Did you catch ecosVC at the 72nd Annual Northwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (Innovation & Unanticipated Discoveries) in Corvallis, Oregon?

As silver sponsors of the meeting, ecosVC was proud to support this regional conference of the American Chemical Society and to work with Oregon State University partners who are strong supporters of science and innovation. 

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American Chemical Society (ACS) Northwest Region Partners for Progress and Prosperity Award (P3)

“For the successful partnership between ecosVC, CSMC, and OSU NRT-IGE to support entrepreneurship, innovation and career advancement in the chemical enterprise.” ACS recognizes the awardees for introduction and expansion of the Lens of the Market® (LoM) program at Oregon State University. LoM uniquely advances innovation education and commercialization work by informing students and faculty how to translate basic research to address real market needs. LoM represents a unique and progressive training paradigm that helps participants realize both the full scientific and societal value of their work. 

• Judy Giordan, ecosVC, Inc. and OSU Professor of Practice
• Douglas Keszler, OSU Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry (CSMC), NSF Center for Chemical Innovation, OSU Distinguished Professor
• Rich Carter, OSU NRT-IGE, OSU Professor

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Innovation Programming

NORM 2017 featured an exciting, 3 day innovation program  packed with a Lens of the Market® (LoM) workshop, networking events, Innovation Fair as part of the Expo, talks, panels and office hours with leading innovators and funders.

The Lens of Science: Creating, Commercializing & Funding Market-Required Innovations & Solutions (Organized by Janet Bryant, Rich Carter and Judith Giordan)

Opening Overview: The Lens of Science - Creating Market-required innovations and solutions (Judith Giordan)

Interactive Panel: Lens of Science - Creating market-required innovations and solutions (Judith Giordan with C.C. Stimpson, S. Meyers, T.S. Scanlan and S.L. Hemmingson)

The Lens of Business: Commercializing Market Required STEM Innovations & Solutions (Organized by Janet Bryant, Rich Carter and Judith Giordan)

Opening introduction: The Lens of Business - Commercializing market-required STEM innovations and solutions. (Judith Giordan)

Opening Overview: The Lens of Business - Commercializing market-required STEM innovations and solutions from a graduate student perspective. (Rich Carter, Judith Giordan, Janet Bryant)

Interactive Panel: Lens of Business - Commercializing market-required STEM innovations and solutions from a graduate student perspective. Rich Carter, (Jenn Amador, D.P. Leonard, K. Zappitelli, T. Chiang)

Opening Overview: The Lens of Business - Commercializing market-required STEM innovations and solutions from a company perspective. (Judith Giordan)

Interactive Panel: The Lens of Business - Commercializing market-required STEM innovations and solutions from a company perspective. (Judith Giordan, Rich Carter, R. Carone, A.C. Nelson, J. Surina)

The Lens of Funding: Where's the $$? Finding Funding for Future Ventures (Organized by Janet Bryant, Rich Carter and Judith Giordan)

Opening Overview: The Lens of Funding - Where's the $$$ for innovation? (Judith Giordan)

Interactive Panel: The Lens of Funding - Where's the $$$ for innovation? (Judith Giordan, M. Manley, S. Rung, C. Rosenthal, B. Schrag, K. Jurman)

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Innovation Workshop

Lens of the Market Stage 1

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Innovation Fair

ACS NORM 2017 hosted the 1st ACS Innovation Fair, an opportunity for chemistry intensive new start-ups and soon-to-be-start-ups or proto-ventures to network with the community and gain insights and feedback from Innovation Track attendees.

This unique opportunity, supported by sponsorship funding, offered participants a half-table booth, located in the Innovation area of the Vendor Exposition. Congratulations to all approved applicants!

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NORM Gallery

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ecosVC® and their partners had a very engaging weekend at the 253rd American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition: Advanced Materials, Technologies, Systems & Processes in San Francisco, CA.

Judith participated in 3 presentations and 2 panels over 5 sessions, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and innovation in both research and in building the next generation of innovators. She was proud to co-organize a session in honor of Dr. Douglas Keszler, founder of the Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry, an NSF-funded Center for Chemical Innovation that she has worked closely with for years as an innovation trainer. 

