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LatIPnet is a global non-profit organization with 501(c)(3) status headquartered in the NASA-Ames Research Park, in the heart of Silicon Valley, California, and with offices in Spain, Mexico, and Argentina.
The mission of LatIPnet is to catalyze the knowledge and technological resources in Latin countries through synergies with global actors that result in the generation of economic and social value. LatIPnet responds to the concrete need of coordinating the activities of governments, academic and research institutions, andprivate businesses in order to support innovation processes that result in the creation of value for Latin countries. These three sectors share key objectives and possess complementary resources to turn the knowledge and technologies developed in Latin countries into new high value-added processes, products, or services. In an environment where innovation processes rely heavily in knowledge and resources that are globally distributed,LatIPnet plays a key role in promoting synergies among different actors and organizations located in Latin America, southern Europe,and in the centers of technological leadership worldwide.
LatIPnet was formed out of the enthusiasm generated during the International Conference in Intellectual Property Strategies: Transforming Knowledge into Value in Latin Countries that took place in the Canary Islands, Spain, early in 2007. This event gathered fifty leaders from different sectors, including businessmen, entrepreneurs, investors, scientists, technology developers, members of scientific councils and government representatives from the United States, Europe and Latin America. The goal of the conference was to get this diverse group of participants to find ways of generating synergies among them.This goal was successfully achieved, participants found areas of potential collaboration, alliances were formed, and as a result, in April 2007 LatIPnet was created.
LatIPnet founders, successful entrepreneurs in technology-based businesses, have a wide experience in a variety of scientific disciplines and high-tech industries. In this way, LatIPnet offers its clients the knowledge, expertise and contacts to develop projects in different high-growth, high value-added economic sectors such as agro-bio, biomedicine, health information technologies, nanotech, new materials and cleantech. Their work emphasizes the importance of intellectual property, from patents and other forms of intellectual property to licensing deals and technology commercialization.
The LatIPnet Team
Founding Members
• Adolfo Nemirovsky (USA, Silicon Valley)
Focusing on material science, information technology and renewable energy, Dr. Adolfo Nemirovsky, the LatIPnet Co-Founder of the US Branch, searches for interesting collaboration opportunities between research institutes, universities and companies. In the past few years since LatIPnet’s establishment, Adolfo has built strategic partnerships between Mexican research institutions and the government. He has set up conferences with world-renowned scientists, initiated exchanges between Mexico and Spain, and aided with the launching of Mexican start-up companies. Learn more...
Adolfo’s knowledge of how to succeed in Silicon Valley comes from his own experience launching two semiconductor companies, XStream Logic and Flow Storm, which raised over 36 million dollars in venture and corporate funding. In these two undertakings, he led technical marketing and business development endeavors. He is also a co-founder of the Nanotechnology Education and Training Forum, nanoEdu and of the Benchmarking Working Group, Network Processing Forum, an industry-wide standards consortium where he also served as First Chair. Previously, he held technical positions at Analog Devices and Taligent (an Apple-IBM joint venture).
Adolfo holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Kansas University, a B.S. from the Universidad de la Plata, Argentina. After his studies he was a Research Associate at the University of Chicago where he worked on polymeric and magnetic systems. He worked for over ten years in Material Sciences and served as part of the tenured faculty at the Physics Department, Universidade de Pernambuco, Brazil. He has authored over 40 scientific and technical publications, popular white papers and holds nine US patents.
Adolfo lives with his wife in San Jose and has two children. His hobbies include hiking in the redwoods, going on road trips, attending onstage performances and spending time with his family.
• Guillermo Aguirre (México)
Dr. Guillermo Aguirre is Co-founder and General Director of LatIPnet Mexico.His area of expertise is in technology and innovation. Guillermo is responsible for connecting prestigious Mexican universities to opportunities worldwide; either through exchanges, lectures, workshops or classes. He has already organized collaborations between the Mexican academic institutions Tecnológico de Monterrey, and Universidad Panamericana with MIT, Stanford University and Harvard University. These collaborations include the setting up of business trips and business forums which help strengthen the Latin innovation network. Learn more...
Guillermo is a visiting professor at MIT, Cambridge University and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where he lectures on Technology Leadership, Creativity and Innovation. Before coming to LatIPnet, Guillermo helped transform the field of Product Design and Business Development, developing groundbreaking technology programs. First, in a position with Whirlpool, he created the Advanced Product Technology Division with the objective of shortening the product development cycle and improving the anticipation of market and technology trends. He also headed Whirlpool’s Business Development where he won the National Technology Award for his company.
Guillermo left Whirlpool to become CONACYT’s (Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology) Director of Technology, where he was responsible for the design and implementation of many programs with the objective of creating a self-sustained eco-system to promote innovation and technological development in México.
Guillermo holds a Ph.D. in Innovation and Technology from the University of Cambridge. He received a Masters in Technology from Loughborough University of Technology. He also received a Masters in Mechanical Engineering Design from UNAM, and a degree in Mechanical Engineering also from UNAM.
