Kara Miller is "The Big Idea" columnist for the Boston Globe and was executive editor and host of public radio's "Innovation Hub," which she launched in 2011. The series aired on more than 100 stations, spotlighting compelling thinkers, and received the 2021 Clarion Award for Radio Talk or Interview Program.

“The Big Idea” column examines game-changing ideas in everything from traffic to dating to housing. Kara has moderated events hosted by The International Women's Forum, PBS Digital Media for STEM, Harvard Medical School, and The Museum of Science Boston. In 2015 and 2016, she ran and hosted a live series for Google and MIT, interviewing experts about thorny problems. She currently hosts the ‘Instigators of Change’ podcast for Khosla Ventures that explores innovative ideas, the people who come up with them, and those who invest in them. Kara holds a Ph.D. from Tufts and a B.A. from Yale.

Dan Brown is an award-winning designer, serial inventor, entrepreneur and professor, in the Segal Design Institute at Northwestern University. Dr. Brown has received over 100 US and International Utility patents for his novel new product solutions in industry and entrepreneurially, taking many to market himself as a founder of two startups. A recognized innovator in industry with 10 International Design Awards, Dr. Brown has also been elected to the National Academy of Inventors and appointed to the PPAC (Patent Public Advisory Committee) for a three-year term at the USPTO by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

Dr. Brown has seen both sides of the American Dream with his American Made Bionic Wrench invention: innovation-based market success, while at the same time having to continuously fight knockoffs in the marketplace almost destroying his business. Dr. Brown has committed himself to creating an equitable, protectable, and sustainable intellectual property system for all inventors.

Kendalle leads the strategic direction for MassBio and drives policy advocacy for the industry to ensure that Massachusetts life sciences companies have the best environment possible to research, develop, manufacture, and commercialize breakthrough therapies and cures for people around the world. Kendalle has played a critical role in MassBio’s growth into the largest life sciences trade association in the world with over 1,600 members.

​

In 2022, Kendalle was instrumental in the launch of MassBio’s newest entrepreneurial accelerator program, MassBioDrive and MassBio’s Innovation Week, two initiatives focused on advancing breakthrough science and providing opportunities for innovators from diverse backgrounds in all areas of the life sciences ecosystem. She is a 2022 recipient of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce Inspire Award recognizing outstanding women leaders in the Cambridge community. Prior to joining MassBio, Kendalle practiced law in the areas of Estate and Medicaid Planning, Probate and Asset Protection.

Rafael is a marketing executive turned business and IP educator. He teaches business management and communication courses at community colleges and universities. In 2017 he began work with NACCE (National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship) promoting the Michelson Foundation’s intellectual property coursework and incorporating its materials into business, marketing and advertising classes.

Since leaving industry in 2011, where he specialized in marketing campaigns for the general and Hispanic audiences, Rafael has served at two and four-year colleges and is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Business at Glendale Community College in Southern California. Rafael holds a BA degree in Latin American Studies and Business from UCLA and an MBA degree from the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California at Irvine. He is a member of CIPU’s Education Committee.

Dr. Michael J. Cima is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has an appointment at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. In 2009, he was appointed faculty director of the Lemelson-MIT Program, which seeks to inspire youth to be inventive and has a nationwide reach. Dr. Cima was appointed Associate Dean of Innovation for the School of Engineering in 2018 and has served as co-director of MIT's Innovation Initiative. He is also an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Inventors. Professor Cima joined MIT’s faculty in 1986 after earning a BS in chemistry and PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.

James Conley is clinical professor of technology at Northwestern University. He serves on the faculty of both the Kellogg School of Management and the McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University. He is a faculty contributor in the Kellogg Center for Research in Technology & Innovation and serves as a Faculty Fellow at the Segal Design Institute (NU IDEA). Beyond academia, Professor Conley is an inventor, an active advocate of IP education for business and other students and leads seminars globally for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). He is a member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI).

