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Walter Ulrich,
President and CEO

Appointed by Governor Rick Perry, Walter Ulrich served a two year term as one of 17 founding members of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund Committee that was responsible for awarding $200 million to foster the commercialization of innovative emerging technology within the State of Texas. In addition to his leadership of the HTC, he now serves as Chairman of the Gulf Coast Center for Innovation and Commercialization. Prior to joining the Houston Technology Center, he was CEO of several technology companies and an executive with two major global management consulting firms. He serves on several Boards and is active in major community organizations.  Early in his career, he was responsible for the development of the first successful email service and he founded a major regional IT leader.  He has a master and bachelors degree from Stevens Institute of Technology and served proudly in the US Marine Corps.

Paul M. Frison,
Executive Vice Chairman

Founder of the Houston Technology Center, Paul Frison served as its President from 1999-2007. He has been President and/or CEO of three public, technology based companies: LifeMark (1975-1984), NYSE; ComputerCraft (1984-1999), NASDAQ; and LifeCell (1986-1999). He has been involved in numerous other start-ups by serving on the Board of Directors. His broad experience includes many mergers and acquisitions. He has raised multiple rounds of venture capital, two IPOs, and more than a dozen follow-on rounds of public financing. In 2004 he was honored by the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year program and by the Kauffman Foundation as a national finalist for his achievements as Supporter of Entrepreneurship. In March 2011 Paul was awarded BusinessMaker of the Year by The BusinessMakers Radio Show.

Maryanne Maldonado,
Vice President and

Managing Director, Energy Acceleration

Ms. Maldonado is corporate Vice President of the Houston Technology Center and serves as the Director of Acceleration for the energy sector. She provides strategic and tactical management, as well as investment-related advice to Houston-area early stage companies developing innovative technologies applied in the energy industry. Ms. Maldonado assists in recruiting and screening new energy clients, further growing the renewable energy/clean tech area and direct special energy-related projects at HTC. Prior to joining HTC, Ms. Maldonado presided as Head of Trade and Investment and Head of the International Energy Team for UK Trade and Investment, based in Houston. Prior to working with the United Kingdom, Ms. Maldonado served as Trade Commissioner for the Canadian Consulate-Houston, following several operational and regulatory positions with oil and gas companies. A native of North Carolina, Ms. Maldonado holds a Masters of Business Administration and a Bachelors of Business Management from LeTourneau University in Longview City, Texas.

Kira Blackwell,
Director, Strategic Relations
Houston Technology Center -JSC Campus

Ms. Blackwell serves as the Director of Strategic Relations for the Houston Technology Center – JSC Campus.  She facilitates new partnerships within the aerospace and commercial industries leveraging the NASA/JSC innovative technologies, capabilities, and expertise that has served to advanced our country’s space program and sustained the local JSC community economically. Prior to joining HTC, Ms. Blackwell worked as the Director of Strategic Relations for one of the largest contractors for NASA, supporting the engineering and science contract out of NASA Johnson Space Center.  As she joins our team, she brings with her a background in strategic planning, marketing, public relations, and education. In addition, Ms. Blackwell is an active member of her community serving on various boards and committees, volunteering her time and expertise where needed.  As a local resident, she graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from University of Houston.    

Steven González,
Director, NASA/Aerospace Acceleration and
Loaned Executive from NASA/Johnson Space Center

Mr. González serves as the NASA Loaned Executive for the aerospace sector.  He has over 23 years of experience in the aerospace industry.  He is currently the Deputy of Strategic Analysis and Integration Office at the NASA/Johnson Space Center (JSC), which is responsible for the 20 year strategy of the Johnson Space Center.  Prior to this position, Mr. González was the Chief of the Operations Research and Strategic Development Branch within the Mission Operations Directorate.  He has received numerous awards and was nominated as one of the 100 Most Important Hispanics in Technology and Business, the Rotary Stellar Award Nomination for demonstrating exceptional competence as  a leader.  He also received the JSC Certificate of Commendation, the Center’s highest honorary award for exceptional leadership and technical abilities for managing, the integration, scheduling, and testing of the software and hardware system deliveries for the new JSC Mission Control Center.  He received his Masters of Science at Texas A&M University and his Bachelors at Boston University.