Guillermo publishes in many specialized magazines and on forums. He is the author of an Engineering Design textbook, and a forthcoming book on Technology Leadership. He is the recipient of numerous corporate, national and international distinctions. In addition, Guillermo holds over thirty patents.
He has three children and dedicates most of his free time to them, though he also spends his time developing a design and development methodology known as “the true focus of design.” Guillermo also enjoys restoring old cars—of which he has already renovated 20.
• Gerardo Morales Hierro (Spain)
As the LatIPnet Co-Founder of the Spanish Branch, Gerardo Morales heads all of the Canary Island-based projects; his areas of focus are renewable energy, retirement houses and venture capital funds. Gerardo has already built key partnerships between leading American and European institutions and has successfully run numerous investment forums where Latin start-ups were matched with keen investors. Gerardo’s vast expertise is focused on knowledge-based economies. Learn more...
In 2003, prior to LatIPnet, Gerardo designed and lead the first edition of “Taller de Dinamizadores,” a greatly successful methodology that has encouraged innovation processes in 150 Canary Island SME’s and has resulted in 80 highly qualified new jobs and an investment of 30 million euros in innovative projects. The next year he designed and launched the University of Palmas entrepreneurship program that has already generated 21 new start-ups. In 2006, Gerardo created canary-tech.org and lead two International Funding Forums in High Tech Businesses in San Francisco and the Canary Islands. In 2007, Gerardo founded the strategy consulting firm Inis, which organized the international investment forum Canary-Tech 2008 for the Government of the Canary Islands and is now working on an in-site consulting project to globalize and diversify the activity of Grupo Nexar www.gnexar.eu one of the leading real estate companies in the island of Lanzarote.
Gerardo graduated from La Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canarias as an Industrial Engineer and later obtained a Master’s of Science in Management of Technology from the University of Texas in San Antonio.
Gerardo loves to travel and aspires to change the world.
• Simón Golbard (USA, Silicon Valley)
Dr. Simon Goldbard is the LatIPnet Co-Founder of the US Branch and is the expert in the area of life sciences. In his role, Dr. Goldbard performs many functions, coordinating and working with key government officials and researchers. He also works with multinational companies in developing license deals for Mexican start-ups. He is also the scientific advisor for several US life science companies where he has negotiated strategic partnerships with large companies and prestigious academic and research institutions. Learn more...
Dr. Goldbard has more than 25 years of experience forming, and successfully managing, large interdisciplinary research and product development programs in the life sciences industry. This experience includes all aspects of product development, from invention and venture financing, to product commercialization, marketing and sales.
Before coming to LatIPnet, Dr. Goldbard was the Founder and VP of Research and Product Development for Vitra Bioscience Inc., a venture-backed biotechnology company that sold systems to accelerate drug development. Dr. Goldbard co-invented the original concept and other technologies behind the company. He also raised the initial seed and subsequent 25 million dollars to get the company off the ground and become a commercial enterprise.
Prior to Vitra Bioscience, Dr. Goldbard headed R&D at Applied Imaging Corporation, where his team developed a series of innovative products for genetic disease diagnosis. Dr. Goldbard was part of the team that took the company public in 1998. (NASDAQ: AICORP). Early on in his career, Dr. Goldbard helped found Genet Corporation (later acquired by Lifecodes Corporation), a far reaching biotechnology start-up company that developed innovative approaches for the use of DNA probes in research and clinical diagnosis. Lifecodes was the first company to introduce DNA fingerprinting in the forensic market, probably the most important tool for worldwide law enforcement in the last century.
Dr. Goldbard holds a Ph.D. in Immunobiology from Iowa State University and a B.S. in Biochemistry and Microbiology from the National University of Mexico (UNAM). Dr. Goldbard has 20 patents and dozens of publications.
He has two sons and lives with his wife in Silicon Valley. He enjoys painting, music, playing tennis and biking.
Other key members of the team
• Bo Varga (USA, Silicon Valley)
Bo Varga has worked with start-up & early stage high technology companies and projects in Silicon Valley since 1978. Since 2000 he has worked with similar projects in Alberta, Argentina, Finland, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, & Switzerland. Bo's focus is on business development (corporate partnerships, funding, team building), business strategy (company development & product/market segmentation/focus), and transactions focused marketing campaigns . Learn more..
His work for large corporations and investors is focused on technology scouting and due diligence in the areas of advanced energy storage, advanced materials & coatings, computational simulation of advanced materials and devices, and solar power of all kinds (PV, CPV, CSP). Other work includes electric motors, fuel cells, sustainable agriculture, water, and wind power.
Main threads of current work are technology commercialization (including government programs) and business development for advanced materials & coatings, energy storage – especially advanced battery technology and ultra capacitors, and solar companies, including balance of systems, manufacturing, and especially thin films. Bo works with www.newcap.com, investment bankers, on funding projects. He has worked with the founders of LatIPnet since 2004, on various projects in Mexico since 2006, and various Alberta projects since 2001.
International work includes a due diligence assignment for the European Investment Bank (www.eib.org), regarding the decision to fund an € 83 million solar project.
Bo can reached via bvarga@usnano.biz and his web site is www.usnano.biz.