Professor Conley was appointed a member of the U.S. Department of Commerce Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC) of the Patent and Trademark Office. His research investigates the strategic use of intangible assets and intellectual properties to build and sustain competitive advantage. Kellogg School of Management, under Professor Conley’s direction, partnered with CIPU on the 2021 IP Awareness Summit.

Stephanie Couch is the Executive Director of the Lemelson-MIT Program which is part of the School of Engineering within MIT.  Dr. Couch oversees two national prize programs that make annual awards to mid-career inventors and college students, including the prestigious Lemelson-MIT prize. She directs a number of national invention education initiatives aimed at helping young people develop as inventors.

Her research during the past three years has focused on ways young people learn to think and work as inventors, and on the teachers and other adults who facilitate students’ development. Prior to joining the Lemelson-MIT Program, Dr. Couch worked in California in numerous roles focused on K-12 and higher education policy issues in school finance and technology in teaching and learning. She is recognized for her strengths in developing multi-stakeholder partnerships and facilitating collaborative efforts that advance invention education and STEM learning opportunities for students, with an emphasis on students underrepresented in STEM college/career pathways.

As the Eastern Regional Outreach Director for the USPTO, Ms. Dougherty carries out the strategic direction of the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO and is responsible for leading the USPTO's East Coast stakeholder engagement.

Ms. Dougherty has more than 25 years of experience working at the USPTO.  She began her career at the USPTO as a patent examiner after graduating from The Catholic University of America with a bachelor's degree in physics. While a patent examiner, Ms. Dougherty went on to obtain her J.D. from The Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America. Ms. Dougherty has dedicated much of her career to the USPTO's outreach and education programs focusing on small businesses, startups and entrepreneurs. universities. She is co-chair of the USIPA’s IP Awareness and Communications Committee.

James Howard is a college professor, design historian, entrepreneur, industrial designer, inventor and restauranteur. Howard also brings over 25 years of experience as a design professor and has authored a course on Design Thinking and Design History that explores the impact of design on society.  

An accomplished Industrial Design educator and entrepreneur, Howard has lectured on the experience of the Black American inventors, often drawing a parallel with many of his own experiences as an AA innovator to those innovators of the past. Howard is an inventor who has been awarded 20 patents. Many of these innovations save people's lives every day. His latest venture is Entrepreneurial U, Morris County’s first school of Design Thinking. Mr. Howard owns and operates one of New Jersey’s top niche food establishments, “Cozy Cupboard Tea Room”.

Andrei Iancu focuses on intellectual property litigation and counseling, as well as advocacy. He previously served as the undersecretary of commerce for intellectual property and director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), a position to which he was confirmed unanimously by the Senate. As head of the USPTO, Mr. Iancu oversaw one of the largest IP offices in the world, an agency with approximately 13,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $3.5 billion. While in private practice at Irell & Manella, LLP he represented plaintiffs and defendants across the technical and scientific spectra, including those associated with medical devices, genetic testing, therapeutics, the internet, telephony, TV broadcasting, video game systems and computer peripherals.

​

He was inducted into the IAM Hall of Fame by Intellectual Asset Management and received the “Excellence Award” from American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA). In 2019, he received the “IP Champion Award” from the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation. In 2021, Andrei co-founded the Renewing American Innovation Project at the bipartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). In 2022, he also co-founded the bipartisan Council for Innovation Promotion (C4IP). Prior to law school, Andrei was an engineer at Hughes Aircraft Co. where he received several honors including the “Malcolm R. Currie Innovation Award.”

Myron is an experienced entrepreneur, business development and strategic transactions advisor. He has extensive experience in the translation of technologies into commercial use. He most recently served as a Technology Licensing Officer at MIT’s Technology Licensing Office. 

​

Previously, he held leadership positions at transaction advisory firms Pluritas and MJK Partners and led licensing at Mitsubishi Electric's Research Labs (MERL), Kodak, and a number of Boston area startups. As a member of the CRI, Myron leads the Commercialization team and working to find ways to grow the impact of Northeastern-born technologies through their licensing and commercial use by both spinouts as well as industry partners. 

