Poland Day 2021

HONORARY PATRONAGE

Partner Co-Organizer

SPONSORS & PARTNERS

FRIENDS

Speakers

Prof. Piotr Moncarz Chair, US-Polish Trade Council; Adjunct Professor, Stanford University; Senior Fellow, Exponent; CEO Geothermic Solution LLC
Dr. Jerzy Orkiszewski, President, US-Polish Trade Council; VP of Engineering, Cutera
Mariusz Tomaka Board Advisor - Business Development, Euvic
Prof. Michał Banaszak Vice-Rector, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Director of School of Science
Craig Barrett Chairman, BASIS Charter School
Tadeusz Białek Vice-President, Polish Bank Association, Cybersecurity

He graduated from the Surveying and Road Technology School in Poznań in 1968 and from the School of Engineering in the Stanford University with Ph.D. in 1981. He is an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University, where for 30 years he has been teaching post-license level. Since 1980 he has been an employee of the world’s leading Exponent Failure Analysis
Associates (www.exponent.com), where today he holds the highest professional title of Senior Fellow. In 2017 he was admitted to the National Academy of Engineering in the United States. He specializes in research and prevention of engineering and scientific disasters. He is an author of dozens of publications, lectures and speeches. Renewable energy, including especially GeoHeat, the goal of his many years of work (www.geothermicsolution.com).
He is the Co-founder and Chairman of the US-Polish Trade Council (www.usptc.org), an organization of professiona ls working pro-bono on knowledge transfer and strengthening cooperation between Poland and the United States.
He is vice-president of the Council of Polish Engineers of North America. Member of the 1st Council of NCBiR. Co-organizer and academic director at Stanford University of the MNiSW Top 500 Innovators programme. Co-founder
of the Polish electromobility programme, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Electromobility Poland SA. Engineer,
entrepreneur and academic teacher, actively involved in the activities of the Polish diaspora for Poland.

Mr. Jerzy Orkiszewski was born and raised in Poland. He holds an M.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Warsaw Technical University, Department of Fine Mechanics (currently Department of Mechatronics) and École Nationale Supérieure de l’Electronique et de ses Application in Cergy, France and submitted his PhD thesis at the Warsaw University of Technology. Since 1989 he resides in California with his wife, a practicing medical doctor from Warsaw, and their daughter
who after completing her medical education in Poznan, Poland, practices medicine in the USA. In Silicon Valley he has been working for variety of product development biomedical device companies: Cutera, Inc., Ellex Medical, Lumenis, Inc. and Medical Group of Coherent, Inc., where he has been providing the technology and business leadership serving in various
engineering, management and executive positions. Jerzy used to be on Polish national modern pentathlon team and plays classical guitar. He is also a pilot with commercial and instrument ratings.Jerzy is a contributing editor of “Przeglad Lotniczy – Aviation Review” aviation magazine in Poland. He provides to USPTC a strong link to the US biomedical technology sector.

Mariusz Tomaka is active as organizer, co-founder, and CEO of innovative electronic and software companies in Poland focused on local and international markets. He specializes in building and running innovative companies – startups – focused on international markets and leading teams of engineers and managers to achieve challenging technology and business objectives. Prior to current activities at EUVIC he worked as  CEO (PL) for DisplayLink in Poland and VP in Cambridge UK,  as Area Manager – Poland at Neubloc, board adviser – share holder at ABF sp. z o.o. Mariusz is a President of US-Polish Trade Council in Poland and extended board member in USA, he is a Chamber Council Member at The Polish Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications, Mariusz is Vice-president of OG at Telecommunications and Polish Information Processing Society.

Michał Banaszak graduated in 1985 with a degree in physics from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. He received his PhD degree in Physics, under the guidance of Professor Mark Whitmore in 1991 from Memorial University in St. John’s, Canada, specializing in polymer physics and went on to work as postdoctoral fellow with Professor Maciej Radosz in Exxon Research & Engineering Co. in Annandale, USA, from 1992 to 1995 on the theory and modeling of polymer solutions.
From 1995 to 1997 he worked as a research associate with Professor Julian Clarke at the Chemistry Department of UMIST in Manchester, UK, specializing in large-scale computer simulations of ionic copolymers. In 1997, he joined the associate faculty of the Adam Mickiewicz University, obtaining a DSc degree in Physics in 2004 with a specialty in soft
matter and computer simulations. He is currently a Professor and Head of the High Pressure Physics Division of the Faculty of Physics and Professor of the NanoBioMedical Centre at Adam Mickiewicz University. His main interests are in developing new models and theories for nanoscale self-assembly of various copolymer systems. He also works with experimentalists in order to verify computational predictions and develop novel efficient algorithms and codes.

Dr. Craig R. Barrett was born in San Francisco, California and received his Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science from Stanford University, serving on the faculty of Stanford after graduation. Dr. Barrett was a Fulbright Fellow at Danish Technical University in Denmark and a NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Physical Laboratory in England. In 1974 Dr. Barrett joined Intel Corporation. He was elected to Intel Corporation’s Board of Directors
in 1992, became Intel’s fourth president in 1997, chief executive officer in 1998, and chairman of the board in 2005, a post held until he retired in May 2009.
Dr. Barrett is a leading advocate for improving education in the U.S. and the world, and is a vocal spokesman for the value technology can provide in raising social and economic standards globally. He chairs BASIS Charter Schools, Inc., Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property, Smithsonian Gem and Mineral Collectors and the National
Forest Foundation; co-chairs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Advisory Board; vice chairs Science Foundation Arizona; serves on the Boards of Achieve, K12, Society for Science and the Public, Carnegie Institution for Science and Tallwave. Dr. Barrett served as Chairman of the National Academy of Engineering and the United Nations Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development.

Vice-president of the Polish Bank Association, doctor of law, legal counsel, graduate of law at the University of Warsaw and doctoral studies at the Institute of Legal Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He has been associated with the banking sector since 2003. From 2010, he was the Director of the Legal and Legislative Team of the Polish Bank Association.
Secretary and member of the Presidium of the Banking Law Council. Member of the Legal Committee of the European Banking Federation (EBF). EBF representative in the work of UNCITRAL (United Nation Commission on International Trade Law). Arbitrator of the Arbitration Court at the Polish Financial Supervision Authority. He participated in legislative work on numerous legal acts, including in the field of banking law and in the field of financial market regulations.
Coordinator of numerous interpretative works in the banking sector in the field of new and changed regulations and implementation projects for sectoral solutions (including durable medium, combating tax fraud, code of good practicein the field of personal data processing). Lecturer in banking law and new technologies law (including in the field of FIN-TECH regulations at the University of Warsaw). Author of several dozen publications from the above-mentioned range.

Janusz Bryzek Exo Imaging, Inc, Founder, Executive Chairman, serial entrepreneur, internationally recognized his ground -breaking work on Microelectromechanical Systems – MEMS
Clay Bullwinkel Founder and CEO, Silicon Valley Flow LLC, Tech Entrepreneur and Consultant
Mark Chandler Director, International Relations, San Francisco City Hall
Małgorzata Chmielewska President, Bread of Life Foundation
Jacek Chmielewski PhD, Associate Professor, Cracow University of Technology
Agnieszka Czechowicz Assistant Professor, Pediatrics – Stem Cell Transplantation, Stanford University

Janusz Bryzek received his MSEE and Ph.D. from Warsaw University of Technology, Poland. He completed the Executive Management Program at Stanford University. Janusz is considered as one of the pioneers of MEMS and Fatherof
Sensors. He cofounded eleven Silicon Valley MEMS (micro-mechanical integrated systems) companies: Sensym (acquired by Honeywell), ICSensors (acquired by EG&G), NovaSensor (acquired by Lucas Automotive, then GE Healthcare), Intelligent MicroSensor Technology (acquired by Maxim), Transparent Networks (technology acquired by Intel), InvenSense (public), LVSI (acquired by Atmel), Jyve (acquired by Fairchild Semiconductor), JB MEMS (consulting), TSensors Summit (non-profit) and eXo Imaging (active). Products from Janusz’s companies included MEMS sensors (pressure, acceleration, gyro). MEMS microstructures (mirrors), sensor-based systems-on-chip (wireless pressure sensors, motion sensors with embedded sensor fusion) and systems (optical switches, medical ultrasound imagers). Selected exponential technology based products shipped cumulatively billions of units, grabbing majority of world market for disposable blood pressure sensors, about half of wireless tire pressure sensor market, large fraction of motion sensor market in cellphones, gaming and VR devices. Inspired by Peter Diamandis’s Abundance concept, Janusz launched TSensors Initiative focused on finding the sensor-based Internet nodes likely to reach volume of trillions units by mid 2030s, as an enabler for world without hunger and with medical care, clean environment and clean energy to all. This resulted in organizing 8 conferences (at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, Florida, Munich, Shanghai and twice in Tokyo), with invited visionary speakers outlining the
future, and concluded in converging on extracting 5 sensor based application with potential for trillions. One of the outcomes of TSensors Initiative was the founding of eXo Imaging to develop a disruptive ultrasound imager aiming at democratization of medical imaging (75% of global population has no access to medical imaging). Bryzek has performed due diligence for top tier VC firms, including USVP (Irwin Federman), Mayfield, Benchmark, Morgenthaler and Panorama.
He also worked as an advisor or Board member for over 40 startups. In 1989 he was recognized as “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Arthur Young. In 1994 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by Sensors Magazine and in 2003 by MANCEF. In 2016, he got the award Outstanding Polish Business Executive by Polish Embassy in the US and accepted to “Zlotej Ksiegi Absolwentow Politechniki Warszawskiej”. In 2018 he received Industry Impact Award for Engineering Excellence from Sensors Expo. Bryzek has published over 250 papers, wrote sections of 4 books, organized and chaired many international conferences. He authored 30 US patents and multiple pending patent applications.
He started several sensor standardization efforts, including AAMI Disposable Blood Pressure Transducers, IEEE-1451 Smart Sensor Communication, and Trillion Sensors Initiative. Dr. Bryzek serves on several Advisory Boards. He is also a member of IEEE-MEMS Program Committee (http://sites.ieee.org/scv-mems/).