Maggie Joplin,
Director, Marketing and Communications

Ms. Joplin is the Director, Marketing and Communications at the Houston Technology Center (HTC).  She leads all marketing, public relations, and branding activities for the organization.  She brings over 15 years of marketing and public relations expertise to the HTC.  She has served in multiple marketing and development roles in the civic, non-profit, and healthcare fields.  In addition, Ms. Joplin is a board member of the American Marketing Association Houston Chapter and served on the board of directors for a number of agencies including Pasadena South Rotary, YWCA Hamilton and City Employees Federal Credit Union. She received her Masters of Business Administration with dual concentrations in Finance and in Marketing from The University of St. Thomas in Houston and a Bachelors of Arts degree in Public Administration from The Union Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Deborah Mansfield, Director,
Life Sciences Acceleration and
Associate Director, Gulf Coast RCIC

Ms. Mansfield serves as the Director of Acceleration for the life sciences sectors, providing strategic and tactical management, as well as investment-related advice to Houston-area early stage companies developing innovative technologies applied in the life sciences industry. Ms. Mansfield has an extensive background in management, non-equity funding, entrepreneurship, compliance, and research in the Life Sciences sector. She has provided operations support to the Governor’s Council on Science and Biotechnology Development and currently acts as associate director for the Gulf Coast Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization, Texas Emerging Technology Fund. Prior to joining HTC, Deborah served in a number of management and research roles at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center. She is an avid participant in a variety of entrepreneurship enabling groups such as Bio/Medical Technology Club of Houston, Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, and MIT Forum, as well as, functions in an advisory capacity to ACCION Texas, Research Valley Partnership, Laser Tissue Welding, Inc., Fairway Medical Technologies, Inc., and Rice Alliance. Ms. Mansfield holds a Masters of Business  Administration from Our Lady of the Lake University, MS from Pennsylvania State University, and BS from California State University of Pennsylvania.

Bob Prochnow,
CIO and Director, Gulf Coast RCIC

Bob Prochnow has served as an executive in energy and IT technology companies ranging in size from startups to Fortune 500.  In 2001, he was honored by COMPUTERWORLD as one of their Premier 100 IT Leaders.  Bob is an honors graduate with BSEE and MEE degrees from Rice University, specializing in computer hardware and software.  Bob has been active helping early stage companies, working with the Austin Technology Incubator, Houston Technology Center, and the Rice Alliance, and as the Director of the Gulf Coast RCIC has helped early stage companies receive funding through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund.

John W. “Jack” Sim,
Director, Finance and Administration

Jack Sim serves as the Director, Finance and Administration for Houston Technology Center and has been active with entrepreneurial start-up companies for over twenty years. While serving as HTC's CFO and handling the company’s HR functions and contract management, he was named 2010 Celebrate!Enterprise "Best CFO of The Year" in the Small Nonprofit category. Prior to joining HTC, he helped found and served as Vice President of several companies developing environmental and chemical technologies. His first environmental company, NECO Technologies, Inc., patented a technology responsible for the world’s finest CO2 facility which removes CO2 from cogeneration exhaust gases. Earlier in his career, he was Vice President of Operations for a worldwide chemical distributor for over 12 years, and he has helped found his wife’s successful retail florist operation. Jack is originally from Chicago, where he received his undergraduate degree in Mathematics from St. Xavier University. He is active in his community and has served on the board of the Brazos Bend Exchange Club, on a retail trade association, and on the Pastoral Council of his church.

Sheila Whanger,
Director, Special Events

Sheila Whanger serves as Director of Special Events for Houston Technology Center (HTC) and has been affiliated with HTC since their inception in 1999. A seasoned event planner, with more than 30 years of experience in Houston, Sheila manages all of HTC’s major events, driving increased revenue and visibility for the organization. These include the Energy Technology Venture Capital Conference (ETVCC), the annual Gala: and the Gulf Coast Innovation Conference & Showcase (GCIC&S). Sheila acts as liaison with the Mayor’s and Governor’s offices when either of these two officials participates in an HTC event. She acted as HTC’s project manager during the construction of the two buildings that house HTC and its’ tenants. Prior to joining HTC, Sheila was in advertising sales at PennWell Publishing Company (1988-1999), her role there also included planning and coordinating OTC related events. Sheila was Assistant Executive Vice President of the Houston Association of Realtors (1976-1988), the largest membership trade organization in Houston. While there, she was elected to serve as Chair of the Texas Association of Realtors Executive Officers Committee. She has been a member of the Willow City Ranch Owners Association for over four years.

