Chris Joest
President
Imperial Machine and Tool, Columbia NJ
Christian M. Joest is President and owner of Imperial Machine & Tool Co., a 73 year old Advanced Manufacturing company based in Columbia, NJ. In addition to his 38 year tenure at Imperial, Chris is also an entrepreneur, owner and active board member of several Technology companies. He is a leading proponent of Additive Manufacturing and the positive impact it is having on American manufacturing and technology. Beyond incorporating Additive Manufacturing and Hybrid Manufacturing into the workflow at Imperial, Chris has been the primary driving force behind in-process quality inspection and verification of Additively Manufactured components.
Dr. Lesley Chow
Lehigh University, Bethlehem PA
Lesley Chow joined Lehigh University as an Assistant Professor in Materials Science and Engineering and Bioengineering in 2015 following her postdoctoral training at Imperial College London (London, UK). She received her B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida (Gainesville, FL) and her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL). Her research interests center around creating biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. Her lab currently focuses on the design and synthesis of novel functional materials that act as building blocks to construct scaffolds with dynamic and/or spatially organized physical and biochemical cues to mimic native biological tissues. These scaffolds provide templates to guide functional tissue regeneration and serve as platforms to deepen understanding about how the hierarchical organization and dynamic nature of native tissues is linked to their biological function.
Email: lesley.chow@lehigh.edu
Laura Ducceschi
President and CEO
Scranton Area Foundation, Scranton PA
Jeffrey Snellenburg
President
PA Angel Network
Jeff is currently the President of the PA Angel Network, which supports and provides resources to the angel groups and angel community in Pennsylvania; is the Investment Coordinator for Delaware Crossing Investor Group, an active angel group with locations in Doylestown and Princeton; and is the Executive Director of the Mid-Atlantic Angel Group Funds, which are institutional angel funds in Philadelphia.
Jeff has over twenty-five years of entrepreneurial, consulting and financial experience and continues to work with select start-up, emerging and later stage companies providing financial and operational management expertise. Jeff previously owned and operated a regional leader in the fire protection, security and communications service industries. He is a graduate of Shippensburg University where he earned a B.S.B.A. in finance and holds a M.B.A. from Philadelphia University where he was a member of the Delta Mu Delta National Honor Society.
Ed Graham
Engineering Manager
ProtoCAM, Allentown PA
Ed Graham is Engineering Manager at ProtoCAM, provider of value-added Industrial 3D printed prototypes and additive manufacturing services based in Allentown, PA. With a BS in Plastic Engineering Technology from Penn State University and over 20 years’ experience in the AM industry, Graham is a problem solver—a character trait that makes him an invaluable part of the ProtoCAM team. He has extensive experience in the industry and in overall business operations by working in sales, marketing, product design, project management and engineering which makes him an expert resource.
Justin Davis
Chief Executive Officer
Commonwealth Health Moses Taylor Hospital
Commonwealth Regional Hospital of Scranton
Brian Garvey
Flower Orthopedics, Horsham PA
Mr. Garvey has spent his entire professional career bringing new technologies to the orthopedic device market. While earning a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering at Drexel University in Philadelphia, he joined Globus medical as an engineering co-op and worked his way up to project leader, launching the world’s first laterally expanding interbody spine cage. Mr. Garvey left Globus to establish the product development team at Flower Orthopedics. With Flower, he consolidated the product development and marketing teams and launched the FlowerCube, the world’s first Ready-for-Surgery(TM) implant platform, completely eliminating the need for on site decontamination and sterilization of implants and instruments. The FlowerCube and the Ready-for-Surgery concept successfully created a new market segment and extremity fixation procedures. A named inventor on several patents, Mr. Garvey has a proven track record of creating new technologies that improve patients’ lives.
James Marciano
Managing Director
Strategic Exit Advisors, Doylestown PA
James Marciano is a lifelong entrepreneur. After five years spent in strategy consulting, he sold everything he owned, maxed out his credit cards, and started an Internet company in 1995 called TheSquare. It was one of the first two social networks on the web. He raised his Series A 48 hours before the market crashed in 2000. Ben Carroccio, the founder of HotJobs, acquired TheSquare in 2001. James founded Refer-it.com in 1998, the first directory of affiliate programs, which was rolled up by internet.com and taken public a few months later. James also founded ReturnPath in 1999, a global email solution services company. Together, the companies he founded have raised over $100 million in equity.
From 2001-2015, James took a targeted, roll-up your sleeves, attitude to angel investing – eventually funding about a dozen startups. James managed the sale of two of those companies, HurryDate and GigMasters, to public companies (Spark Networks and XO Group, respectively).
In 2015, he decided to go take his experience raising capital and selling to strategic buyers and help other entrepreneurs with their investment banking needs. He now serves as Managing Director of Strategic Exit Advisors (SEA) located in Doylestown, PA.