Mr. Clay A. Bullwinkel is Founder and CEO, Silicon Valley Flow LLC, an advisory firm in IT venture management.  For 35 years Clay has pioneered new businesses with measurable new value for customers, employees, and stock holders.  His disciplines cover general management, finance, team recruiting and building, product development, product management, sales and marketing.  He currently specializes in building companies through game changing rehabilitation and acceleration of product development, product management, and sales for companies in voice, text, and graphical communications.  Solution coverage can be consumer, professional, enterprise, or all.  He is a former executive of 3Com (network interfaces, protocols, infrastructure, and network management) and Hewlett Packard (vertical market solutions marketing).  More recently he was CEO of Aiton Caldwell Inc., a VoIP telecommunications venture with its parent in Gdansk, Poland.  In 2003 Clay co-founded the U.S. Poland Trade Council, and is a member of its Board of Directors.  Since 1983, seven years before official conversion to capitalism, he has been working with Poland-based businesses, including with Univex of Krakow, for which he co-designed audio products which influenced Apple’s iPod.  He has his B.A. and M.B.A. degrees from Stanford University.  He speaks intermediate Polish and German.  A 4th generation San Franciscan, Clay resides with his wife Denise in nearby Portola Valley.  They have two professionally employed daughters.  With family and friends he enjoys history and science fiction reading, gardening, hiking, fly fishing, and a variety of sports including participation in middle distance foot races.

Mark Chandler is the Director of the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of International Trade and Commerce. Mark has been a member of the Mayor’s Office for over thirty years and eight mayors. Mark is responsible for the international programs of the City of San Francisco, including innovation and technology exchange, Smart City dialogue, trade missions,
investment promotion, sister city partnerships, diplomatic relations and global policy formation. Mark has coordinated over thirty overseas missions to locations diverse as Mexico, China, India, France, Israel, Vietnam, Ireland, Australia,
The Philippines, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada and Japan. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Global Trade Council, Advisory Board for San Francisco State University International Business Department
and is Co-President of the San Mateo High School Foundation and is a recipient of the National Jefferson Award.
In June of 2017 he was named “Citizen Diplomat of the Year” by the Northern California World Trade Center. He has a BA in Economics from U.C. Davis and an MBA in International Marketing from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business
and studied at the Tokyo Academy of Japanese. Mark is married to Carolyn and has one daughter Lea, who is in University.

Sr. Małgorzata Chmielewska, sister superior of the Bread of Life community, a graduate of the Warsaw University Faculty of Biology. She worked as a catechist with blind children and assisted women from the prison in Rakowiecka Street in Warsaw. In 1990 she entered the Bread of Life community in Bulowice n. Kęty. She took her perpetual vows in 1998 in France. She runs 7 homes for the homeless, sick and single mothers as well as accommodation centres for women and men across Poland. To date a few thousand people, mainly women, have availed themselves of this assistance; the children receive stipends. Sr. Chmielewska has received many distinctions and awards for her commitment to the excluded, e.g. the Commander’s Cross of the Rebirth of Poland. She has published a number of books; an extensive interview with her is titled Wszystko co uczyniliście… z siostrą Małgorzatą Chmielewską rozmawia Michał Okoński [Everything You Have Done… Michał Okoński Talks with Sister Małgorzata Chmielewska]. In 1996 chosen The Woman of the Year, she has four adopted children.

He is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Auburn University, academic teacher, researcher in: transportation network planning, road safety improvement and implementation, bridge live load and fatigue analysis in the USA, Weigh-in-motion data processing and analysis, big data processing, SQL databases developer. He is a Bentley MicroStation user and application developer (MDL and VB.Net), and software developer: C++, Visual Studio, VBA, MATLAB. He prepared a few four-stage transport demand models in PTV VISUM, microsimulation in PTV VISSIM for cities and counties. He was involved in Florida, California, and Montana Department of Transportation research projects. Lots of professional projects for private companies and public sectors in the field of transport were prepared by him, mainly in the field of road safety improvement, road network planning, traffic prediction, and feasibility studies.

Prof. Agnieszka Czechowicz is a physician-scientist and biotech entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in stem cell biology and translational research. Dr. Czechowicz is a faculty member in Stanford University’s Department of Pediatrics, Hematology, Oncology, Stem Cell Transplantation and Regenerative Medicine Division and is also a member of Stanford’s Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. Dr. Czechowicz’s primary clinical interests are in bone marrow failure (including Fanconi anemia and aplastic anemia) and other diseases that necessitate or could benefit from stem
cell transplantation. Her primary research interests are in hematopoietic stem cell biology, transplantation, gene-therapy/ gene-editing and regenerative medicine. Multiple pre-clinical and clinical therapies are in development based upon her studies. Dr. Czechowicz completed her Ph.D. work in Developmental Biology at Stanford University with Prof. Irv Weissman. She then completed her residency in Pediatrics at the Boston Children’s Hospital, and subsequently pursued subspecialty training in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute while simultaneously conducting postdoctoral research with Prof. Derrick Rossi in collaboration with Prof. David Scadden. She received her M.D., Ph.D., and Bachelor’s Degree from Stanford University.

Michael J. Danaher Partner, Wilson Sonsini
Magdalena Diering PhD, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Poznan University of Technology, USPTC
Beata Drzazga President, BetaMed
Prof. Krzysztof Dyczkowski Dean of Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań
Lech J. Dzienis Chair, CRASP Committee for Cooperation with Polonia; member, EUA Research Policy Working Group
George Flowers Dean, Graduate School, Auburn University

Michael Danaher is a partner in the corporate and securities practice at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he has practiced for 20 years. He provides general corporate representation to public and private companies in technology and life sciences industries. Mike’s transactional work includes private financings, public offerings, mergers and acquisitions,
and corporate partnerships, both domestic and cross-border.
Mike has one of the most active practices in the country representing venture-backed companies. He chairs the committee responsible for promoting innovation in the firm’s venture capital practice and also serves on the investment committee for the firm’s affiliated fund, the WS Investment Company. In addition, Mike previously served as a member of the firm’s Policy Committee.

Dr. Magdalena Diering, Assistant Professor at the Poznan University of Technology (PUT), Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Management, Chair of Management and Production Engineering. She is an education quality specialist. She is an expert in statistical measurement and control system analysis. Trainer in quality engineering (MSA,
SixSigma, APQP, Lean). Her interests focus also on project management and science commercialization. She has extensive experience in organizational, scientific, and structural project management. At work, she promotes a culture of teamwork and innovation among Polish scientists and entrepreneurs. She is a graduate of the Top 500 Innovators program at Stanford University (2012). She is the Vice-President of the USPTC Board in Poland and Program Coordinator of the US-Poland Innovation HUB.

Beata Drzazga, President of BetaMed S.A., founder and owner of Poland’s largest medical company offering home nursing services. After years of work in the national health care system, she set up her own business and now helps about 5,000 patients and employs more than 3,000 people. Currently, BetaMed S.A. is the largest medical company in Poland, providing long-term care and mechanical ventilation services, both in the patient’s home and in a stationary facility in Chorzów.
Beata Drzazga is an expert in the field of healthcare management.

His main research interests are computational intelligence methods in decision making, computer vision and natural language modeling. Currently he is working on an intelligent decision system supporting the diagnosis of ovarian cancer – OvaExpert. He received Microsoft Research Azure Award (2015) and IBM Faculty Award (2010). Member of IEEE Computational Intelligence Society and European Society for Fuzzy Logic and Tech­nology (EUSFLAT). He has many years of experience in IT project management. Co-founder and longtime CEO of an IT company producing and implementing an ERP class system. He is a graduate of the Top 500 Innovators program at Stanford University (2012). He was a co-organizer of US-Poland Innovation HUB.

Chair, CRASP Committee for Cooperation with Polonia; member, EUA Research Policy Working Group member. Author of 60 monographs, 75 articles and papers, 1 monograph book and 2 academic books, and co-author of over 30 scientific research publications. Moreover, was in charge of 5 State Committee for Scientific Research grants, supervised 8 Ph.D. dissertations, as well as over 100 master and engineer theses. Gained experience at the Moscow Civil Engineering Institute (USSR), University of South Florida (USA) and the University of Connecticut (USA), among others. His knowledge and experience is used by actively participating in numerous scientific, expert and professional societies. He was a member of the Council of Podlasie Regional Chamber of Civil Engineers. Next was an expert of the Foundation EKOFUNDUSZ, expert in environmental impact assessment on the list of the Podlaski Voivode and a member of the Committee of Environmental Engineering of Polish Academy of Sciences in the years 2012-2015. Since 2009 he had been the President of the Supervisory Board of Bialystok Water-Supply Company. Moreover, together with a group
of friends he acted in economic and business fields within the Project Research Office PROEKO and the company BSK-BIOGEST. Author of a series of innovative solutions in the field of technology, the design engineer of more than 120 sewage treatment plants and water-supply and sewage systems. He is a pioneer in Poland of implementation of autothermic aerobic sludge digestion installations and innovative odor-control systems for sewage treatment plants.
Rector of the Bialystok University of Technology in the years 2012-2020

Dean of the Graduate School and Professor of Mechanical Engineering. George Flowers is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Auburn University and the Dean of the Graduate School. He received the BME degree from Auburn University in 1984 and the MSME and Ph.D. degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1985 and 1988,
respectively. He was an assistant professor with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of South Florida, from 1988 to 1990. He joined the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Auburn University
in 1990 as an assistant professor and became a full professor in 2002. He became Dean of the Graduate School in 2008.
His research interests are in the areas of dynamics, vibration, and control, with a focus on electronic packaging and electrical contacts. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, an Associate Fellow in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and is the current Vice-Chair of the Operating Committee for the IEEE Holm Conference on Electrical Contacts.

Andrzej Garbacz Chairman, ITB Scientific Council
Tomasz Goliński PhD, Founder & General Partner, CofounderZone
prof. Tomasz Górecki Vice-Dean for grants and cooperation with business of Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań
Lukas Grabiec Google, BoD USPTC
Aleksandra (Alex) Gren, Founder and President, Leopolda Wild Foundation
Robert Hryniewicz Director of Product Marketing, Cloudera

Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Warsaw University of Technology. He is a graduate of the Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering of the Warsaw University of Technology. He has been working at the Faculty of Civil Engineering since 1991, currently as a professor. In the years 2012-2016 he was the director of the Institute of Building Engineering.
He is a lecturer of the following subjects: Engineering of Building Materials, Technology of Polymer Composites, Assessment of the Condition of Materials in Construction, Repair of Concrete Structures, and a promoter of over 50 diploma theses.

Tomasz Goliński is Founder and General Partner at CofounderZone, whose aim is to build an ecosystem where two coexisting worlds can find common ground to cooperate. One world is represented by innovative enterprises, utilizing
new technologies or non-linear business models, but lacking resources to scale up. The other world is dominated by corporations equipped with abundance of knowledge, assets and often longing for new ideas. Tomasz’s education: Stanford University – Kosciuszko Foundation, Ph.D. Fellow (2015 – 2016); Poznań University of Economics, Poland – Ph.D. in Economics (2011 – 2016); Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland – Postgraduate Studies, Faculty of Law and Administration (2011 – 2012); Poznań University of Economics, Poland – M.Sc. in Economics, Private Finance Management (2009 – 2011); University of Applied Sciences in Osnabrück, Germany – International Business
and Management (2008 – 2009); Poznań University of Economics, Poland – B.Sc. in Economics, Business Strategies and Economic Policy in a Global Economy (2006 – 2009).

