InnoVenture 2013 is organized into five focus areas for the 10th annual event in Greenville on May 8 and 9, 2013. 

Featured Presentations

  • “Light” Manufacturing will be presented by John Ballato, Director of the Clemson University Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies (COMSET), to develop and commercialize industrial applications for lasers and other optics technologies. The objective is to make the “Light” Manufacturing collaboration the US leader in lasers/optics for manufacturing.
  • “Aerospace Industry” will be presented by Bill McLendon, President & CEO of PEROT Aerospace LLC, focused on investing capital and expertise in the growing number of aerospace-related companies in the Southeast USA. Perot Aerospace is actively seeking growth investments in excellent aerospace companies in this region. Other aerospace leaders will also be featured, as this industry sector has become such a growing force in the Southeastern USA.
  • Infrastructure Rehabilitation will be presented by Jeff Strahan, Research Chemist at Milliken & Company, featuring products designed for the rehabilitation of civic and transportation infrastructure. Among the innovative products highlighted will be Concrete Cloth.
  • GreenVillages will be presented by Fred Payne, Greenville County Councilman, to develop and commercialize livable, connected, sustainable, multi-modal transportation innovations. GreenVillages has potential partners across the country around the world who would like to first provide innovative solutions for Greenville County, and then to commercialize those solutions across the country and globally.
  • Crowdfunding will be presented by Mark Knight, an securities attorney with Nexsen Pruet, focused on developing a network of partners to benefit from the crowdfunding provisions of the recently enacted JOBS Act, which is a game changer for entrepreneurial companies seeking to raise capital.

Initial Presenters and Panelists:

Aerospace and Aviation Innovation

• Bill McLendon, President & CEO, PEROT Aerospace LLC – featured presenter
• Issac White, Engineering Manager, Stevens Aviation, Inc.
• Charlie Farrell, Director, SC Department of Commerce Aerospace Task Force
• Steve Townes, President and CEO, Louis Berger Services, Inc.
• Sam Havelock, CEO, Federated Precision Inc.
• Jim Stike, Founder, MIT-RCF

Sustainable Materials, Systems & Energy

• Jeff Strahan, Research Chemist, Milliken & Co – featured presenter
• Yoav Silber, Regional Director, Clariter
• Mohamed El Batanouny, Postdoctoral Fellow Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of South Carolina
• Marek Urban, J.E. Sirrine Foundation Endowed Chair and Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Clemson University
• Tom Iseley, Director, Construction Engineering Management Technology, Purdue University
• Sami Rizkalla, Dist. Professor of Civil Engineering, NC State University
• Kevin Weir, Innovation and New Business Development, Milliken & Co
• Murray Dodd, P.E., COO, Greenville Water

Manufacturing and Supply Chain Innovations

• John Ballato, Professor, Clemson University – featured presenter
• Jerome Foster, CEO, Emerald Endeavors
• Sam Blackman, Special Business Solutions, Flextronics
• Stefan Bude, President and CEO, Draexlmaier Automotive
• Lewis Gossett, President/CEO, SC Manufacturing Association

Intelligent Transportation and Mobile Services

• Fred Payne, Greenville County Council – featured presenter
• Peter Muller, President, PRT Consulting

Crowdfunding

• Mark Knight, Nexsen Pruet, LLC – featured presenter
• Dirk Brown, Director, Faber Entrepreneurship Center at the University of South Carolina
• Albin Bajramovic, Co-Founder and CEO, CrowdEndowed
• Peter Barth, Managing Director, The Iron Yard
• Stanfield Gray, Executive Producer, Dig South

Registration and additional information is available at InnoVentureConference.com. The registration fee is $299.