Since 2007, Madeleine key has written or helped to write more than 1,000 articles about entrepreneurship, inventing, and the licensing business model for Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, and other publication. Her writing with invention and licensing expert Stephen Key, has also appeared in TIME, The New York Times, Fast Company, Business Insider, Fox News, Yahoo Finance, IPWatchdog, and other publications. She has also collaborated on several books, including One Simple Idea by McGraw-Hill. With more than 900 5-star reviews on Amazon, the book has been taught in MBA program at the University of Fairbanks in Alaska; the University of California at Merced, the University of the Pacific, and other universities.

Madeleine joined the Center for Intellectual Property Understanding  Communications Committee in 2021. Earlier in her career, as a freelance reporter based in Oakland, her reporting appeared in the East Bay Express, San Francisco Chronicle, and CALIFORNIA magazine. Within the marketing and communications sphere, her focus includes invention education, content strategy and social media. 

Patrick Kilbride is senior vice president of the Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC) at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He oversees the Center’s domestic, multilateral, and international programs and leads GIPC’s policy work to promote intellectual property-driven innovation and creativity.

​

Mr. Kilbride served in the Executive Office of the President during the George W. Bush administration as deputy assistant U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for intergovernmental affairs & public liaison. At USTR, he worked with state and local officials, business organizations, and non-governmental organizations to advance the President’s trade policy agenda. Earlier in his career, Mr. Kilbride held various private sector roles advocating on behalf of business for rule of law and market openings through free trade agreements.

Keith Kupferschmid oversees all aspects of the Copyright Alliance’s operations, including strategy, government affairs, communications, membership, and liaising with boards and committees. Kupferschmid’s extensive work on Capitol Hill has contributed to modernizing copyright law, culminating in the enactment of the Music Modernization Act (MMA), the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act), and the Protecting Lawful Streaming Act (PLSA), among others. He has also raised the profile of the Copyright Alliance within the creator community and strived to garner additional rights and protections for creators across the country through education, advocacy initiatives, and speaking opportunities.

Before joining the Copyright Alliance, Kupferschmid served as the General Counsel and Senior Vice President for Intellectual Property for the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) for 16 years. Prior to that, he worked at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner; the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; and the U.S. Copyright Office.

William LaFontaine is a recognized leader in the areas of technology licensing, technology partnerships and intellectual property.  In his current role as General Manager of Intellectual Property at IBM, Dr. LaFontaine and his teamwork at the intersection of Research, Business Units and Clients to accelerate market introduction of new technologies including Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing and Healthcare.  Dr. LaFontaine is responsible for annually delivering over a billion dollars in joint development, technology transfer and patent licensing. In his 30-year career at IBM, Dr. LaFontaine has been the Chief Operating Officer for IBM’s Research division, General Manager of Global Technology Services in Middle East and Africa as well as General Manager of Worldwide Semiconductor and Technology sales.

Dr. LaFontaine provided a significant matching donation to Cal Poly’s Materials Engineering Department, of which he is a graduate. The gift, which coincided with the department’s 60th anniversary, helped the department build several new labs, including a classroom dedicated to teaching students to use advanced software for modeling materials, a new electron microscopy lab, a laboratory for advanced materials manufacturing, and a new facility for developing conductive and chemically functionalized fibers. 

Daryl Lim is the H. Laddie Montague Jr. Chair in Law at Penn State Dickinson Law and co-hire at the Institute of Computational and Data Sciences at Penn State University. He also serves as associate dean for research and innovation and founding director of the Intellectual Property and Innovative Initiative. He is the host of the Penn Dickinson’s podcast, “Profiles in Leadership.”