Tomasz Górecki is a professor at the Department of Mathematical Statistics and Data Analysis of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań. His main research interests relate to methods of artificial intelligence, machine learning and time series analysis and their applications. He has many years of experience in cooperation with the industry, incl. Lidl, Samsung, OLX and Allegro. In addition, for years he has been cooperating with specialists in other fields of science, including economics, chemistry, geography or transport, combining practice with theory.

Lukas Grabiec is Senior Corporate Counsel at Wing (an Alphabet company) and for the past 14 years held senior positions at Uber (Autonomous Vehicle team), GoDaddy, Microchip Technology, Intel Corporation, and Honeywell International. Lukas was recognized in the legal community as the “Up and Comer” Attorney of the Year for 2012 by the Association of Corporate Counsel and Arizona Business Magazine and also was selected to the prestigious School for Leaders (Szkoła Liderów) program in Warsaw, Poland sponsored by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Office of the President of Poland. He is heavily involved in various organizations including being the Chairman of the State Bar of Arizona In-House Counsel Committee, current Director and founding member of the US-Poland Trade Council (USPTC) Office in Arizona, Mentor at the US-Poland Innovation Hub in Silicon Valley, and frequent lecturer across the U.S. and Europe including at Cambridge University, the University of Arizona, the Stanford Center for Professional Development at Stanford University. Lukas received his Juris Doctorate (JD) from Case Western Reserve University, his MBA from École de Hautes Études Commerciales (EDHEC) (France), a B.S. in Political Science from the University of Houston Honors College as well as a Certificate of Polish Studies from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. During law school he worked with the U.N. Special Court for Sierra Leone and wrote briefs helping prosecute War Criminals. This UN project which was organized by Case Western, American University and the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Lukas has been featured or interviewed by CNBC, TVP (Telewizja Polska) POLVISION – Kulisy Suksesu (tv program), Arizona Attorney Magazine, Gazeta.pl, Tygodnik Angora, FoxSports, Sport.pl, and Przeglad Sportowy.

A FinTech and Banking Technology senior executive with Fortune 500 US-based leading technology company and Non-Executive Director with over 25 years of experience in the financial services technology sector in the US and EMEA. Member of the Board of Trustees at Vital Voices Europe in London, UK, the European arm of Washington-based Vital Voices Global Partnership, investing in women leaders around the world. Through her business and social impact activities, Alex is focused on creating value for all stakeholders, pushes the boundaries and brings people together to invest in sustainable and impactful initiatives. Holds a B.A. in International Relations from University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada and an MSc in European Policy Making from London School of Economics in London, UK. In 2015,
participated in the prestigious Fortune Most Powerful Women/US State Department Global Mentoring Program in the US, matching emerging global women leaders with US-based women CEOs. Job shadowed Katheen Murphy,
President of Fidelity Personal Investing in Boston, USA. In 2016 and 2018, shortlisted in the Top 10 for the “Woman in Technology” Award by the Banking Technology Awards in London and in the Paytech Leadership Award in July 2018 respectively, recognizing individual contributions to the innovation in IT in the payment industry. Invited to the 2016
Leadership Exchange Program by the Forum for Dialogue Foundation, a program co-organized with the American Jewish Committee in the US. In October 2018, named the winner of the 2018 Goldman Sachs & Fortune Global Women Leaders Award in the US, recognizing global women leaders paying it forward. In March 2019, named Global Ambassador by Bank
of America at the BoA’s Global Ambassadors Program advancing women’s economic empowerment through leadership development and skill-building. In 2019, launched a youth empowerment and entrepreneurship-focused
foundation in the name of her great grandmother, Leopolda Wild. A trusted adviser to leaders, mentor and a mother of four children.

Robert is the Director of Product Marketing at Cloudera driving messaging and technical content on the Enterprise Data Cloud (EDC) and the integrated data lifecycle. Prior to Cloudera, Robert was an AI evangelist at Hortonworks, CTO at Authentise (a 3D printing security & analytics startup at Singularity Labs), Software Engineer at Cisco, NASA et al. Robert’s graduate work at Case Western Reserve University focused on AI & robotics, including early work on autonomous vehicles. He is a frequent speaker at enterprise data conferences.

Mariusz Jankowski Director, Investor Assistance Department, Katowice City Hall
Teofil Jesionowski Rector, Poznan University of Technology; President, Conference of Rectors of Polish Universities of Technology - CRPUT
Bogumiła Kaniewska Rector, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Chairwoman of the Conference of Rectors of Polish Universities
Maria Kaszynska Professor, President, Polish Assoc. of Construction Engineers and Technicians
Jędrzej Kociński Chair of Acoustics, Physics Department, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań; Co-Founder and VP Regulatory StethoMe
Michał Kosiński Associate Professor, Stanford Graduate School of Business

A graduate of Inter – faculty Individual Studies in the Humanities at the University of Silesia in Katowice. An M.A. in Political Science and Sociology, a PhD Student. Currently a local government employee and a social activist.
Adistinguished advocate of downtown revitalization and the return to city centers. Before the EU accession referendum, he had worked at the Regional Center of European Information in Katowice. Following his studies in Germany, he was involved in the creation of the Silesian Metropolis at the office of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Association. A schol arship beneficiary of the “Carl Friedrich Goerdeler Kolleg für Good Government” Program, Robert Bosh Foundation.
Mayor’s Representative in charge for Investors’ Service at Chorzów City Hall since 2015 and the Director of Investors Assistance Department at Katowice City Hall since 2019.

Professor Teofil Jesionowski Rector of the Poznan University of Technology (PUT), the Chair of the Conference of Rectors of Polish Technical Universities, member of the Board of the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland.
Since 2020 member of Polish Academy of Science. He also serves as the head of the Chemical Technology Department.
In period of 2016-2020 vice-rector for LLL & International Education, and from 2008-2016, he was deputy-dean of the Faculty of Chemical Technology at PUT. Prof. Teofil Jesionowski received the title of professor of chemical sciences in 2013. His research interests include the synthesis, characterisation and applications of advanced functional materials,
functional fillers and polymer composites; activators of rubber compounds, (bio)additives and eco-friendly fillers; biomineralization – inspired syntheses and Extreme Biomimetics; biocomposites and biomaterials; removal
of wastewater pollutants via adsorption, photocatalysis or precipitation methods; pigment composites; enzyme immobilisation; colloid chemistry and surface modification; hybrid systems, biopolymers and biosensors.
He has published over 450 publications indexed by Thomson Reuters JCR. He is also a co-creator of over 45 patents and patent applications. His publications received over 9,900 citations (h index = 45). He is the co-author of chapters
in numerous monographs, published in renowned publishing houses (Springer, Wiley, InTech, etc.); and a scholarship holder of the Foundation for Polish Science. He is also a member of editorial boards of scientific journals: Dyes and Pigments – Elsevier, Physicochemical Problems of Mineral Processing. Nowadays serves as Section Editor in Chief Molecules journal (MDPI) and member of editorial board/associate editor of Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group).

Prof. Bogumiła Kaniewska (Professor, Ph.D., D.Litt.) is Rector of Adam Mickiewicz University and professor of Polish Studies specializing in contemporary fiction. Rector Kaniewska is the chairwoman of the Conference of Rectors of Polish Universities. She was involved in research followed by several spectacular successes such as the acquisition and implementation of the POKL project called “Adjusting the model of education of Polish philology students
to the challenges of the modern labor market”. Between 2009-2012 prof. Kaniewska was responsible for modernizing the teaching process in this 15-million grant. She was also participating in an international E-LOCAL project, co-created by universities from Belgium, Finland, Portugal, and Hungary, and coordinated by the University of Bologna.
Prof. Kaniewska represents AMU in EPICUR consortium, an assembly of universities from Poznan, Strasbourg, Freiburg, Amsterdam, Karlsruhe, Vienna, Saloniki and Mulhouse, which is one of 17. structures across European Union. Among others, prof. Kaniewska has authored “First Person Narration in contemporary Polish Fiction”, “Following Tristam Shandy’s Steps” and “A Story Has Been Told”. Moreover, she has written about works by Wiesław Myśliwski as well as authored popular scholarly works and co-authored a number of academic and school textbooks on literature and multilinguistic connections between literary works. As a literary critic, she publishes her articles in a magazine “Nowe Książki”.
Her scholarly interests include children fiction, which she also translates from English. Professor Kaniewska is the Head of the Department of Semiotics and Literature, a unit of the Institute of Polish Studies, AMU. Formerly she was the Dean of the Faculty of Polish Studies and Classical Languages.

Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture of the West Pomeranian University of Technology in 2012–2020 and a member of the Committee for Civil and Water Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences. She is the author of over 100 articles and lectures on concrete technology and a valued organizer of scientific and technical conferences „Building Failures”. For years, she has been active in the Polish Association of Construction Engineers and Technicians, acting as the chairman of the Szczecin Branch, being a member of the Main Board of PZITB and a member and chairman of the PZITB Science Committee.

Assoc. Professor and Chair of Acoustics, Physics Department, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań; Co-Founder and VP Regulatory StethoMe sp. z o.o.; has over 15 years of research experience in the field of signal processing, speech intelligibility, and psychoacoustics. StethoMe is a startup which created the world’s first electronic stethoscope with artificial intelligence algorithms for respiratory system monitoring. Jędrzej supervises StethoMe (stethoscope)
and StethoMe AI (artificial intelligence algorithms) CE certification in the notified body, he was also responsible for ensuring the compliance of both devices with the requirements of medical standards.

Associate Professor in Organizational Behavior at Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He studies humans in a digital environment using cutting-edge computational methods, AI and Big Data. He has co-authored Modern Psychometrics, a popular textbook, and published over 90 peer-reviewed papers in leading journals including Nature Scientific Reports, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Psychological Science, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JPSP), and Machine Learning, that have been cited over 14,000 times. His research
inspired a cover of The Economist, a 2014 theatre play “Privacy”, multiple TED talks, a video game, and was discussed in thousands of books, press articles, podcasts, and documentaries. Michał was behind the first press article warning against Cambridge Analytica, research warning against the privacy risks that they have exploited, and research examining the efficiency of the methods they used. Michał Kosiński holds a doctorate in psychology from the University of Cambridge and master’s degrees in psychometrics and in social psychology. He was the Deputy Director of the University of Cambridge Psychometrics Centre, a researcher at Microsoft Research, and a post-doctoral scholar at Stanford’s Computer
Science Department.