• Deborah Lazard (México)
Deborah Lazard, PhD has 17 years of experience in senior executive positions developing and implementing projects directed towards increasing the competitive capacity of technology-based life sciences businesses. Her expertise includes a deep understanding of the academic, public and private sectors and of the interaction and regulations between them that are necessary to foster the innovation process. In 2008 she was appointed by Expansion Magazine among thes "50 women to keep track of them in business". Learn more...
She began her professional career as Advisor for the General Director at the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) (1993-1999) where she directed her efforts towards stimulating the Mexican life sciences innovation lifecycle through promoting respect, awareness and the proper use of Intellectual Property Rights. In 1994 she was appointed leader of the working team responsible of writing the articles related to the protection of Biotechnological Inventions in the Industrial Property Law.
As Patent Director at the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) (1999-2002) she design and implement programs to foster a better comprehension and the correct exercise of Intellectual Property Rights as a means to build the overall capacities of Mexican technology-based businesses. In 2003 she was entitled Expert for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO),where she was responsible ofs Consecuencias del Plan de Acción sobre Patentes en los Países en Desarrollo.
Between 2005 and 2008, as Innovation Network Director for Merck Sharp & Dohme México, she designed and implemented the “Mexican Life Sciences Initiative” to boost innovation and regional competitiveness through the integration of the academic, private and public sectors, catalyzing, as the result of this initiative, the launching of the Bio-Cluster de Occidente (en Jalisco) y el Bio-Cluster en Salud de Nuevo León.
As a private consultant she founded LS Consulting in 2010, focusing her work towards adding value to the Mexican Life Sciences sectors through the advancement of Intellectual Property Rights employment; the evolution of Regional Innovation Ecosystems; and the generation of new global businesses using technology developed in Mexico.
Deborah has a PhD in Experimental Pathology from Centro de Investigación y Estudios del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV). She received the Annual Scientific Research Award: “Dr. Jorge Rozenkranz”, recognizing her work related to the amoeba’s molecular biology.
• Emilio Martínez de Velasco Aguirre (USA, Silicon Valley)
Emilio Martínez de Velasco Aguirre is a specialist in innovation and regional economic development. At LatIPnet he is responsible for the design and operation of programs and projects focused at strengthening the regional systems of innovation in latin countries as well as for the promotion of partnerships among research centers, companies and governments at a global scale. Emilio also provides support in the technology transfer and intellectual property processes. Learn more...
Emilio is a Ph.D. Candidate in City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. Currently, he is concluding his doctoral dissertation that explores the emergence of “Global Business Accelerators,” a term he uses to denote a new policy instrument promoted in the last few years by several national governments to facilitate access of domestic small and medium technology-based firms to global technology markets. This is the first academic study of this new model opperating in the most dynamic regions of innovation around the world to support global entrepreneurship processes.
In 2009 Emilio participated in a study carried out by a multidisciplinary research team from UC Berkeley that explored how six regions in California are promoting innovation in the Green Economy. In this study Emilio was in charge of developing the Silicon Valley case, for which he conducted interviews with representatives of key organizations in the promotion of green economic activities in the region.
One of Emilio’s greatest personal and professional interest is to establish links among the diasporas of Mexican and Latinoamerican professionals in order to create economic development opportunities in Latin America. To achieve that goal, Emilio collaborates with several organizations in Silicon Valley and participates frequently as speaker in academic and professional events in the region.
Before coming to Berkeley to study his Ph.D. in 2005, Emilio worked as public official in the Mexican Government, both at the Federal and State levels, in different positions related to urban planning and regional development.
• Enrique A. Mesri, PH.D. (Miami, USA)
Associate Professor of Microbology and Immunology
Miller School of Medicine
University of Miami
• Lucero Itziar Carreón (México)
Before LatIPnet, Lucero Itziar Carreon Espinosa was a Public Relations specialist in Dr. Aguirre’s company, Grupo Aguirre. Today, her responsibilities in LatIPnet include promoting and coordinating the necessary actions to generate new products and new processes, creating new businesses and helping new technologies penetrate new markets. Learn more...
Previously, Lucero worked for the Mexican’s National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) where she strengthened public relations in relevant departments as well as organized exhibitions, conferences, workshops, guided visits, congresses and forums. Before CONACYT, Lucero worked for Grupo Gomsa Automotriz, a General Motors company. There, she was contracted as assistant to the General Director but was quickly promoted to Marketing and Post Sales Coordinator.
Lucero has a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from the University of Cristobal Colon Veracruz. In 2003 she obtained a Masters in Marketing from the University of La Salle.
• Ximena Ares (USA, Silicon Valley)
Ximena Ares, Ph.D. Licensing Liaison, Office of Technology Licensing, Stanford University. She obtained her Ph.D in Argentina in Molecular Biology, and, later, was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. She was a Research Fellow at the Molecular Sciences Institute in Berkeley and a scientist at Geron Corporation. At Stanford University OTL, she evaluates technologies, markets technologies to companies, and negotiates contracts like material transfer agreements, inter-institutional agreements, and license agreements.
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