UsabilityNJ World Usability Day - Speaker Information

Below is background information on Einstein's Alley and bio's for Katherine Kish and Lou Wagman for the talk they will give at the UsabilityNJ World Usability Day Celebration on November 14, 2006.

Background of Einstein's Alley

The Vision:
Central New Jersey is a region that has the capacity to be the economic growth engine of the state. The region contains a highly educated, trained, and diverse work force, world-class universities, leading technology companies and sources of capital - all of the ingredients that have led to success in places such as Silicon Valley, Route 128 and the Research Triangle.

In the summer of 2003, Congressman Rush Holt met with members of the research and development, business, labor, and education communities to initiate a dialogue about creating an economic development and job creation strategy for Central New Jersey. These breakfasts lead to a day-long public forum entitled "Einstein's Alley: The Economic Summit". This summit brought together over 300 people representing hundreds of Central New Jersey organizations, educational institutions and businesses. The summit sought to identify and accelerate the development of recommendations that foster economic growth throughout the region and address challenges currently faced by central New Jersey. The Congressman said it was his hope that the effort would learn from, build on and extend work of the many individuals and organizations that are already supporting aspects of regional economic development.

Since that time, many people have contributed to this regional economic initiative and the initiative has grown. To accommodate and harness this momentum, Einstein's Alley must evolve into a more independent entity. As such, we have taken Congressman Holt's initiative and will incorporate Einstein's Alley into a non-profit organization with staff and a Board of Trustees. This organization will define a common set of goals for economic development within central New Jersey. It will provide a business overlay that will focus the efforts of existing State and private organizations to establish the region as a magnet for entrepreneurial activity and a globally recognized economic powerhouse.

The Mission:
The goals of this new organization are to create jobs, stimulate innovation, prepare our workforce to support a research based economy and enhance the livability of our communities. The objectives are encompassed in the following four planks:

Strengthening central New Jersey's R&D advantage – attracting innovative, research-based companies and investment to central New Jersey, while retaining and expanding existing business enterprises of all types and sizes.
Building entrepreneurship in central New Jersey's nurturing an entrepreneurial network that embraces new business ventures and provides informational resources that support them.
Preparing the workforce for the future – enhancing the education, development, and effective utilization of the current and future workforce of central New Jersey.
Promoting livable communities and sustainable development – promoting and influencing regional development that will facilitate economic growth, while preserving those conditions and amenities that make the region a highly desirable place in which to live and work.

Katherine Kish Biography

Katherine Kish, recently named 2006 NJ Biz Top 50 Business Women in New Jersey, founded MARKET ENTRY, INC., a strategic marketing and business development firm, in 1982. The firm focuses on launching or repositioning products, services and whole organizations. The firm’s clients cover the spectrum from electronics and publishing giants to universities, professional practices, and software start-ups. Kish’s prior corporate experience was as a marketing, sales, and strategic planning executive in Fortune 500 broadcasting, publishing, and information service firms.

Katherine Kish was selected to be a fellow of the Class of 2003 of Leadership NJ. She participates in and has been recognized for a wide range of business and community activities. She has been an involved member of the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce (PRCC) for over a decade. She served as Chairman of the Board in 2000 and remains an active Past Chair. She is serving as a Vice Chair of the State Board of NCCJ-NJ, on as a member of the Steering Committee for Princeton Future, as the Chair of the Nominating Committee and Co-chair of the Scholarship Committee for the Girl Scout Council, along with being Vice Chair, Nakashima Foundation for Peace. She has been active in the American Heart Association of Mercer County and as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Free Enterprise Foundation.

Kish has been Vice President of the New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners (NJAWBO), Vice President of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Foundation for Women Business Owners. Kish is a Co-Founder of the NJAWBO/EXCEL initiative, a statewide entrepreneurial training program. EXCEL (now WBC) has provided entrepreneurial skills training to over 10,000 women and minorities since 1992.

Kish is a member of the New Jersey State Chamber, NJ300, the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, The Central Jersey Transportation Forum, The Regional Planning Partnership and the Women and Philanthropy Committee.

Kish holds a bachelor’s degree from Allegheny and a master’s from Antioch University with additional graduate work at Williams and The East West Center at the University of Hawaii.

Lou Wagman Biography

Lou Wagman is a principal in Technology Management Associates, a management consultancy focused on advising and providing interim management services to early and expansion stage technology ventures in the areas of general management, IP, marketing and operations. Mr. Wagman has over 30 years of management experience at the general management and CEO level of technology companies ranging in size from start-ups to divisions of Fortune 500 companies. He has a history of executing successful liquidity events for investors, including one oversubscribed IPO, the sale of a venture capital financed company and three company spinouts.

Most recently, Mr. Wagman wrote a business plan for Stevens Institute of Technology based on their fiber optic sensor technology and was appointed the CEO of Castle Point Scientific, the new company formed to commercialize this technology. Mr. Wagman advised Sarnoff Corporation on the business viability of its advanced telecommunications components technology and co-authored a business plan that led to the $48 million venture capital financing and launch of Princeton Lightwave, a company in which Mr. Wagman became VP of Operations and Chief Operating Officer. He then led the sale of the primary assets of the company to the Trumpf Group and became the head of the new subsidiary company, Trumpf Photonics. Prior to this, Mr. Wagman ran AMP Corporation’s active optoelectronic business, was COO of an angel investor financed advanced optical materials company and was CEO of a venture capital financed digital camera business.

Mr. Wagman has a BSE-electronics from George Washington University and an MBA with distinction from the University of Michigan. He is the president and member of the board of the New Jersey Entrepreneurial Network. He is also a member of the George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science National Advisory Council and their Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer and Commercialization, the Stevens Institute of Technology Advisory Board for Microelectronics and Photonics, the Rutgers University Technology Commercialization Fund Advisory Board and has been on the management advisory boards of three early-stage technology companies. Mr. Wagman is an arbitrator for the National Association of Security Dealers and the Better Business Bureau and formerly a mediator for the Lawrence Township Municipal Courts.

Talk Abstract

Katherine Kish and Louis Wagman will provide an overview of Einstein's Alley, a non-profit organization forwarded by Congressman, Rush Holt. The goal of Einstein’s Alley is to create jobs and growth, encourage creativity and entrepreneurship, and to make Central NJ the best place to live and to build new businesses using science and innovation to create value.