Greg Wright,
Director, IT Acceleration

Greg Wright serves as Director of Acceleration for the IT sector, recruiting and screening clients and assisting those clients in accessing the Houston Technology Center's resources and fulfilling their goals for growth and success.  Greg has over 20 years of experience in executive, management consulting, and enterprise technology architecture roles. Prior to joining the Houston Technology Center, he co-founded Mbira Group where he is a Virtual CIO, providing IT direction and strategy to executives at medium sized companies. Prior to that he was the Chief Technology Officer at a start-up (Prepaid Works), Director of Technology at Sapient, Principle and Energy Trading/Netmarkets Solutions Manager at CSC Consulting (Computer Sciences Corp.), and Senior Consultant at Andersen Consulting (Accenture). Greg has a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science. 

Andrew Clark,
Entrepreneur in Residence

Andrew Clark has more than 25 years experience in health care, technology, and energy-related fields.  His corporate experience extends from roles at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Compaq Computer, and Reliant Energy.  Currently, he provides investments in and consulting to start-ups and early stage companies through the Houston Angel Network, where he is past president, and The Castell Group, where he is a principal.  He has assisted numerous HTC clients and has been instrumental in the formation and raising of capital for early stage companies.

Bill Crow,
Entrepreneur in Residence

Bill Crow joined the Houston Technology Center as an entrepreneur-in-residence focusing on nanotechnology after retiring as Chief of Staff for Congressman John Culberson, Texas CD #7.  Mr. Crow focused on the Congressman’s key goals in traffic congestion reduction, nanohealth and nanoenergy for five years after retiring from 42 years in the private sector. Mr. Crow has extensive experience with start-ups, small companies as well as major corporations after having served several senior executive positions with companies such as Exxon, Seismic Computing Corp., Swanson & Crow, GPS Technology Corp., and the Tobin Group of Companies. Mr. Crow received his B.S. in Geological Engineering and a M.S. in Geophysics from Kansas University, located at Lawrence, Kansas.

Kim Evans,
Entrepreneur in Residence

Kim has twenty years of operational and technical experience most recently as the CEO for Secure Vantage Technology, Inc. where Kim was responsible for leading the product directions and business strategies for Secure Vantage Technologies. As an executive and senior manager, She established a track record for growing successful companies and product lines by creating, implementing and executing strategies that inspire genius, create prosperity and increase the economic energy of communities.  She lead teams to successfully execute operational, R&D, sales, marketing, business development, acquisition and integration strategies for large and start-up companies such as Microsoft, BMC Software, Covasoft and Tidal software.
She was named one of the "Top Twenty Women in Technology” in Houston, Texas and one of the "Ten Brightest Rising Technology Stars" in Austin, Texas. Kim was co-founder of Houston Executive Women in Technology and the think tank and business information source Power Shift. She co-chaired the Mayor’s Women in Technology 2000 conference, in Houston, Texas. Kim currently serves on several boards.

Kim holds a Bachelor’s degree in Design from Wayne State University.

Phil Fraher,
HTC Asia Chairman

Phil has over 20 years of leadership experience within business intelligence, data delivery, and business-to-business (B2B) software companies. As Chief Financial Officer, Phil manages the day-to-day financial and accounting operations for FuelQuest as well as leverages his extensive background to guide the company through key growth opportunities. Previously, he served as President and CEO of Visual Numerics, Inc.; performed as COO and CFO of Brightmail, Inc.; and held other financial management positions at Cahners Business Information Electronic Media Division, Pilot Software, and Dun & Bradstreet. Phil has extensive venture capital, M&A, and international business expansion experience. He began his career as a software engineer with Exxon Production Research. Phil holds an MBA from the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester and a BS in Computing Engineering at Auburn University.