Luke Kowalski Vice President, Oracle
Marcin Kraska Vice President, Research and Development, Łukasiewicz Research Network
Marcin Krupa President, Katowice
Michał Kurtyka 2018-2021 Minister of Climate and Environment of Poland, President COP XXIV - 2018
Prof. Michael Lepech Professor, Stanford University; Vice-Chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department
Mike Lyons CEO, ICEYE US

Vice President, Oracle. Luke Kowalski is recognized for his loyalty and pragmatism, but he also excels in his ability to work across disciplines. He has executed projects involving legal issues (antitrust, IP, audits, litigation), acquisitions (due diligence, integration, or divestitures), technical standards (document formats), government affairs (EU/USA trade,
IP reform, repatriation), and even managed functions like physical security, user interface design and accessibility.
He currently serves as a VP in the corporate architecture group at Oracle reporting to one of Larry Ellison’s EVPs.
Before coming to Oracle, he worked for various startups in technical, design, and business roles, as well as for Netscape’s Server and E-commerce divisions. He holds several patents and professional certifications, serves as an ISO representative for the US through ANSI, and lectures frequently at conferences and universities. His educational background includes advanced degrees from UTA, Pratt Institute, and Columbia University. He is currently teaching a blockchain challenge
lab at UC Berkeley’s Engineering School on Mondays and pursuing a distance learning PhD at the University of Leicester in his free time.

Manager and scientist with over 14 years of experience in management, including at an R&D facility. Doctor of Economic Sciences (Poznań University of Economics). Prior to joining Centrum Łukasiewicz, Mr Kraska held the position of Director of the Institute of Logistics and Warehousing, where he also served as Head of the Centre for E-Economy. Member of the organisational team behind the formation of the Łukasiewicz Research Network. Expert in research, development and management of national and international e-economy projects. For years, Mr Kraska has been actively involved in the development of e-government in Poland and the European Union. As a leader, he managed the implementation of a pilot version of the Single Point of Contact project in Poland (biznes.gov.pl), and cross-border digital public services projects within the EU’s Large Scale Pilot; also co-authored proposals to simplify the law and optimise processes to remove barriers to the digitisation of public services. Business leader of the Digital Public Services stream and the Portal of the Republic of Poland as part of the ‘From paper to digital Poland’ Programme. Previously worked in the banking sector, with a focus on credit risk management. Co-author of the first two books on credit scoring published in Poland. Author of over 50 publications, including articles, studies and books on e-economy and banking. Co-author of feasibility studies and financial analyses. Intern at the University of Bordeaux and the University of Geneva.

A graduate of the Faculty of Transport of the Silesian University of Technology (doctoral dissertation in the field of Machine Construction and Operation). He worked as an assistant professor at the same university. He also completed postgraduate studies in Organization Management. Mr. Krupa is a tax expert for means of car transport and Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Koleje Śląskie. In the years 2006–2010 he was a councilor of the Katowice City Council, and in 2010–2014 he was the deputy mayor of Katowice. In 2014, he announced his election program – “Agreement with the inhabitants of Katowice”, and was elected the president of Katowice. In 2018, after winning the first round of the elections, he was re-elected to the office of president. He was the Plenipotentiary for the creation of a metropolitan union in the Silesian Voivodeship, with statutory rights to prepare the organizational and legal union. He is a member of the board of the Union of Communes and Poviats of the Central Subregion of the Silesian Voivodeship and the co-chairman of the team for infrastructure, local development, regional policy and the environment at the Joint Government and Local Government Committee of which he is a member.

Michał Kurtyka was the Minister of Climate and Environment of Poland in 2018-2021. In April 2018, he was appointed as Government Plenipotentiary for the Presidency of COP24 – the United Nations Climate Summit in Poland. In December 2018, he became the COP24 President, which ended with a success. At the 24th UN climate summit, the international community agreed on the Katowice Rulebook, implementing the Paris Agreement. He is a graduate of the prestigious Parisian École Polytechnique and a scholarship holder in the field of quantum optics of the National Institute of Standards and Technologies, located near Washington, D.C., where he worked under the leadership of Nobel laureate in physics William D. Phillips. During the course of his studies, he also specialised in economics, with particular focus on market organisation, studying under Professor Jean Tirole, the 2014 Nobel laureate in economics. In the field of international economics, he studied at the University in Louvain-la-Neuve and he acquired his master’s degree at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics. He defended his doctoral dissertation at the University of Warsaw. He was a lecturer in the field of change management, economics, market organization and industrial strategy at the University of Warsaw, the Collegium Civitas and the Oxford Programme On Modern Poland. He is a co-author of the concept of implementation of effective changes in an enterprise, described in the book Change Management. From Strategy to Action, as well as the author of the book From Restructuring to Modernisation. Delayed Transformation of the Polish Power Sector in 1990–2009. He began
his professional career in the Office of the Committee for European Integration, in the team of Minister Jan Kułakowski –
responsible for conducting accession negotiations with the European Union – where he led the analytical team and was directly responsible for the field of energy and transport. Later, he oversaw the modernisation of many Polish companies by supporting them in adapting to the challenges of the European and global markets. He was a promoter of European cooperation in the area of industrial change and adjustment of the European industry to the challenges of globalisation at,
among others, the European University of Labour and the Dublin Foundation.

ssor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University. Professor Lepech’s research focuses on the integration of sustainability indicators into engineering design,
ranging from materials design, structural design, system design, to operations management. Such sustainability indicators include a comprehensive set of environmental, economic, and social costs. Recently his research has focused on the design of sustainable high-performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composites (HPFRCCs) and fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs), the impacts of sustainable materials on building and infrastructure design and operation, and the development of new life cycle assessment (LCA) applications for building systems, transportation systems, water systems, consumer products. Along with this, he is studying the effects that slowly diffusing sustainable civil engineering innovations, and the social networks they diffuse through can have on achieving long-term sustainability goals.

Mr. Lyons is currently Chairman and CEO of RapidAscent, Inc., a cyber security-focused academy addressing the lack of experientially trained experts needed to reduce corporate risk-of-loss. He also serves as Chairman of OPLevel, an advanced AI driven data security and traceability platform. He also serves in Board of Director roles for PrecisionOS,
a VR enabled surgical education platform, and Real-Time Innovations (www.rti.com), focused on advanced real-time integration of complex systems and a major thought leader in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). He is an Operating Partner at Riphean Investments, a venture capital firm focused on National Security. In addition, he is a Partner with the Ratio Academy, a developer of online and corporate entrepreneurship and tech company management programs delivered worldwide. He was formerly Chairman of CypherPath, a converged infrastructure virtualization company, sold to Mantech, and former Chairman of Shadow Networks, Inc. a cyber security company acquired by Alcalvio in 2016; both were based on technology developed through a tech transfer partnership with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
He is a Managing Director of Newline Ventures, LLC, a management consulting firm. Additionally, from 2008 to 2011, he served as a Venture Partner with the Paladin Capital Group in Washington, D.C. and as a Venture Partner for ePlanet Ventures I and II. He was a co-founder and General Partner of Zilkha Venture Partners (Fund closed out in 2003), an early-stage venture capital partnership focused on seed and first round investments in IT and bio-technology companies, principally located in Silicon Valley. That fund was top 5 percentile rated by Cambridge. He founded SafeView, Inc. in 2002, a Government Laboratory (PNNL) spinout, to address aspects of the anti-terrorist physical security market; the Company closed A and B rounds totaling more than $23M led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, ePlanet Ventures,
GE/Invision, Paladin Capital Group, and Novak Biddle. He served as Chairman until its sale to L3 Harris in March,2006. This technology is now the security standard in airports worldwide. Concurrently, Mr. Lyons is an Adjunct Professor
at the Stanford University Departments of Management Science and Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering. Serving in the Stanford position since 1988, he was a co-developer and funder of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program with Prof. Tom Byers and the founding professor of Technology Venture Formation- now merged with Entrepreneurship for The Real Economy. Both of these courses are some of the highest rated courses in the School of Engineering.
He is the co-creator of the Stanford Innovation and Entrepreneurship two-week program for existing high-tech companies produced and managed by the Stanford Center for Professional Development (SCPD). This program has just completed its ninth year. He has co-produced and delivered numerous other SCPD and STVP programs. He is a co-founder of the Ratio Academy focused on creating training platforms for entrepreneurial education that has co-developed an online program with SCPD called Idea to Market (I2M) which is now available online, worldwide. From 1980 to 1991, he was a co-founder, a Vice-President, and a Director of Integrated Systems Inc. (INTS, founded 1980), a leading implementer of high-performance real- time control systems for aircraft, automotive, and manufacturing applications. INTS was fundamentally a spinout
from the Lockheed Palo Alto Research Lab and Systems Control, Inc. The Company was merged with WindRiver Systems in 1999. WindRiver was acquired by Intel in 2009. Mr. Lyons received a Bachelors and Masters (equivalent) in Engineering Physics from Cornell University, an MSEE from Stanford, did Ph.D research in Aero/Astro at Stanford (abd) and an MBA,
with Distinction, from the Pepperdine Presidential/Key Executive Program. He is a graduate of the Stanford/AEA Institute for the Management of High Technology Companies and a Price-Babson Fellow in Entrepreneurship Education.
He holds an FAA multi-Engine Airline Transport Pilot License and Certified Flight Instructor Certificates for Instrument and Multi-Engine Aircraft and was a line instructor for Flight Safety International. He is an avid sailor and motorcyclist.

Michał Łakomski Director of the Digitization and Cybersecurity Office, Mayor's Proxy for Smart City, City of Poznan
Paul Marca retired Assoc. Vice Provost and Director of Stanford Center for Professional Development
Arkadiusz Mężyk Rector, Silesian University of Technology; President, CRASP
Radoslaw L. Michalowski Professor, University of Michigan
Celina Mikołajczak Vice President of Manufacturing Engineering, QuantumScape
Wojciech Misiołek Chair, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Lehigh University

Michal Lakomski is the Mayor’s Proxy for Smart City and the Director of Digitalization and Cybersecurity for the city of Poznan. A graduate of the Poznan University and a respected smart city expert. Michal has been the driving force behind Poznan’s digital transformation since 2017. Responsible for the implementation of innovative systems and e-services for both the residents of Poznan and the employees of Poznan City Hall. Michal is a champion of innovation with a keen interest in open data and new technologies. He is a regular speaker at national and international conferences.