James graduated from Harvard College with an AB in Social Psychology and from Dartmouth Business School (Tuck) with an MBA. He’s been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, and has spoken at the country’s top business schools including Harvard, Wharton, and Columbia. He enjoys life in Bucks County, PA with his wife and two children.
Dr. Raymond Pearson
Director, Center for Polymer Science and Engineering
Lehigh University, Bethlehem PA
Raymond A. Pearson received a B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of New Hampshire, Durham, in 1980 and a Ph.D. degree in materials science and engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1990. Dr. Pearson joined the Materials Science and Engineering Department at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA in August of 1990. Ray is currently the Director of the Center for Polymer Science and Engineering at Lehigh University and the co-chair of the Committee for the New College of Health. In 2010 he became a Fellow of the Society of Plastics Engineers.
Prof. Pearson’s research interests include all aspects of processing, deformation, yield, and fracture of polymers as well as a focus on adhesion and interfacial issues. Notable research accomplishments include the elucidation of toughening mechanisms in rubber-modified and silica nanoparticle-filled epoxies. Recent efforts are focused on developing thermoplastic materials for 3D printing.
Dr. Chris Peters
Medical Director
Northeast Radiation Oncology Centers
Dr. Christopher Peters is a partner in Radiation Medicine Associates of Scranton (RAMAS) and medical director of Northeast Radiation Oncology Centers (NROC.) He is the director of clinical research at NROC, and serves as the Principal Investigator for NROC’s full member status in the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG). In 2012, Dr. Peters joined the Board of Directors of the Northeast Regional Cancer Institute (NRCI), where he is now Chairman. He is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, and Director of their 4th year elective in Radiation Oncology.
Appointed by Secretary of Health Dr. Karen Murphy to the Pennsylvania Prostate Cancer Task Force, Dr. Peters is one of only two radiation oncologists in the Commonwealth to be selected for this 15-member task force. It was created as a result of Act 66 of the PA General Assembly: the “Prostate Cancer Surveillance, Education, Detection and Treatment Act.”
Dr. Peters is also a team member of a collaborative initiative to create an oncology Palliative Care Plan for the state of Pennsylvania. This initiative is led by the American Cancer Society in partnership with the Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition of the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The goal of this task force is to recognize palliative care resources and available tools, and identify challenges, opportunities, and potential solutions to expand palliative care in Pennsylvania.
A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Peters received his Doctor of Medicine degree from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, where he was elected into the Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honor society. After completing an internship in Internal Medicine at Case Western Reserve Metrohealth, he performed his Radiation Oncology residency at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City, serving as Chief Resident in his final year.
Dr. Peters is board certified in Radiation Oncology. He is also experienced in real-time planning for prostate Brachytherapy, and his clinical research on prostate cancer yielded him the 2006 Clinical/Basic Science Research Award from ASTRO, the American Society for Radiation Oncology. This award is given annually for the best clinical resident abstract.
Dr. Peters is a member of several medical societies including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), ASTRO, and serves on ASTRO’s government relations committee. He is also a scientific reviewer for the International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, and has published numerous scientific articles in translational and clinical prostate cancer research.
Ngozi O. Bell
With an extensive multidisciplinary, strategic and innovative technology and business leadership experience Ngozi Bell an entrepreneur and in-vestor was Regional Leader for the Office of Advocacy, representing the United States mid-Atlantic region’s versatile small businesses. She consolidated the regional
views /concerns and facilitated engagements of small business and their ecosystem to the chief counsel of Advocacy. As part of the Office of Advocacy’s nationwide Entrepreneurship and Innovation Initiative, Ngozi Bell coined the umbrella platform of Barriers, Best practices and Big ideas and compiled a comprehensive Small Business report and action plan on 10 key US eco-nomic sectors.
Prior to her appointment, Ngozi Bell was Vice President of Birchmere Ventures of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and Palo-Alto California, an early stage venture capital firm focused on Cleantech, Medical and Technology with over $160M under management, more than 20 investments and greater than $13B realized in market capitalization. An engineer with extensive senior leadership experience in LSI Corp, Agere Systems, Lucent Technologies, AT&T Bell Laboratory (Allen-
town Pa.) and R.W. Beck (Orlando Florida), Bell managed and supported several business units for a combined >$1.5B market in core Technology, Consumer, Data and Transport communication solutions, marketing, corporate and business development and mergers and acquisitions roles. Bell’s global responsibilities have included deep penetration in Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa markets.
The culmination of Bell’s more than 23 years of extensive and versatile global leadership experience, domain knowledge in key sectors, and her most recent work in the US Small Business Administration, have enabled her work effectively in both the private and public sector . Ngozi Bell an experienced speaker on a range of topics from core technology to entrepreneurship trends holds a degree in Physics and a Masters in Electrical Engineering. Bell a cofounder of three entrepreneurship ventures in fashion, transportation and media and two non-profit organizations is also on a number of boards and advises numerous startups, business entities and learning institutions. Bell features on Voice of America as an expert on Africa-US