Suzy Teele is the President and COO of Matrix Solutions. She joined Matrix Solutions in 2009 as the company’s President and Chief Operating Officer. Suzy has over 20 years of experience helping technology companies prosper, with expertise in business strategy, product commercialization, marketing, sales and business development. Prior to joining Matrix Solutions, Suzy was founder and managing partner of Aceda, a management consulting firm that provided companies interim executives for sales, marketing and business development.

Prior to forming Aceda, Suzy was an executive at two software companies. As Senior Vice President of Marketing at ServiceWare Inc. (now Consona), she helped grow revenue from $2M to $15M in less than four years through the introduction of several new products and the implementation of over 15 OEM relationships with CRM software organizations. In her eight years at Legent Corporation (now CA), which was the eighth largest software company in the world at that time, Suzy held a variety of executive roles, including Vice President of Human Resources, and General Manager of a $220 million software division consisting of 35 products and 250 employees in 8 locations worldwide. At Legent, Suzy also held senior roles in marketing, product management, mergers and acquisitions, and sales training.

Suzy holds a B.S. in Business from Indiana University of PA, from which she received a Distinguished Alumni award in 2004 and for which she is currently the President of the Alumni Association. Suzy is also an executive board member of PowerLink, and teaches marketing for the entrepreneurial programs offered by Pitt and CMU.

Anita Brattina, CEO, AllFacilities Energy Group. AllFacilities Energy Group is an off-site energy manager providing commercial energy audits, Energy Star benchmarking, regulatory reporting and other related services to building owners and managers across the United States. The company was recently selected to help Duquesne Light’s retail customers reduce energy consumption in their buildings. Anita is a winner of the Business Marketing Association’s Direct Marketer of the year award, the Pennsylvania 50 Best Women in Business award, is an Athena Award recipient and is a member of the Pennsylvania Honor Roll for Women. Anita is a graduate of Duquesne University.

Lynsie Camuso, Co-Founder and President, ShowClix.
Founded in 2006, ShowClix is a full-service ticketing company that provides its clients, which include live music venues, non-profit organizations, college and universities, nightclubs and performing arts groups, with web-based solutions that allow them to sell event tickets online, over the telephone or at a box office. Lynsie brings extensive entertainment industry experience to ShowClix, having worked as a talent booker at The Rosie O’Donnell Show in New York City, in the Pittsburgh Pirates front office, and as a music publicist in Los Angeles where she managed campaigns for artists such as David Bowie, Tom Petty and Alanis Morissette. She is a graduate of Duquesne University.

Suzan Lami, Founder and President, Lami Grubb Architects LP.
Founded in 1993, Lami Grubb Architects is a 36 person architectural and interior architecture firm specializing in retail and restaurant, commercial, educational, residential and medical projects. Projects are located in the Pittsburgh region, and across the US, Canada, and Dubai. The company has won numerous design awards and has been on the Pittsburgh Business Times list of The 100 Fastest Growing Companies for 10 years in a row. Suzan has been recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year, and one of the 50 Best Women in Business in Pennsylvania. Suzan is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University.

The Honorable Brian Ellis, Pennsylvania House of Representatives serving Butler and surrounding areas. For the 2009-10 legislative session, he serves on the Appropriations, Ethics, Finance and Consumer Affairs committees and is Co-Chairman of the Pennsylvania House Oil and Gas Caucus. Rep. Ellis is a third-generation small business owner and has been named chairman of the House Subcommittee on Small Business and as co-chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee’s Small Business Task Force.

Kathryn Klaber, the Marcellus Shale Coalition’s first President and Executive Director. On behalf of the MSC member companies, she works closely with elected leaders, regulators and the civic community to realize the responsible development of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale geological formation and the enhancement of Pennsylvania’s economy that can be realized by this clean-burning energy source. Katie served as EVP for Competitiveness at the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and as the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Economy League.

