Sherrill, Dobson among panelists at inaugural “Graphene Innovation Summit & Expo”
By Tom Ballard, Chief Alliance Officer, PYA
Two Knoxville area individuals are scheduled to be panelists at the first-ever “Graphene Innovation Summit & ExpoTM” set for the end of October in Nashville.
And, there’s a special discount for readers of teknovation.biz who want to attend the event that runs October 29 – 31 at the Music City Center. Just go to the registration page here, enter “Teknovation25” at the appropriate place, and you’ll receive a 25 percent discount.
We first spotlighted the Summit in this teknovation.biz article in mid-July.
“We have designed the program to be suitable for anyone with an interest in graphene,” Zina Jarrahi Cinker, Executive Director of the National Graphene Association, says. “This is not an academic meeting. The focus is on commercial applications, products and potential of graphene in many different fields such as smart wearable, health and biosensors, electronics, advanced composites, water treatment. If you want to know if graphene could help your product or if you have an interest in exploring potential investment opportunities in this field, this is the event.”
The participation by two local individuals underscores Cinker’s point. Vig Sherrill, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of General Graphene, and Eric Dobson, CEO of Angel Capital Group, are scheduled to speak as part of the inaugural conference. General Graphene is Sherrill’s seventh start-up, and Dobson’s group is an investor.
The summit features three keynote sessions and a number of panels that start on the second day. Keynote speakers include Kari Hjelt, Head of Innovation, Graphene Flagship; Antonio Castro Neta, Director, Centre for Advanced 2D Materials; and Ahmed Busnaina, Director of the National Science Foundation’s Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center.
Panel presentation topics and the panelists include:
- “Graphene Ventures & Capital”: Moderator is Scott Mize (Network Society Ventures) and panelists are Dobson and Sherrill;
- “Future of Graphene Applications”: Moderator is Phillippe Fauchet (Vanderbilt University) and panelists are Deji Akinwande (University of Texas at Austin), Chris Gilbey (Imagine Intelligent Materials), Paul Lilly (Barton Consulting), Mitchell Lerner (Nanomedical Diagnostics);
- “Graphene Ventures & Capital”: Moderator is Scott Mize (Network Society Ventures) and panelists Dobson and Sherrill;
- “Bridging the Gap”: Moderator is Norman Tolk (Vanderbilt University) and panelists are Richard Haglund (Vanderbilt University), and Ricardo Islo-Rodas (USPTO); and
- “Graphene Supply Market”: Moderator is Zina Jarrahi Cinker (NGA) and panelists are Neil Rickett (Versarien), Ed Chan (Angstron), Ray Gibbs (Haydale), and Elena Polyakova (Graphene 3D Lab).
The complete agenda can be found here.
