INVENTOR PITCH COMPETITION Judges

Brent Goldfarb

Brent Goldfarb is a faculty member in the Smith School of Business and academic director of the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland. He studies new firms and industries, technological innovation and policy, and research methods. He also teaches courses on technology commercialization, innovation and entrepreneurship. Goldfarb earned his Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University.

Claire Brodo Johnson

Claire Brodo Johnson is managing director of the Momentum Fund, managing a $10 million investment fund that supports early-stage companies affiliated with University System of Maryland institutions. She brings almost 25 years of senior operations, finance and startup experience across industries and in the federal government. Her startups include CBJ Energy LLC and SunEdison. She earned her MBA and B.A. from Harvard University.

Nina Lamba

Nina Lamba is assistant director of the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County . Lamba brings more than 25 years of combined experience in scientific research, entrepreneurship, government service and entrepreneurship management. She currently serves as assistant director of the Harbor Launch Startup incubator at IMET. Lamba received her Ph.D. in bioengineering from the University of Strathclyde.

Ken Mallone

Ken Mallone is a serial entrepreneur and founder principal of Early Charm Ventures LLC, which services local early stage ventures by catering to their need for creative business finance and flexible business structures to convert science into economic value. He also serves as a co-founder or top management team of multiple startups and also serves as an entrepreneur-in-residence for BioHealth Innovation.

Paul Silber

Paul Silber is the founding principal at Blu Venture Investors. He launched and grew the company In Vitro Technologies, Inc. for 15 years before he sold it for $30 million in 2006. He is currently board director or advisor to multiple companies as well as the Biotechnical Institute of Maryland. He also chairs the Greater Baltimore Technology Council’s Biotech Roundtable. Silber holds a Ph.D. in toxicology and is an inventor on five patents.