Matt Curry joined Range Resources in June 2008 and is the Director of Engineering and Development of the Marcellus Shale Division. Matt has prior experience with several companies that includes a venture in consulting in which he staked, drilled, completed, and produced Barnett wells as well as installed pipeline, compression, and treatment facilities. Currently, Matt is tasked with building and managing multi-disciplinary development teams which direct the development of the Marcellus Shale asset

Tim Fogarty, Director of Energy Programs, Innovation Works. Prior to IW, Tim was a managing director of MHI Energy Partners, a venture capital firm focused on energy technology seed stage investing in North America where he was involved in deal flow generation and investment decision making, and held management positions at portfolio companies during their nascent stage. In 2004, Tim founded and was co-CEO of Phoenix Coal Corporation, a coal technology & mining company based in Madisonville, KY and MHI Portfolio Company. Phoenix completed an IPO in July 2008, raising over $100M and garnering a market capitalization of over $260 million. Tim also served as Vice President of Finance for INI Power Systems, a fuel cell company in Cary, North Carolina. Previously, Tim was the Power Technologies Equity Research Analyst at Thomas Weisel Partners, LLC in New York City.

Kelvin B. Gregory, Ph. D. is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. His research interests are broadly defined as engineering applications of environmental microbiology. More specifically his research is directed towards understanding how microbial interactions with surfaces may be applied for remote and/or decentralized energy generation, environmental sensing and restoration.

Gregory D. Muse joined Atlas Energy, Inc. in March 2010 as the Senior Vice President of Marcellus Operations. Greg is directing the company’s expanded horizontal drilling program in the Marcellus Shale play. Prior to Atlas, Greg completed a successful 28 year career with Marathon Oil Company most recently functioning as the Shale Development Manager leading an integrated team of technical experts in the exploration and development of unconventional shale plays worldwide. Greg has extensive experience managing both conventional and unconventional Exploration & Production assets onshore and offshore.

David Ross, Director of Marketing and Business Development, Equitable Gas Company and is developing the market for natural gas vehicles in the Pittsburgh area. He has raised funds partially fund the construction of two public access compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations that are to be in operation by 2011.

He has held various positions in customer service, metering, and the commercial group. Prior to joining Equitable he was a Project Developer with NORESCO developing guaranteed energy savings performance contracts.

Don Traviss, MIT PhD Engineering, Pace University MBA. Don’s areas of expertise are the downstream businesses that use natural gas/natural gas byproducts and oil & gas investments. His past experience includes VP Union Carbide Chemicals and Plastics Division, SVP UOP Refining and Petrochemical Group, CEO Koppers Inc., CEO Environtrol Inc. and President Energy Investments, a private energy investment company.

Our moderator will be John Denny, The Hillman Company’s director of community relations and a leader in Pittsburgh’s foundation community. John provides strategic support and organizational partnership in four program areas: promoting the region, bridge building, community giving and help identify and develop solutions to community problems in a more efficient and effective manner. As Director of Community Relations, John has initiated and advanced several community supported initiatives such as the Pittsburgh Presence and the Pittsburgh-D.C. Project, two efforts to develop and advance the region’s federal advocacy agenda and position Pittsburgh as a high tech, fast growing region.

Tom Joseph founder, Epiphany Solar Water Systems, a New Castle, PA based company that has developed a solar powered system that answers the water and energy problem with a solution that can provide water for 50 to 100,000 people economically and reliably. Simple design utilizes readily available materials to produce a unit that can be installed and maintained by anyone. The design & material choice ensures unit profitability.

Epiphany intends to be the world’s leading designer of simple, affordable, sustainable and easy to use solar powered water purification & desalination systems. Objectives are to build portable water purification systems for Aid Organizations serving the Developing world, US Military, Homeland Security, etc. and to demonstrate ability to provide for municipal water needs through the use of thermal storage reservoirs that capture & store solar energy for the use and night and inclement weather.

Roni Rosenfeld, Professor of Language Technologies, Machine Learning and Computer Science at the School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University. He is currently starting SongLine, a tech company to provide voice-driven social and commercial connectivity for low literate people and others in the developing world who cannot access the internet.

He received a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Physics from Tel-Aviv University in 1985, and a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon in 1990 and 1994, respectively. He is a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow, and a recipient of the Allen Newell Medal for Research Excellence. Professor Rosenfeld’s current research interests are in computational epidemiology, the evolution of infectious diseases, and the use of speech and language technologies to aid international development. He has published over 100 scientific articles in academic journals and conferences.