Adil Jafry,
Entrepreneur in Residence

Mr. Jafry is Chairman & CEO of Chandah Space Technologies, a Houston and Mountain View based company focused on space commercialization. He is a graduate of the International Space University (ISU) in Strasbourg, France, and prior to that attended the University of Texas at Austin. Mr. Jafry's prior work experience includes international mergers and acquisitions, entrepreneurship, and infrastructure development. Mr. Jafry currently serves as an Entrepreneur In Residence (EIR) at the Houston Technology Center (HTC), named by Forbes as one of "Ten Technology Incubators Changing The World", and as the President of TiE Houston. He has been awarded the South Asian Chamber of Commerce and the Asian Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year awards in 2006 and 2007. Mr. Jafry is an avid TEDster and enjoys volunteering, reading, and using social media to effect positive change. He also currently serves as faculty on ISU's prestigious Space Studies Program, and as the Chair of its Business & Management department.

Carlos Lara
HTC Americas Chairman

Mr. Lara is the President of Lara & Associates LLC, a financial and business development advisory firm that provides corporate strategies, advocacy and project facilitation, and outsourcing solutions related to Human Resources and Technology/ Software development matters. In addition he is a principal in several independent business ventures, ranging from the electricity to healthcare issues. Mr. Lara has successfully created and managed public and private projects at national and bilateral levels for grass roots and investment promotion related campaigns, internet initiatives and web portals, sports franchises, mass Hispanic retail and electricity markets, corporate and public finance activities and international funds transfer business; along with nonprofit initiatives such as the Mexican Council for Hispanic Business, the NAFTA Internship Program of the Washington Center and the HTC Americas.  Mr. Lara was born in Mexico City, where he obtained a Bachelor's and Master’s degree in Business Administration and International Management (MBA-MIM) from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), while having the opportunity to teach international marketing and finance.

Bill Sidwell,
Executive in Residence

Bill Sidwell is a world-class brand marketer, a talented practitioner of brand building and the marketing of brands.
He led the efforts that transformed HP into the world’s leading technology company, creating a powerful, trusted and respected iconic brand for the 21st century.
Bill has broad brand marketing and brand management experience across a number of sectors, including retail, technology, petroleum, transit, automotive, telecommunications, and financial. 
Bill is a 20-year member of the American Marketing Association, a member of the Houston AMA CMO Council and a principal advisor to several HTC clients.  He is a member of the Marketing Executives Networking Group and has served as a Trustee of the Marketing Science Institute, as a member of the Association of National Advertisers, the Advertising Research Foundation, the Conference Board’s Council on Corporate Brand Management and Brand 50.
He is a frequent lecturer and speaker at industry events.
Holding dual U.S-French citizenship, Bill has lived and traveled extensively globally.

Doug Strahm,
Executive in Residence

Doug Strahm spent over 25 years working with CEO’s and senior management teams in business start-ups, Inc. 500 firms and Fortune 100 companies such as Siemens and Honeywell in the US and Canada. He has held leadership positions including EVP of US Sales and Operations, VP of Sales, and Program Manager in private and public companies with annual revenues from several millions up to $3.5 billion.  Doug's passion is accelerating the growth of companies and their leadership teams. His range of experience includes information technology, aerospace, biomedical electronics, communications, industrial processing, upstream, midstream, and downstream oil and gas, pipelines, research and development, field service, real estate management, electronics manufacturing, software development, and consulting.

Stephen White,
Entrepreneur in Residence

Stephen has over 15 years of experience in consulting, operations and advisory services within public accounting and industry.   He has led client engagements for public company financial audits, multi-national mergers and acquisitions due diligence and reporting, Sarbanes-Oxley audits, and process-oriented consulting design and implementation.
Stephen has developed his technical skills by working with numerous rapidly-growing companies ranging from start-ups and instant consolidations to middle market public-companies undergoing transition.  Having a passion towards entrepreneurship, Stephen founded several start-ups related to digital textbooks, social entrepreneurship and his latest crowdsourcing interactive advertising platform.   A graduate of Texas A&M University with a master’s degree in professional accounting, Stephen is licensed to practice in the State of Texas.  He has achieved Lifetime Membership with the Greater Houston Partnership, has previously been a member of the Executive Committee of Texas A&M’s Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship, and is a 2011 Ovation Award winner for his leadership in philanthropic, charitable and civic endeavors.

Diane Askins, Accounting Coordinator

Sue Moore, Administrative Services Manager

and

Executive Assistant to Walter Ulrich, President & CEO

Ruby Ramirez, Receptionist/Administrative Assistant

Meghan Smith, Acceleration Coordinator

Kendra Trueba, Property Manager and

Leasing Agent