Mr. Coons joined Perceptive Software, Inc. in 1995 and has piloted the company to a substantial and sustained period of growth. Early on, Scott refocused the company’s marketing strategy, and under his guidance, Perceptive Software has become a leading developer of enterprise document management, imaging and workflow software. An engineer with customer focus, Mr. Coons also established a long-term vision for the company’s flagship product, ImageNow. His role today includes contributions in strategic guidance, tactical implementation, executive team leadership and architecture/design leadership for the product’s technical evolution. Scott began his career as a software engineer with the University of Kansas after graduating from KU with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. In 2006, Scott was honored as an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and a Computerworld Honors Program Laureate.
Lirel Holt is CEO of U, Inc. an Overland Park, Kansas and based Information Technology Company comprised of an e-learning division and an augmentation division located in Chennai, India. U, Inc. provides online training and testing to over 15,000 businesses, schools and local governments. U, Inc.’s list of clients includes hundreds of small and medium companies as well as global giants like Toyota, BMW and GEICO.
Early in his career, Mr. Holt helped architect and market business operations and financial software for the 3M Company. Mr. Holt is a former Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year which was recognized for founding and building the largest collision repair business in the world, CARSTAR. He and his wife, Sharon grew the company to over 325 stores with $375 million in annual sales before sale. This was the first company in the collision industry to leverage technology and the net for management, communications and remote training.
In 1995 CARSTAR was named one of the Top Ten Businesses in Kansas City. Lirel has been named by an automotive industry association as “One of the Top 25 most Influential leaders of the 20th Century” in this segment of the automotive industry, and was the third person inducted into the industries Hall of Fame (Eagles Club).
In 2005, U, Inc. was named "One of the Best Places To Work in Kansas city" and was one of only three Kansas City area businesses nominated as a national finalist for the American Business Ethics Award.
Mr. Holt, was invited by Barnett Helzberg to become a founding mentor in what has become the nationally recognized and prestigious Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program (HEMP). Lirel shares 12 years of experience as a HEMP mentor, and now serves as HEMP president.
Lirel was Co-Chair of 2007 Entrepreneurship Week in Kansas City, sponsored by the Kauffman Foundation, Starbucks, The New York Times and Inc. Magazine. His is a graduate of UMKC.
Neal Sharma is chief executive officer of Digital Evolution Group, and leads the strategic, marketing and intellectual capital aspects of the firm.
Mr. Sharma was named by the Kansas City Star as one of the 50 most influential people in technology in the area, has testified to the Kansas legislature twice regarding issues of taxation and software services, and has been featured on many panels discussing entrepreneurship and technology, including the nationally-broadcast NPR show, On Point. Most recently, he was recognized by Ingram’s Magazine as one of Kansas City’s "Forty Under 40", a list of the most accomplished and influential civic and business leaders in the area under the age of forty. Mr. Sharma also serves as a Trustee of American University in Washington, DC, as well as a Fellow of the exclusive Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program.
Prior to co-founding Digital Evolution Group, Mr. Sharma worked in commercial real estate and served in several capacities for former US Senator and presidential candidate Robert Dole, including as one of the youngest salaried members of Senator Dole’s presidential campaign staff.
He received his MBA from the University of Kansas (2001), and graduated cum laude from American University (1998) with an inter-disciplinary degree in Communication, Legal Institutions, Economics and Government.
Laurie joined Garmin in 1996 and started the Human Resources department. She became the Director of Human Resources in 2002 and was promoted to Vice President in 2007. Laurie is responsible for recruiting/talent management, payroll/compensation, benefits, training and career development, and employee relations. She has been an Executive Board Member for Employment Practices Network of Kansas City since 1999. She holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Kansas.
