School of Public and International Affairs,
and a BS and BA from Rutgers University.
VOLKER BLUM, PHD
PREDICTIVE SIMULATIONS OF MATERIALS FOR ELECTRONIC AND
ENERGY-RELATED APPLICATIONS BASED ON QUANTUM MECHANICS
Abstract: The availability of new materials
with tailored properties often determines
the success or failure of technological revolutions, e.g., the information technology
industry (semiconductors) or energy generation and storage from sunlight (driven
by materials for photovoltaics and/or catalysis). An often-quoted statement from
the US Materials Genome Initiative is that,
once a new class of materials is identified,
the time frame to incorporation into actual
applications is still 10 to 20 years. Predictive
computer simulations of the properties and
processes that make a given material useful
are an important avenue to shorten this development cycle, helping to understand the
function of known materials and suggesting
strategies for targeted improvements. With
Schrödinger’s Equation, a complete mathematical description of material properties is
essentially completely known. This talk outlines our computational approach to quantum-mechanics-based simulations of materials and molecules. Application examples
include monolayer-thin graphene films on
silicon carbide for electronic applications as
well as carbon-based materials for photogenerated energy generation and storage.
Volker Blum is an associate professor of materials
science and chemistry in the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University, and an expert in computational modeling of physical and chemical properties and processes in materials.
He received his diplom (1996) and doctoral degrees
(Dr. rer. nat., 2001) in physics from the University of
Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, before joining the US
Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy
Laboratory in Golden, Colo., as a post-doctoral re-
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FRONTIERS 2015
searcher in 2002. Between 2004 and 2013, he was
a scientist and group leader at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin. He joined
Duke in September 2013.
Blum’s work is based on the FHI-aims computer
code for the quantum-mechanics-based prediction
of properties and processes in materials – a globally developed, high-accuracy scientific software
package that he co-founded and continues to lead.
His applied research interests include new materials for electronic and energy-related applications.
He received the Staedtler Foundation Prize for outstanding doctoral theses in 2002, has coauthored
50 scientific publications, given over 80 invited presentations at conferences, workshops, and seminars in academia and industry, and co-organized
10 conferences and workshops.
NICO HOTZ, PHD
SOLAR-POWERED HYDROGEN GENERATION
Abstract: In conventional fuel reforming
systems generating hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels, the thermal energy required
to preheat water and fuel to the reaction
temperature, evaporate liquid water and
fuel, compensate heat losses, and overcome the reaction enthalpy of the catalytic
steam reforming is generated by burning
part of the initial fuel. This typically costs
approximately half of the fuel. In the solarpowered system of this study, all fuel can
be converted to hydrogen, since the heating requirement is fulfilled by solar power.
This talk will discuss the synthesis of nanocatalysts for methanol steam reforming and
their combination with a non-concentrating
solar-thermal collector and a polymer elec-
trolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell. The solar
collector is used to capture thermal energy
at sufficient temperature to drive hydrogen
production by steam reforming of methanol. Carbon monoxide within the product
gas is removed and the clean hydrogen gas
mixture is fed into a low-temperature fuel
cell, resulting in methanol-to-electric efficiencies above 60 percent and solar-to-electric efficiencies above 50 percent. Finally, a
novel approach is presented which takes
advantage of localized surface plasmon
resonance (LSPR) occurring on plasmonic
nanostructures to thermally drive catalytic
reactions that normally require elevated
temperatures to overcome the reaction activation energy.
Nico Hotz is assistant professor in mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke University.
His research interests are in the area of interfacial transport phenomena and thermodynamics
in energy technology including phenomena at the
micro- and nanoscale. Thermodynamic aspects of
photovoltaics, novel sustainable energy conversion
technologies, and chemical reactions are an essential part of his research.
hydrogen generation, solarthermal applications,
and fuel cells.
