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Right Up Einstein's Alley

Early Spring, 2014    

In This Issue
Advisory Council
Investor Visas
Ada Yonath
McKinsey Report
SXSW
Want from a City?
Uncommon Schools
Cancer Research
Tigerlabs Conference
Meet-Up
TEDxNJIT
Humanitarian Awards
Exits
Your Company Listing
Quick Website Links
News

Einstein's Alley Adds Two New Members to its Advisory Council 

 

 

Einstein's Alley is very pleased to welcome Robert J. Bianchini, Global Head Technical Licensing and Development at Merck Consumer Care and Judith A. Sheft, Associate Vice President, Technology Development at the New Jersey Institute of Technology to its Advisory Council.  

 

 

Bob joined Merck in 2009 as Vice-President of R&D, Consumer Care (MCC), where he has led the development and global expansion of its major Dermatology brands such as Coppertone, Lotrimin, and Tinactin.  Presently, he is leading MCC's Technical License and Open Innovation Program.

 

Prior to Merck& Co., Bob held executive positions at Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive. Most recently, he was Chief Scientific Officer of a Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation Venture, Molsaic.  

 

Bob earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Washington State University, Pullman, WA.and was awarded undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Biology from SUNY. He completed Post Graduate Training at Northwestern University and  M.I.T. Bob has authored over 25 patents and publications and has lectured globally.  

 

 


 

Judith is responsible for managing NJIT's Office of Technology Development and creates programs and policies focusing on patent creation, intellectual property valuation, strategic use and protection of IP assets. She is also involved with economic development in the Newark Innovation Zone having responsibilities for management of the university's high technology business accelerator/incubator, the Enterprise Development Center, and the Procurement Technical Assistance Center. She is on the Board of Advisors to the NJIT School of Management and the NJIT Albert Dorman Honor's College Interdisiplinary Design Studio program. Since 2007 she has been a member of the NJ - Israel Commission.

 

Prior to joining NJIT, she had been a founding member of Licenz Group, an IP consulting firm. Before that she had worked as the Intellectual Property and Compliance Vice President for Agere Systems, the semiconductor subsidiary of Lucent Technologies.  

 

Ms. Sheft has extensive business development experience outside the U.S. She played a lead role in negotiating a long-term alliance between Lucent/Agere and NEC in the field of semiconductor manufacturing technology.  

 

Ms. Sheft has a BS and MS in Mathematics from the University of Illinois and an MBA in International Business from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

 

She received the NJIT Overseers award for service in 2009 and in 2012 was recognized a Garden State Woman of the Year in the professional services category. 

Improving the EB-5 Investor Visa Program: International Financing for U.S. Regional Economic Development

 

Difficulties in accessing traditional domestic financing brought on by the Great Recession, along with a rise in the number of wealthy investors in developing countries, have led to a recent spike in interest in the EB-5 Immigrant Investor visa program. Through this federal visa program administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), immigrant investors may eventually secure permanent residency for themselves and their immediate family by investing at least $500,000 in a U.S. business and creating or preserving 10 full-time jobs. The majority of EB-5 visas are currently administered through EB-5 regional centers, entities that pool investments and are authorized to develop projects across a large swath of America's metropolitan regions and rural areas. The focus of this paper is on the regional center program.

 

[full report]

Einstein's Alley Executive Director meets Einstein Lecturer, Nobel Laureate, Ada Yonath 

 

 

Ada Yonath, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2009 was the 20th speaker and first woman Nobel laureate in the Princeton Chamber Einstein Memorial Lecture Series.   She spoke on March 19th at Princeton University on research and advances in understanding how antibiotics work and the importance of new antibiotics to saving lives today and tomorrow. 

Economic Conditions Snapshot, March 2014: McKinsey Global Survey results

 

Executives maintain a positive outlook for both domestic and global growth, though geopolitical tensions in Europe herald new risks for the global economy.

 

March 2014 

 

Concerns about geopolitical instability and its implications for global growth have surged, according to McKinsey's latest survey on economic conditions.1 1.The online survey was in the field from March 3 to March 7, 2014, and garnered responses from 1,403 executives representing the full range of regions, industries, company sizes, functional specialties, and tenures. To adjust for differences in response rates, the data are weighted by the contribution of each respondent's nation to global GDP. During the week the survey was in the field, world leaders scrambled to respond to Russia's posting of troops in Crimea, and the Crimean parliament voted to secede from the Ukraine and join Russia. Seventy percent of all respondents cite geopolitical tensions as a risk to growth in the global economy over the next year, up from 27 percent in December, as the recent turmoil in Ukraine and Russia has left executives across Europe divided.