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Thursday

How Do We Teach Collaboration? Best Practices for Educating Future Researchers & Innovators

Presentation: Beyond the bench: Educating students in collaborative, innovative team science (with Jennie Amador, Michelle Dolgos and Douglas Keszler)

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Sunday

Golden Age of Industrial Chemistry

Presentation: Golden age of chemistry: The miracle of instant! Polaroid and the amazing chemistry and innovations of instant photography (with Larry Friedman). 

Symposium Honoring Doug Keszler for the 2017 ACS Award in Material Science

Materials Chemistry of Solutions & Solids for a Sustainable Future:  (session co-organized with Sophia Hayes and Bettye Maddux)

Chemists Leading the Charge: Chemists Using Business Acumen & Transformative Research to Address Societal Needs (session co-presided with Janet Bryant; co-organized with Sophia Hayes and Bettye Maddux)

Panel: Chemists Using Business Acumen & Transformative Research to Address Societal Needs (with Douglas Keszler, John Wager, Jim Abbott, Stephen Meyers, Bill Cowell and Janet Bryant). 

Panel: Research to innovation CSMC legacy: Training the next generation (with Michelle Dolgos, Jennie Amador, Juan-Carlos Ramos)

Sunday evening

2017 ACS Award in Material Science and Reception

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Tuesday

Producing Knowledgeable, Well-Rounded, T-Shaped Chemists for the 21st Century: Current Perspectives from High School, Undergraduate & Graduate Educators (session co-organized with Janet Bryant and Steve Graham)

Presentation: Transformational and innovative approaches to STEM graduate education – building T shaped professionals with a Lens of the Market® as well as a Lens of Science (with Michelle Dolgos, Martin Storksdieck and Rich Carter).

The CIEC roadmap is the cheat sheet of selected events and programming at ACS meetings that are of interest to our constituencies. Out of the thousands of papers and events we have highlighted the topics of greatest interest - we've done the legwork to make your meeting easier!

Entrepreneurial and Business Track – Programming & Events Roadmap
250th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA – August 16 - 20, 2015

The CIEC roadmap is the cheat sheet of selected events and programming at ACS meetings that are of interest to our constituencies. Out of the thousands of papers and events we have highlighted the topics of greatest interest - we've done the legwork to make your meeting easier!

Entrepreneurial and Business Track – Programming & Events Roadmap
249th ACS National Meeting, Denver, CO – March 22 – 26, 2015

Click to download the presentation slides

WHY Women?... WHY NOW?...WHY It’s Important to STEM and the Global Economy!

The 7th Ken & Nancy Long Annual Chemistry Lecture & 1st day Keynote for the MAALACT 48th Annual Meeting – Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA, September 26, 2014 by Janet L. Bryant. 

Download the slides

Talking Points include:

• Chemical Entrepreneurship Council 2014 overview

Fall 2014

The CIEC roadmap is the cheat sheet of selected events and programming at ACS meetings that are of interest to our constituencies. Out of the thousands of papers and events we have highlighted the topics of greatest interest - we've done the legwork to make your meeting easier!

Business Track – Programming & Events Roadmap
248th ACS National Meeting, San Francisco, CA – August 10-14, 2014

Press Release – Monday, August 4, 2014

The American Chemical Society Division of Business Development and Management (BMGT) is pleased to announce that Dr. Judith C. Giordan will receive the 2014 Henry F. Whalen, Jr. Award for Excellence in Business Development and Management in the Chemical Enterprise.

Judy currently serves on boards of advisors and as founder/senior management in start-up ventures such as Qteros llc; Managing Director of ecosVC, Inc., a training and venture development firm; and, co-founder of the Chemical Angels Network. Her former positions include VP R&D and business leader at Henkel Corporation; Global VP of R&D for Pepsi-Cola and Corporate VP/CTO at International Flavors and Fragrances.

