Poland Day 2020

Symposium will take place online!

PD2020

SILICON VALLEY POLAND DAYS 2020 – Pandemic Accelerated Digital Transformation

 

Subjects:

  • Mixed Reality, AI, IoT & Big Data
  • Energy, Climate, Transportation & the Future of Smart Cities
  • Fintech
  • Technology and Medicine in Healthcare,
  • Integration and consolidation of universities,
  • Education and communication during and after COVID.

 

Registration:

PD2020_poster

Agenda

Wednesday – October 21st

🇱🇷7:00 AM – 8:00 AM (PDT) / 🇵🇱16:00 – 17:00 (PL) Plenary Session

Moderator: Lukas Grabiec (Senior Product Counsel at Wing (an Alphabet Company), BoD USPTC)

  • Piotr Moncarz (Chair, US-Polish Trade Council; Adjunct Professor, Stanford University; Senior Fellow, Exponent)
  • Jerzy Orkiszewski (President, US-Polish Trade Council; VP of Engineering, Cutera)
  • Mariusz Tomaka (President, US-Polish Trade Council, Poland)
  • Andrzej Nowak (President, Council of Polish Engineers in North America)
  • Michał Kurtyka (Minister of Climate and Environment of Poland)
  • Mark Chandler (Director, International Relations, San Francisco City Hall)
  • Jarosław Łasiński (Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles)
  • Arkadiusz Mężyk (Rector, Silesian University of Technology; President, CRASP)
  • Michał Zasada (Rector, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, SGGW, Vice President, CRASP)

🇱🇷8:00 AM – 9:00 AM (PDT) / 🇵🇱17:00 – 18:00 (PL) Mixed Reality, AI, IoT & Big Data

Moderator: Robert Hryniewicz (Director of Product Marketing, Cloudera)

  • Luke Kowalski (Vice President, Oracle)
  • Łukasz Radomski (CEO, Apollogic)
  • Krzysztof Dyczkowski (Dean, Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Adam Mickiewicz University)
  • Michał Kosiński (Associate Professor, Stanford Graduate School of Business)

🇱🇷9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (PDT) / 🇵🇱18:00 – 19:00 (PL) Energy, climate, transportation

Moderator: Piotr Moncarz (Senior Fellow, Exponent; CEO Geothermic Solution LLC)

  • Michał Kurtyka (Minister of Climate and Environment of Poland)
  • Celina Mikołajczak (Vice President, Battery Technology, Panasonic Energy North America)
  • Piotr Zaremba (President of the Management Board, ElectroMobility Poland)
  • Karol Leśniewski (CEO, Messor Sp. z o.o.)

Extra sessions

🇱🇷10:00 AM – 10:45 AM (PDT) / 🇵🇱19:00 – 19:45 (PL) ElectroMobility Poland Panel Co-organizer’s extra session

🇱🇷10:45 AM – 11:30 AM (PDT) / 🇵🇱19:45 – 20:30(PL) DIH4Future Co-organizer’s extra session

Thursday – October 22st

🇱🇷7:00 AM – 8:00 AM (PDT) / 🇵🇱16:00 – 17:00 (PL) Technology in Healthcare 

Moderator: Jerzy Orkiszewski (Director, Cutera)

  • Janusz Bryzek (serial entrepreneur, internationally recognized his ground-breaking work on Microelectromechanical Systems – MEMS)
  • Zbigniew Nawrat (Professor, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice)
  • Jędrzej Kociński (Chair of Acoustics, Physics Department, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań; Co-Founder  and VP Regulatory StethoMe)

🇱🇷8:00 AM – 8:30 AM (PDT) / 🇵🇱17:00 – 17:30 (PL) Smart city in a post-COVID culture

Moderator: Michael Lepech (Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University)

  • Marcin Krupa (President, Katowice) / Mariusz Jankowski (Int. Relations, Katowice)
  • Mark Chandler (Director, International Relations, San Francisco City Hall)

🇱🇷8:30 AM – 9:30 AM (PDT) / 🇵🇱17:30 – 18:30 (PL) Fintech Re-Imagined

Moderator: Aleksandra Gren (Board Member, Fiserv Polska and BoS mBank)

  • Przemyslaw Furlepa (Vice-President of the Management Board, BNP Paribas Poland)
  • Stefan Batory (CEO, Booksy)
  • Mark Iwanowski (Senior Partner, Pegasus Tech Ventures)
  • Grzegorz Szulik (CEO and Founder, Provema)
  • Dominik Schmidt (Managing Director, QVT Investment)

🇱🇷9:30 AM – 10:30 AM (PDT) / 🇵🇱18:30 – 19:30 (PL) Medicine and Healthcare

Moderator: Ellen Chang (Principal Scientist, Exponent)

