Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS March Meeting 2010
Volume 55, Number 2
Monday–Friday, March 15–19, 2010; Portland, Oregon
Session P8: Physicists as Entrepreneurs |
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Sponsoring Units: FIAP Chair: T. Venkatesan, National University of Singapore Room: Portland Ballroom 255 |
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 8:00AM - 8:36AM |
P8.00001: Reincarnation of Stardust Invited Speaker: During the industrious 90s both government agencies and brand owners faced a growing threat: rapid advances in the computer graphics technology allowed criminal syndicates to reach high sophistication levels in forging documents and branded products resulting in global losses of billions of dollars. Having studied various means to combat counterfeiting, we recognized the promise of IR luminescent ceramics and founded Stardust Materials. With little start-up capital, as novice entrepreneurs we truly believed that IR luminescence would stem the flow of fakes and ``save the world''. Within two years after inception we won a coveted contract to provide security to US tobacco tax stamps. A group of investors became interested in our initial success and suggested forming a new entity. Lacking business experience, we made costly mistakes starting with drafting a technology licensing agreement. Pitching our technology, the new corporation managed to raise {\$}12 million in the investment-averse climate of post 9-11. However, its fortunes went downhill from then on. Soon we were forced to resign from the corporation leaving behind our technology, equipment, and high salaries. From scratch we commenced development of a new range of products. It would be surprising, if we did not get chased with an expensive IP law suit. Having successfully defended our new portfolio, we expanded the field of applications and began a steady growth. The story of Stardust sheds light on some of the tricky turns a scientist-entrepreneur may need to take to start and operate a company of his dreams. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 8:36AM - 9:12AM |
P8.00002: Using Lithography to Integrate Optoelectronic and Optofluidic Nanodevices into Systems - and Commercial Products Invited Speaker: Lithography has fueled the trend towards ever-smaller and denser electronic integration over the past 50 years. Gordon Moore observed in the 1960s the trend towards increased electronic complexity and functionality within an area of a silicon chip, resulting from a relatively constant real-estate price and the cost of moving information from one chip to another The opportunity of highly accurate definition of microdevices and their precise alignment on top of each other by lithography also holds tremendous promise for increasing the complexity and functionality of optical, fluidic, and magnetic systems. Data communications has recently adopted the intimate integration of optics and electronics within silicon photonics chips. Useful medical diagnosis tools can be constructed through integration of electronics, optics and fluidics. Indeed, biomedical devices today can be constructed using two- and three-dimensional soft and hard lithography approaches, in which pico-Liter volumes can be manipulated and analyzed on optofluidic chips. In the near future, we can expect the emergence of lithographically integration of optics, fluidics and electronics for many other commercial applications. Here, a very subjective and biased view of the evolution of optofluidics and silicon photonics from concepts in the laboratory to commercial products will be presented. This talk will also emphasize future technological opportunities as well as pitfalls in the journey from laboratory devices to commercial systems. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 9:12AM - 9:48AM |
P8.00003: Managing Inflections in Life and Career: Tale from a Physicist Invited Speaker: By training, a physicist possesses one of the rarest qualities ever imparted in an educational degree program, namely, the ability to take on complex problems, divide them into ``solvable'' parts, derive solutions and put them back as insightful outputs. Dr Bhattacharya, CEO of Salorix, a research, analytics and consulting firm, explains how he has used these skills learned at the graduate school to build a career as a scientist, management consultant and entrepreneur. He will also speak about how the real-life skillsets of understanding and dealing with ``Inflections'', self discovery and introspection can be a great tool for managing one's life and career progression. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 9:48AM - 10:24AM |
P8.00004: A blind squirrel finds a nut: tales from at an entrepreneurial adventure Invited Speaker: When I received my PhD back in the dark days of 386 computers, fax machines, and a miserable economy it was commonly said that ``a degree in Physics is a great foundation for wide variety of non-academic career paths,'' but it was never entirely clear what those paths were. I still can't say what those paths are but can describe at least one: starting, building and ultimately exiting a small entrepreneurial business. This talk will describe at least one entrepreneurial path, where a physics background has value, where it is a liability, and what other skills the physicist needs to acquire to succeed in business. I will give a personal view of what it looks like inside a startup, lessons learned, mistakes made, and copious advice of dubious utility and value. [Preview Abstract] |
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 10:24AM - 11:00AM |
P8.00005: Revise Inc. - Getting Bought Out Invited Speaker: From its inception Revise Inc. was designed to be acquired by a larger firm. Revise was always tightly controlled with no outside investors. As a well-focused company of ten people we were able to engineer a major piece of semiconductor capital equipment, then sell and maintain this product in the field internationally. We made a profit in year one and every succeeding year until we were acquired. This model made us attractive to a publicly-traded acquirer, who saw an opportunity to buy a prepackaged asset that, with low risk, should add to it's earnings ratios. The technology that we brought fit, but the business argument worked with no need to exaggerate the technology's value. [Preview Abstract] |
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