The focus in research is the combination of ideas,
insights and results from traditional energy technology such as thermal power plants with novel and
innovative technologies such as fuel cells and photovoltaic cells based on micro- and nano-structured
materials. Specific topics include of heat, mass, and
charge transfer in the nanoscale, thermodynamic
analysis of energy conversion and storage systems,
14
He received his diploma (2005) and doctoral degree
(2008) from ETH Zurich. He worked as postdoctoral
researcher at UC Berkeley and joined Duke in 2010,
where he heads the Thermodynamics and Sustainable Energy Lab. Hotz is a faculty member of the
Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics (FIP) at Duke,
and received the 2012 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty
Enhancement Award by the Oak Ridge Associated
Universities (ORAU) and the 2013 New Investigator Award by the NC Space Grant. He received the
2010 Best Paper Award at the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Energy Sustainability
Conference by the Advanced Energy Systems Division of ASME and the Alfred M. Hunt Faculty Scholarship in 2014.
ABSTRACTS & BIOS
ADRIENNE STIFF-ROBERTS, PHD
RESONANT INFRARED MATRIX-ASSISTED PULSED
LASER EVAPORATION (RIR-MAPLE): AN ENABLING
TECHNOLOGY FOR POLYMERIC THIN FILMS
Abstract: Resonant infrared matrix-assisted
pulsed laser evaporation (RIR-MAPLE) is a
promising thin film deposition technology
for polymeric materials for two primary reasons: 1). the ability to control and tune many
aspects of nanoscale morphology, and 2).
the ability to deposit multi-component and
multi-layered polymeric films, regardless of
the constituent material solubility. A novel
approach using target emulsions has been
developed that enables high-quality, thinfilm deposition without significant damage.
This emulsion RIR-MAPLE technique has
been used for the thin film deposition of a
variety of conjugated polymer, small molecule, nanoparticle, and blended/bulk heterojunction material systems. Of particular
interest is the application of these polymeric thin films to photonics and optoelectronics. Examples of RIR-MAPLE-deposited films
to be presented include hybrid nanocomposite films for solar cells, multifunctional
surfaces for antimicrobial applications, and
blended polymer films for optical coatings.
Adrienne Stiff-Roberts is associate professor
of electrical and computer engineering at Duke,
where she is also affiliated with the Research Triangle Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC). Her current research interests
include polymer, nanoparticle, and organic/inorganic hybrid nanocomposite thin film deposition
by resonant-infrared matrix-assisted pulsed laser
evaporation (RIR-MAPLE); materials characterization of organic and hybrid nanocomposite thin
films; and the design, fabrication, and characterization of organic-based devices, especially infrared
photodetectors, photovoltaic solar cells, and multifunctional surfaces.
2004, respectively, from the University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, where she investigated high-temperature quantum dot infrared photodetectors grown
by molecular beam epitaxy.
Stiff-Roberts received both a BS degree in physics
from Spelman College and a BEE degree in electrical
engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999. She received an MSE in electrical engineering and a PhD in applied physics in 2001 and
Stiff-Roberts received the David and Lucile Packard
Foundation Graduate Scholars Fellowship and the
AT&T Labs Fellowship Program Grant from 19992004. She is a recipient of the National Science
Foundation CAREER Award (2006), the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award (2007), the
IEEE Early Career Award in Nanotechnology of the
Nanotechnology Council (2009), and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
(PECASE) (2009). She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa,
Sigma Pi Sigma, the American Chemical Society, the
American Physical Society, the Materials Research
Society, the National Society of Black Physicists, and
she is a senior member of IEEE.
BRANDON COLE
RESPONDER
Brandon Cole is the manager of business development at SCI Technology for its Technology segment.
He is responsible for developing partnerships with
university research parks, technology start-ups, and
mid-size technology companies with intent to commercialize innovative technologies that fit within the
core competencies of SCI, Technology, or verticals of
the larger parent company, Sanmina Corporation.
Before joining the SCI’s Technology segment, Cole
spent three years as the manager of business development for SCI’s Aircraft Systems segment. Prior to
joining SCI, Brandon spent 11 years on active duty
in the United States military – first with the United
States Air Force, and then after an inter-service
transfer with the United States Army. The majority of Brandon’s military service was with the Army,
where he held multiple intelligence positions.