Colonel Randy Roebuck - Commander, Great Plains Joint Regional Training Center
Col. Randy Roebuck is the Commander of the GPJRTC at Salina, Kansas. The Center will provide “Real Training for the Real World” by bringing together the Kansas Air National Guard’s Smoky Hill Weapons Range and 284th Air support Operations Squadron, the Kansas Regional Training Institute, a Kansas Army Guard Pre-mobilization Training Assistance Team, a UAV Center and the newly created “Crisis City” for First Responder training.
Roebuck graduated from Mississippi State University with a BS in Aerospace Engineering. After gaining his commission in the ROTC program, Col. Roebuck earned his pilot wings as a distinguished graduate of Undergraduate Pilot Training, Laughlin AFT. Col. Roebuck is a command pilot with over 3000 hours in the F-16 and B-1B. In 2007, Col Roebuck lead the 184th Air Refueling Wing through a BRAC directed conversion in which all flying operations ceased and the 194th became the first Intelligence Wing in the Air National Guard.
Toby Rush - Founder/President, Rush Tracking Systems
Rush Tracking Systems is an end-to-end RFID systems integrator offering turnkey solutions. Toby built Rush Tracking from two people in a basement office to one of the top five RFID solution providers in the US.
Before creating Rush Tracking Systems, Toby was product manager and director of product development for SAT Corporation. SAT is a software company that leverages RFID and mobile devices for a workforce automation platform focusing on the refining and chemicals industry. Prior to SAT, Toby was a senior technical consultant and co-founder of mobileEDGE Solutions, a mobile and wireless consulting firm.
Toby is a member of the Advisory Board for the Kansas University Information and Telecommunications Technology Center, the Membership Chair for Entrepreneurs Exchange 2 and coordinator and facilitator for the Kansas Student Leadership Forum.
Dr. Wiggins joined the Enterprise Center of Johnson County as President and CEO in 2005. At the ECJC he is closely involved with business incubation, the angel investor network, and the women’s business center. He is also a founding organizer and Executive Manager of Mid-America Angels Investments, LLC, and a member of the Information Technology Kansas City (ITKC) Advisory Board. He serves as Advisor to the KTEC Pipeline mentoring program and to several technology companies located in Kansas City and Austin. Dr. Wiggins moved to Kansas from Texas where he was the Director of the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), University of Texas at Austin from 2000-2005. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas in Communications Studies. Wiggins is a member and past Chair of the National Business Incubation Association Board of Directors. He has consulted on incubation and technology commercialization in more than a dozen countries.
John Repko - CTO of TMN and CEO of Magellan
John Repko is CEO of TMN, a software development firm located in Overland Park. John also serves as CEO of Magellan, a SAS for restaurants. John was previously Chief Technology Officer with Chemidex LLC in charge of all technology and product groups. In that role John pioneered the use of Amazon Web Services for Chemidex products. Prior to Chemidex, John was CTO of Apropos Technology, a call-center software provider based in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, and was part of the executive team that sold the company to Syntellect, Inc. John also served as Vice President of Operations at Oracle Corporation, responsible for technology and data center operations globally for Oracle's Business on-line hosted application business and also worked at Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard in his 20-year career in software and information technology.
John Repko is CEO of TMN, a software development firm located in Overland Park. John also serves as CEO of Magellan, a SAS for restaurants.
John was previously Chief Technology Officer with Chemidex LLC in charge of all technology and product groups. In that role John pioneered the use of Amazon Web Services for Chemidex products. Prior to Chemidex, John was CTO of Apropos Technology, a call-center software provider based in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, and was part of the executive team that sold the company to Syntellect, Inc. John also served as Vice President of Operations at Oracle Corporation, responsible for technology and data center operations globally for Oracle's Business on-line hosted application business and also worked at Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard in his 20-year career in software and information technology.
