Speaker Bios

Ms. Patricia Boynton, Invention to Venture Program Associate of National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance (NCIIA)

http://www.nciia.org

Patricia has worked for NCIIA as the Invention to Venture Program Associate since April 2008. She brings to the position many years of experience working for entrepreneurial companies, both technology and non-technology based. Most recently she did marketing and sales support for MicroCal, a scientific instrumentation company based in Northampton, MA.

Patricia has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

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Mr. Peter Cooper, Chief Technology Officer of El Paso County

http://www.epcounty.com/

Peter Cooper has been the El Paso County's Chief Technology Officer for the past 8 years. He is chairman of the Texas Urban Counties Information Technology Directors Group and is on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Texas Technology magazine. He was the 2006 recipient of the Hispanic Chamber's BizTech Technology Hall of Fame and is Co-chair of the Chambers Biztech 2008 Committee.

He has served as Chair of UTEP's Information and Decision Sciences Deptartment Advisory Board. Prior to moving to El Paso Mr Cooper was Director of Information Technology at Dona Ana County in Las Cruces, NM. He has a Masters of Science from New Mexico State University and served as NMSU Manager of Systems Development.

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Mr. John Gale, President/Founder of Taligo, LLC

http://www.snoluva.com/

As the president and founder of Taligo, LLC. John has earned a stellar track record in opening and growing markets, new business development and direct sales, venture funding and M&A, and client/partner relationship management.

His experience includes startups and new units within Fortune 500 companies with activities focused on software, semiconductors, social networking, and Internet/content.

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Dr. Leo Gemoets, Chair of the Department of Information and Decision Sciences of The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)

http://business.utep.edu/IDS/

Dr. Gemoets has worked at UTEP for over 20 years in various roles such as teaching in the Mathematics, Computer Science, and Information and Decision Science Departments. Before working at UTEP, he served as Consultant, Research Associate, and Operations Analyst within different companies respectively. He has over 30 refereed publications, 20 non-referred publications, and has written 2 book chapters.

Dr. Gemoets currently serves as the Chair of the Department of Information and Decision Sciences.

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Mrs. Robin Grambling, Professor of Marketing and Management of The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)

Robin Grambling has served for more than 20 years at UTEP, having been a part-time and full-time lecturer for the Department of Marketing and Management and Executive Director of the Family and Closely Held Business Forum.

Her research interests include:

Family Business Management
Advertising
Hospitality
Tourism Marketing

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Dr. Santiago Ibarreche, Professor of Marketing and Management of The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP)

http://faculty.utep.edu/sibarr

Santiago Ibarreche has worked at UTEP for 25 years, taking on various roles as Director of the Small Business Executive Education Program, Center for Inter-American Border Studies, and as Co-Chair of the Department of Management. He currently serves as the Director of the Center of Hispanic Entrepreneurship and Co-Principal Investigator of the UTEP Kauffman Campus Initiative program.

His research interests include:

International Management
Strategies in Multicultural Environments
Entrepreneurship
Innovation
Quality Management

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Mr. Alfonso (Al) Martinez-Fonts of Department of Homeland Security

http://www.dhs.gov

Al Martinez-Fonts has served as the Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase in El Paso, and has managed Chemical Bank offices in the United States and in various Latin-American countries.

He currently serves as Assistant Secretary for the Private Sector Office at the Department of Homeland Security, in which position he provides direct communication between the American private sector and the Department by working with individual businesses and associations not directly affiliated with the government.

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Mr. Patrick McNamara, Founder/Partner of Slide 12 Group

http://www.slide12.com

Pat McNamara has worked in marketing high-technology consumer products and businesses, and has served as Vice President for an advertisement agency.

His experience in strategic planning, product launching, focus groups and meeting facilitation have enabled him to
coach a vast audience of business owners and other professionals on how to deliver expert presentations to improve and enhance their sales pitch for their businesses.

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Mr. Ebetuel Pallares, Executive Director of TransPecos/El Paso Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization (TPEP RCIC)

http://www.tpeprcic.org

Ebetuel (Beto) Pallares has worked as a consultant for various companies in the United States and other countries, and co-founded Dalmex Business Technology Partners (which is a software consultancy and development shop with Fortune 1000 clients), and has served as project manager for the financial services industry of New York for Capital IQ, which is a start-up firm, in developing its value proposition across multiple lines. He currently serves as the Executive Director of TPEP RCIC.

Mr. Pallares holds a Bachelor's of Arts in Economics from Brandeis University and a Master's in Business Administration at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). He is also on track to defend his dissertation to satisfy the requirement toward a PhD in International Business.

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Mr. Eli Velasquez, Assistant Director of TransPecos/El Paso Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization (TPEP RCIC)

http://www.tpeprcic.org

Eli Velasquez worked with Boeing in their Integrated Defense Systems division, and later as an Intellectual Property Consultant with Boeing's Intellectual Property Business. Eli currently serves as Assistant Director for the RCIC.

Eli Velasquez has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University a J.D. degree with an Intellectual Property Certificate from Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, CA.

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Ms. Barbara Walker, Territory Account Manager of CISCO Systems

http://www.cisco.com

Barbara Walker has over 30 years of experience in the computer industry in a variety of areas including management, software application development, systems analysis, systems project management, business process reengineering, strategic planning, and networking. Ms. Walker is a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso with a BBA in Accounting.

Currently, Ms. Walker is a Territory Account Manager for Cisco Systems. Cisco Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO - News), the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, celebrates over 25 years of commitment to technology innovation, industry leadership, and corporate social responsibility.

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