As a trained military intelligence officer, Brandon’s
first assignment was with the 4th Brigade Combat
Team (BCT), 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. He
served as the assistant brigade intelligence officer
of a 3,000 personnel BCT. In his second assignment,
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FRONTIERS 2015
Brandon served as the battalion intelligence officer
of the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion (BSB), 4th
BCT, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. In this
assignment, he served as the senior intelligence advisor to the battalion commander, where he worked
to establish a new intelligence section and prepare
the battalion for its 16-month deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Upon returning from Afghanistan, Cole took
his final active duty assignment as the recruiting
operations officer for the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Army ROTC Department. In this assignment
Cole was responsible for all day-to-day operations
for building and sustaining a viable ROTC department to train future Army leaders.
Cole still serves as an intelligence officer in the United States Army Reserve, where he is currently assigned to the Fort Gillem Joint Reserve Intelligence
Center in Georgia for the Department of Defense’s
European Command. In his Army Reserve duties,
Cole is the branch chief for the Levant Region, with
direct support to EUCOM’s Military Forces Branch.
Cole received a bachelor of science in social science
from the United States Air Force Academy, where he
also minored in philosophy. He earned a master’s
degree in public relations from George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management. He earned his MBA from the Manderson
School at the University of Alabama. Brandon is
married with one child.
JAMES GAILLARD
RESPONDER
James Gaillard has worked for IBM for 14 years,
and is currently the Raleigh Cloud Ecosystem leader. Working in the Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Durham, and
RTP area, James is working to build a strong and vibrant ecosystem of developers, start-ups, entrepreneurs, accelerators, incubators and IBMers around
the IBM Cloud technologies.
Gaillard has had a variety of roles since he started
at IBM – from marketing, to technology advocate, to
alliance management and business development.
Prior to joining IBM, James worked at the Nasdaq
Stock Market in New York in their product development department. He received his MBA from UNC
Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School in 2001.
RESEARCH SESSION II-C:
DATA ANALYTICS/INFORMATICS
INGRID DAUBECHIES, PHD
MODERATOR
Ingrid Daubechies is the James B. Duke Professor
of Mathematics at Duke University. She earned her
PhD in theoretical physics from Vrije Universiteit
Brussel, where she began her academic career. She
is best known for her breakthroughs in wavelet research and her contributions to digital signal processing. Some of the wavelet bases she constructed
have become a household name in signal analysis;
they, and other computational techniques she developed, have been incorporated into the JPEG2000
standard for image compression. Apart from her
work on wavelets, Daubechies has contributed to
other seminal advances in time-frequency analysis.
Her career has seen many impressive firsts: Ingrid
was the first female full professor of mathematics
at Princeton University; the first woman to receive
16
the National Academy of Sciences Award in Mathematics in 2000; the first woman president of the
International Mathematical Union in 2010; and she
is very likely the first and only female mathematician to have been granted the title of baroness by
King Albert II of Belgium.
Her numerous prizes include two American Mathematical Society Steele Prizes – in 1994 for Exposition and in 2011 for Seminal Paper; the American
Mathematical Society’s Ruth Lyttle Satter Prize in
Mathematics (1997); the Pioneer Prize of the International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (2006, with Heinz Engl); the Jack S. Kilby
Signal Processing Medal of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (2011); and the 2012
BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award
ABSTRACTS & BIOS
in the Basic Sciences category (jointly with David
Mumford). Also in 2012 she received the Frederic
Esser Nemmers Prize in Mathematics, one of the
largest monetary awards in the United States for
outstanding achievements in mathematics, for “her
numerous and lasting contributions to applied and
computational analysis and for the remarkable impact her work has had across engineering and the
sciences.” She was elected to the National Academy
of Engineering in 2015.
In addition to her commitment to educating and
mentoring the next generation of mathematicians,
Ingrid continues to break new ground in mathematics research and expand its impact outside of her
discipline, focusing on the analysis of signals and
inverse problems in a wide range of settings, with
applications ranging from fMRI and geophysics to
paleontology and the study of fine art paintings.