Kathleen Buechel, Senior Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh - Graduate School of Public & International Affairs. She directs GSPIA’s Philanthropy Forum, a learning and teaching platform that features a lecture series, a graduate course, convenings and other engagement opportunities to link the world of philanthropic practice with the university.

For 17 years, Ms. Buechel shaped the strategic and grantmaking focus of Alcoa Foundation, a global asset based corporate foundation operating in more than 200 communities and 31 countries. She served as vice president and then president of the Foundation before retiring in 2006. While president of Alcoa Foundation, she led the re-orientation of Alcoa’s considerable philanthropy toward corporate citizenship, employee engagement, community consultation and locally responsive but globally aligned social investments.

Max F. Miller is the newly appointed Director of Pitt Law’s Innovation Practice Institute. He comes to Pitt law most recently as the founder and Managing Director of one of the region’s premier experiential marketing firms, Raise Your Spirits; which he continues to play a role in the management of. Prior to founding Raise Your Spirits in 2005, Mr. Miller spent three years in operational and marketing roles with H.J. Heinz Company. For the nine years before that that he served five as Corporate Counsel for H.J. Heinz Company handling various domestic and international transactions, and four as an attorney for Federated Investors where he focused on general corporate and securities law. Mr. Miller has a BA in English from the University of Pennsylvania; a JD from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management.

Ravitej Reddy is the CEO and Founder of Velocity Healthcare, Inc., a Healthcare Consultancy that focuses on Manpower and Risk Management Solutions. The firm is noted for its ability to attract foreign healthcare talent for placement in US healthcare positions that are exhibiting workforce shortages. He is an entrepreneur that has worked internationally for 25+ years, with specific business relationships in India, the Philippines and parts of Africa. Mr. Reddy has also achieved retail success as the owner of Jitters Coffee Shop. The establishment has been in operation in Pittsburgh’s popular Shadyside neighborhood since its inception in 1996. Mr. Reddy received a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from Duquesne University.

Ty Morse is the CEO and co-founder of Songwhale, LLC. Launched in 2007, Songwhale provides digital music, sports, real estate information, restaurant listings and other types of content and marketing initiatives direct to consumers by utilizing mobile technologies. Under Morse’s leadership, the company has expanded rapidly, including in Indonesia and China. Songwhale’s vision is to create a brand that will allow companies to navigate new digital media by enabling them with one platform to create dialogue with the consumer across multiple touch points. Current Songwhale clients include the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Coldwell Banker, Miller, Virgin and others.

In addition to Songwhale, Morse has also has helped start two other companies: the record label Royalty Etc. Records, and a production company called Frankenstein - The Rock Opera. Morse graduated Cum Laude from Davidson College with a dual major in Literature and Marine Biology. Before starting Songwhale, he worked for the Discovery Channel and Virgin Records.

Our moderator will be David A. Gurwin, Shareholder, Buchanan Ingrsoll & Rooney PC. David chairs the firm’s Entertainment and Media Law Group. He is also chair of the firm’s Technology Transactions Group, whose members focus on representing companies and individuals, regardless of the industry, with commercial transactions involving technology-related issues.

Eric Koger is the CEO and co-founder of ModCloth.com, an e-retailer of affordable independent designer fashion and décor with than 1.5 million online unique visitors monthly. Eric and his now wife Susan Gregg Koger started the business back in 2002 at the age of 18 as freshmen at Carnegie Mellon University. The company has raised more than $3 million in capital investment, and currently has more than a hundred employees and a run rate in excess of $40 million. Last year, Kroger was recognized by Business Week as one of the Top 25 Entrepreneurs under 25, and by Inc. Magazine as the #3 Top Entrepreneur under 30. He was a Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, where he earned his BS in Entrepreneurship (2006) and an MBA (2007).

John C. Rodney is a partner at the law firm Thorp Reed & Armstrong LLP in its General Corporate / Mergers & Acquisitions Practice Group. With more than 25 years experience representing an array of both companies and investors in sophisticated transactions, Rodney has a broad tax and corporate practice with a particular focus in the tax, technology, and venture capital area. He has represented many business owners, partnerships and other entities (including numerous investment funds), and individuals in multiple acquisitions and divestitures, private debt and equity financings, and restructurings, contract matters, tax-oriented transactions, franchise matters, and real estate acquisitions and financings. Rodney has been listed as a tax lawyer in The Best Lawyers in America since 1995.

