Tufts School of Engineering and Boston Tufts Alliance Co-host Technology Business Panel

On September 27, 2007, more than 60 Tufts alumni filled the offices of Burlington-based Cook Associates to listen to the advice of five entrepreneurs who shared stories of successes and failures they've experienced in their careers. The event, co-hosted by Tufts School of Engineering and the Boston Tufts Alliance, brought together engineers and venture capitalists. The panelists—including Steve Ricci, Kevin Oye, Carl Rausch, John Barrett, and Robert Hannemann director of Tufts Gordon Institute—exemplified how technological innovation can strengthen the connection between engineers interested in technology and venture capitalists interested in funding projects. The panelists also gave examples of how to overcome challenges and to enhance one's success in a leadership role within an organization.

Steve Ricci, a senior partner at Flagship Ventures, kicked off the panel discussions after introductory remarks from Dean of Engineering, Linda Abriola. At Flagship, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on creating, financing, and building innovative companies in the Life Science and Technology sectors, Ricci serves as vice chairman and as a managing partner within the company's information technology sector. Ricci has more than 30 years of experience in the venture capital industry and has been directly involved in the financing of more than 125 companies.

Kevin Oye is vice president for the Systems & Technology Division of Sycamore Networks, Inc., a company that develops and markets broadband networking products. Before joining Sycamore, Oye was vice president of strategy and business development at Lucent Technologies. There he was involved in fourteen acquisitions and strategic partnerships to expand the company's market leadership position in data networking. Oye orchestrated the $24-billion acquisition of Ascend Communications, Inc., and the $246-million acquisition of Xedia, both of which required entrepreneurial skills and a great deal of determination.

Carl Rausch is co-founder, vice chairman, and chief technical officer of Biopure Corporation, a pharmaceutical company that develops therapeutic drugs for delivering oxygen to the body. During the course of his career, Rausch has managed the successful completion of more than 170 preclinical and clinical trials and has negotiated several, global industry partnerships. His determination has led to many accomplishments within Biopure, as well as in other organizations in which he has had a leadership role.

John Barrett, vice president and managing director at Cook Associates, Inc.—an executive search and mergers and acquisitions advisory services firm—spoke about his experiences in the business and technology world. Before entering the retained executive search industry, Barrett was vice president of marketing for Citi F/I (financial interactive), an Internet start-up for the Global Consumer Bank at Citigroup. Barrett developed customer acquisition campaigns and numerous cross-marketing alliances with retail and consumer companies. He also was instrumental in working across Citigroup's consumer product lines to design innovative approaches to customer acquisition, cross-selling, and retention loyalty programs.

Robert Hannemann concluded the evening's presentations. This September, Hannemann joined Tufts Gordon Institute as its new director. He also currently serves as director and senior advisor of Thermal Form & Function, Inc., a startup company focused on advanced, energy-efficient cooling of electronic products, and as founder and principal of Atlantic Technologies, which provides business planning and development, product strategy and financing to fledgling enterprises. Rob talked about a success he had while he was president of a start-up company, Lasertron, Inc., a fiber laser technology company targeting the optical communication industry. He helped lead the company to the next level by optimizing the company's offerings, one of which was its successful transfer of technology. Once Lasertron made a $1.8 billion deal with Corning, Inc. , the company soared from a small start-up to a major player in the communication industry.

After each speaker talked about the challenges through the years within the technology sector, the discussion was opened to the audience for questions and answers. A lively discussion ensued with regard to the current challenges and future prospects for the technology industry sector.