Dr. Ravi Pendse - Associate Provost and Chief information Officer, Wichita State University
Dr. Pendse is the chief technology strategist and budget review officer for Wichita State University Computing, Media Resources Center, Center for Teaching and Research Excellence, Wichita Information Network (ERP project), and International Education. He supervises a combined budget of over $25 Million. He is also Professor, Cisco Fellow, Senior NIAR Fellow, and Director of Advanced Networking Research Center, College of Engineering, Wichita State University. His responsibilities include managing research grants totaling over $2.8 Million. ANRC includes the Cisco Technical Research Center which supports over 85 graduate and undergraduate students and several full time research associates. The initiatives Dr. Pendse has undertaken during the past two years have resulted in significantly enhancing the state of technology on the Wichita campus. Dr. Pendse has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Wichita State University.
Dr. Pendse is the chief technology strategist and budget review officer for Wichita State University Computing, Media Resources Center, Center for Teaching and Research Excellence, Wichita Information Network (ERP project), and International Education. He supervises a combined budget of over $25 Million.
He is also Professor, Cisco Fellow, Senior NIAR Fellow, and Director of Advanced Networking Research Center, College of Engineering, Wichita State University. His responsibilities include managing research grants totaling over $2.8 Million. ANRC includes the Cisco Technical Research Center which supports over 85 graduate and undergraduate students and several full time research associates.
The initiatives Dr. Pendse has undertaken during the past two years have resulted in significantly enhancing the state of technology on the Wichita campus. Dr. Pendse has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Wichita State University.
Dr. Virgil Wallentine - Professor and Department Head, Computing and Information Sciences, Kansas State University
Virgil became Head of the Department of Computing and Information Sciences at Kansas State University in 1982. This department offers an accredited BS in Computer Science, a BS in Information Systems, an MS in Computer Science, a Master of Software Engineering, and a PhD in Computer Science. These programs enroll 500 students per semester. His duties at KSU include managing a teaching, research, and service enterprise which employ 75 teachers, staff, and researchers, offers courses to 2000 students per semester, does basic and applied research in computing sciences, and offers outreach graduate courses to computing professionals across the nation. He also teaches courses in parallel programming, operating systems, and networks. He has served as major professor to over 50 graduate students. He serves on the College of Engineering's Executive Committee, the KSU Information Resource Management Council, the Kansas Electronic Commerce Study Group, and Senator Pat Roberts' Advisory Committee on Telecommunications and Computing. The focus of his research these past 36 years has been in the areas of parallel programming, operating systems, and real-time systems. In recent years his focus has been principally on building parallel software frameworks for large-scale science and engineering simulations and verification of parallel computing systems and business processes. Virgil E. Wallentine earned a BS degree in Mathematics, an MS in Computer Science, and a PhD in Computer Science, all from Iowa State University. He began his computing career in 1965 as a research associate at Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa developing diagnosis software to analyze EKG and EEG data. In 1967 he went to work for the Atomic Energy Commission as a systems analyst, developing real-time programming languages and operating systems. In 1971, he began teaching computing systems classes in the Department of Computer Science at Iowa State University. He joined the faculty of Computer Science at Kansas State University in 1972 as an assistant professor and moved through the ranks to full professor and Department Head. Dr. Wallentine also serves as the Director of the Institute for Computational Research in Engineering and Science, a research center which promotes the application of computing science and technology to interdisciplinary computational research in the broad spectrum of science and engineering at KSU.
Virgil became Head of the Department of Computing and Information Sciences at Kansas State University in 1982. This department offers an accredited BS in Computer Science, a BS in Information Systems, an MS in Computer Science, a Master of Software Engineering, and a PhD in Computer Science. These programs enroll 500 students per semester. His duties at KSU include managing a teaching, research, and service enterprise which employ 75 teachers, staff, and researchers, offers courses to 2000 students per semester, does basic and applied research in computing sciences, and offers outreach graduate courses to computing professionals across the nation. He also teaches courses in parallel programming, operating systems, and networks. He has served as major professor to over 50 graduate students. He serves on the College of Engineering's Executive Committee, the KSU Information Resource Management Council, the Kansas Electronic Commerce Study Group, and Senator Pat Roberts' Advisory Committee on Telecommunications and Computing.