Qingsheng "Ching" Zhu is a partner in PA Early Stage Pittsburgh office working on life sciences investments in Western Pennsylvania. He has an extensive background in designing and developing cardiovascular medical products. Before coming to the United States in 1994, Zhu was a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University in England where he obtained his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering. His MBA is from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and he has a MSc in Biomedical Engineering from University of Aberdeen. Zhu’s undergraduate work was at East China Normal University in Shanghai. Previous executive posts include with Guidant Corporation (now part of Boston Scientific), where he held a number of positions including responsibility for long-range strategic planning and the development of emerging device solutions for the treatment of heart failure. Zhu has invented or co-invented close to 100 device-based medical solutions, with 27 patented.

Alan Brown, is the Executive Director, Pennsylvania NanoMaterials Commercialization Center. Founded in 2006, the public-private initiative -- involving universities, businesses and government -- seeks to foster Pennsylvania as an early leader in advanced nanotechnology. He previously led technology development efforts for an Ohio manufacturing association after a 20-year, private sector career in research, new product development, advanced manufacturing and consulting. Areas of expertise include thin films, semiconductors, electro-optics, acoustics, and microelectronics. Brown earned a doctorate in physics from the University of Toronto, a Master’s degree in business from Clark University in Worcester (Massachusetts) and both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in physics and mathematics from the University of Waterloo (Ontario).

Dr. Thomas Armstrong, Technology Development Specialist, University Liaison/Nanotech Program Manager, Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development. He serves as the university liaison and nanotechnology program manager at the

Technology Investment Office in Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development. He provides leadership for a number of state economic development efforts, including the Ben Franklin University Research Grant program, Keystone Innovation Starter Kits, Innovation Grants, the Pennsylvania Initiative for Nanotechnology and the Pennsylvania Initiative for Energy and the Environment. With a doctorate in economics from Temple University and numerous scholarly articles published, Armstrong is a member of the American Economic Association.

Matt Bootman is the CEO and president of Crystalplex Corporation, a provider of fluorescent nanoparticle technology to the biomedical research, molecular diagnostic and pathology markets. A co-founder of several companies and with an extensive background in technology development and business development, Bootman has more than two decades of experience in the tissue engineering, medical device, biomaterials, polymer, drug delivery, tissue adhesives and personal care industries. He holds nine patents and has two pending. Bootman has both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in cell physiology from the University of California - Santa Barbara.

John Brandt, R&D Director, Bayer MaterialScience LLC, is the director of research and development and key account management for the Functional Films and Specialties group at Bayer MaterialScience LLC., a supplier of polyurethane and polycarbonate raw materials, polycarbonate and TPU films, Baytubes Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes and Bayink nanosilver ink. He has held a number of positions in technical development, sales and marketing at Bayer, both in the United States and Germany.

Dr. Metin Sitti, is founder and CEO of nanoGriptech LLC, a 2009 startup that seeks to develop and mass produce repeatable polymer micro/nano-fibrillar adhesives for a wide range of product applications. He is also an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Sitti’s background includes miniature mobile robots, bio-inspired nanomaterials and micro/nanoscale manufacturing systems. He has won a number of academic and professional awards, and is the co-editor-in-chief of Journal of Micro/Nano-Mechatronics. Sitti earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s in electrical and electronics engineering from Bogazici University (Istanbul, Turkey) and a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Tokyo.

Robert Heard, President, Integran Technologies USA, is a supplier of nanostructured material technologies. He is also a faculty member in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at Carnegie Mellon University and is active in a number of professional associations. One area of interest is the educational aspects of material sciences and engineering. With extensive experience building strategic alliances in Asia and Europe, Heard’s career includes technology consulting and senior management positions with several major international engineering companies. His academic work was at the University of Toronto, earning a doctorate in metallurgy and materials science, as well as his Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees.

Robert Meeder, PhD. President, Pittsburgh Gateways Corporation, a business accelerator with the mission of generating new business growth. Bob with more than 31 years of experience in institutional administration and economic development, including substantial fund raising, strategic planning and partnering experience founded Gateways in 1998. He will share some of the latest initiatives and developments in the green innovation space in our region.

