......		Meeting Location: Emerging Enterprise Center at Foley Hoag the Bay Colony Corporate Center 1000 Winter Street, Suite 4000 (North Entrance) Waltham, MA  Meeting Time: 6:30 - 9:30 pm Meeting Cost: $25 public, $10 students and active military Map and Directions
	Tuesday, April 21, 2009 Register Online  Robotics:  Entrepreneurs and academics discuss the future breakpoints between artificial intelligence and human intelligence The Robotics field is a long-standing branch of advanced technology here in Massachusetts.  However, it has only recently evolved into a self-aware "cluster", engaging and drawing on the expertise of a noisy crowd of start-ups, research labs, and established enterprises.  From diverse technological roots, Robotics today supports a wide range of industries and is embedded in a wide range of applications.   The EntreTech Forum's April Robotics panel brings together leaders from the Robotics industry to define for our audience the exciting present and future of Robotics in Massachusetts and the broader New England region. As ever, the EntreTech forum focuses on advanced research emerging from our leading universities and the entrepreneurs and visionaries who are developing the commercial potential of this research. Moderator: Tom Hopcroft, Executive Director, Mass Technology Leadership Council Panel: Bob Quinn - VP, QinetiQ/Foster Miller Charles Remsberg -  CEO, Hocoma Barry Trimmer - Professor, Tufts University & Director, Tufts Biomimetic Devices Laboratory Dan Weinreb - Investor, Common Angels Meeting Organizers: Val Livada - Weybridge Partners Tom Hopcroft, Executive Director, Mass Technology Leadership Council Tom Hopcroft was recently named President & CEO of the Mass Technology Leadership Council, Inc., an organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship and promoting the success of companies that develop and deploy technology across a variety of industry sectors. A Massachusetts attorney, Mr. Hopcroft formerly led and founded the New England Business and Technology Association (NEBATA) which merged with the Council in 2005. Since the merger with the Council he has headed up cluster activities for the organization, growing the cluster portfolio from three to ten active groups. Prior to founding NEBATA, Hopcroft served on the American Bar Association's Information Security Committee, where he contributed to the drafting and editing of the ABA's Digital Signature Guidelines: Legal Infrastructure for Certification Authorities and Secure Electronic Commerce, published in 1996. Bob Quinn - VP, QinetiQ/Foster Miller Bob Quinn has for the past five years been leading the largest and fastest growing division at Foster-Miller, a QinetiQ North America company, producing TALON, Dragon Runner and MAARS robots for the US Military and First Responders. Prior to joining Foster-Miller he was President and CEO of Starmet Corporation producer of advanced metallurgical products for defense, aerospace and medical devices. He has eighteen years of Board experience serving on public, private and not-for profit boards. He earned an MBA from Babson College and a BA from Tufts University. Charles Remsberg -  CEO, Hocoma Charles Remsberg is the CEO for Hocoma Inc, the leader in robotic rehabilitation therapy for neurological movement disorders. Prior to this role, he was responsible for worldwide sales and marketing for Hocoma, as well as an early investor in the company. Charles was also instrumental in the development of Biodex Medical Systems, a market leader for physical medicine and rehabilitation devices holding several senior management roles. He currently serves as a board member for the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce here in Boston. Barry Trimmer - Professor, Tufts University & Director, Tufts Biomimetic Devices Laboratory Barry A. Trimmer is a distinguished American Scientist whose research primarily focuses on biomechanics and soft-bodied locomotion. Trimmer received both his B.A. and Ph.D. from Cambridge University, concentrating in Neurobiology. He is currently professor of biology, Henry Bromfield Pearson Professor of Natural Sciences, and director of the Biomimetic Devices Laboratory (BDL) at Tufts University. Trimmer and Tufts colleague David L. Kaplan (Biomedical Engineer) gained international attention upon successfully creating the world's first soft-bodied robot. The robot, or SoftBot, is composed of silicon and resembles a tobacco hornworm, a caterpillar that Trimmer has studied since 1990. Currently exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York City, Trimmer and Kaplan hope the SoftBot will help "spark revolutions in medicine, the military and even outer-space exploration." Kaplan believes that, among other medical applications, soft-bodied robots could replace tiny cameras that patients swallow to help diagnose diseases. Dan Weinreb - Investor, Common Angels Daniel Weinreb was a co-founder of Symbolics, Inc., where he developed software for Lisp Machines. These were used for rapid software development and artificial intelligence applications. He was also one of the designers of the Common Lisp programming language, now an ANSI standard. Later, he co-founded Object Design, Inc., the leading object-oriented database management system company. He has also worked at BEA Systems as architect for operations, management, and administration of WebLogic Server, the leading Java (J2EE) application server product. Currently, he is one of the designers of a new airline reservation system being built at ITA Software, Inc. He is also a member of Common Angels, one of Boston's leading angel investment groups, and a member of the Mass. Technology Leadership Council's Robotics Cluster. He writes a blog at http://danweinreb.org/blog, primarily about software and innovation. Meeting Organizer: Val Livada - Weybridge Partners Val Livada’s background spans 25 years in management consulting with a focus on technology innovation and strategy. He was Vice President at Pugh-Roberts Associates, a consulting firm started at the MIT Sloan School of Business and focused on management of innovation issues. Prior to that, he was Director at Braxton Associates, an international strategic planning consulting company. Since 1995 Val has managed his own consulting firm, Weybridge Partners focusing on the successful commercialization of technology. Clients include companies undertaking strategic transitions and firms introducing new technology products and services. Val also works with the UK-based Generics Group and several venture capital firms. Dr. Livada is a Senior Lecturer at the Sloan School's Management of Innovation Program. He received his BS from MIT in 1970 and MA/PhD from Tufts University in 1977
Lawrence C. Grumer | Tel: 617-325-9852 | lgrumer@taacorp.com