Amin Badr-El-Din, Ph.D. Founder, Chairman, and CEO, BADR Investments
Amin Badr-El-Din is an expert in international affairs and one of Middle East’s leading economic and energy strategists. Amin founded and led BADR Investments, a global private investment firm that has a diversified portfolio of ventures spread across a range of industries and geographies. Amin has created a fully integrated economic modeling and practical implementation plans for successful downstream economic growth for several countries, predominantly in the Middle East. Amin was also founder and Chairman/CEO of the UAE Offsets Group (the UOG) which pioneered a model unique amongst offsets operations in the world, including the creation of the strategic (US $8 billion) Dolphin gas initiative in the UAE. Dr Badr-El-Din has advised a number of governments including Ireland, France, Jordan, UAE, South Africa, Malaysia, Switzerland and Indonesia. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, as well as a member of other professional organizations, and is involved in several non-profit activities. He took a First Class Honours degree in Electronic Engineering and Aerodynamics at the University of London, and holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University
Sebastien de Halleux Founder and CEO, Togetr
Sebastien de Halleux co-founded Playfish, one of the largest and fastest growing social game companies which disrupted the video game industry by changing how millions of people play together. Playfish was acquired by video game giant Electronic Arts in November of 2009. Prior to starting Playfish, Sebastien assisted in the launch of Macrospace, and early pioneer in mobile games (now Glu Mobile, which IPOed in 2007) and worked at other companies including Nokia and Booz Allen Hamilton. He holds a master's degree in Civil Engineering from Imperial College London. Sebastien is an active angel investor and is involved in several non-profit projects which harness bright minds and technology to change the world for good. Sebastien was a recipient of the 2010 TechFellow Award. He has resided in Brussels, Bangkok and London, and presently lives in San Francisco.
Jonathan Schneider Principal/Partner, Noribachi
Jonathan Schneider is a principal and partner at Noribachi, an alternative energy technology firm based in Los Angeles. Formerly, he was Vice President, Energy Risk Management of Goldman Sachs, Asia and Managing Director of the Astra Oil Group based in Singapore and Zug, Switzerland. He has served on a number of non-profit boards, including the United World College. Jon has a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a M.A. from the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies.
Jay Walsh, Ph.D. Vice President for Research, Northwestern University
Jay Walsh began his service as Northwestern University's Vice President for Research in 2007 and was formerly the senior associate dean of McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, where he is a professor of biomedical engineering. Jay received a bachelor's and master's degree in electrical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Immediately following receipt of his Ph.D. in medical engineering from Harvard Medical School and MIT, Jay joined the Northwestern faculty in 1988. Walsh's early research on laser-tissue interactions helped frame the understanding of laser ablation; this work formed the scientific foundation for now standard laser-based procedures in medicine and surgery. In the past decade, his research has focused on dignostic and therapeutic applications of light.
Kimberly Williams, MBA Partner, 3KM Consulting
Kimberly Williams is a partner and managing partner in a variety of small corporations in farming, oil and gas, entertainment, and banking. Formerly, she was a loan workout specialist and served as Managing Director of a multiple investment fund with partners JE Robert, GE Capital, and Goldman Sachs. Since moving to Telluride, CO, she has served as founding board member, President, Trustee, Finance Director, and Development Chair for five different non-profits. Kimberly holds a B.S. and MBA from the University of Kansas.
Joan Woodard, Ph.D. Former Executive Vice President, Sandia National Laboratories
Kyle Zimmerman Photography
Joan Woodard served at Sandia for more than 35 years, including ten years as an Executive Vice President and Deputy Laboratory Director. During her career at Sandia she held executive leadership positions in all of the mission programs at Sandia, including the nuclear weapons, nonproliferation, military technology and systems, energy, environment and waste management technology, and intelligence, as well as serving as chief operating officer responsible for all operating areas of the laboratories. She holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley; an M.S. in Engineering Economic Systems from Stanford University; and a B.S. in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Missouri-Rolla (magna cum laude). She has served on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (AF/ SAB), and the Congressional Commission to Assess the Vulnerabilities of the US Infrastructure to Electromagnetic Pulse. She also served on the National Academy of Science Study on Science and Technology for Countering Terrorism.