Overview of Program
For the second year, TVO is sponsoring an EIR program in which serial entrepreneurs and industry leaders with deep domain expertise are engaged by TVO to provide advice to investigators and to the Technology Ventures Office about industry technology trends and insights about commercialization strategies. Our EIRs may join us in some panel discussions throughout the year and will be available for meetings with students, faculty and researchers (as time permits). Please contact TVO if you would like to set up a meeting.
Tandhoni Rao -- https://www.linkedin.com/in/tandhoni
Tandhoni S. Rao is a technology leader with an established track record of bringing innovative products and services to market. He began his career at Texas Instruments where he held both product line management and systems engineering management positions. Subsequent to that he co-founded and served as CTO for venture-backed startups Envoy Networks and Radiospire Networks. More recently he co-founded and served as CTO for Internet of Things solution provider Salbec, LLC.
He has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech and an MSEE and BSEE from the University of Delaware. He also has an MBA from the University of Texas, Dallas. He is a frequent industry speaker, has authored over 20 articles for technical and trade publications, and holds 6 U.S. patents with 14 patents pending. He was named University of Delawareʼs College of Engineering 2008 Outstanding Alumnus and served on the Universityʼs Department of Electrical Engineering Advisory Board.
Nick Bowen -- https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickbowen
Nicholas (Nick) Bowen has spent 33 years in the field of information technology with an extremely diverse set of leadership positions across fundamental research, product development (both hardware and software), supply chain and manufacturing, sales operations, corporate strategy, leading large teams, and a CTO. Nick has led and contributed to many critical projects including reinventing the mainframe business, taking AIX/Power to the #1 UNIX position, establishing Linux servers as an enterprise technology & business, building the first Bladed architecture for the x86 market, and creating and running a $1.4B software-appliance business.
He has a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, an M.S. degree in computer engineering from Syracuse University, and a B.S. degree in computer science from the University of Vermont. He has been on advisory boards at many Universities where a recurring theme has been leveraging the academic assets outside the walls of the institution. He has over 30 published articles and patents and is a senior member of the IEEE and an ACM Distinguished Engineer.
Bob Place -- https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-place-61599b1
Bob Place is a senior business executive and entrepreneur in the electric power industry currently focused on renewable energy and clean tech opportunities with a particular emphasis on early stage investment and mentoring.
His entrepreneurial skills have been demonstrated with over 30 years of successful development and construction of new power plants, acquisition of operating companies and the startup of many companies in the power nd climate arenas. He has developed, built, financed and/or operated many kinds of utility scale generation, including wind, solar, biomass, coal and gas fired plants. He has joint ventured with over 15 different utility, private equity and equipment manufacturers in new business opportunities with over $7 billion in new capital investments. His awards include Euromoney Project of the Year (2007) and EPA Clean Water Innovations (2001 and 2008). He is a graduate of Brown University and Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.
Bob Rabiner -- https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-rabiner-9051b31
Bob Rabiner is the Founder of IlluminOss Medical, a commercial stage medical device company engaged in minimally invasive bone stabilization systems designed to fundamentally improve the treatment of fractures, with an emphasis on osteoporosis , pathologic and other compromised bone.
IlluminOss stabilizes and repairs the fractured bone from the “inside out” and is the worlds first patient conforming intramedullary implant. Thought the use of PET balloons, photo-dynamic polymers and proprietary light systems; a balloon is delivered through a small pathway created into the canal of the fractured bone where the balloon spans either side of the fracture. The balloon is filled with a light cureable monomer, which causes the balloon to expand and conform to the shape of the patients canal. A visible light source is activated, and the liquid monomer rapidly hardens into a stabilizing implant. Through the use of IlluminOss, surgeons report that their patients regain mobility faster and are able to resume their daily living activities far faster than conventional implants.
Prior to this he was President of Selva Medical, a photo acoustic micro-catheter based technology treating ischemic stroke, which was sold to WL Gore in 2006 and Founder, President and CEO of OmniSonics Medical Technologies, utilizing guidewire delivered acoustic energy towards the removal of cardio and peripheral vascular occlusions.
He has held executive level positions at American Cyanamid, United States Healthcare and Hospital Products Ltd, Australia.
He is an ongoing member and participant within the World Economic Forum, Davos Switzerland; a member of Technology Pioneers Program since 2003 and has been recognized by Fast Company magazine’s “Fast 50 Champions of Innovation” towards the innovation and impact of his medical technologies.
The 2012 recipient of the Boston Museum of Science’s “Invented Here” award and within Rhode Island has been awarded the Providence Business News Award for Entrepreneurship, the Rhode Island Healthcare & Biotechnology Innovation Award (2009) and the Rhode Island Innovator of the Year (2007).
He is the named inventor on 69 issued patents and has over 50 patents pending.
Bob & Liane live in Barrington, RI with their two chocolate labs and when not working can be found somewhere on the local waters fishing for stripers with his fly rod.