Seph Skerritt
Seph is a second-year MBA candidate at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a participant
in the selective Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program. Prior to coming to
Sloan, Seph worked with Prince Edge where he provided strategic and
management consulting services for multiple venture backed, wireless
communications start-up companies in Southern California. Prior to
working with Prince Edge, Seph worked at Northrop Grumman where he
managed an $8M contract, developing a hardware/software system for the
military to support reconnaissance missions. Seph has a Bachelors of
Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of
California at San Diego.
Brian Curtis
Brian is a Venture Partner with Shanghai New Margin Ventures where he focuses on energy, environmental and resource investments, with an emphasis on technology and capital flows between China and the US. Recent cases include cellulosic ethanol, synthetic biology for biofuels and hybrid car technologies. Brian first came to China in 2003 as founding General Manager for Heritage Technologies Asia, which operates a series of environmental protection joint ventures in China. Under his management, the company structured its partnerships, built a chemical plant and established a Chinese distribution network. Brian works from a foundation of 2 formative experiences early his career: first, as a hydrogen and alternative fuels engineer for Chevron and, then, as an IT entrepreneur whose company was acquired in 2000. Brian holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA.
Brian Curtis
Brian is a Venture Partner with Shanghai New Margin Ventures where he focuses on energy, environmental and resource investments, with an emphasis on technology and capital flows between China and the US. Recent cases include cellulosic ethanol, synthetic biology for biofuels and hybrid car technologies. Brian first came to China in 2003 as founding General Manager for Heritage Technologies Asia, which operates a series of environmental protection joint ventures in China. Under his management, the company structured its partnerships, built a chemical plant and established a Chinese distribution network. Brian works from a foundation of 2 formative experiences early his career: first, as a hydrogen and alternative fuels engineer for Chevron and, then, as an IT entrepreneur whose company was acquired in 2000. Brian holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA.
Dr. Hong He
Hong recently completed her Ph.D. in Chemical
Engineering at MIT. During her time at
MIT, she performed extensive research on the synthesis, characterization, and
testing of nanocomposite materials for catalytic oxidation and reforming. She has received a
number of awards including being named a Shell Doctoral Fellow, Excellent
Master Thesis Scholarship, Outstanding Graduate Student Fellowship and Outstanding
Graduate Medal. Hong has also earned an M.S. in Chemical Engineering, a
B.E. in Chemical Engineering and a B.E. in Environmental Engineering from Tsinghua University.
AdvisorsDr. Jackie Ying
Jackie Y. Ying is executive director of the A*STAR Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore. She was previously a professor of chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr. Ying has received a number of awards, including the American Ceramic Society Ross C. Purdy Award, David and Lucile Packard Fellowship, Office of Naval Research and National Science Foundation (NSF) Young Investigator Awards, American Chemical Society Faculty Fellowship Award in Solid-State Chemistry, TR100 Young Innovator Award, and American Institute of Chemical Engineers Allan P. Colburn Award. She received her Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Princeton University in 1991 and was an NSF-NATO Postdoctoral Fellow and Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow in Germany before she joined the faculty of MIT in 1992.
Andrew Dougherty
Andrew Dougherty is part of the founding management team of
Rive Technology, a venture-backed catalyst company targeting the refining and
petrochemical markets. Prior to Rive, Andrew held a variety of strategic
planning, corporate development and product marketing roles with Aspen
Technology. Aspen Technology is a leading supplier of process design and
manufacturing technology to the refining and chemical industries. Prior
to Aspen Technology, Andrew worked as a management consultant for Arthur
Andersen. Andrew holds a MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and
a BA in political science from The Colorado College.