DAVID DUNSON, PHD
ANALYZING NETWORKS: BRAINS, CREATIVITY,
AND ECONOMIC GRAPHS
There has been dramatically increasing interest in analyzing and exploiting information in network data in broad domains ranging from neurosciences to firms that collect
social network data, such as LinkedIn, Maxpoint, Twitter and Facebook. In this talk, I’ll
describe some emerging approaches for
network data analysis, focusing in particular
on data from brain connectomic studies and
the LinkedIn Economic Graph challenge. I
demonstrate some key advantages of taking a Bayesian statistical approach to these
problems, providing compelling new results
relating human brain connection structures
to creative reasoning. I also discuss new
collaborations with LinkedIn on attempting
to use their massive scale network data to
make recommendations to users (individuals and companies) in how to best navigate
the emerging “virtual professional world.”
David Dunson is the Arts & Sciences Professor of
Statistical Science, Mathematics and Electrical &
Computer Engineering at Duke University. His background and expertise is in developing novel statistical and computational methodology motivated by
challenging high-dimensional and complex data
sets, with a particular emphasis on Bayesian approaches for biomedical data.
He is fellow of the American Statistical Association
and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. He
has over 300 peer-reviewed publications, and has
been cited over 23,000 times, with an H-index of
52. He is most well known for exceptional creativity in developing novel probability models for better
characterizing complex data using nonparametric
Bayes, geometry and latent variable methods. In recent years, he has increasingly focused on machine
learning methods, uncertainty quantification in big
data settings, and developing improved methods
for analysis of data from genomic and neuroscience studies. He has substantial editorial board
experience, and is currently an associate editor at
Biometrika, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society
Series B, and Journal of Machine Learning Research.
He has won numerous awards for his fundamental
contributions, including notably the 2007 Mortimer
Spiegelman Award for the top public health statistician under age 40, the 2010 COPSS President’s
Award for the top statistician internationally under
age 41, and a gold medal from the US Environmental Protection Agency for outstanding service in risk
assessment.
GUILLERMO SAPIRO, PHD
WHAT CAN BIG DATA ANALYTICS DO FOR ORDINARY CONSUMERS?
Abstract: In this talk we will first describe
some of the challenges in big data analytics. While contrary to the hype we might get
from reading the popular press, we have
advanced but are still far from the target.
We will then describe some ongoing work
in our team with applications ranging from
consumer photography to medical challenges, such as mental health screening.
We will stress the use of mobile phones as
the key processing unit, so it becomes truly
consumer-centric. The talk is targeted to the
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FRONTIERS 2015
general audience, no background besides
being curious is needed.
Guillermo Sapiro is the Edmund T. Pratt, Jr. School
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
at Duke University. He received his B.Sc. summa
cum laude, M.Sc., and Ph.D. from the Department
of Electrical Engineering at the Technion, Israel
Institute of Technology, in 1989, 1991, and 1993,
respectively. After post-doctoral research at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he became
a member of technical staff at the research facilities
of HP Labs in Palo Alto, California. He was with the
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
at the University of Minnesota, where he held the
position of Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Vincentine Hermes-Luh Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
He works on theory and applications in computer
vision, computer graphics, medical imaging, image
analysis, and machine learning. He has authored
and co-authored over 300 papers in these areas,
and wrote a book published by Cambridge University Press in January 2001.
He was awarded the Gutwirth Scholarship for Special Excellence in Graduate Studies in 1991, the
Ollendorff Fellowship for Excellence in Vision and
Image Understanding Work in 1992, the Rothschild
Fellowship for Post-Doctoral Studies in 1993, the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award in
1998, the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientist and Engineers (PECASE) in 1998, the National
Science Foundation Career Award in 1999, and the
National Security Science and Engineering Faculty
Fellowship in 2010. He received the Test of Time
Award at ICCV 2011. He is a fellow of IEEE and SIAM,
and was the founding editor-in-chief of the SIAM
Journal on Imaging Sciences.
SHAUN GITTARD
RESPONDER
Bio on page 12.
ANN PITRUZZELLO
RESPONDER
Bio on page 8.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
THOMAS KATSOULEAS, PHD
SPEAKER INTRODUCTION
Thomas C. Katsouleas became the Vinik Dean and
Professor of Electrical and Computing Engineering
at the Pratt School of Engineering in July 2008. Dean
Katsouleas received his bachelor’s degree and Ph.D.
in physics from the University of California, Los Angeles. He joined the faculty at UCLA and later at the
University of Southern California, where he served
as associate dean of engineering and vice provost
of information technology services.