​

Professor Lim is an award-winning author, observer, and commentator on national and global trends in IP and competition policy and how they influence and are influenced by law, technology, economics, and politics. He helps policymakers, attorneys, corporate counsel, scholars, and the public make sense of the world around them. He is a founding member of the Global IP Alliance and serves as Co-Chair of the University Education Committee in the US IP Alliance. Professor Lim’s publications feature in leading flagship and specialty law reviews. In addition, he serves as a peer reviewer for the many leading journals and publications. In December 2022, the American Law Institute elected Professor Lim to a member based on demonstrated excellence and outstanding professional achievement.

Professor Muriel Médard is an internationally recognized researcher in the field of coding systems and network communication. She has established three start-ups in order to accelerate the technology transfer of her inventions, including Steinwurf in Denmark. In 2014, the mother-of-four was appointed Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Médard tackles the challenges she faces as a professor, a researcher and an entrepreneur in a serene, unruffled approach. “As a mother of four children, I learned to handle entropy and multitasking early on,” she says. “I set long term priorities. I am flexible in how I get there and sometimes take a rather zig-zag route.”

Muriel Médard is the Cecil H. Green NEC Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) Department at MIT and leads the Network Coding and Reliable Communications Group at the Research Laboratory for Electronics at MIT.

She has served as editor for many publications of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), of which she was elected Fellow. Dr. Medard has received many other prestigious honors and awards. She was elected as a member of the US National Academy of Engineering in 2020 and as a Fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors in 2018.

Adam Mossoff is Professor of Law at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University. He is a Founder and past-Executive Director of the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP now C-IP2). His academic research has been cited by the Supreme Court, by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and by federal agencies.

Professor Mossoff has been invited to testify several times before the Senate and the House on proposed patent legislation, and he has spoken at numerous congressional staff briefings. His writings on patent law and policy have appeared in The New York Times, Forbes and many other media outlets. He is a member of the Academic Advisory Committee of the Copyright Alliance and has served as past Chair of the IP Committee of the IEEE-USA. He is a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, where he chairs Hudson's Forum for Intellectual Property, and is a member of the CIPU board of directors. 

At 27 Tiffany Norwood raised over $670 million dollars to fund a startup to build the first global digital radio platform and launch three satellites into space. The capital helped to establish XM Radio. As one the first successful black female tech entrepreneur, Tiffany's career has spanned 52 countries, 30+ years and seven startups. Tiffany established her first start-up as a teenager and had been granted a patent by the age of 23. Her ventures have ranged from the first one-strap backpack to the automation technology behind self-install kits for broadband internet, and a virtual reality gaming platform. In 2022, she was named Cornell Entrepreneur of the Year.

Tiffany has led some of the first digital content licensing deals, including those with Bloomberg News and CNN International. She was also an early collaborator with the Fraunhofer Institute on their MPEG technologies. Tiffany is the Founder and CEO of Tribetan, a company that teaches entrepreneurship and innovation literacy as a life skill and the human science of success. Venues with which she has consulted include the European Parliament, Yale, the USPTO, KMPG and the South African Embassy. Her dream is that the science of turning imagination into reality is as well-known to the core curriculum as reading, writing, and math. Tiffany received an MBA from Harvard and a Bachelor’s in Economics with a concentration in statistics and electrical engineering from Cornell.

Gene Quinn is a patent attorney and a leading commentator on patent law and innovation policy. Mr. Quinn has twice been named one of the top 50 most influential people in IP by Managing IP Magazine, in both 2014 and 2019. Mr. Quinn founded IPWatchdog.com in 1999, which is now the most read IP publication. He is President & CEO of IPWatchdog, Inc.

Regarded as an expert on software patentability and U.S. patent procedure, Mr. Quinn has advised inventors, entrepreneurs and start-up businesses throughout the U.S. and around the world. Mr. Quinn began his career as a litigator and has taught a variety of intellectual property courses at leading law schools. He recently appeared with former Bloomberg News Litigation and IP Reporter, Sue Decker, on the ‘Understanding IP Matters’ podcast.