The focus of his research these past 36 years has been in the areas of parallel programming, operating systems, and real-time systems. In recent years his focus has been principally on building parallel software frameworks for large-scale science and engineering simulations and verification of parallel computing systems and business processes.
Virgil E. Wallentine earned a BS degree in Mathematics, an MS in Computer Science, and a PhD in Computer Science, all from Iowa State University. He began his computing career in 1965 as a research associate at Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa developing diagnosis software to analyze EKG and EEG data. In 1967 he went to work for the Atomic Energy Commission as a systems analyst, developing real-time programming languages and operating systems. In 1971, he began teaching computing systems classes in the Department of Computer Science at Iowa State University. He joined the faculty of Computer Science at Kansas State University in 1972 as an assistant professor and moved through the ranks to full professor and Department Head. Dr. Wallentine also serves as the Director of the Institute for Computational Research in Engineering and Science, a research center which promotes the application of computing science and technology to interdisciplinary computational research in the broad spectrum of science and engineering at KSU.
Michele Weigand - Chief Investment Officer, KTEC
Michele Weigand is the Chief Investment Officer for the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC).
Before joining KTEC, Weigand worked for GE Insurance Solutions & GE Mortgage Insurance in business development and product development. As VP of Business Development at GE Mortgage Insurance, Weigand led investments into internet opportunities, including Lending Tree.com. Weigand represented GE as the board seat for several equity investments. Prior to GE, Weigand served as Director of Business Development at GEAC, a software company, for 6 years and Controller for a Real Estate firm in Virginia for 9 years.
Weigand manages the equity investment functions of KTEC. She is a proven business development specialist. She is responsible for managing KTEC’s investment funds, creating deal flow through regional and national networking, managing the due diligence process, negotiating deal terms, monitoring the KTEC investment portfolio and assisting invested companies with their growth and development.
Weigand grew up in Derby, Kansas. She received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from University of Kansas and her master’s in business administration from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Weigand is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Patricia (Trish) Brasted - President/CEO, Wichita Technology Corporation & Managing Member, Wichita Technology Ventures, LLC
Patricia L. Brasted serves as President/CEO of Wichita Technology Corporation (WTC), a public-private partnership between local & state government, academia and the private sector whose mission is to promote and expand a formal innovation network that will support technology advancement, transfer and commercialization in Wichita and South Central Kansas.
Under the leadership of Ms. Brasted, the WTC organization has assisted hundreds of entrepreneurs, invested seed capital dollars in over 40 technology companies, representing 60 patented technologies in diverse technology areas such as advanced materials, manufacturing technology, biotech, broadband & telecommunications, proprietary engineering services, consumer products, information technology and software solutions.
Ms. Brasted, also a successful entrepreneur, founded her first company, Brasted Consulting, Inc. in 1995 and in 2001 started Digital Office Systems with her husband and two other partners. She has over twenty years experience in corporate finance, venture capital and accounting including both private industry as well as spending five years in a public accounting practice. As a CPA with an MBA she has experience in corporate finance, tax, business valuation, debt and equity financing strategies, mergers, acquisitions, market research, new product positioning and strategic planning, corporate structure & business formation, and early-stage venture capital.
Ms. Brasted is one of the founding members of the first angel organization in Kansas, the Midwest Venture Alliance (MVA). MVA has funded over $2.7 million dollars into five companies.
Ms. Brasted is the current Chair of the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF) Board of Directors. She also currently serves on the Wichita Metro Chamber Board of Directors. Ms. Brasted is a frequent speaker on accessing venture capital and angel investing and serves of the Boards of several private technology companies.