His research interests include the use of plasmas
as novel particle accelerators and light sources, for
18
which he received the 2011 Plasma Science Achievement Award from the IEEE. During his tenure at
Duke, he’s overseen significant growth in the research and graduate programs at Pratt, which has
been one of the fastest-rising engineering schools in
national rankings over the past five years. He also
co-led the founding of the NAE Grand Challenge
Scholars program for undergraduate students,
which has been endorsed by the National Academy
of Engineering and is currently in development at
more than 65 engineering schools across the nation.
ABSTRACTS & BIOS
JIM ROGERS
PLENARY ADDRESS: TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES IN
THE POWER INDUSTRY IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Jim Rogers, retired chairman and CEO of Duke
Energy, has served for over 25 years as a CEO in
the electric utility sector. He has served more than
50 cumulative years on the boards of directors of
eight Fortune 500 companies, currently serving as
a board member of Cigna and Applied Materials,
as well as the Asia Society, The Nature Conservancy
and the Aspen Institute. He is a lifetime member of
the Council on Foreign Relations.
Prior to becoming a CEO, Rogers served as deputy
general counsel for litigation and enforcement for
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC);
executive vice president of interstate pipelines for
the Enron Gas Pipeline Group; and as a partner in
the Washington law office of Akin Gump Strauss
Hauer & Feld.
He has also served as assistant to the chief trial
counsel at FERC; as a law clerk for the Supreme
Court of Kentucky; and as assistant attorney general for the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Rogers
earned the reputation as a “CEO Statesman.” In
2009, Newsweek magazine named him to its list of
“50 Most Powerful People in the World.”
STUDENT/INDUSTRY PANEL
THOMAS E. HEALY
MODERATOR
Thomas E. Healy is director of the Office of Corporate Relations at Duke University. Duke is committed to working in collaboration with industry to promote innovation, insight, and solutions to societal
and global challenges.
Prior to his position at Duke, Tom was director of
External Research Strategy for Microsoft External
Research. In this role, he established and supported
leading-edge academic research projects at worldwide universities. Responsibilities included managing programs, projects, events, and communications.
He is originally from the Boston area, and holds a
BA in education from the University of Massachusetts and an MS in organizational development
from Lesley University.
ANDREW BERGER
PANELIST
Andrew Berger is the vice president and director
of corporate operations for Parsons Corporation,
headquartered in Pasadena, Calif. Parsons delivers
engineering, construction, technical services, and
program and construction management to federal,
regional, state, and local government agencies and
to private sector industrial customers worldwide.
Berger holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, and
has over 28 years’ experience as an engineer and
manager with companies including URS, Dames &
Moore Group, and Aydin Monitor Systems.
He has held positions in engineering, project management, contracts, business management, finance,
general management, mergers and acquisitions,
operations, and human resources in businesses
spanning North America, South America, Europe,
the Middle East, and Australasia. Berger is based in
Parsons’ office in Charlotte.
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FRONTIERS 2015
STEPHANIE CHALK
PANELIST
Stephanie Chalk is the campus manager for NetApp, a Fortune 500 company. Organizations worldwide count on NetApp for software, systems, and
services to manage and store their data. Customers
value NetApp’s teamwork, expertise, and passion
for helping them succeed now and into the future.
NetApp help enterprises and service providers envision, deploy, and evolve their IT environments.
Chalk graduated from North Carolina State University with a degree in communications-media with a
minor in journalism. Prior to working for NetApp,
she completed the Executive Leadership Program
and was an Executive Team Lead at Target. Stephanie was a university recruiter for 2.5 years at NetApp prior to becoming the campus manager for
the East/Central United States.
As a campus manager, she is responsible for identifying and building strategic partnerships with top
academic institutions across the country. She develops and executes various programs and events
aimed at promoting the NetApp brand and developing awareness of our internship and full-time university programs.
DAVID MCDONALD
PANELIST
David McDonald received his PhD from the Duke
University Program in Genetics and Genomics.