Maysa Razavi is Director of Global Brand Protection and Supply Chain Security at Moderna TX where she is responsible for intellectual property brand security. Previously, Ms. Razavi served with the International Trademark Association (INTA) on the frontline of the war against counterfeits for the past five years. As the External Relations Manager and the Head of Anti-counterfeiting at INTA, Maysa led the organization’s anti-counterfeiting policy worldwide. She worked on both U.S. Amicus Briefs and managed all of INTA’s activities in the Middle East. She has been involved in a wide range of industries from pharmaceuticals to fashion. Ms. Razavi is a graduate of New York Law School (J.D.) and New York University (B.A.). 

Manny Schecter is Chief Patent Counsel and Associate General Counsel at IBM. He leads IBM’s worldwide intellectual property law organization on patent matters and advises on intellectual property strategy and policy. His accomplishments have helped IBM generate over $20B of income from IP while maintaining its position as the top annual US patentee for more than 25 consecutive years.

Manny serves on the board of directors of the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), the IPO Education Foundation (where he is immediate past president), Allied Security Trust, and the Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU). He served on the board of directors of the American Intellectual Property Law Association from 2013-2016.  In 2015 he was named to the list of the 50 most influential people in intellectual property by Managing Intellectual Property magazine.

Arlyne Simon says she is blessed to have not one but three careers: biomedical engineer, author of science books for children, and teaching K-5 educators how to bring invention education into the classroom. Her mission is to inspire young inventors everywhere and change the perception of what an inventor looks like. Dr. Simon is a successful inventor and entrepreneur, having developed a blood test that detects when cancer patients reject bone marrow transplants. She has designed everything from syringes to supercomputers and ultrasound machines. She currently works as a Solutions Architect in Intel's Health, Education, and Consumer Industries Group in Portland, OR. 

Dr. Simon is author of the award-winning “Abby Invents” picture book series and a 2019-2021 American Association for the Advancement of Science Ambassador, providing a national STEM role model for girls. She is transforming K-12 invention education while working full-time as a biomedical engineer. “I love helping kids see themselves as future inventors and enjoy showing educators how to bring invention education into their classrooms.”

As Senior Director of Business Development & Licensing at Mass General Brigham Innovation, Nimra is responsible for managing and licensing technologies arising from numerous departments at MGH and BWH, including Surgery, Cardiology and Radiology. Prior to joining Mass General Brigham, Nimra led the Medical Device Group at Global Prior Art, Inc., an intellectual property research firm in Boston. Her work included evaluating technologies and performing patent landscape analysis for medical device companies and IP law firms.

Nimra received her BS in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech and her MS in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Her research focused on tissue engineering as well as the development of a novel emergency respiratory device. Therapeutic areas within Nimra’s portfolio at MassGeneral include: AIDS, Burn/Trauma, Cardiac Surgery, Cardiology, Endocrinology, Infectious Diseases, Obstetrics/ Gynecology, Radiation Oncology and Transplantation. Her work involves patent, copyright and trade secret protections.

​

Bruce Beman is Managing Director of Brody Berman Associates, a management consulting and communications firm that serves innovative businesses. Brody Berman has supported more than 200 innovative businesses and portfolios since 1988, as well as many law firms and their clients. In 2016, he co-founded CIPU, which serves as chairman. Bruce is responsible for 5 books about the business of IP, including From Ideas to Assets. His articles have appeared in Nature Biotechnology, National Law Review and The New York Times. 

'Understanding IP Matters,' a podcast series he hosts, gives guests the opportunity to share their IP story, e.g. the journey from creator ro entrepreneur. The Intangible Investor column he writes currently appears on IP Watchdog. The column had appeared in every issue of IAM magazine from 2003 to 2019, 97 in all. IP CloseUp, a weekly update on trends he publishes, is read in more than 60 countries and has received more than 360,000 visits. Bruce holds a Masters’ Degree film scholarship from Columbia University, where he taught for four years and completed course work and comprehensives for the Ph.D.

​