He has spent 29 years in various roles at Stanford and currently directs a portfolio of over 250 graduate and professional courses annually to industry. He has been instrumental in developing and implementing an international portfolio which includes Singapore, China, India, Korea, Malaysia, Brazil, United Arab Emirates and in numerous European countries including France, Germany, Denmark and Sweden. In 2013, he launched a joint online non-credit certificate program between the School of Engineering and the Graduate School of Business: the Stanford Innovation and Entrepreneurship certificate. This is the first formal online education cooperation between the schools. He has also developed a number of innovative university-industry and university-university partnerships to extend Stanford’s educational reach with effective ‘go-to- market strategies’, including the award-winning Stanford Advanced Project Management program and the Strategic Decision and Risk Management program. Paul has also advised universities, corporations and governmental organizations how to develop and extend education as a means to sustain innovation. Externally, Paul has served as an advisor to numerous startups including xBrain, providing the automotive industry a connected car platform. Paul serves the International Association for Continuing Engineering Education (IACEE) as a council member and First Vice President. He has also presented keynote speeches and workshops around the globe on connecting innovation, strategy and execution. Paul has a B.A. in Communication, with an emphasis in Television & Film production, from Stanford University.

Rector, Silesian University of Technology; President, CRASP. Rector of the Silesian University of Technology in years 2016-2020 and 2020-2024, dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Technological in the years 2012-2016.
Graduated in mechanics and mechanical engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Silesian University
of Technology in 1987. In 1994, he defended with honors a doctoral dissertation in the discipline of construction and operation of machines, and a dissertation habilitation, also with honors, in 2002. In 2007, the President of the Republic of Poland gave him the title of professor in the field of technical sciences. Prof. Arkadiusz Mężyk PhD. Eng. is an outstanding
specialist in many areas – from issues dynamic mechanics of continuous media, through the use of numerical methods in the analysis stereomechanical machine structures, including hybrid vehicles, to construction high-speed military vehicles.

Ph.D. 1980, Civil Engineering, Technical University of Poznan (Poland), and Institute of Fundamental Technol. Research (Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw). M.S. 1974, Civil Engineering, Technical University of Poznan. 1999-present, Professor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; formerly The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (1990-1999), and University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (1981-1984, 1986-1990). Research Interests: Geomechanics, Flow of Granular Media,
Micromechanics of sand, Plasticity and Limit Analysis, Reinforced Soil, Stability of Earth Structures, Frost Action in Soils. Honors and Awards: The J.S. Braun/Braun Intertec Professorship in Science and Technology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 2015, 2008; Kersten Lecturer, Minnesota Geotechnical Society and UofMn, 2014; MTS Visiting
Professor of Geomechanics, University of Minnesota, 2012, 2006; APEA ‚Tribute Award’ (American Polish Engineerin Association), 2010; The life title of Professor awarded by the President of Poland, 2009; Monroe-Brown Foundation Education Excellence Award, University of Michigan College of Engineering, 2005; Warren Lecturer, University of Minnesota,
2005; Teacher of the Year Award, ASCE, 2003-2004; James M. Robbins Excellence in Teaching Award for the Great Lakes District of Chi Epsilon, 2002-2003; ASCE Faculty Advisor Award, 2001, 2002; Fellow, American Society of Civil Engineers, elected in 2001; Chi Epsilon, Faculty Member, elected in 2001; Fulbright Fellow, International Council for Exchange of Scholars, 1981-1984.

As QuantumScape’s Chief Manufacturing Officer, Celina Mikolajczak leads teams spanning the battery development process — from materials sourcing and cell engineering to automation equipment design and EH&S — and is responsible for bringing QuantumScape solid-state technology into mass production. Celina has held several leadership roles in her more than 20 years of working in Li-ion batteries. Prior to joining QuantumScape, she was Vice President of Engineering and Battery Technology at Panasonic Energy of North America, which produces Li-ion cells for Tesla
at the Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada. Celina worked at Uber as Director of Battery Engineering, leading the design of battery packs for micro-mobility and urban air mobility applications. Before that, she led Cell Quality and Materials
Engineering at Tesla as the company launched its Model S, Model X, Model 3, Powerwall and Powerpack products.
Celina has a particular passion for battery safety; she frequently publishes and speaks on the topic and has served
on various Li-ion battery safety standards committees. Earlier in her career, she helped found the battery consulting
group at Exponent and developed battery failure analysis techniques and safety standards related to consumer
electronics devices.

Dr. Misiolek is an internationally recognized leader in the field of materials forming and processing with more than 30 years of independent research project management, teaching, and consulting. As both Chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Director of The Loewy Institute at Lehigh University, he collaborates with several research institutions around the world. He conducts interdisciplinary research in materials processing and process engineering.
His research and teaching interests have focused on deformation, powder, and machining processes along with applications for structural and bio-materials. The common theme of these studies is to understand and develop characterization techniques for microstructure evolution in different materials during forming and processing. These
scientific challenges are being addressed by the use of various physical and numerical modeling procedures in conjunction with state-of-the-art materials characterization techniques. Dr. Misiolek has contributed more than 300 publications to the research literature. He served as co-director of the RPI Aluminum Processing Program, an international industrial consortium performing pre-competitive interdisciplinary research that focused mainly on the aluminum extrusion process. He holds
two patents and has been recognized with several awards from technical and academic organizations. He is a Fellow of American Society for Materials International and member of: American Powder Metallurgy Institute; Polonia Technica; Society of Manufacturing Engineers; and Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.

Zbigniew Nawrat Professor, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice
Michał Nehring University of California, Berkeley
Mirosław Niedziński Director of Standardization & Group Leader Prod Dev Defense, Constellium
Prof. Andrzej Nowak President, Council of Polish Eng. in N.A., Chair, CEE Dept. Auburn University
Daria Pawęda Director, Volkswagen Bank, Poland
Shana Penn Executive Director, Taube Philanthropies

Zbigniew Nawrat is a theoretical physicist, who devoted his professional life to advancing the field of medical robotics and artificial organs. He pioneered research in the artificial organs domain, especially heart valve prostheses and blood pumps (POLVAD), and created the Robin Heart surgical robot. He developed the
application of computer simulation in surgical planning and founded the International Society for Medical Robotics and Bio-Cybernetics Laboratory.

French-American educated, Michał takes a special interest in international affairs. During his time at Sciences Po Paris, he acquired knowledge in the field of public policy which he was able to put into practice at the Ministry of Climate and Environment in Poland, where he was involved in Minister Michał Kurtyka’s campaign for OECD Secretary-General.
He also assisted in developing the market design of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. Currently studying at University of California, Berkeley, Michał examines the possible applications of modern statistical prediction in economics and studies the tools and impacts of monetary economics.

Mr. Miroslaw Niedzinski received BS and MS degrees in Materials Engineering from the University of Illinois. He also obtained a Masters in Management and Finance (MBA) from Illinois Institute of Technology. For 30 years he has been working in the aircraft industry. By the end of the 90’s, he was promoted to position of Vice President of Technology and Quality Control at McCook Metals. Since 2005 he has been the Director of Technology and Product Development at Constellium, a manufacturer of aluminum products for aerospace and Defense. He is responsible for the technical exchange between Europe-Asia-United States and the introduction of new alloys and production methods used in Space,
Aeronautics and Defense. He was part of a 12-man team of NASA, Lockheed Martin and Reynolds Metals employees, who were responsible for the construction of the new generation of Space Shuttle rockets which used Aluminum-Lithium technology. In 1996, he was awarded a prestigious NASA award by astronaut Mark Lee. Mgr. Mr. Mirosław Niedzinski
has three patents related to the new aluminum-lithium alloys and numerous publications in technical magazines.
Mirosław Niedziński was also the President of the Association of Polish American Engineers, which represents Illinois engineers and scientists and Vice President of the Council of Polish Engineers in North America.

A graduate of the Warsaw University of Technology, in the United States since 1976, currently the dean of Civil Faculty Engineering at Auburn University. Before that, he was a professor at the University of Nebraska, University of Michigan and the State University of New York. His main scientific field is the theory of reliability and its applications. He made a fundamental contribution to the development of the American AASHTO bridge standard and ACI 318. Prof. Nowak
is an honorary doctor of the Warsaw University of Technology, an honorary professor of the Cracow University of Technology, he received the title of professor from the hands of the President of the Republic of Poland. He is the
president of the Polish Council Engineers in North America and was awarded the Officer’s Order of Polonia Restituta, Moisseiff Medal (American Society of Civil Engineers), Bene Merentibus Medal (Warsaw University of Technology), and Casimir Gzowski Medal (Canadian Society of Civil Engineering). Prof. Andrzej S. Nowak is a Fellow of the American
Society of Civil Engineers, and Fellow of the American Concrete Institute. He is the supervisor of 41 doctoral students.

Daria Pawęda – Director of Business Development and Customer Service Department in Volkswagen Bank GmbH (Branch
in Poland). Responsible for 4 divisions: Division of Digitalization, Operations and Sales Support, Division of Credits, Cards and Direct Sales, Division of Car Dealers Financing and Division of Marketing and Online Sales. She is graduated from 3 university faculties: Finances and Banking Systems (University of Łódź), Information Technologies in Business (Polish-Japanese Academy of Information Technology), Journalism and Social Communication
(University of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński).

Shana is Executive Director of Taube Philanthropies and a scholar-in-residence at the Graduate Theological Union’s Center for Jewish Studies, in Berkeley. Her award-winning book, Solidarity’s Secret: The Women Who Defeated Communism in Poland (University of Michigan Press, 2005) was published in Polish in 2014 as Sekret Solidarnosci (W.A.B. Publishers).
She has a Master’s degree in European Studies from Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Other books include Gender Politics and Everyday Life in Central and Eastern Europe, co-edited with Jill Massino (Palgrave USA 2009) and chapters in Beacon Book of Essays by Contemporary American Women Writers edited by Wendy Martin (Beacon Press 1996), and the Routledge
Handbook of Women in Central and Eastern Europe (Routledge, 2020).

Bartosz Piasecki Advisor to the Executive Director, International Monetary Fund
Krzysztof Pietraszkiewicz President, Polish Bank Association
Waldemar Priebe Professor, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas
Laurence Rilett Director, Auburn University Transportation Research Institute
Andrzej Rojek Chairman, Board of Directors, Jan Karski Educational Foundation
Mariusz Ruszel PhD, DSc, Associate Professor, Ignacy Lukasiewicz Institute for Energy Policy

Bartosz Piasecki is an experienced civil servant with strong expertise in World’s economy and finance. He gained experience in central government offices and international organizations. Bartosz currently holds the position of Advisor to the Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund. He is a part of the Leadership program at Stanford University
Graduate School of Business (2021-2022).

