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Keynote Speakers:

Tanya Ramond | MBA Ph.D.

CEO of Sapienne Consulting

Tanya Ramond is an authority on innovation in deep tech business specializing in optics and photonics, aerospace, cleantech, and quantum technologies.   She has been architecting technology commercialization success in startups as well as corporates since 2002.   Tanya earned a PhD at CU JILA, a postdoc in the NIST Time and Frequency Division, and an MBA from the University of Denver, and leverages her deep technical expertise, market domain knowledge and business strategy to offer an integrated lens on deep tech products.  Tanya has built an extensive background in product development and aerospace systems engineering and has held high-level roles in product and technology strategy, managing multi-million-dollar product development programs in startups and corporates.  Tanya enjoys giving back to the entrepreneurial ecosystem as a regular reviewer for the State of Colorado OEDIT advanced industry awards, a board member of the Colorado Photonics Industry Association, and a mentor for the TechStars Accelerator.  Today Tanya is the CEO of Sapienne Consulting, a boutique consultancy dedicated to the commercialization of advanced technologies from lab to market. 

Corban Tillemann-Dick | BEc

Founder & CEO of Maybell Quantum

Corban Tillemann-Dick is the Founder and CEO of Maybell Quantum, a venture-backed quantum infrastructure company based in Denver. Prior to founding Maybell, Corban spent a decade at the Boston Consulting Group, where he focused on cutting edge tech and helped establish and lead BCG's quantum program. He studied mechanical engineering and economics at the US Air Force Academy and Johns Hopkins. Brief description of keynote talk: I'll discuss the transformative potential of quantum technology, Colorado's leadership in the quantum industry, and the diverse career opportunities emerging in this field. I'll share insights from my journey founding Maybell Quantum and highlight how initiatives Elevate Quantum and the Quantum COmmons are helping secure generational leadership in the quantum technology.

Panelists:

Elizabeth G. Rasmussen | Ph.D.

Thermal Engineer, Blue Orgin

Elizabeth G. Rasmussen is currently an engineer at Blue Origin, where she serves as the Responsible Engineer (RE) for the Thermal Protection System (TPS) on NASA’s Artemis 5 mission. The Artemis 5 mission will land four astronauts on the moon and return them to low lunar orbit (LLO) as part of the third lunar landing of the Artemis program. Prior to working at Blue Origin, Dr. Rasmussen was a research scientist in the National Research Council (NRC) Research Associateship Program overseen by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). Dr. Rasmussen conducted research on materials in extreme environments at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Â鶹ӰԺ, Colorado, USA, in the Material Measurement Laboratory. Dr. Rasmussen's contributions have been recognized with accolades, including a Clean Energy Institute research fellowship (2020), an NSF data science accelerator award (2018), and the ASME Kenneth Roe Award (2016). She is a co-author of 18 journal articles and a co-inventor of 9 patents. She is a certified Engineer in Training (EIT) in the state of Washington. She has also given over 35 technical talks at universities, national laboratories, and conferences. Dr. Rasmussen worked in industry as an engineer at Johnson Controls, Kimberly-Clark, and Leviton Network Solutions and has also been a visiting researcher at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory. She received a B.S. from Michigan Technological University and a M.S and Ph.D. degree from the University of Washington-Seattle, all in mechanical engineering. Outside the lab, Dr. Rasmussen enjoys mentoring students, volunteering, and hiking with her two dogs and husband all over the Rocky Mountains.

Josh Slocum | Ph.D.

Senior Scientist, Mosaic Biosciences

Josh is a Louisiana native who earned his PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin in 2017, after which he was an NRC postdoctoral fellow at JILA. His academic research focused on the use of spectroscopic techniques to understand and improve the function of fluorescent protein-based biosensors. In 2019, he joined Mosaic Biosciences where he has developed expertise in protein expression, purification, bioconjugation, and biophysical characterization. As a program leader, he has driven multiple pre-clinical biologics drug discovery initiatives, overseeing lead identification, optimization, and advancing candidate molecules. Currently, he heads the biophysical characterization group, shaping the analytical approach for biologic development. Outside the lab, Josh enjoys running and hiking with his wife and their two-year-old.

Dan Salvetti | M.A.

Semiconductor Industry Manager, OEDIT - The State of Colorado

Dan oversees the State’s strategic response to the once-in-a-generation opportunity that is the CHIPS Act. In this pursuit, he seeks to bring technical, living-wage jobs to the people of Colorado through the expansion of a thriving, globally competitive semiconductor and advanced industries ecosystem. His role is expansive. He acts as a subject matter expert by advising business and government leaders on the semiconductor industry and federal funding opportunities in CHIPS, along with IRA and IIJA. He acts as a business development specialist by demonstrating the value of operations in Colorado to companies seeking expansion. And he acts as a program manager by developing and maintaining programs to support the growth of the semiconductor industry, with a particular focus on incentivizing growth in underserved communities and populations.Prior to his current role, Dan was a leading member of the Strategy and Analytics team within OEDIT’s Global Business Development (GBD) division, where he provided the analytical support necessary to meet Colorado’s data-driven economic development goals. He collected, processed, and analyzed large datasets; tracked emerging local, state, national, and global economic trends; designed and implemented research projects; and created promotional and informational materials for internal and external stakeholders. He developed GBD’s current annual strategies on investment outreach and export promotion, and advised the governor’s policy team, as well as local communities, on trade and tariffs.Before coming to Colorado, Dan and his wife road tripped for several months through the American West in a loop that followed the Rockies north and the Pacific Coast south and took them through dozens of national and state parks. Prior to this trip, he served as an economist in the Standards Evaluation and Analysis Division at the US Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington DC for five years, where he estimated the economic impact of planned regulatory and policy interventions. He holds an MA in Economics from Northeastern University in Boston. He enjoys getting outdoors with his wife, daughter, and dog.

Kevin Knabe | Ph.D.

Director of R&D, Vescent

Dr. Knabe is the Director of Research and Development at Vescent and oversees all government programs and low TRL development of new technologies. His history of optical frequency metrology, spectroscopy, and general laser stabilization in academia (Kansas State), government labs (NIST-Â鶹ӰԺ), and industry (Raytheon, Stable Laser Systems, Vescent) has helped refine and optimize the requirements for low SWaP laser modules that Vescent has been developing for deployed quantum applications. The technologies that Vescent has been pursuing under his direction include optical frequency combs, narrow linewidth lasers, and low noise control electronics for quantum timing and sensing applications such as alternative positioning, navigation and timing (aPNT) systems, multi-static synthetic aperture radar (SAR), 5G-and-beyond wireless communication, satellite synchronization, and geodetic sensing.