Recipient of the Francis P. Garvan-John M. Olin Medal in 2010 and elected an ACS Fellow in 2013, Judy’s past service roles have included membership on the Board of Directors of the Industrial Research Institute and the American Chemical Society; various positions at the National Science Foundation including member of the Math and Physical Sciences Advisory Board, Chair of the Waterman Award Committee and Program Officer for the cross-foundational IGERT program. Judy has also been named several times to Who’s Who and has been cited in numerous publications and magazines for her groundbreaking roles for women in corporate leadership over her 30 year career. A sought after author and speaker, Judy is being recognized with the Henry F. Whalen, Jr. Award for her international business development and leadership, entrepreneurship, angel investing and educator roles and as a respected R&D leader underpinned by her development of scientists and engineers, and mentoring of women for leadership positions.

Judy will accept the award and share her insights on Sunday, August 10, 2014 at 5:30 pm, as part of a reception sponsored by BMGT and the Chemical Angel Network scheduled from 3pm - 6pm at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco. Judy’s remarks will link her R&D and business experiences as the VP/CTO of several Fortune 500 companies with the value and importance of both commercial development skills for today’s scientists and engineers and diversity, inclusion and mentoring of women and underrepresented minorities in STEM and chemistry.

About the American Chemical Society (ACS)

The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 162,000 members, ACS, a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1876, is the world’s largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

About the ACS Division of Business Development and Management (BMGT)

BMGT is comprised of members from the chemical enterprise around the world. Our mission and vision are to champion business development and management throughout the chemical enterprise, and to be globally recognized as the preferred resource for creating, growing and managing chemical business.

For more information about the Henry F. Whalen, Jr. Award please contact Sharon Wilkerson, skw@polychemistry.com

For more information about Judith C. Giordan please contact info@ecosvc.com

ecosVC’s Managing Director and Chemical Angel Network co-founder Judy Giordan moderated the Cleantech Panel at the recent Angel Capital Association Meeting held in Washington, DC. The aim of the panel? Gaining insights from Angel Investors who don’t usually invest in this space and sharing how they can become involved.

Check out an article on the Cleantech Panel ("Cleantech Angels Say They’re Seeing “Green” in Latest Investments") and download Cleantech Investing as Part of Your Portfolio, presented during the Cleantech Panel!

Judith Giordan presented at the 247th American Chemical Society National Meeting: Chemistry & Materials for Energy on March 18th, 2014. She presented Lens of the Market: Building innovations and innovators (PDF download) during the Best Practices in the Business Innovation Environment Session. 

The American Chemical Society revamps and extends a pilot program to support budding chemical entrepreneurs.

Just a few years ago, Patrick Kearney found himself in a place that is painfully familiar to many chemists. When his position as a senior director of medicinal chemistry at a San Francisco Bay Area biotechnology company was eliminated in 2011, he entered a challenging job market feeling as though his career had stalled.

Eager to find another career path, Kearney made a decision to pursue a longtime dream of starting his own contract research organization (CRO). He was acting on a promising business idea that had come to him during one of his job interviews.

As he sought resources to help him take that leap of faith, Kearney learned about the American Chemical Society’s Entrepreneurial Initiative, a program to support ACS members who would like to pursue starting and operating their own businesses. At the time, it was a new two-year pilot program, and he wasted no time in applying to be a part of it. Read more.

"What’s important to know about a patent is that it simply gives you an opportunity to defend yourself in a court of law. Get it out of your mind if you think it will keep you out of court."

Judy Giordan and Mark Vreeke (cofounder of the Chemical Angel Network), contribute thoughts on patents to Chemical and Engineering News in Mark S. Reisch's article When Start-ups Hit Patent Roadblocks. Reisch discusses patent disputes between chemical company Evonik Industries and start-up firm Materia. 

Judy moderated the STEM Women in Innovation and Investing symposium at the American Chemical Society meeting in Indianapolis, IN, on September 10, 2013.  Her talk at the start of the symposium, "Value Creation... Capturing the Immeasurable  Value Created by Women Innovators, Entrepreneurs and Investors," followed a wonderful introduction by Janet Bryant, Systems & Science Policy Analyst, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and Chair, ACS Chemical Innovation and Entrepreneurship Council (CIEC).