Pietraszkiewicz Krzysztof. President of the Polish Bank Association. A graduate of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Wrocław and Postgraduate Studies „Finance and Banking” at the Warsaw School of Economics.
Participant of managerial trainings at the Kellogg School of Management Northwestern University USA and at the Summer International Banking School in Australia, specializing in risk management. In the period from 1985 to 1991 he was employed in the Office of the Council of Ministers, successively as an advisor to the Vice-President of the Council of Ministers for health care and social insurance, director of the Cabinet of the Minister of the Member of the Council of Ministers – chairman of the Social and Political Committee of the Council of Ministers. During the „Round Table” sessions, he was the secretary of the Union Table, then the director of the Cabinet of the Head of the Office of the
Council of Ministers. Since 1991, he has been associated with the Polish Bank Association, where he has been the president of the Polish Bank Association since 2003. He is the author of a number of legal and organizational solutions for the Polish banking sector. He co-founded and was a member of supervisory or program authorities established with the participation of the Polish Bank Association, such institutions as Krajowa Izba Rozliczeniowa S.A., Bankowe Przedsiębiorstwo Telekomunikacyjne „Telbank” S.A., Warsaw Banking Institute, Banking Law Center, Biuro Informacji Kredytowej S.A.
and the Economic Information Office InfoMonitor S.A. He co-created, among others representation of the financial community in Brussels (2015), Banking Cyber Security Center (2016). Co-initiator of the establishment of the Non-Cash Payments Foundation (2017).

Dr. Priebe’s research merges biology with chemistry and focuses on the design and development of drugs that selectively target DNA and inhibitors of signaling and metabolic pathways important to tumor progression and survival.
He has a long term interest in the field of carbohydrates ranging from organic chemistry of carbohydrates to the exploitation of carbohydrate metabolism in normal cells and cancer cells. Dr. Priebe is noted for his successful development of new therapeutic entities for the treatment of cancer. During his career, he has generated an extensive library of distinct, novel cancer-fighting compounds (numbering in the thousands) covering many structural scaffolds and diverse therapeutic areas. The invention of these agents has led to many patents and numerous licenses. Three of his drugs are in clinical trials and several others are in different stages of preclinical development. In addition to his position
at M. D. Anderson, Dr. Priebe holds the title of Professor of Chemistry in the Republic of Poland. Dr. Priebe has published more than 200+ peer-reviewed journal articles and his work has led to over 40 patents. Additionally, he has organized at least 25 national and international conferences and been an invited lecturer on more than 150 occasions.

Larry Rilett, director of the Auburn University Transportation Research Institute (AUTRI), is one of the nation’s foremost transportation industry thought leaders. Rilett has been a principal investigator or co-principal investigator on more than 25 research projects pertaining to Intelligent Transportation Systems applications and large-scale transportation system
modeling. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 refereed journal papers and more than 100 conference papers.
He is also associate editor of the ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering and on the editorial board of the Journal of Intelligent Transportation Systems: Technology, Planning, and Operations. Before coming to Auburn to help launch AUTRI, Rilett directed both the University of Nebraska’s Mid-America Transportation Center and the Nebraska
Transportation Center.

Andrzej Rojek is a Board Chairman of Jan Karski Educational Foundation. He has been active in global finance since 1986.
He is presently a Senior Partner at Cornerstone Investment Management, a merchant bank. Andrzej was previously employed as the Managing Director at Advent Capital Management. Andrzej Rojek was one of the founders of Lydian Asset Management, the global hedge fund, established in 1999, and focused on convertible bonds and relative value credit investments. Mr. Rojek served as a managing director and partner at Bankers Trust and also with the convertibles groups
at Merrill Lynch. Mr. Rojek graduated with honors from the University of Warsaw in 1979 with a degree in economics.
He received his master’s degree in econometrics from Columbia University in 1985. Andrzej Rojek serves presently as a Vice Chair of the Board of the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York. He is involved in numerous charitable initiatives
in Poland ( POLIN Museum of History of Polish Jews) as well as in the U.S. (Polish Studies Chair at Columbia University). In 2012, Mr. Rojek was decorated by the President of the Republic of Poland, Bronisław Komorowski, with a Knight’s Cross of the Order for Merit of the Republic of Poland for his work with the Jan Karski U.S. Centennial Committee.

Mariusz Ruszel, PhD. Adjunct at the Department of Economics at the Faculty of Management of Rzeszow University of Technology, graduate of the Faculty of International and Political Studies, University of Lodz. Energy policy expert at the
K. Pułaski Foundation and energy and climate expert at the Kościuszko Institute. During the period 2006 – 2009, worked for Jan Kułakowski, a Member of the European Parliament. His research focuses on energy policy of Poland as well as European Union. The researcher has great international experience due to lecturing during Erasmus Fellowships: Banku Augstskola School of Business and Finance in Riga Latvia, Vives University College in Kortrijk in Belgium, KATHO University College in Kortrijk in Belgium, Université de Provence – Aix-Marseille in Marseille France, Université Libre de Bruxelles
in Bruxelles in Belgium. In 2014 he was a guest in the Department of Management at Ca’Foscari University in Venice Italy.
He is a member of the European International Studies Association and Polish Association for International Studies.

Dominik Schmidt Managing Director, QVT Investment
Christopher Sharp MD, Professor, Stanford University, Chief Medical Information Officer at Stanford Health Care
Michael Shellenberger Michael Shellenberger - President, Environmental Progress
Mateusz Sipa Vice Director Business Development and International Relations Bureau, City of Lodz
Marek Skulimowski President, Kościuszko Foundation
Sylwia Stawska Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Auburn University

Dr. Schmidt heads QVT’s Palo Alto office. He focuses primarily on technological investments. Prior to joining QVT
in May 2013, Dr. Schmidt was employed by Intel Corporation as Senior Director of Wireless Engineering from 2004 to 2010 and as Chief Technology Officer in the Intel Foundry from 2010 to 2013. Between 2000 and 2004, Dr. Schmidt co-founded and was the Chief Executive Officer of Airify Communications Corporation, a wireless multi-protocol semiconductor company, which was sold to Intel in August 2004. Prior to that he also co-founded Pixel Devices International, a CMOS
imaging company, in 1997, which was sold to Agilent in 2002 and served as Vice President of Technology there until 1999.
In addition, Dr. Schmidt has worked at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center/Argonne National Labs (from 1999 to 2004) and at Altera Corporation (as a Senior Engineer from 1989 to 1997). He has taught at U.C. Berkeley, Tsinghua University in Beijing and the International Technological University and written more than 70 technical papers and has over 90 patents. Dr. Schmidt earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering/Materials Science from U.C., Berkeley in 1989, an M.S.  in Electrical Engineering in 1995, an M.S. Management in 1998, a Ph.D. minor in Aeronautical Engineering, in 1999 and a Ph.D., Electrical Engineering in 2003 all from Stanford University.

Dr. Sharp serves as the Chief Medical Information Officer at Stanford Health Care, where he is a physician leader in the use
of innovative clinical technologies for the delivery of care. Dr. Sharp has responsibility to assure that clinical information systems work well for clinicians – and that clinicians are proficient and effective in their use of these systems in the care of our patients. He is accountable for driving the clinical strategy, design, enhancement, usability, adoption, and workflow integration of clinical information systems and digital health for Stanford Health Care. As Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine, Dr. Sharp maintains an active primary care and inpatient practice. He has published multiple academic articles on the impacts of clinical informatics in safety, outcomes, and clinician wellness. Dr. Sharp serves as
a mentor and educator for Stanford Clinical Informatics Fellows, junior faculty, and other trainees.

MTime Magazine „Hero of the Environment” and best-selling author of Apocalypse Never. Green Book Award winner, and the founder and president of Environmental Progress. He is the best-selling author of the critically acclaimed books, San Francisco: Why Progressives Ruin Cities (HarperCollins 2021), Apocalypse Never (HarperCollins 2020). Apocalypse Never has been translated into 15 languages including French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Korean, Hebrew, Lithuanian, Czech, Slovak, and Polish. He is a leading public intellectual on clean energy,” and “high priest” of the
environmental humanist movement for his writings and TED talks, which have been viewed over five million times.

Mateusz Sipa is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of the University of Lodz. He holds the position of Vice Director of the Bureau Business Development and International Relations, which is responsible for attracting new investors. He has been associated with the Łódź City Hall since 2015, where he acted as Investor Service Manager (2015-2019) and was responsible for promoting, advising & facilitating Foreign Direct Investments from all over the World into Lódź,
Poland. Mateusz is also a legal advisor specializing in corporate and real estate law.

Marek Skulimowski was elected President and Executive Director of the New York-based Kosciuszko Foundation in 2016. Skulimowski is an experienced former Polish diplomat, businessman, and philanthropist who is in charge of the Foundation’s mission of promoting education and Polish culture. During his tenure at the Kosciuszko Foundation,
Skulimowski transformed the building and artwork collection. He expanded the Polish language studies at American Universities and popularized the Teaching English in Poland Program. Skulimowski also focused on maximizing the number of awarded fellow recipients and fervently promoted Polish culture abroad. From 2011-2016 he served as Deputy Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York and as Political Counselor at the Embassy of Poland in Tel Aviv, Israel. Skulimowski was the Director of U.S. Operations for INGLOT Cosmetics, expanding the company’s business to more than 40 locations and 100 distribution outlets nationwide. He has an extensive business and management background as well
as an intimate knowledge of Poland, its culture and its people. He also has experience raising funds for children in need and for Polish schools in New York. Skulimowski successfully led a program of recovering Polish art looted by Nazi
Germany during World War II and has been praised for his work promoting Polish-Jewish understanding and respect.
In 2017, theyear that UNESCO declared „The Year of Kosciuszko,” Skulimowski led a yearlong series to honor the namesake of the Foundation honor called: „For Your Freedom and Ours: A Tribute to Polish Heroes.”

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Auburn University. The main research
focuses on bridge structures safety, traffic-induced load modeling for design, and bridge evaluation. She was involved in Florida, California, and Montana Department of Transportation research projects and also an international project with Toronto Transit Commission, Canada. An active member of American Society of Civil Engineers and American Concrete Institute. Mentor for international students and women in engineering at Auburn University.

dr Rafał Stroiński Board Member, US-Polish Trade Council; Senior Partner, B2RLaw
Andrzej Szarata Dean, Civil Engineering, Cracow University of Technology
Paweł Śniatała Vice-Rector, Poznan University of Technology; EUNICE project leader
Tad Taube Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland, Founder and Honorary Director, Taube Philanthropies; entrepreneur
Robert Trętowski Vice-President, Polish Clearance Chamber
Ilona Weiss Chairwoman and CEO, B-8 International AG

Rafał is an advocate registered with the District Bar Association in Warsaw and a US-qualified attorney admitted in the state of New York. He holds an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School and a Ph.D. in Law from the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw. He was also a Fulbright Commission and Polish Science Foundation Visiting Scholar at Stanford Law School. Rafał is one of the three founding and senior partners of B2RLaw. He has over twenty years of experience in the practice of law. Prior to establishing B2R legacy firm JS Legal, for several years he was a partner at the
Warsaw office of a leading international law firm where he set up and managed the capital markets practice and was one of the leaders of the private equity practice. Rafał has held positions on various Supervisory Boards (including Vice
Chairman of PFRVentures, the largest Polish fund of funds (2016-2018)), and is a founding and board member of the Harvard Club of Poland.

