Corporate Cash for Cleantech | San Jose, CA

As cleantech VC investing takes a plunge, large corporate investment arms are jumping in. Join us for an industry panel event focused on large corporations looking to cleantech for new business opportunities. This interactive debate will feature corporate players that are getting into cleantech and will highlight companies receiving funding from investment arms, those directly investing in cleantech and the trends to look for in the future. Our panel discussions are candid, interactive and informal. We want you to walk away with the real story behind how things work so you can make it happen yourself.

Mike Brooks, Venture Executive, Chevron Technology Ventures
Dermot Mee, Vice President, EFT Energy
Dr. Cyril Vancura, Investment Director, Bosch Venture Capital
Tom Marchok, Director, Intel Capital
[Moderator], Melinda Richter, Founder & CEO, Prescience International

Speaker Bios
Mike Brooks, Venture Executive, Chevron Technology Ventures
Mike Brooks has more than 25 years of experience in a wide range of areas including: chemical plant operations management; refinery planning and scheduling; distributed control and instrumentation project implementation; advanced control application development; as well as development of process information management systems and graphical user interface products. He also has 12-years experience with various software companies including director of products and technology at Wonderware. Brooks was also co-founder of INDX where he led marketing and product development efforts for the model-based visualization product that he invented. Brooks focuses on software architecture technologies to support operational activities for all Chevron refineries and the company’s supply chain. Brooks is currently a board member for the Manufacturing Enterprise Systems Association and User Council chair of the OpenO&M initiative that drives interoperability standards for manufacturing. Brooks earned a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Bradford University in the United Kingdom.

Dermot Mee, Vice President, EFT Energy
Mr. Mee is a graduate of the National University of Ireland, Galway (BS, MS). He joined Syntex Pharmaceutical Company (Palo Alto, CA) in 1994 and worked in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry with Yamanouchi and Medarex/Bristol Myers-Squibb up to 2010. His career evolved from analytical chemistry, through project management and business development to a leadership position with Medarex/BMS in IT/Software Development. He completed his MBA at Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business and Management in 2004. After managing the post-acquisition technology integration of Medarex and Bristol-Myers Squibb Mr. Mee joined EFT-Energy Inc. Today Mr. Mee is driving the growth of EFT in the fast growing segment of energy management software.

Dr. Cyril Vancura, Investment Director, Bosch Venture Capital
Cyril Vancura is an Investment Director based in Palo Alto. He focuses on finding investment opportunities for RBVC in North America, technical evaluations, and technical due diligence. Before joining RBVC, Cyril was at the Reseach and Technology Center of Robert Bosch in Palo Alto, where he worked on novel MEMS processes, power harvesting for autonomos systems, and photovoltaic technologies. Prior to this, Cyril conducted research in the field of CMOS-based MEMS sensors for biological and chemical applications during his Ph.D. thesis. Cyril holds a Ph.D. and a diploma (masters) in physics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland.
Tom Marchok, Director, Intel Capital
Tom joined Intel Capital in 1999 – initially as Technical Assistant to the President, and has worked for Intel for over 14 years. He previously worked in microprocessor development teams, and holds 1 US patent. Tom is board observer at Staccato Communications and Wisair. He has also invested in & managed the exit for Intellon (IPO) and Recourse Technologies (acquired by Symantec). Tom received an Intel Achievement Award – Intel’s highest honor – for his role in developing ultra-wideband technology, the associated standards, favorable worldwide regulatory environment, and establishing an aligned external ecosystem of suppliers. Tom holds BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Electrical & Computer Engineering, all from Carnegie Mellon University, and has completed the Executive Program at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
Melinda Richter, CEO, Prescience International
Melinda Richter is the founder and CEO of Prescience International, a firm dedicated to the commercialization of science and technology through starting and managing research centers, incubators, foundations and institutes such as the San Jose BioCenter, Environmental Business Cluster (EBC), UC Berkeley BioExec Institute and Cleantech Exec. With over 15 years of global experience managing and operating incubators and research centers, Ms. Richter specializes in the practices that expedite the path to commercialization. Ms. Richter led business development for high technology companies in Silicon Valley before entering the field of incubation for science and technology by co-leading the life science and technology incubator, ASTIA (formerly known as the Women’s Technology Cluster). Currently Ms. Richter’s firm oversees the direction of centers of commercialization including the Environmental Business Cluster (EBC), the largest private technology commercialization program for clean energy start-ups in the United States.