Submissions are reviewed by a diverse group of innovators and industry leaders. Examples of past judges include:

Aaron Bromberg

Aaron is a technology strategist in the Home Entertainment Division at Bose Corporation in Framingham, MA. He is responsible for assessing technology and market trends, and creating the long-range product strategy for the division. Additionally, Bromberg works with product managers and engineers to plan the features and functions of future Bose products. Prior to joining Bose, Aaron was a management consultant in Deloitte Consulting Growth and Innovative practice. He received his BS from Cornell University and his MBA from Duke University. 

A. Joseph DiBiase

DiBiase (JD '88), who has practiced law for longer than nine years, has held several positions in a diverse range of fields, including publishing, software, and education. Most recently he served as vice president of business development at PCi Corporation, a leading banking software company.

John N. Driscoll

Discoll is the founder and technology and marketing manager of PID Analyzers, LLC. He is also the former president and founder of HNU Systems, Inc. He developed the first commercial photoionization detector for measuring ppb levels of volatile organic compounds in the environment. Driscoll is also the founder, president, and chairman of the Environmental Business Council of New England.

Dennis S. Fernandez

Fernandez is managing partner of Fernandez & Associates, LLP. He has has over 20 years of experience in Silicon Valley and High-Tech Industry, as a patent prosecutor and intellectual property litigator, a venture capitalist, and an engineering manager. He also serves as strategic advisor to leading venture capital firms and is an inventor of several U.S. and international patents in the areas of digital television, sensor networks, and bioinformatics. 

Mukul P. Gupta

Gupta is professor of marketing and dean of Research, Consulting, Strategic Planning and International Linkages at the Management Development Institute (MDI) in Gurgaon, India. Under his leadership, MDI has become on of the largest providers of Executive Education in India. His corporate experience includes manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products, advertising and consulting.

Christopher P. Lynch

Lynch  is senior vice president of Data Solutions F5, where he oversees the company's data solution technology portfolio. Before its acquisition by F5, Lynch served as president and CEO of Acopia Networks. Previously, Lynch served as vice president of Worldwide Content Delivery Networking Sales at Cisco Systems, and vice president of Worldwide Sales, Marketing, and Support at ArrowPoint Communications, which was acquired by Cisco. He also served as Vice President of North American Sales at Prominet Corp., which was acquired by Lucent.

Avrum Mayman

Mayman is responsible for new product management of Bose Corporation's Lifestyle Home Theater systems. He has also held a variety of marketing, strategy, and business development roles in a variety of industries, including financial services, logistics, and software manufacturing. Mayaman also five years as an engineer on the Space Shuttle’s Orbital propulsion systems.

David Parkinson

Parkinson is president, CEO, and Director of Vericept. Previously, Parkinson served as an executive in residence at Sigma Partners. He's also served as the president and CEO of Books24X7; director, parner and CFO for Boston Consulting Group; co-founder of SystemSoft Corporation; and CFO at Phoenix Technologies.

Narottam Puri

With more than 40 years of experience in the Indian healthcare system, Puri is president of medical strategy and quality for Fortis Healthcare Limited in India. He has held positions in government, education, medicine, and management.

Robert Creeden

Creeden is managing director of the Center for Innovative Ventures (CIV) at Partners Healthcare, where he oversees the creation and launching of new ventures generated from Partners innovative research discoveries.

Creeden has spent more than 25 years focusing on commercialization new technologies and promoting emerging business. In 2005, he was appointment by Partners to establish the CIV. Previously, he was general partner at Egan-Managed Capital and vice president of the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation. Earlier in his career, he gained strategic operating expertise as a COO/CFO with start-up ventures and as a management consultant with Control Data Business Advisors. 

Katerina Papp

Papp is vice president and portfolio manager in Commercial Banking Division for Eastern Bank, where she manages medical device/life sciences specialty banking group.

Clara Chow

Chow, who has extensive experience in management and sustainable development, is principal and founder of Cura Consulting Group. In partnership with GfK NOP, a global market research and consulting firm, her projects include: analyses of customer value and positioning for one of the largest international express delivery companies as well as assessments to measure the awareness and effectiveness of regulatory outreach and communication efforts for a federal agency. Previously, Chow was part of the management team at the US Environmental Protection Agency  (EPA).

Edward J. Keefe

Keefe oversees the finance and administration activities, information technology and reporting to the Limited Partners at M/C Venture Partners. Previously, Keefe served as vice president of finance at Atlas Venture, a leading international early-stage venture capital firm; manager of financial planning and analysis at Instrumentation Laboratory; tax consultant at Coopers and Lybrand; and as a senior financial analyst at Raytheon Company. He is also is a member of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Private Equity CFO Association and the Treasurers’ Club of Boston.