Joseph B. Evans, Ph.D. - Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, Director of Research Information Technology, University of Kansas
Joseph Evans is the Deane E. Ackers Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Kansas. He is also the Director of the Information & Telecommunication Technology Center (ITTC), one of the largest research centers at KU. Dr. Evans served as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 2003 to 2005. At NSF, he had oversight responsibility for over $70 million in multi-organizational networking research efforts in wireless networking, cybersecurity, optical networking and scientific applications. Further, he was responsible for over $50 million in new research and infrastructure awards in newly created programs. He was a co-founder and member of the Board of Directors of NetGames USA, Inc. a network gaming company acquired by Microsoft in 2000; Xbox Live, Microsoft’s Internet gaming service, utilizes the company’s technology. Dr. Evans has been involved in creating several other technology companies, including a start-up that has developed and deployed TIGR (Tactical Ground Reporting System) for DARPA and the US Army. He has been a researcher at the Olivetti & Oracle Research Laboratory, Cambridge University Computer Laboratory, USAF Rome Laboratories, and AT&T Bell Laboratories. Dr. Evans’ recent activities include participation in the NSF Global Environment for Network Innovations (GENI) effort, serving as a member of the planning group and most recently as Substrate Working Group co-chair. He has been extensively involved in cognitive radio networking research, including systems prototyping and foundational science to inform the policy debate over use of radio spectrum white spaces. Dr. Evans received the B.S.E.E. degree from Lafayette College in 1983, and M.S.E., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University in 1984, 1986, and 1989, respectively.
Robert Herrington - Chief Executive Officer & Chairman Horizon Analog, Inc.
Robert Herrington brings a wealth of experiences that makes him uniquely qualified to lead Horizon Analog. Herrington has been an entrepreneur throughout his life. He was raised in a technology-oriented family business that he eventually turned into a series of successful businesses. One of these companies, WOS Data Systems, developed the innovative and successful line of Timbuktu networking software, which he merged into Farallon Computing, Inc. in 1988. Over the course of the next five years, Herrington helped to grow the combined companies from $7 million in sales to over $50 million. After 5 years as Executive Vice President of Farallon, Herrington’s entrepreneurial spirit and vision for community networks led him to found GravityWorks, Inc., which was later merged into YourNet one of the first companies to develop a multi-function operating system for the smart card platform.
Herrington has fulfilled many roles in his companies including: visioning and developing successful networking and communications products, as well as acquiring or selling products and companies. Examples include: multi-million dollar technology license to Lotus for Farallon's ScreenCam product; joint ventures with NTT to co-label products in Japan; architect and negotiate a technology transfer from Novell to a public energy company; and funding startups, doing spinouts, creating new products, acquiring companies and technologies.
He has international experience working with companies such as NTT in Japan, Siemens in Austria, Intellect in Australia and Nortel in Canada. One of the most important roles Herrington has played, however, is that of the rare entrepreneur who is willing and able to attract and keep great partners/employees and allow them to grow to their potential while gathering the resources and partnerships necessary to implement a strategic vision.
Herrington is also a well-known figure in the technology industry, and he was involved in the early days of the personal computer revolution. He has been a speaker at many industry functions and has been a consultant/JV partner for companies such as Sprint, UtiliCorp, Novell, NTT, Bell Atlantic, Mercantile Bank and others. He continues to guest lecture at the University of Kansas and Kauffman Center in Kansas City. Herrington has served in many civic roles and on several corporate and advisory boards.
Joel Keller - CHAIRMAN OF INDUSTRY COUNCIL and General Manager, SKT
Joel Keller has served as a technology business executive and leader in the Wichita area since 2000. His focus has been around innovative and challenging business developments and environments, and his experience includes customer relationship development, operations, P&L management, business positioning, technology development, acquisitions, and strategic planning with both startup and existing entities. His business interests have circled around the creation of a dynamic and fluid environment, while paying careful attention to the overall goals of the organization. Joel joined SKT to lead the IT practice in 2001.
