Walter Kohn
Nobel Laureate, and Emeriti Professor of Physics.
Appointed member of the Department of Energy

Walter Kohn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on October 13, 1998 for his development of the density-functional theory. Walter Kohn is a condensed matter theorist who has made seminal contributions to the understanding of the electronic structure of materials. He played the leading role in the development of the density functional theory, which has revolutionized scientists' approach to the electronic structure of atoms, molecules and solid materials in physics, chemistry and materials science. With the advent of supercomputers, density functional theory has become an essential tool for electronic materials science. Professor Kohn has also made major contributions to the physics of semiconductors, superconductivity, surface physics and catalysis. Professor Kohn was the founding director of the National Science Foundation's Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Institute brings together leading scientists from throughout the world to work on major problems in theoretical physics and related fields. Under Professor Kohn's leadership it quickly developed into one of the leading research centers in physics, and has been widely copied.

Richard Flavell
CSO of Ceres Inc.

Richard Flavell joined Ceres in 1998. From 1987 to 1998, he was the Director of the John Innes Centre in Norwich, England, a premier plant and microbial research institute. He has published over 190 scientific articles, lectured widely and contributed significantly to the development of modern biotechnology in agriculture. His research group in the United Kingdom was among the very first worldwide to successfully clone plant DNA, isolate and sequence plant genes, and produce transgenic plants. Dr. Flavell is an expert in cereal plant genomics, having produced the first molecular maps of plant chromosomes to reveal the constituent sequences. He has been a leader in European plant biotechnology initiating and guiding a pan-European organization to manage large EU plant biotechnology research programs more effectively. In 1999, Dr. Flavell was named a Commander of the British Empire for his contributions to plant and microbial sciences. Dr. Flavell received his Ph.D. from the University of East Anglia and is a Fellow of EMBO and of The Royal Society of London. He is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Daniel Weiss
Co-founder and Managing Partner of Angeleno Group LLC

Angeleno Group LLC ("AG"), a Los Angeles based private equity firm focused on energy and environmental technology companies. Daniel Weiss oversees AG's investment activities in the areas of pollution control, transmission and distribution infrastructure and fuel technologies. Prior to the formation of AG, Mr. Weiss was an attorney at O'Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles, working in the firm's mergers and acquisitions and technology practice groups. He represented Global 1000 clients, including utilities and energy related companies, in a wide array of private equity and corporate finance transactions. Mr. Weiss also has a significant history of involvement in government, regulatory and public policy entities that deal with the energy sector including work experience in the White House and the United States Congress. Additionally, he has taught, lectured and published articles on the topics of law, business and public policy. He has lectured at Stanford University, Stanford Law School and U.C.L.A. and his articles have appeared in media outlets such as the New York Times wire service, the Journal of Commerce and the San Francisco Examiner.

Eric McFarland
Professor of Chemical Engineering and President and C.E.O. for GRT, Inc.

Professor McFarland is interested in surface science and the catalytic chemistry related to reactions important to the production and utilization of energy. At UCSB his research group is investigating new photocatalytic systems for hydrogen production and partial oxidation reactions on nanocluster catalysts. At present McFarland is on leave from the University working with GRT Inc. to develop a new process for converting natural gas to chemicals and fuels. Dr. McFarland earned his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

GRT-based activities- Eric W. McFarland, Ph.D., M.D., is the President and C.E.O. for GRT, Inc. Within this capacity, Dr. McFarland heads the management team and directs GRT's technology development efforts. He is responsible for developing GRT business strategy and overseeing and coordinating the research on process chemistry and scale-up engineering. Dr. McFarland holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. From 1996-1998, he was a founding Director of Symyx Technologies where he helped to build and lead a team of scientists and engineers in the development of combinatorial chemistry methods for materials science, which resulted in the development of a number of technologies spanning the entire chemical industry. Dr. McFarland has published over 100 scientific papers and holds 24 U.S. patents.

Galen Stucky
Professor of Chemistry/Biochemistry.
Galen is one of the most cited chemists in the US.

Dr. Galen D. Stucky joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1985, where he is currently a professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and the Materials Department, and member of the Interdepartmental Program in Biomolecular Science and Engineering. Before moving to UCSB, he held positions at the University of Illinois (1964-1980), Sandia National Laboratory (1979-1981), and DuPont Central Research and Development (1981-1985). His current research interests include molecular assembly of nanoscale to macroscale components of composite systems; the interface of inorganics with biomolecules; chemistry associated with the efficient utilization of energy resources; gradient materials and interfaces; understanding Nature's routes to organic/inorganic bioassembly. He has published over 580 scientific articles and has been awarded 12 patents.

Dr. Stucky has served the American Chemical Society on the Petroleum Research Foundation board, as Associate Editor of the Journal of Inorganic Chemistry, twice as Chairman of the Solid State Subdivision of the Inorganic Division, and as Chairman of the Inorganic Division. Recent honors include one of three lecturers at the Symposium in Honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Chemical Institutes at "Hessische Strasse" (2000), an Alexander von Humboldt Senior Scientist award (2000), the ACS Award in Chemistry of Materials (2002), an IBM Faculty Award (2003), and the IMMA (International Mesostructured Materials Association) Award (2004).

Mike Doherty
Professor of Chemical Engineering at UC Santa Barbara

Michael F. Doherty is Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received his B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College, University of London in 1973, and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Trinity College, University of Cambridge in 1977. His research interests are in process design as well as the associated chemical sciences necessary to support the design activity. He has published extensively on design and synthesis of nonideal separation systems, especially the coupling of separation with simultaneous chemical reaction. He is the holder of four patents, has published over 150 technical papers, one textbook, and has delivered more than 180 invited lectures. He has received numerous honors and awards for his teaching and research.

Consultant Activities

Dr. Doherty has served as a consultant for many multinational chemical, energy, and pharmaceutical companies in the area of process design & separations technology. He has also served on the Corporate Technical Advisory Boards for The Dow Chemical Company and Rhone–Poulenc. In recent years his consulting interests have focused on natural gas-to-liquids conversion processes, especially in collaboration with scientists and engineers at Gas Reaction Technologies, Inc. The goal of this activity is to deliver useful energy sources at competitive prices using clean technology from stranded natural gas sources such as flare gas from oil platforms, etc.

Conference Director- Leslie Edwards
Manager of the Technology Management Program at UC Santa Barbara

Leslie Edwards received a Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology from U.C. Davis and a B.S. in pharmacology from U.C. Santa Barbara. She has been a consultant in the field of regulatory toxicology, worked as a manager of regulatory toxicology at two start-up companies, EpigenX and Miravant, as well as worked at Amgen when there were less than 150 employees. Leslie taught both classical and molecular pharmacology at U. C. Santa Barbara and a course on developing FDA approved therapeutics within the biotechnology industry. She now develops programs within Technology Management that give students insight into the workings of technology companies. Leslie is building other meaningful engagement tools for students and faculty interested in the entrepreneurial process.