Paul D. Sorkin

Sorkin is a partner with the firm of Weingarten, Schurgin, Gagnebin, & Lebovici, LLP who has over 15 years of experience preparing, prosecuting, and maintaining patent and trademark portfolios for corporations of all sizes as well as for individual inventors. He has extensive expertise in preparing patent applications in the software, electrical, electromechanical, and electronic arts. He has also prepared numerous pre-filing patentability studies and has often been called upon to assess questions of patent validity and patent infringement. Sorkin has also been involved in due diligence investigations during his career.

Prior to joining the firm, Sorkin was a partner at another intellectual property law firm in Boston; an associate general counsel in the Patent Law Department at Sun Microsystems, Inc; and a patent associate at intellectual property law firms in Boston and Washington, DC.

Before becoming a patent attorney, Sorkin worked in the high-tech industry. At Data General, Sorkin worked as a test engineer designing, implementing, and supporting test equipment (hardware and software), reviewing product designs for testability and manufacturability, and coordinating test plans and capital spending budgets. 

Thomas M. Sullivan

Sullivan is a partner in the intellectual law firm of Lowrie, Lando, and Anastasi, LLP (LL&A). He has experience in a wide range of technology fields, including analog and digital electronics, power electronics, computer software and hardware, electromagnetics, electronics assembly and manufacturing, and computer vision systems.

Prior to joining LL&A, Sullivan was a member (partner) in the Intellectual Property Section of a large general practice firm, Mintz Levin, in Boston. Before entering the field of law, Sulilvan had a successful career as a senior eectrical design engineer at Raytheon Company. He also has experience developing and modifying software code for use in automated test systems.

Gaurav Tewari

Tewari, who holds seven US technology patents, is a senior associate at Highland Capital Partners. He represents Highland on the boards of GlobalStreams, StyleFeeder and Top Ten Media.

Previously, Tewari was a Corporate Strategy Manager at Microsoft Corporation, where he worked with the top leadership to define and implement corporate-wide growth opportunities via organic initiatives and acquisitions. he also served as a consultant with McKinsey & Company, where he led strategic projects for Fortune 100 companies across a number of verticals, including high tech, financial services, healthcare and energy. At McKinsey, Tewari extensively advised senior management on investments and divestitures, operational improvement and organizational initiatives, and in developing and executing technology strategy roadmaps. 
 

William Shawn Yeager

Yeager is a senior strategic business development and legal executive for Matchmine. Previously, he founded Auditude Inc., the premiere content tracking and advertising verification firm serving studios, media houses, and advertising agencies. While serving alternatively as CEO and vice president of business development, Yeager was responsible for strategic direction, partner generation, and revenue, landing clients ranging from subsidiaries of Clear Channel to Stacom MediaVest.

Yeager began his career in the early 90s in Silicon Valley while still in graduate school. After stints at 3Com and Pointcast, he joined the Atlanta-based SearchByMedia, the first media-centric syndicated search platform in the world. He was responsible for over 50% of all partnerships and revenue generated during his term.

Dmitriy Andreyev

Andreyev JD '07) is a patent attorney for the Boston office of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo PC. His work encompasses all aspects of intellectual property law, including prosecution, acquisition, valuation and enforcement of patents, trademarks and copyrights. Some of his recent litigation experience includes patent enforcement cases brought against Microsoft, Oracle, Google and E.Piphany.

Prior to joining Mintz Levin in 2004, Andreyev worked as a senior software engineer and software architect. He has designed and developed software applications for pharmaceutical, medical, educational and public relations industries.

Ralph Trementozzi

Trementozzi is senior counsel with Foley & Lardner LLP. He is a member of the firm's Electronics Practice and Emerging Technologies Industry Team.

Trementozzi provides a broad range of legal services in the area of intellectual property, including counseling clients in matters pertaining to patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. He is also experienced in a variety of high-technology areas including wireless and Internet technologies, computer hardware and software, biomedical devices, optics, fiber optics, electro-mechanical devices, and circuitry.

He Ralph earned his Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and Master of Science degree in electrical engineering from Northeastern University. At GTE Communications Systems, he designed, prototyped, and tested hardware circuits and systems. Later, as a radio frequency (RF) engineer at SAIC, he developed antennas and antenna instrumentation for various radiowave communications systems. In 1989, Ralph joined The MITRE Corporation, and in1996, he joined Raytheon as a senior hardware design engineer supporting the development of various electronic systems.

Ralph earned his JD degree, cum laude, from Suffolk University Law School. He has been admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office since 2004.

Dennis Walczewski

Walczewski is chief executive officer for MBL International. His background consists of over 30 years experience in the diagnostic and biotechnology industries. Walczewski has held either management or executive positions in Promega, T-Cell Diagnostics, Endogen and Boehringer Manheim (now Roche).