While at Duke, he also participated in the Certificate
in College Teaching and Preparing Future Faculty
programs.
He undertook a postdoctoral fellowship in the Biology Department at North Carolina Central University to gain additional teaching and research
experience. Along the way, he co-founded the NCCU
Postdoc Association and developed professional development programs.
Dave joined the Duke University Career Center in
2015, and counsels masters and PhD students
across disciplines. His goal is to help students explore their academic and non-academic career
options, identify relevant opportunities for development, prepare their application materials, practice
interviewing skills, and transition to their next position.
ELI NICHOLS
PANELIST
Eli Nichols has eight-plus years of research and development, design, and product development experience in the medical device space, both in academics and in industry.
He currently serves as director of design at EG-Gilero. EG-Gilero is a single-source, design, development
and manufacturing company within the medical
devices, drug delivery, and primary pharmaceutical
packaging markets. He is the lead in solving tech-
20
nical issues, design resolution, and providing guidance for EG-Gilero’s engineering team.
In 2006, Nichols graduated from the Pratt School of
Engineering with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical
engineering. He is a 2007 graduate of Pratt’s Masters of Engineering Management Program. While at
Duke he was member of the football team and a
two-time Academic All-American.
ABSTRACTS & BIOS
BRIAN RIDOUT
PANELIST
Brian Ridout is the Associate Director of Manufacturing Sciences at Biogen, a global biotechnology company specializing in the discovery, development, and delivery of therapies for the treatment of
neurodegenerative, hematologic, and autoimmune
diseases to patients worldwide.
ogy Transfer. He recently completed the rotational
program and is currently the Associate Director of
Manufacturing Sciences responsible for developing
and managing a new Global Project Management
function within the Global Manufacturing Sciences
organization.
Brian began his career with Biogen in 1999 in Manufacturing Operations and gained 12 years of experience in manufacturing managing biologics operations. In 2011 Brian embarked on a job rotation
program consisting of 1.5 year rotations in each
of 3 functions: Quality, Engineering and Technol-
Brian holds a BS in Biology and Biology/ Pre-Med
from Appalachian State University and an MBA, Biopharma Management from North Carolina State
University - College of Management.
JENN SCRIMSHAW
PANELIST
Jenn Scrimshaw is a senior recruiting consultant at
RTI International, supporting the Social, Statistical,
and Environmental Sciences Group. RTI’s mission is
to improve the human condition by turning knowledge into practice, and Scrimshaw is thankful that
for the last seven years she has had the opportunity
to recruit top talent to fulfill RTI’s mission.
She began her human resources and recruiting career over 12 years ago, and has experience in both
corporate and agency recruiting and HR environments. Her specialized experience is in strategic
recruitment, selection, and performance management.
While recruiting has always been a passion for her,
she has worn several different HR hats throughout
her career. She is the graduate of Elon University
with a degree in corporate communications, and
has lived in the area over 16 years.
DEBORAH STOKES
PANELIST
Deborah R. Stokes is the leader, global external
research, for EMC Corporation, collaborating with
universities and research institutes around the
world, as part of the office of the CTO.
She has served in various technology leadership positions including business development, advanced
technology, product development, marketing, and
operations for over 25 years in large global technology firms. She also has additional experience in the
education vertical. She serves on several local business committees and various university advisory
boards. She has numerous publications in the technology management field, and has filed a patent on
measuring the ROI from university investments.
Stokes holds a BS in business administration, and
completed her executive MBA at the University
of Texas at Dallas with a focus on “Managing for
Change.”
21
FRONTIERS 2015
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PANEL
BARRY M. MYERS, PHD
MODERATOR
Barry Myers is a professor of biomedical engineering at Duke and is managing director of Duke’s
Office of Licensing and Ventures (OLV). As managing director, he is responsible for operations and
outreach within OLV and he oversees internal and
external relationships to ensure that the office is responsive to its constituencies and supports licensing
opportunities. An accomplished researcher himself,
he has extensive experience in commercializing early stage translational research, licensing, industrial
relationships, and venture capital, making him ideally suited to assess early-stage innovation. His research examines the biomechanics of head impact
neck injury, with the goal of injury prevention.
