Tim Davis is Executive VP and CTO of Kionix.
As one of the co-founders of Kionix, Davis guided the development of products for inertial sensing, microfluidics, and optical switching. Davis was instrumental in the sale of the Kionix optical business to Calient Networks in 2001, serving as Executive Vice President of the new subsidiary Calient Optical Components. Dr. Davis returned to Kionix in February 2004 as Executive Vice President and CTO, and has led Kionix engineering through a period of growth culminating in the sale of the company to Rohm Semiconductor in 2009.
Tim Davis completed his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University in 1993, and holds a B.S. in Engineering Science & Mechanics from the Pennsylvania State University. His doctoral work focused on stimulated emission from highly energetic electron beams.
Robert Green is Co-founder of Acorn Technologies.
Robert Green is a graduate of Cornell University.
Peter Schott is the owner and president of XLI Corporation.
XLI Corporation is a contract engineering and manufacturing company primarily serving customers in two industries: medical diagnostic devices and defense.
Peter Schott is a graduate of Cornell University.
Hugh Simms is a Los Angeles designer with a signature "Ivy League Grit" style and a belief that intelligence can come equipped with a strong arm and a hasty mind. He draws from his personal experiences to design for the Modern Renaissance Man. As CEO and Head Designer of HUGH SIMMS, Simms is focused on developing the company into a global brand with the eventual launch of a full line of men's, women's, and children's apparel.
Simms's first release, The Caulfield Collection, features neckwear with classic English prep school patterns, custom hand-dyed and disheveled patchwork and a fabric switch at the tail of the tie.
A believer of American craftsmanship, Simms prides himself on having his accessories and garments handmade in Los Angeles and being part of the fashion revival of the once thriving LA manufacturing industry.
After serving as General Manager for Phillips Beach Plaza Hotel in Ocean City, Maryland, Simms deep love for design lead him to become an independent designer working on various projects. His entrepreneurial family, and strong desire to showcase his talents and designs, led him to Los Angeles where he attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM).
Hugh Simms received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University. A distant grandson of Lord Baltimore, founder of Maryland, Simms prides himself on his East Coast roots.
Ed Abel is the founder of ABEL Business Institute.
Abel has invested more than three decades learning how to build a successful, thriving business. At age 24 with a $5,000 loan and the energy and passion of a young entrepreneur, Ed was ready to take on the world. And he did, only to emerge seven years later at the top of a $36 million organization with 585 employees. Inspired by the challenges that led him to success, Ed went on to build other multi-million dollar businesses, yet he missed the passion he experienced "in the trenches" of his formative years.
Determined to find a way to educate and advise others in the construction and sustainability of a vital business, he founded ABEL Business Institute. Over the course of this process, he developed The SkillPreneur Business System, a systematic approach to the construction, maintenance, and growth of a business--an approach that has become the philosophy and methodology of ABEL Business Institute.
Ed Abel is an adjunct professor of entrepreneurial studies at New York University (NYU) as well as the Director of the business division at the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC). At iPEC, Ed directs the business division that is responsible for supporting the graduate coaches in their business development process.
Cyndi Slothower & Linda VanNederynen are co-founders of Quilters Corner. Quilters Corner was opened by 5 women in the summer of 1995 and the business has been expanding ever since.
In addition to a shared love of quilting, the founders all also have busy families, with a total of fifteen children among them. As a group they came together with varied professional backgrounds and life experiences: math teacher, farmer, paralegal, traffic engineer, arts administrator. None had owned or run a business before but all had a passion for quilting.
Terry MacRae began Hornblower Cruises & Events in 1980 as a two-boat operation on San Francisco Bay. Since then he and his wife, Mary, have built Hornblower into a 50-boat, $120 million company with 1,000 employees that serves about six million guests each year. Emphasizing customer service, safety, and teamwork, the firm has emerged as the market leader in each of the seven California ports it serves. Hornblower guests are treated to stunning nautical venues and exquisite cuisine for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, and other major celebrations.
As a result of Hornblower's success in the hospitality and maritime industries, the MacRaes decided to make competitive bids for National Park Service concessions serving the popular icons Alcatraz on San Francisco Bay and Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York Harbor. Alcatraz Cruises commenced service in September of 2006, and Statue Cruises commenced operations in January of 2008. These concessions have contributed to the growth and stability of the company.
In 2008 Alcatraz Cruises launched the nation's first hybrid ferry-a 149-passenger vessel powered by a combination of wind turbines, solar panels, and an efficient diesel electric drive. Hornblower is completing the design and approval for a new hydrogen powered hybrid vessel for use in New York Harbor.
Terry is a recognized expert in the design, renovation, construction, and operation of passenger vessels, and in the marine, fine dining, entertainment, and tourism industries. He holds a BS degree in mechanical/environmental engineering from the California State Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo. Mary holds a BS degree from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.
Dan Brown is the Associate Executive Director at Franziska Racker Centers, Inc.
Jim Farrell is the founder and President of f'Real! Foods.
After graduating college in 1979, Farrell founded a company which designed and manufactured insulation systems for commercial greenhouses based on his Master of Engineering design project to reduce greenhouse energy usage by 80+%, receiving a patent for the design of the system in partnership with the Cornell University Technology Transfer Office. This business was successful for a period of time, but ultimately closed when the price of oil dropped to less than half of its late 1970s highs.
Farrell next attended Harvard Business School and received his MBA in 1985. Upon graduation from Harvard, Jim moved to San Francisco to join McKinsey & Company as a senior management consultant specializing in Corporate Strategy with an emphasis on Change Management, which focuses on moving beyond corporate strategy to accomplish successful implementation of the strategy. He later joined Dreyer's-Edy's Grand Ice Cream as General Manager of their FoodService business unit as Dreyer's-Edy's worked to successfully complete their national roll out from their West Coast roots.
While at Dreyer's-Edy's, Jim conceived of the product concept upon which his current company, f'REAL! Foods, is based. Jim founded f'REAL! Foods to pursue a new approach to making frozen blended beverages such as milkshakes, fruit smoothies and frozen cappuccinos. The concept utilizes a f'REAL! patented blender, which blends up frozen drinks right in their serving cups. The serving cups are shipped to retail locations with all of the ingredients for their drinks pre-frozen into the cups.
Jim Farrell graduated from Cornell University with Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering degrees in Agricultural Engineering. He received his MBA from Harvard.