Keynote Speakers
Chris Trimble
Chris Trimble is an expert on a challenge that vexes even the best-managed corporations: how to execute an innovation initiative. He is co-author of the 2013 book How Stella Saved the Farm: A Tale About Innovation. He is on the faculty at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Read his bio here.
Eric Tomlinson
Dr. Tomlinson is Chief Innovation Officer, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and President, Piedmont Triad Research Park. He has been engaged in pharmaceutical R&D as an academic, a member of leading company Ciba-Geigy (now Novartis), a Business leader and Entrepreneur. He has helped form and develop to publicly traded stage or sale four biotechnology companies. Read his bio here.
Scott Edgett
Dr. Edgett is Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of both Product Development Institute and Stage-Gate Inc. He has spent more than 25 years researching and developing innovation best practices. He is internationally recognized as one of the world’s top experts in product innovation and is the pioneer of portfolio management for product innovation. Read his bio here.
Session Speakers
(More bios added soon! Please check back often.)
Pam Henderson
Pam Henderson, Ph.D. is co-founder and CEO of NewEdge, Inc. a growth, strategy and design firm that delivers on new opportunities for start-ups through to Fortune 500 companies. Originally on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon, Pam later worked with the national laboratory system and Washington State University to commercialize early stage technologies. She publishes widely on market insight, business and innovation strategy, and design efficiency, receiving recognition for her work in Harvard Business Review, WSJ and NPR
Carol Strohecker
Carol is Director at the Center for Design Innovation, a multi-campus research center of the University of North Carolina. She was Principal Investigator of the Everyday Learning research group at Media Lab Europe, the European research partner of the MIT Media Lab. Prior to joining MLE, Carol worked in the United States at Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories and Sun Microsystems. Read his bio here.
Jeff Grant
Jeff Grant is Director of Product Innovation at InVue Security Products where he is responsible for creating “tough security made easy” innovations for the world’s foremost retailers, enabling them to increase their profitability by “selling more and losing less.” Jeff has over 15 years experience as an innovation practitioner at prominent global organizations such as IDEO and Bank of America. Read his bio here.
Philip Wilson
Philip Wilson is R&D Manager in the central research division of Milliken & Company. He leads research in composite materials with an emphasis on rehabilitation of civil infra-structure. This role includes leading interdisciplinary projects from conception through commercialization. Read his bio here.
Geoffrey Haas
Dr. Geoffrey Haas is a Senior Business Development Manager at Milliken Healthcare Products, LLC. Geoff has been part of several business start-ups in his 13 year career with Milliken, and is one of the original team members of the medical products business venture which was initiated by Milliken & Company in 2005. Geoff started his career at Milliken Chemical after receiving his Ph.D. from Clemson University.
Douglas Powell
Doug Powell is a principal at Leap Insights, a company founded on the idea of integrating leadership development and problem solving together to allow companies to consistently drive the right change within their organizations, innovate more readily and execute effectively on their ideas. Prior to Leap Insights, Mr. Powell was Senior Vice President, Director of Wholesale Customer Migration Strategy for Wells Fargo Bank.
Michael Blades
Michael is Director, Product Development and Innovation at National Gypsum Company. He has over 20 years of experience in the construction and building materials industry. He has spent time in the field, with mass merchants, and with manufacturers. Read his bio here.
Ken Paulus
Kenneth C. Paulus is the co-founder and chief development officer of Edison Nation Medical, an open innovation platform developed to discover, license and produce new healthcare products. He has over 15 years of experience within the technology commercialization and private equity sectors with a focus on early-stage high-growth companies in the United States and Canada.
Greg Mascavage
Greg Mascavage is Manager of Innovation for Carolinas HealthCare System where he helps to create value by designing and growing solutions for the second largest public healthcare system in the nation. Leveraging patient-centered design thinking, he leads teams through qualitative research, facilitates brainstorming sessions, and engages stakeholders in supporting projects that advance the strategy of Carolinas HealthCare System. Read his bio here.
Ty Hagler
Ty Hagler is the principal and founder of Trig Innovation, a NC-based consulting firm focused on the design and development of consumer products and medical devices. Prior to Trig, he was an Industrial Designer at Home Depot’s award-winning OrangeWorks department, managing internal product development projects from concept to commercialization. Read his bio here.
