Soroush Abbaspour, PhD, MBA, is the program director, Blockchain for Healthcare at IBM. He is responsible for business incubation of blockchain solutions for healthcare and life science industry. He also serves as the IBM inaugural program director for the newly established Columbia-IBM Center for Blockchain and Data Transparency. Prior to this role, Soroush was the program director and chief of staff at IBM Watson Health innovations organization where he oversaw Watson Health innovations global operations, program management, and strategic initiatives. Prior to that, he was the IBM research global business development executive, responsible for go-to-market strategy and execution of cognitive solutions. Soroush received his PhD in Computer Engineering from University of Southern California (USC) and his MBA from New York University (NYU) Stern business school. He has served as a member of technical program committees for several IEEE/ACM conferences. He has nineteen (19) US patents and has published more than twenty (20) journal and conference papers.
Orin Herskowitz is the Senior VP of Intellectual Property and Tech Transfer for Columbia University, as well as Executive Director of Columbia Technology Ventures (CTV). He also is an Adjunct Professor, teaching an Intellectual Property for Entrepreneurs course. He has served on boards or served as the Principle Investigator for a number of innovation and entrepreneurship-focused initiatives, including the NYC Media Lab, the PowerBridgeNY clean energy proof-of-concept center, the Columbia BioMedX accelerator, the NYC ACRE technology incubator, and Harlem Biospace; has been a peer reviewer for innovation and entrepreneurship awards for the National Science Foundation and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities; and is a frequent speaker at IP- and technology-focused events in NYC and across the country. He is a board member for the Center for American Entrepreneurship, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit research, policy, and advocacy organization engaging policymakers in Washington and across the nation regarding the critical importance of entrepreneurs and start-ups to innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Orin was also an appointee to a two-year term on the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NACIE), a Federal committee that advises the U.S. Secretary of Commerce on issues related to accelerating innovation, enhancing entrepreneurship, and expanding workforce skill development.
Columbia Technology Ventures is the tech transfer office of Columbia University, with the core objective to facilitate the transfer of inventions from academic research to outside organizations for the benefit of society on a local, national and global basis. Each year, CTV manages more than 400 invention disclosures emerging from Columbia’s research labs, leading to over 100 license deals and over 20 new start-ups. Columbia Technology Ventures has a particular focus on patent-backed start-up companies. Over the years, CTV has been involved with launching well over 250 companies based on Columbia's technologies.
Orin received his BA from Yale and his MBA from the Wharton School of Business. Prior to joining Columbia, Orin spent 7 years at the Boston Consulting Group's New York office as a strategy consultant, and was previously an entrepreneur and a consultant to start-ups.
For more information, please visit www.techventures.columbia.edu
Dr. Naguib Attia is a Distinguished Engineer and Vice President of IBM Global University Programs. He is responsible for setting up IBM’s academic relations strategy, creating next generation global technical training programs in collaboration with universities and research institutions, and managing the overall award programs budgets. Previously, Dr. Attia was the Vice President & Chief Technology Officer of IBM Middle East and Africa. He was responsible for inventing and leading technical solutions for MEA as well as leading the Africa Skills Initiative. With over twenty-five years of Automotive, Electronics, A&D, and Oil & Gas industries. Dr. Attia has contributed to shaping the development of IBM’s intellectual capital, industry insights, and overall solution portfolio. His specializations include Cloud, Business Analytics, Data Science, Security, and Supply Chain optimization.
Dr. Attia has a rich academic background with assignments such as Chair, Computer Science. He has actively published several papers in different journals and has presented papers and lectures at many international conferences.
Dr. Attia Naguib was the Chair of the Aerospace Industry Association (AiA) Technical group, a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society (IEEE), a member of ChemIT and other industry organizations.
Dr Attia holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Essex, England.
Kevin Reardon is Vice President of Corporate Development, where he heads IBM’s M&A, portfolio management, and business investment efforts globally.
Kevin joined IBM in 1981 and has held a variety of technical and management positions in product and business development, strategy, sales, services and research.
Prior to his current role, Kevin was the General Manager responsible for protecting and commercializing IBM’s Intellectual Property (IP), and the Vice President for Global Business Development in IBM’s Research Division.
Kevin previously served as the global sales leader for the Engineering and Technology Services (E&TS) business, and before that as the General Manager of IBM’s Global Electronics Industry, where he was responsible for the sales strategy and execution, solutions portfolio, and marketing programs needed to serve electronics companies worldwide.
Prior to coming to corporate headquarters in 1998, Kevin worked in IBM’s Tucson facility, as the General Manager of IBM’s Removable Storage Solutions (RMSS) business where he was the business architect and executive sponsor responsible for the creation of Linear Tape Open (LTO) – IBM’s leading tape storage initiative.