Graduate of the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice (1999), a specialist in the field of analyzes of the functional effectiveness of the development of transport infrastructure, with particular emphasis on the modernization of railway lines and the road system. In 2011, he was appointed to the Program Council for the Development of the Transport System of the City of Krakow, operating at the Mayor of the City. Since 2015, he has been a member of the Construction Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences Branch in Kraków. Professor Szarata has
published over 80 scientific publications and one monograph. He is the author or co-author of over 140 project works and has been involved in many EU-funded projects, including Civitas Caravel, MAX, Tracit, Posmetrans, GSP and others.
He is active in the field of transport, an expert of the European Commission and a consultant of many projects implemented by local governments. He was awarded the Honorary and Gold Badge of the Cracow University of Technology and three times the award of the Association of Communication Engineers and Technicians (Ernest 2011, 2013 and 2014).

Prof. PUT, PhD, DSc Paweł Śniatała Vice-Rector of Poznan University of Technology for International Relations (2020-2024) and the Coordinator for EUNICE European University project (https://eunice-university.eu/ ). He received the M.S. degree in Telecommunication, M.S. degree in Computer Science and Ph.D. degree in Microelectronics – all from Poznan University of Technology, Poland. He obtained the habilitation degree (D.Sc.) in electronics in 2016. From 1998 to 2002 he worked
at the Department of Computer Engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology (USA). He returned to Poznan University of Technology to take a position at the Faculty of Computing. He holds a position of the Vice-Dean for Industrial Cooperation in the period 2016-2020. He has also graduated from the international MBA study in joint programme George State University and Poznan University of Economics. His area of interests focuses on VLSI circuits for digital and mixed analog-digital signal processing systems: Ultra-Low Power ASIC design, Implantable IC, Signal/Image
processing hardware-software co-design, Hardware accelerators. However, following his computing science background, he is also involved in research projects related to the eHealth area and Cybersecurity issues. He was involved in several industrial projects e.g.: control and monitoring systems for gas mine systems, control systems for water treatment plant and teletechniques systems for airports. Currently he is involved in H2020 project CAPABLE – “CAncer PAtients Better
Life Experience” (https://capable-project.eu/). He served in several international PhD and MS committees (Portugal, USA). He was a visiting professor in several universities outside Poland in: USA, Portugal, Peru, Taiwan. He is an author
and co-author of over 100 papers including three monographs.

Bay Area businessman Tad Taube is the chairman of Taube Philanthropies and board president emeritus of the Koret Foundation in San Francisco. He is chairman and founder of the Woodmont Companies, a diversified real estate investment, and management organization. At his alma mater, Stanford University, Mr. Taube is the founder and advisory board chair of the Taube Center for Jewish Studies, established in 1986. He is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Hoover Institution and serves on its Executive Committee, and was the founder and past chairman of the advisory board
of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). In addition, Mr. Taube is past chair of the Stanford Athletic Board. His involvement in Stanford Athletics includes his family’s principal gift to Stanford’s Taube Family Tennis Stadium and his significant support of Stanford’s new football stadium, built in 2006. He has served as a trustee of the University
of Notre Dame de Namur, the University of San Francisco, and as governor of The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and was chairman and CEO of Koracorp Industries (successor to Koret of California) from 1973 until its merger with Levi Strauss in 1979. Born in Kraków, Poland, in 1931, Tad Taube immigrated to the United States in the summer of 1939, just months
before the outbreak of World War II. In 2003, Mr. Taube established a philanthropic program – the Jewish Heritage Initiative in Poland (JHIP) – which supports the revitalization of Jewish culture in now-democratic Poland. In 2007, the Republic of Poland named Mr. Taube Honorary Consul for the San Francisco Bay Area. In June 2015, then President of the Republic
of Poland Bronislaw Komorowski awarded Taube the Commander’s Cross of the Star of the Order of Merit, Poland’s highest- level official state distinction for a foreign civilian, which Taube adds to his Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit, received in 2004. Mr. Taube holds BS and MS degrees from Stanford University and served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force.
Assistant Professor in Organizational Behavior at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. His research focuses on humans in a digital environment and employs cutting-edge computational methods, AI and Big Data. PhD in Psychology from the University of Cambridge. Previously Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford’s Computer Science Department and researcher
at Microsoft Research.

As of January 2017 he is the Vice President of the Management Board of KIR, responsible for the Systems Development Area and Public Sector. From 2011 to 2016 he was the IT Initiatives and Test Department Director at PKO Bank Polski S.A., holding responsibility for the analysis, monitoring and management of the IT project portfolio. He played a key role
in the execution of Nordea Bank Polska and SKOK Wesoła acquisition process by PKO BP S.A. and managed the IT aspects of Inteligo migration and implementation of iPKO and iPKO Biznes – e-banking services designed for individual and corporate clients respectively. He supervised the IKO application implementation and was involved in establishment of the Polski Standard Płatności company and building of the BLIK standard, as a member of the Supervisory Board.
He participated in the development of credit card offer, alternative payment methods and implementation of Rodzina 500+ (the Family 500+) program, SSO for ZUS (Polish Social Security) and Trusted Profile. He was a member of the Architecture and Security Committee at PKO Bank Polski. He manages the eID Task Force of the Electronic Banking Council of the Polish Bank Association. He is a member of the Committee of the Council of Ministers Expert Team for digitalization and working teams of the „Cashless, Paperless Poland” program in the areas of the e-ID, e-Services, Architecture, Cashless Trade Development.

Ilona Weiss is Top Management Executive, charismatic leader and growth strategist with 25 years of market experience in IT & Telecom, e-commerce, fintech, distribution, logistics and innovation. Proven record of success both in global business management and in the dispersed capital market. Fluent in digital transformation of business models and
disruptive strategies, she has generated exponential growth in entities she manages. Expert understanding of the US, European and Chinese e-commerce and mobile markets. She has been appreciated by investors from Silicon Valley, China and Europe. Ilona Weiss served as Financial Director at Sage (2008–2010), where she was responsible for strategic and operational management of the group’s finances in Poland. Vice President of the Management Board at Sygnity S.A. in the years 2010–2012. Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of Sygnity Europe sp.z o.o. (2012), vice-chairman of the Supervisory Board of Max Elektronik S.A. (2010–2012), member of the Supervisory Boards of the companies: Winuel S.A. (2010), PB Polsoft sp.z o.o. (2010–2011), Sygnity Technology sp.z o.o. (2010–2011) and MCI Capital TFI S.A. (2013-2019). Investment partner in the MCI Capital group (2012–2014). In the years 2012–2014 she was the vice-president of the management board of the ABC Data Group, in the years 2015–2016 the president of the management board at ABC Data Germany, and in the years 2015–2019 she was the president of the management board of the ABC Data Group. As Group CEO, she transformed ABC DATA from a local company into a CEE market champion and introduced, with great success, the Xiaomi brand to the European market. Active collaborator with Stanford, Harvard, MIT, BCC and ACCA; member
of prestigious Young Presidents ’Organization.

Rama Yannam Senior Vice President, Senior Technology Manager, Bank of America
Grażyna Żebrowska PhD, Director General, NAWA - Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange

Rama Yannam is serving as SVP in the Bank of America. He helped build Bank Of America’s virtual assistant (Erica) and custom smart search engine. Generated 30+ patents in AI, NLP, and Machine Learning space. Known for efficient
execution and rapid delivery – Erica was delivered into production in 8 months including infrastructure. His core skills include chatbots & virtual assistants, enterprise web application architecture, performance tuning, driving an idea from prototype stage into production, finding and retaining top talent (conducted 500+ interviews), building high performing
agile teams (Certified Scrum Master), managing large global development teams and managing large project portfolio (-managed portfolio of 20+ initiatives across multiple releases).

Dr. Grażyna Żebrowska has been appointed for a position of Director General of NAWA on May 8, 2020.In the years 2019 -2020 she was working as a Director of the International Cooperation Department at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Within 2003 and 2019 Dr. Żebrowska was the Senior Advisor for science, technology, and higher education at the Embassy of Poland in Washington DC. She was responsible for initiating and facilitating cooperation between Polish and US researchers and academic institutions. Additionally, she was engaged in promoting Polish higher education
institutions and research bodies in the United States Dr. Żebrowska is a physicist by profession. She obtained a PhD with scientific applications of physical sciences in the field of medicine at University of Rennes 1 in France and the University of Gdańsk.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Prof. Piotr Moncarz Chairman, USPTC; Adjunct Professor, Stanford University
Dr. Jerzy Orkiszewki President, US-Polish Trade Council; VP of Engineering, Cutera
Mariusz Tomaka President, USPTC Poland; Board Advisor - Business Development, Euvic
Dr. Robert Barski Jacob of Paradies Academia in Gorzów Wielkopolski,
Magdalena Bryzek
Jacek Chmielewski Research Scholar, Auburn University

Piotr D. Moncarz, Ph.D., P.E., NAE, born and raised in Poland, graduated from vocational high school program in road and bridge construction in Poznan, Poland, receives Ph.D. degree in earthquake engineering at Stanford University. Registered professional engineer in civil engineering in numerous U.S. states and Canadian provinces; member of the National Academy of Engineers.  Adjunct Professor, Stanford University; Senior Fellow and Principal Engineer, Exponent, Inc., an international science and technology public corporation initiated in Silicon Valley; President and CEO, Geothermic Solution LLC, green energy, disruptive technology company. With an engineering career focused on failure analysis and failure prevention led and participated in hundreds of studies, remediation and research projects. He is active in academic programs, consulting work, and international business from power plant development projects, energy technologies and economics, electro-mobility, to high-tech ventures. former  Board member of the of the Polish National Center for Research and Development, formerly Academic Director and co-organizer of Top 500 Innovators program at Stanford University; co-organizer and leader of Stanford University/ Silicon Valley workshops for Polish industry and government leaders.  Decorated by the President of Poland with the Officer Cross of Polonia Restituta. He is a frequent speaker in venues pertaining to system safety and performance, engineering knowledge transfer, trends in technologies, innovativeness, sustainable development, and stimulation of international cooperation and competitiveness.

Mr. Jerzy Orkiszewski was born and raised in Poland. He holds an M.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from the
Warsaw Technical University, Department of Fine Mechanics (currently Department of Mechatronics) and École Nationale
Supérieure de l’Electronique et de ses Application in Cergy, France and submitted his PhD thesis at the Warsaw University
of Technology. Since 1989 he resides in California with his wife, a practicing medical doctor from Warsaw, and their daughter
who after completing her medical education in Poznan, Poland, practices medicine in the USA. In Silicon Valley he has been
working for variety of product development biomedical device companies: Cutera, Inc., Ellex Medical, Lumenis, Inc. and
Medical Group of Coherent, Inc., where he has been providing the technology and business leadership serving in various
engineering, management and executive positions. Jerzy used to be on Polish national modern pentathlon team and plays
classical guitar. He is also a pilot with commercial and instrument ratings.Jerzy is a contributing editor of “Przeglad Lotniczy
– Aviation Review” aviation magazine in Poland. He provides to USPTC a strong link to the US biomedical technology sector.