The panelists in the symposium were leading women scientists, innovators and investors. Kathryn Uhrich, Professor of Chemistry and Former Dean, Rutgers University, and Founder, Polymerix Corporation discussed “Issues women face in research and commercialization from academia: Personal insights from a successful company founder” and Nicola Pohl, Professor of Chemistry and the Joan and Marvin Carmack Chair in Bioorganic Chemistry, Indiana University Bloomington, and Founder, LuCella Biosciences Inc who shared her experiences in “Challenges of starting (and growing) a start-up.” Suzette Dutch, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Triathlon Medical Ventures explained the intricacies of “Attracting Venture Capital for women led businesses – Lessons from 2 decades of venture fund management”. Linda O’Keefe, CFO Consultant, LOK Enterprises and a member of the Chemical Angel Network described the value of angel investments in “Entrepreneur/Angel partnerships to the rescue!!” Mary Phillips, Associate Director, Office for Commercialization and Corporate Development, Oregon State University shared “Challenges and opportunities in technology transfer: How are STEM women faring?”

This ACS symposium was co-sponsored by the following ACS divisions: SCHB, BMGT, WCC and PROF.

Download the slides here.

Judy's thoughts on obstacles for women in science were published in the C&EN article Women in Industry on August 26, 2013. Judy notes that women are too reserved in talking about their accomplishments and thus rarely gain the clout held by marketing and sales people.

“We are not the ones who will jump up and down,” Giordan tells C&EN. “We are trained to publish and give talks. That is how you get your point across.”

She also points out that women hesitate to speak up or take credit, in fear of seeming aggressive.

“It is false modesty. If you have the solution to the problem and you don’t open your mouth about it, whose fault is it that the problem wasn’t solved?” 

Judy gave her talk "Being HEARD - Powered by YOU: Bragging... and Building Your Personal Brand" at the Women Chemists Committee (WCC) breakfast at the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting in New Orleans on April 8, 2013.

Judy highlighted the true need for empowering women to help solve the global issues we face today.  Women also need to embrace the fact that they need to change in order to take their seat at the table - we have met the enemy and she is us!  Women need to stand up and declare their excellent skills and valuable contributions - don't be afraid to brag and build your personal brand!

Download the slides here!​

Judy moderated the panel "Exit Strategies - Financing to the End Game" at the American Chemical Society Entrepreneur Resources Center Entrepreneur Summit at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in March 2013.  The panel featured Dr. Stephen Flaim of Tech Coast Angels, Dr. Scott Lockledge of Fairbridge Venture Partners, and Dr. Edward Greer of the Venture and Business Development Group of the Dow Chemical Company.

You can watch the presentation here - this panel begins at 01:04:00 of the video.

Watch live streaming video from acswebinars at livestream.com

Download the slides here!​

The CIEC roadmap is the cheat sheet of selected events and programming at ACS meetings that are of interest to our constituencies. Out of the thousands of papers and events we have highlighted the topics of greatest interest - we've done the legwork to make your meeting easier!

Entrepreneurial Track – Programming, Workshops & Events Roadmap
245th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA - April 7-11, 2013

An introduction the ACS Chemical Innovation and Entrepreneurship Council and links to What Women Can Do, presented at the 245th A National Meeting in New Orleans - April 6, 2013

Judy is quoted in the October 22, 2012, Chemical & Engineering News article "Chemical Angel Network Funds Chemistry Start-Ups" by Marc Reisch.

Reisch discusses the recently founded Chemical Angel Network (CaN), which specializes in providing seed capital for chemistry-related start-up companies.  Judy is the co-founder of CaN along with Mark Vreeke and Sid White.  In the article Judy points out that while chemistry is essential for many biotechnology, pharmaceutical and energy-related start-ups, "chemistry is not a buzzword today that people love.”  But the time is right for chemistry-related start-ups, and investing in these will help spur the US economy as well as develop the technology we need for a better future.​

Judy moderated a panel at the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting in Philadelphia, PA in August 2012 titled "Financial Planning, Your Career and YOU: Building Financial Security in an Insecure World."  Sandra Goodstein, CFP, MSFS, CSFA, Managing Principal of Goodstein & Associates, LLC and Karen McIntyre, CFP, Wealth Counselor for United Capital Private Wealth Counseling were the distinguished panelists.  This panel was part of the programming offered by the ACS Women Chemists Committee (WCC) and co-sponsored by the Association for Women in Science (AWIS).