 

On average, executives remain optimistic about conditions in both their home countries and the global economy, though sluggish demand still tops their list of domestic concerns. Among non-eurozone respondents in Europe,2 2.Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Monaco, Norway, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation, Scotland, Serbia and Montenegro, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. however, economic expectations have taken a turn for the worse. They cite geopolitical issues most often as a risk to their countries' domestic growth. Relative to their peers in the eurozone, they are much more negative about current conditions at home and in the world economy-and more pessimistic about economic prospects in the months ahead.

 

Renewed geopolitical risks

 

Given the degree of uncertainty in Ukraine after months of protests and political unrest, executives around the world agree that over the next 12 months, geopolitical instability will pose the biggest threat to global growth. In addition to the growing concern over geopolitics, executives also rank political conflicts and transitions higher than they did three months ago (Exhibit 1). On other top risks, executives in emerging and developed economies are divided. Those in emerging markets, for example, are more concerned than developed-market executives about inflation and volatile exchange rates.

Michael Dell, CEO Dell Computers, Talking at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin, Texas.

 

"Entrepreneurism is such an important catalyst for the global economy, and it was evident listening to these business leaders tell their stories. These are all web-enabled businesses that were founded during the Dot.com boom and grew up in the shadow of the bust. They more than survived; they thrived. With technology as their cornerstone, they invented new models and in some cases entirely new industries.

 

For my part, I spent some time talking about my own path, and how I've seen the power of an idea change the world. I started Dell in my dorm room when I was a 19-year old pre-med student at the University of Texas. We pioneered a business model that drastically drove down the price and increased the power and effectiveness of the PC and later, the server-accelerating the adoption of technology for people around the globe.

 

Thirty years later, the societal shift is remarkable. From 1985 to 2005 - the exact period of time that the PC/server model for technology spread worldwide-the number of people living in poverty was cut in half. Why? Because more power was available to more people than ever before.

 

A PC in the hands of a seamstress in South Africa became a thriving small business. A couple of workstations and a server enabled a manufacturer in Argentina to globalize. Affordable, accessible technology opened doors to one of the world's most powerful forces for prosperity - entrepreneurs.

 

Today, studies show that startups account for about 70 percent of job creation globally; and in some emerging markets the number is as much as 91 percent. Furthermore, startups that use technology more effectively create on average twice as many jobs and are more productive and profitable than companies that don't. The Internet alone accounts for about 20 percent of the GDP in developed countries. That's amazing when you consider e-commerce began in earnest only about 15 years ago."

What Do Entrepreneurs Really Want from a City?

 

Posted by: Mark Marich on March 10, 2014 Source: Policy Dialogue on Entrepreneurship

 

A number of rankings and indices come out each year touting a top ten list of cities to start and scale a business based on different factors -- all deemed to be important to high-growth entrepreneurs. But did anyone ask the entrepreneurs? 

 

Endeavor Insight did -- and found that it wasn't anything about tax rates or regulatory environments. Instead, it is all about access to talented employees, customers and suppliers -- and once those startups set down roots, they rarely tend to move. 

 

Endeavor Insight, which along with the Kauffman Foundation recently launched the Global Entrepreneurship Research Network, released a report that addresses the question "What Do the Best Entrepreneurs Want In A City?" With research culled from surveys and interviews with 150 founders of some of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S., the report offers some important takeaways for policymakers. 

 

More than 30% of survey respondents identified access to talented people as their primary factor in determining where to start and scale their firms. In comparison, tax rates were only cited by 5% of survey respondents and business-friendly regulations by 2%. 

 

Why is this information so important to policymakers? Because it seems they only have one crack at it. Of the 150 high-growth entrepreneurs surveyed, 131 have kept their startups located in the cities where they launched.

Broad Foundation Shares Factors Behind Success of Uncommon Schools 

 

The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation has released a study of the practices that have enabled Uncommon Schools, winner of the 2013 Broad Prize for Public Charter Schools, to graduate more than 90 percent of its students and see all its graduates admitted to college.

 

The report, Turning Urban Schools Into Springboards to College (16 pages, PDF), examined how the network of public charters serving nearly ten thousand low-income African-American and Latino students in New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts has created a college-going culture. For example, all Uncommon School seniors take the SAT, and their average score in 2012 was higher than the college readiness benchmark set by the College Board.

 

[read more]

New Jersey Needs to Support the Productive Cancer Research Underway in the State    

  

 

 

Members of InnovationNJ (Einstein's Alley is a member)  toured the laboratory of Yibin Kang, Princeton University Professor of Molecular Biology and one of the nation's leading researchers on cancer metastasis to learn about Princeton University's work in cancer research. 