Kevin currently lives and works near New York City. He enjoys spending time with his family and writing music as a hobby.
Juliette Fisbein has joined Columbia University as the Director of Strategy and Operations for the Columbia University-IBM Center for Blockchain and Data Transparency, effective January 22, 2019. The Center, which was launched last summer, is jointly administered by Columbia Engineering and the Data Science Institute.
Fisbein received her Juris Doctor from Columbia University School of Law and earned a Master’s degree in international law from Université Paris I (la Sorbonne). With a background in both intellectual property law and brand strategy, she brings 12 years of combined experience as a lawyer and compliance strategist to this new position.
Fisbein has represented companies in a number of different industries, including pharmaceutical, retail, and digital advertising, helping them to protect their assets from intellectual property theft, fraud, or piracy. A strong advocate for transparency and safety for brands, transactions, and the people who enable them, she has developed and executed strategies to manage and protect brands.
Most recently, she participated in the creation and implementation of certification programs and tools designed to combat malware and fraudulent activities, fostering greater business transparency for advertising networks, advertisers, and publishers.
Inderpal Bhandari rejoined IBM as Global Chief Data Officer in December 2015. In this newly created role, he has leveraged his extensive experience to lead the development of IBM’s data strategy and drive IBM’s internal cognitive enterprise transformation. The work has culminated in the AI Enterprise Blueprint; a roadmap for IBM’s clients on their own journeys to AI.
Inderpal brings to IBM more than 20 years of experience in leadership roles at such leading companies as Cambia Health Solutions and Express Scripts/Medco Health Solutions. Prior to joining IBM, Inderpal served as Senior Vice President and Chief Data Officer of Cambia Health Solutions where he led the development of Cambia’s data strategy and drove the transformation of the company’s consumer experience strategies.
Prior to that, Inderpal served as Vice President of knowledge solutions and Chief Data Officer at Express Scripts/Medco Health Solutions, where he was responsible for maximizing the utility of the company’s data and its readiness to respond to emerging market trends. Before that, he founded Virtual Gold, growing the company into an international market leader for analytics in call centers and professional sports.
Inderpal is an expert in transforming data into business value and improved customer experiences by delivering strategic, innovative capabilities that use analytic insights to enable growth and productivity. In 2017, he was named U.S. Chief Data Officer of the Year by the CDO Club, and has been featured as an industry expert by Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, US News & World Report, CNN and FOX.
Inderpal earned his Master of Science Degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the University of Massachusetts and holds a PhD in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.Dmytro Pokhylko heads the Columbia Lab-to-Market (L2M) Accelerator Network, which is a cross-discipline support system providing strategic and tactical guidance to the Columbia-affiliated accelerators in Life Sciences (Biomedical Accelerator or BioMedX, Accelerating Cancer Therapeutics or ACT, the Translational Therapeutics Accelerator or TRx), Clean Energy (PowerBridgeNY), Media & Tech (NYC Media Lab Combine), VR/AR (NYC RLabs), Blockchain (The Columbia | IBM Blockchain Accelerator), and Cybersecurity (CyberNYC). L2M plays a key role in facilitating the process of bringing the research from the lab to the marketplace.
In his capacity, Dmytro is responsible for establishing the support framework for key functions of L2M accelerators, as well as the development and execution of L2M’s long-term vision.
Prior to joining CTV, Dmytro led the efforts B.Amsterdam, Europe’s largest tech hub, launch its American flagship outpost in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, providing office space and onboarding solutions for international companies entering the US market.
Prior to B.NYC, Dmytro worked as Vice President at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, where he oversaw the Center for Economic Transformation’s Financial Services, Media & Tech, and Entrepreneurship teams. In that capacity, he drove the development and implementation of the City’s initiatives to strengthen its tech ecosystem, focusing on infrastructure (workspace, broadband, financing), talent and community development. Dmytro regularly represented NYC at various forums and coordinated multiple public-private dialogues, fostering collaboration between tech, academic, and government stakeholders.
Prior to joining NYCEDC, Dmytro has worked at several NYC-based start-up companies in media-tech, education-tech and professional career advice sectors.
Dmytro holds a BA degree in International Business and Marketing, as well as a MS degree in Financial Engineering from Baruch College, CUNY.
Alistair Rennie is the General Manager responsible for IBM’s overall Blockchain initiatives. In this role, Alistair leads the strategy and execution of IBM’s investment in the core blockchain platforms as well as the formation of business networks in multiple areas including Financial Services, and Global Supply Chain.
Alistair has led a number of IBM’s global software business including Collaboration and Workforce Solutions, Business and Industry Analytics, and most recently Watson Financial Services. He joined IBM in the Toronto Software Laboratory and has held a number of executive roles in sales, marketing and engineering within IBM.
Mr. Rennie holds degrees in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario. In his spare time you can find him riding his bike.