He earned his MD-PhD from Duke in 1991 and an
MBA from Duke in 2005. He has been a tenured
member of the Duke faculty for over 20 years. He
holds appointments in surgery, biological anthro-
pology and anatomy, and business administration.
Dr. Myers is a Distinguished Professor at Duke, having received the Bass Chair in recognition of his accomplishments in research and teaching. He is the
founding director of the Duke Coulter Foundation
Translational Partnership Program that provides
funding and management to early-stage health
care innovations from a $20 million endowment.
He is also the Director of Emerging Programs in the
Duke Translational Research Institute (DTRI), where
he oversees the pilot funding program and manages the DTRI Consult service that assists faculty
innovators. He also maintains an active consulting
practice. He serves as an executive-in-residence at
Pappas Ventures, advises several start-up companies, and consults for the NFL, NASCAR, and a variety of automobile manufacturers.
BRIAN LOWINGER, JD
PANELIST
Brian Lowinger is an Assistant Director in Duke’s Office of Research Support. His work focuses primarily
on transactions and compliance issues. Regarding
transactions, Brian represents Duke in negotiating
agreements with potential and current sponsors.
Regardless of the type and value of the agreement,
Brian’s goal is to be reasonable and to ensure that
each party’s interests are met, albeit within the confines of the law, Duke policy, and sound business
practices. Regarding compliance, Brian focuses on
staying up to date with the ever-changing law appli-
22
cable to Duke, implementing Duke’s financial conflicts of interest policy, and other topics.
Before moving to North Carolina, Brian practiced
law in the DC-area for about 10 years. He received
his J.D. from the Catholic University of America’s
Columbus School of Law, and received a certificate
from its Institute for Communications Law Studies.
Brian received his B.A. from the George Washington
University. Raised in the Boston area, Brian is aware
the Red Sox are not doing so well right now, but he
still believes they are going to win it all.
ABSTRACTS & BIOS
JESKO W. VON WINDHEIM
PANELIST
Jesko W. von Windheim is a technology entrepreneur who is focused primarily on early-stage innovations in the physical sciences. He has played a
key role in a number of manufacturing companies
based on new materials, processes and functionality. He helped form Unitive Electronics, which was
later acquired by Amkor and remains a leader in
its field. He was a co-founder of Cronos Integrated
Microsystems, a microelectromechanical systems
company. Cronos was acquired by JDS Uniphase.
He was also CEO of Nextreme Thermal Solutions.
He founded Nextreme in 2004 with technology acquired from RTI International and licensed from the
Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Nextreme was acquired
by Laird Technologies in 2012. A current project is
Zenalux, which is commercializing technology developed at Duke which uses white light to measure
response to therapy and diagnose disease such as
cancer.
He is Professor of the Practice of Environmental
Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Nicholas
School of the Environment, where he leads the En-
vironmental Innovation and Entrepreneurship Certificate Program. The program is taught by a team
of successful entrepreneurs and includes courses
covering engineering entrepreneurship, start-up
operations, finance and marketing, with a focus on
engineers, scientists and technology entrepreneurs.
The mission of the program is to translate challenges we face in our environment into sustainable,
value-creating ventures using a combination of
practice-oriented education, a disciplined start-up
process, and the excellent infrastructure available
within Duke. He is also involved at Duke to help promote entrepreneurship in various capacities with
the Pratt School of Engineering, the Fuqua School
of Business, and the Duke Global Health Institute.
He holds bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and physics from McMaster University in Ontario, a master’s
degree and a PhD in chemistry from the University
of Guelph in Ontario, and an MBA from the KenanFlagler business school. He holds eight patents and
has numerous publications in the fields of solar cell
research and diamond thin-film materials.
23
ABOUT THE FRONTIERS
CONFERENCE
Frontiers at the Pratt School of Engineering at
Duke University is an opportunity to learn about
the latest research, development, and tech
transfer opportunities at Duke.
In addition to research presentations, attendees
have the opportunity to view research posters,
talk with representatives from Duke Office of
Licensing and Ventures (OLV) and meet with
students working in research subject areas.
#DukeFrontiers2015