| Burton H. Lee Ph.D. MBA is Managing Partner of Innovarium Ventures, a senior strategic, financial and technical advisory services firm based in Silicon Valley. He also serves as Lecturer in the Stanford School of Engineering, where he teaches and conducts research in the area of European entrepreneurship and innovation (http://me421.stanford.edu). His areas of expertise include venture finance and investment; startup business & technology strategy and market positioning; technology road mapping and due diligence; corporate development and M&A; technology transfer and commercialization; and innovation policy. Dr. Lee’s professional experience spans 15+ years in the global innovation sector, including senior executive positions with venture-backed startups, angel investor groups and venture funds, strategy consulting firms, high tech corporations, federal S&T agencies, and government innovation agencies. Recent clients include the Office of the Prime Minister of Ireland, where he served as a member of the Irish national Innovation Task force; the European Commission, DG Enterprise & Industry; National Science Foundation (NSF); National Institutes of Health (NIH); NASA Ames; and Panama's City of Knowledge Science Park and angel network. His management and technical experience also includes senior positions with leading organizations such as GE Global Research, Hewlett Packard, Daimler Chrysler AG and NASA in the United States, Europe and Japan. Lee's technical expertise spans the advanced computing/AI, software, space, aviation, nanotech, alternative energy, clean tech, and robotics sectors. Burton’s space background includes serving as co-founder and Principal at Space Angels Network; an early tenure as Manager of the Stanford Small Satellite Program; working at NASA Kennedy Space Center as a Shuttle Thermal Protection Systems research engineer; advising NASA Ames on new venture development and spinouts, and winning the Space Industrial Fellowship and Nasa Graduate Research Scholarship at Johnson Space Center. In 1990, Dr. Lee co-founded Spaceport America (originally named the Southwest Regional Spaceport) when he proposed southern New Mexico as a reentry capsule recovery site to New Mexico State University, authored the initial strategic and business plans, and raised $1.4 million in “seed” funding from Congress for spaceport feasibility, environmental and safety studies in collaboration with Sen. Pete Domenici. During 2005 – 2006, he worked closely with the New Mexico Economic Development Department as chief economist on the New Mexico Spaceport Economic Impact Study while at Futron Corporation. His objective job impact estimates were presented to the State Legislature in 2006 and played a key role in securing legislative approval of $100M in state appropriations for the spaceport build out. Lee’s international experience spans over 10 years of professional and education-related positions in Ireland, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Austria, Japan, Jamaica and Guyana. Burton holds a PhD in Mechanical & Electrical Engineering from Stanford (2002), and an MBA in finance and entrepreneurship from Cornell (2004). He attended the International Space University as a graduate of the inaugural class held at MIT in 1988. Additional professional and academic awards, credentials and background for this speaker are available at his LinkedIn profile @ http://www.linkedin.com/in/burtonlee. |