Joel is currently a member of Cisco’s North American Commercial Advisory Board. Its purpose is to afford the top partners in North America the opportunity to influence Cisco’s overall strategy and future direction in the commercial mid-market segment, and to focus on Partner growth and profitability.
Joel enjoys the many long lasting relationships that have been developed working closely with both clients and industry partners, and also thrives on watching people inside the organization grow and develop into successful professionals.
Joel completed his B.S. in Business Administration from Kansas State University in December of 1988.
Wayne Morgan - COO & Vice President, Netchemia
Wayne has over 25 years experience in applied technology and basic research, ranging from information technology to specialized studies in environmental engineering and analytical chemistry. Data management experience includes over 20 years of direct responsibility for managing software development, information systems and IT infrastructure teams. At Netchemia he is responsible for company operations. Prior to Netchemia, he was CIO of Midwest Research Institute, a contract-research scientific and applied technology development laboratory with 1,200 people and regional offices in DC, Florida and Colorado. He also served on the faculty of the University of Phoenix, was VP/Partner/Project Executive with Black & Veach, and was an instructor and course developer at Johnson County Community College.
He earned a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from Vanderbilt University, an M.A. in Chemistry from Vanderbilt, and a B.Sc. Chemistry from Washburn University.
Duncan Alexander - President, Alexander Open Systems
Duncan Alexander is President and a Principal of Alexander Open Systems located in Overland Park, KS. He oversees all operations, and spends most of his time visiting clients, while running the business here in Kansas. He has been with the company since 1995 and in the computer industry since 1982. During his tenure, his location has grown from $3 million in annual sales to $12 million. Company wide, AOS is now the largest network integrator in the Kansas City area with over 230 employees and Revenues over $140 Million.Duncan has published white papers, and been published in the Kansas City Star and other media. He developed; published and copyrighted an Information Protection Program that has been sold in this region and now being sold nationallyAt the time Duncan joined the company, AOS was generating $3 million in business and had 18 employees. AOS now is generating $12 million in annual revenue with 58 employees. During his tenure, Duncan has been developing the education and commercial markets in 1996. He also started the Security Solutions team in 1998 and rolled out these offering in 1999. Duncan has appeared on television, radio shows, in newspapers, magazines, and participates regularly in many organizations, such as, United Way, MOCSA, and sits on the board at Johnson County Community College (technology), and the Young Leaders Society. His other areas of interest include working with some of the local organizations assisting young people dealing with drug, alcohol, and personal growing challenges.Duncan Alexander, with many of the great people at Alexander Open Systems, has created a name of Integrity in Kansas, and Western Missouri, as well as the good reputation of AOS in 5 other states. AOS has grown in the mid-west and continues to grow with great people and real values.
Perry Puccetti, Executive Committee - President/CEO, Triple-I Corporation
Perry A. Puccetti is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Triple-I Corporation. A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, with a Masters degree from the Johns Hopkins University, Perry was commissioned in the United States Marine Corps and served in leadership roles around the world as an AH-1 attack helicopter pilot/Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI).After leaving the active duty Marine Corps, Perry led business units supporting numerous Department of Defense acquisition organizations such as PMA-276, PMA-263, PMA-201, PMA-242, APW and ASN RDA CHENG. He served as the project lead and subject matter expert (SME) for advanced modeling and simulation based acquisition in support of the Marine Corps’ Joint Advanced Weapon System (JAWS) program. He also served as the executive lead/SME for the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Research and Development Activity, Chief Engineer (ASN RDA CHENG) Information Support Plan (ISP) Lean Six Sigma project.He has held a number of positions in privately held and publicly traded companies – Fortune 100 and startup; serving the government and commercial sectors. Perry has more than 26 years of military and executive leadership experience encompassing executive management, strategic planning, business development, enterprise application performance management, business process management and program/project management. Perry’s primary focus at Triple-I is to fuel a culture of discipline with one core purpose and passion; to meet the needs of its clients.