Mariusz Tomaka is active as organizer, co-founder, and CEO of innovative electronic and software companies in Poland focused on local and international markets. He specializes in building and running innovative companies – startups – focused on international markets and leading teams of engineers and managers to achieve challenging technology and business objectives. Prior to current activities at EUVIC he worked as  CEO (PL) for DisplayLink in Poland and VP in Cambridge UK,  as Area Manager – Poland at Neubloc, board adviser – share holder at ABF sp. z o.o. Mariusz is a President of US-Polish Trade Council in Poland and extended board member in USA, he is a Chamber Council Member at The Polish Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications, Mariusz is Vice-president of OG at Telecommunications and Polish Information Processing Society.

Robert Barski, PhD –Since 2016 assistant professor at Jacob of Paradies University located in Gorzów Wielkopolski. Graduate TOP 500 Innovators Program of Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Graduate of Technical University in Zielona Góra Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. Doctor of technical sciences in the field of construction and operation of machines. In the years 1990-2015, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Zielona Góra. In the years 2006-2015 Director of the Academic Enterprise Incubator at the University of Zielona Góra. CEO at Smart Data Lights Sp. z o.o. in Katowice. Has many years of experience related to entrepreneurship, technology transfer and vehicle construction. Associate of the Center for and Technology Transfer of the University of Zielona Góra. Scientific interests: academic entrepreneurship, ecological aspects of the use of internal combustion engines, methods for measuring and limiting
the toxicity of internal combustion engines, electromobility and IoT. Member of the US-Polish Trade Council, member of the Polish Business and Innovation Centres Association in Poland and member of the Polish Scientific Society of Combustions Engines.

A strategic business and project management professional highly skilled in launching new programs and initiatives, building cross-functional partnerships and delivering strong business results across various industries.

Especially skilled at managing the day-to-day operations of small and medium companies and non-profit organizations and scaling them to financially and operationally sustainable companies. Comfortable working in smaller environments, wearing many hats and easily adapting to constant changes.

He is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Auburn University, academic teacher, researcher in: transportation network planning, road safety improvement and implementation, bridge live load and fatigue analysis in the USA, Weigh-in-motion data processing and analysis, big data processing, SQL databases developer. He is a Bentley MicroStation user and application developer (MDL and VB.Net), and software developer: C++, Visual Studio, VBA, MATLAB. He prepared few four stage transport demand models in PTV VISUM, microsimulation in PTV VISSIM for cities and counties. He was involved in Florida, California, and Montana Department of Transportation research projects. Lots of professional projects for private companies and public sectors in the field of transport were prepared by him, mainly in the field of road safety improvement, road network planning, traffic prediction, and feasibility studies.

Dr. Eng. Magdalena Diering Assistant Professor, Poznan University of Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.
Prof. Krzysztof Dyczkowski Associate Professor, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
Aleksandra Gren Country Manager, Fiserv Poland
Kaja Grzywaczewska Program Assistant, USPTC
Robert Hryniewicz Director of Product Marketing, Cloudera
Kamila Krawiec Program Coordinator, USPTC

Her main research interests are quality engineering and measurement system analysis. She is a trainer in SixSigma. Her professional interests also include project management, science commercialization and quality of education. She is an expert for the European Commission and a reviewer in several journals in the field of mechanical engineering. She has extensive experience in organizational, scientific and structural project management. She works in multidisciplinary, international teams and at work she promotes a culture of teamwork, design thinking and innovation. She is a coordinator and a member of the Steering Committee of the international scientific-technical MANUFACTURING conference (since 2010). She is a graduate of the Top 500 Innovators program at Stanford University (2012). She was a coordinator of the US-Poland Innovation HUB program, USPTC (2012-2017). Associated with the US-Polish Trade Council since 2012.

Dean of Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.

His main research interests are computational intelligence methods in decision making, computer vision and natural language modeling. Currently he is working on an intelligent decision system supporting the diagnosis of ovarian cancer – OvaExpert. He received Microsoft Research Azure Award (2015) and IBM Faculty Award (2010). Member of IEEE Computational Intelligence Society and European Society for Fuzzy Logic and Tech­nology (EUSFLAT). He has many years of experience in IT project management. Co-founder and longtime CEO of an IT company producing and implementing an ERP class system. He is a graduate of the Top 500 Innovators program at Stanford University (2012). He was a co-organizer of US-Poland Innovation HUB.

Country Manager for Fiserv Poland (NASDAQ: FISV) responsible for new tech initiatives for major EMEA-based financial institutions, with a focus on CEE. Recipient of the Goldman Sachs-Fortune Global Women Leaders Award. 20 years experience in financial technology in EMEA.  Advisory Board Member of Vital Voices Poland and a Trustee of the Vital Voices Europe Board in London, UK, advocate of women’s leadership and women in tech initiatives. BA in International Relations from University of British Columbia in Vancouver, MSc in Policy Making from the London School of Economics.

Kaja Grzywaczewska (Łapińska), BSc – a student of graduate studies at the International Faculty of Engineering, specialization
Management and Production Engineering, at the Lodz University of Technology. Engaged in representing her
University and country abroad she is also a vice-chairman of IFE Alumni Association and a member of PŁ
Raptors, team building Mars rover for international competitions. The team is a part of the Student Scientific
Robotics Association SKaNeR at the Institute of Automatic Control. Apart from that, she is involved in business
development, cooperation with partners and the implementation of new production processes and their
optimization. She is interested in manufacturing techniques, machine tools and process automation. Keen to
work on the promotion of Poland she is involved in innovations development in local area, member of USPTC
Poland.

Robert is the Director of Product Marketing at Cloudera driving messaging and technical content on the Enterprise Data Cloud (EDC) and the integrated data lifecycle. Prior to Cloudera, Robert was an AI evangelist at Hortonworks, CTO at Authentise (a 3D printing security & analytics startup at Singularity Labs), Software Engineer at Cisco, NASA et al. Robert’s graduate work at Case Western Reserve University focused on AI & robotics, including early work on autonomous vehicles. He is a frequent speaker at enterprise data conferences.

BA – graduated from the Silesian University of Technology in the field of Public Administration. Between 2012-2017 Kamila had worked for InPost Finance, a subsidiary of Integer.pl Capital Group, and Wiewiorka.pl LLC, a start-up in the environmental sector where she was responsible, inter alia, for obtaining EU funds. Currently, she works as an eCommerce Consultant for several start-ups. Her professional interests include e-commerce, shipping, and innovations. Associated with the US-Polish Trade Council since 2017.

Gregory Grabiec Head of US-Poland Investments and Initiatives, USPTC; US Strategic Partnership Catalyst, Euvic
Marek Żywno Founder- CEO, Silicon Valley Ventures
Justyna Leśkiewicz-Małek Senior HC Generalist, TTEC
Prof. Andrzej Nowak Chair, Dep. Civil Faculty Engineering, Auburn University
Sylwia Stawska Doctoral Student, Civil Engineering, Auburn University

Gregory Grabiec is a consultative problem solver with a creative, analytical and agile mind. He has a 22-year career managing global projects of $300,000,000+ for corporations, foundations, NGOs, and high-net-worth clients. His expertise is in creating bespoke strategic and operational solutions to drive market impact for the healthcare, biotech, non-profit, financial and IT sectors in both the United States and Europe. For the past 9 years, Gregory has focused on integrating business paradigms between US and Polish markets through consulting, coaching and engaging with innovative companies. Most recently, he has worked on enabling IT/ICT projects between Poland and Silicon Valley. Gregory holds a BA in Biology and MBA in Finance from the University of Houston, and a Masters of International Management (MIM) degree from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Phoenix, AZ, where he was a Presidential Scholar.  Currently, Gregory is engaged as US Strategic Partnership Catalyst at Euvic and serves as Head of US-Poland Investments and Initiatives at the US-Polish Trade Council (USPTC). Gregory strives to convey a personal touch in all his endeavors.

Marek Zywno is a precision engineer. He has worked in engineering management and executive positions at semiconductor equipment companies: KLA-Tencor, Etec Systems, Nanometrics, Keysight, and others, where he architected and managed design activities of  semiconductor lithography and inspection instruments. He is CEO of Silicon Valley Ventures and an investor. Serves on the Boards of US Polish Trade Council and Robotics Inventions, and is President of Polish American Engineers Club of Silicon Valley.

Justyna is an educated entrepreneur very active in teams of different start-up initiatives taking a role close to MBA competencies. She runs marketing, finance, customer relations duties. Justyna’s field of specific interest is in the scope
of business development towards the international market and globalization. Justyna is a founding member of Polsko -Amerykańska Rada Współpracy, the US-Polish Trade Council in Poland busy with co-organizing among many other events and programs. Currently, at TTEC Justyna is responsible for building the HR team to support a company with over 300 people, onboarding every month from 20 to 40 new joiners providing trainings, support and expertise regarding Polish labor law, leading the implementation of ticketing system within the company, and providing support to non-EU
employees with work and residence permits documents. Justyna is well recognized and influential fitness lifestyle propagator, coach, and trainer.

A graduate of the Warsaw University of Technology, in the United States since 1976, currently the dean of Civil Faculty Engineering at Auburn University. Before that, he was a professor at the University of Nebraska, University of Michigan and the State University of New York. His main scientific field is the theory of reliability and its applications. He made a fundamental contribution to the development of the American AASHTO bridge standard and ACI 318. Prof. Nowak is an honorary doctor of the Warsaw University of Technology, an honorary professor of the Cracow University of Technology, he received the title of professor from the hands of the President of the Republic of Poland. He is the president of the Polish Council Engineers in North America, and was awarded the Officer’s Order of Polonia Restituta, Moisseiff Medal (American Society of Civil Engineers), Bene Merentibus Medal (Warsaw University of Technology) and Casimir Gzowski Medal (Canadian Society of Civil Engineering). Prof. Andrzej S. Nowak is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and Fellow of the American Concrete Institute. He is the supervisor of 41 doctoral students.

Doctoral student in Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Auburn University.The main research focuses on bridge structures safety, traffic-induced load modeling for design, and bridge evaluation. She was involved in Florida, California, and Montana Department of Transportation research projects and also an international project with Toronto Transit Commission, Canada.  An active member of American Society of Civil Engineers and American Concrete Institute. Mentor for international students and women in engineering at Auburn University.

*Speakers list will be updated accordingly upcomming confirmations

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