Senator Jim Ferlo is serving his second term in the Pennsylvania Senate where he is the Minority Chairman of the Finance Committee. A prime sponsor of the R&D Tax Credit legislation, he has promoted priorities that invest in job creation and innovation. Formerly, a 14-year Pittsburgh City Councilman and two-term Council President, Ferlo has brought a broad perspective to other roles as Treasurer of the Board of the Urban Redevelopment Authority and as a Commissioner of the Port of Pittsburgh. He is a co-convener with Congressman Mike Doyle, of the Pittsburgh Green Innovators which aims to bring together regional stakeholders around the mission of driving green innovation and training across public and private sectors.

Holly Childs, MS, CEcD, LEED AP, Executive Director, Green Building Alliance. Holly is committed to leading the organization’s talented and dynamic staff to create new opportunities and drive market demand for the integration of green building products and processes throughout Western Pennsylvania’s built environment. Holly has served as the economic development director for the City of Cincinnati, Ohio. She has thirteen years of progressively responsible experience in overall economic development organization management and has held several related positions throughout the country. Holly received a B.A. in Economics with Honors from Wake Forest University; an M.S. in Environmental Economics from West Virginia University; is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma’s Economic Development Institute, and, in 1999, became one of the country’s youngest professionally Certified Economic Developers.

Dale Clifford is a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University and has initiated coursework to develop next generation sustainable and regenerative building technologies based on advances in materials science and biomimetics. Clifford’s research concerns applying biologically inspired design principles to develop novel building technologies aimed towards advancing the energy harvesting potential, environmental responsiveness and energy consumption metrics of the built environment. Current projects include applications in shape memory alloys, polymers and phase change materials to enable the building envelope to serve as a selective filter that can tune itself to environmental fluctuations. Dale is a principal with Binary Design Studio, a collaborative practice focusing on energy effective architecture and emerging material processes. He studied architecture and industrial design at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY and received a Master of Science in Architecture from MIT

Dr. Deno De Ciantis, Director, Penn State Center: Engaging Pittsburgh, where his focus is to connect and engage the PSU with local partners. He previously, served 15 years as County Extension Director for Penn State Extension of Allegheny County. Other affiliations include: past president of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, current vice-president of The Pittsburgh Green Innovators Board, Duquesne University Century Club of Distinguished Alumni, Autumn House Press Board, Three Rivers Community Foundation Board, numerous Penn State committees, and various other local community initiatives. He holds an Interdisciplinary Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Duquesne University.

Tom Lewis III, is President and CEO of Lewis Environmental Services, Inc. Tom has over thirty-two years of technical expertise in the areas of environmental, energy and resource recovery technologies. He has developed several patented commercial processes and is currently commercializing the ENVIRO-SHALE PROCESS (patent pending) to recycle and reclaim Marcellus Shale waste water. Tom is a graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. He is a leader in using activated carbon for nontraditional applications and has successfully treated over 500,000,000 gallons of waste water. Tom’s achievements include awards from The US EPA’s Pollution Prevention Program, Department of Energy’s INNCON program as well as numerous published papers on heavy metal recovery. He has been employed Calgon Carbon Corporation, Merck, Gulf Oil, and Alcoa Separations (Lancy Laboratories).

Tim McNulty is Associate Vice President of Government Relations at CMU where he facilitates the University’s collaboration with federal, state and local government partners. Previously Tim was Associate Provost for Strategic Initiatives and focused on the development projects in Carnegie Mellon’s major research areas.

He served 8 years in the Governor Ridge Administration in DCED as Executive Deputy Secretary and Acting Secretary and as Deputy Chief of Staff for Technology Initiatives. He led the Pittsburgh Regional Revitalization Initiative in 1994 for the Allegheny Conference and directed a regional technology development consortium at Argonne National Laboratory. Tim holds a bachelors degree from Indiana University and a Masters of Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is a member of the board of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Tobacco Settlement Investment Board and the board of Innovation Works.

John Werling is President and one of the founders of, eCap Network, LLC, a comprehensive energy management and solutions firm helping facility owners lower operating costs and generate new revenues by conserving energy and reducing emissions. Prior to joining eCap, John built fifteen years of experience in improving processes and increasing resource efficiency in manufacturing, property management and retail operations.