 

Following the historic work of Princeton Professors Ted Taylor and Arnie Levine, Professor Kang launched his research career at Princeton in 2004 with the help of a $100,000 grant from the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research (NJCCR).  The NJCCR has been the only entity in the state providing peer-reviewed grants awarded on a competitive basis to young faculty, post docs, graduate students and some undergraduate students, who bring a new and innovative approach to cancer research.  That investment in Prof. Kang ten years ago has now resulted in over $20 million in federal and private foundation funding support coming to New Jersey to support his laboratory. 

 

No funds were appropriated to the NJCCR's grant program in FY2014, and funding for FY2015 was not included in the governor's budget proposal.

 

Because of the exciting work going on in New Jersey at Princeton and Rutgers and the Cancer Institute of NJ,  InnovationNJ has been supporting restoration of funding to the NJCCR for these types of innovative research programs, especially when they seek to partner university research with industry

Events

Tigerlabs' Digital Health Innovation in Context 

 

Tigerlabs is excited to announce the launch of Digital Health Innovation in Context 2014, an intimate one-day conference setting focused on fostering discussion on digital health innovation, strategy, and opportunities across the healthcare landscape. To be held on April 24, 2014 in Princeton, NJ, speakers will include representatives of The White House, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Merck Global Health Innovation, Aetna, Independence Blue Cross, Aberdare Ventures, Samsung Ventures, and many more.

Don't miss out on the chance to join leading healthcare executives, entrepreneurs, investors, and thought leaders from across the industry for a day of mind share, networking, collaboration, and communication centered on digital health. Register today for Digital Health Innovation in Context 2014
!

P2B Talent Network Meet-Up 

 

NJIT and the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development are once again conducting a P2B Talent Network Meet-Up.  This event connects middle to top professional level volunteers with small and early stage technology-based companies.  The Meet-Up will be held on April 21st from 2 to 6 PM at NJIT.

 

The event will allow small and early stage technology-based companies to meet pre-screened, highly qualified middle to top level professionals willing to volunteer and help the companies grow.  Volunteers are available to help companies with marketing, accounting, sales, advertising, finance IT, and more.  The volunteers can be assigned to the companies' tasks for hours or weeks at a time,   AND AT NO COST TO THE COMPANY. 

 

On or before Friday, April 4th go to http://prod.iq4.com/invitation/p2bemp and tell us about your talent needs so we can connect you with appropriate professional volunteers. 

TEDxNJIT: Transformations, April 3, 5-9 pm, NJIT, Newark 

 

This independently organized event, licensed by TED, will focus on sustainability and will feature leaders in the field. It will bring together faculty and students to share their passion for innovation and sustainability.  The event will be held in the Jim Wise Theatre on the New Jersey Institute of Technology campus also via an accompanying live simulcast broadcast available to viewers worldwide.  For more information visit: www.TEDXNJIT.com  

American Conference on Diversity 2014 Humanitarian Awards, April 3 

 

66th Anniversary Dinner

Thursday, April 3, 2014 

Pleasantdale Chateau in West Orange, NJ 

 

Honoring:

Kathleen T. Ellis, Executive VP & COO, NJ Natural Gas

Soledad O'Brien, CEO, Starfish Media Group

U.S. Senator Cory A. Booker, New Jersey

New Jersey Devils

 

For information or reservations, please call 800-626-8097 or email [email protected]

 

 

NJ Entrepreneurial Network (NJEN), Successful Exits Meet-up 

 

Wednesday, April 9, 6:30- 9:00 PM, Princeton Marriott

 

If you are thinking about an exit and you want to know how to position your company for sale, then this is the program you want to attend. Join us on April 9, and hear from the people who have "been there and done that."

 

www.njen.com

 
Many more events and news items on the EA website
Einstein's Alley Website
www.einsteinsalley.org

 

The Einstein's Alley website is for you. Check the Directory section and see the companies listed that you need to know.

 

It's also a great place for visibility for your company so contact [email protected] for information on membership and how to get a highlighted listing in the Directory or, go to the website and download the form.

   

Katherine

[email protected]

 

What is Einstein's Alley?

Einstein's Alley's purpose is to attract, build and retain technology-based businesses in Central New Jersey. Einstein's Alley collaborates and coordinates with existing governmental and private sector organizations to grow the region as a magnet for entrepreneurial activity and as a globally recognized economic powerhouse.    

 

 


Einstein's Alley Corporation, PO Box 175, Plainsboro, NJ 08536

Katherine Kish, Executive Director

www.einsteinsalley.org  [email protected]