  • Tad Taube (Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland, Founder and Honorary Director, Taube Philanthropies; entrepreneur)
  • Christopher Sharp (MD, Professor, Stanford University, Chief Medical Information Officer at Stanford Health Care)
  • Marcin Gruchała (MD, Professor and Rector, Medical University of Gdańsk)
  • Agnieszka Czechowicz (Assistant Professor, Pediatrics – Stem Cell Transplantation, Stanford University)

Extra sessions

🇱🇷10:30 AM – 11:15 AM (PDT) / 🇵🇱19:30 – 20:15 (PL) Provema Sponsor’s extra session

🇱🇷11:15 AM – 12:00 PM (PDT) / 🇵🇱20:15 – 21:00 (PL) Taube Philanthropies Co-organizer’s extra session

🇱🇷12:00 PM – 12:45 PM (PDT) / 🇵🇱21:00 – 21:45 (PL) Katowice City Hall Co-organizer’s extra session

Friday – October 23st

Conference of Rectors of Polish Universities of Technology

Council of Polish Engineers in North America & USPTC

🇱🇷7:00 AM – 8:00 AM (PDT) / 🇵🇱16:00 – 17:00 (PL) Cooperation of Professionals Poland – Polonia

Moderator: Teofil Jesionowski (Rector, Poznan University of Technology, President CRPUT)

  • Lech J. Dzienis (Chair, CRASP Committee for Cooperation with Polonia; member, EUA Research Policy Working Group member)
  • Jerzy Lis (Rector, AGH University of Science and Technology)
  • Kazimierz Babiarz (President of Polish Engineers Association in Canada)
  • Maria Kaszynska (Professor, President, Polish Assoc. of Construction Engineers and Technicians)

🇱🇷8:00 AM – 9:00 AM (PDT) / 🇵🇱17:00 – 18:00 (PL) Education and communication during and after COVID

Moderator: Andrzej Nowak (President, Council of Polish Eng. in N.A., Chair, CEE Dept. Auburn University)

  • Bogumiła Kaniewska (Rector, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Chairwoman of the Conference of Rectors of Polish Universities)
  • Renate Fruchter (Founding Director of the Project Based Learning Laboratory (PBL Lab), Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University)
  • George Flowers (Dean of the Graduate School at Auburn University)
  • Krzysztof Wilde (Rector of Gdańsk Technical University)
  • David Tell (Co-Founder & Head of Provider Operations, TaskHuman)

🇱🇷9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (PDT) / 🇵🇱18:00 -19:00 (PL) Integration and consolidation of universities

Moderator: Rafał Stroiński (Senior Partner, B2RLaw Jankowski, Stroiński, Zięba) [confirmed]

  • Michael Lepech (Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University)
  • Marta Kosior-Kazberuk (Rector, Bialystok University of Technology)
  • Paul Marca (retired Assoc. Vice Provost and Director of Stanford Center for Professional Development)
  • Mariusz Tomaka (Business Development Board Advisor, Euvic)

Extra sessions

🇱🇷10:00 AM – 10:45 AM (PDT) / 🇵🇱19:00 – 19:45 (PL) Euvic Sponsor’s extra session

HONORARY PATRONAGE


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Partner Co-Organizer


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SPONSORS & PARTNERS


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FRIENDS


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Speakers

Tad Taube Honorary Consul of the Republic of Poland, Founder and Honorary Director, Taube Philanthropies; entrepreneur
Prof. Michal Kosinski Associate Professor, Stanford Graduate School of Business
Celina Mikołajczak Vice President, Battery Technology at Panasonic Energy North America
Dr. Janusz Bryzek eXo Imaging, Inc.
Prof. Piotr Moncarz Adjunct Professor, Stanford School of Engineering, Exponent, USPTC
Lukas Grabiec Senior Product Counsel at Wing (an Alphabet Company)

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 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 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 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.

Experienced Director of Engineering with a demonstrated history of working in the battery industry. Strong experience leading teams working in Cell Engineering, Cell Reliability & Testing, Battery Safety Testing, Battery Design, Battery R&D, Battery BMS Development, Cell and Battery Quality, and Materials Engineering.

Dr. Bryzek received Ph.D. from Warsaw University of Technology, Poland, and completed Executive Management Program at Stanford University. He is considered as one of the pioneers of global MEMS industry and the Father of Sensors.
He cofounded eleven Silicon Valley MEMS companies which shipped billions of silicon sensors. One of these companies did a billion dollar IPO, other were acquired or are active.
Janusz launched TSensors Initiative to find the emerging applications likely to demand trillions sensors by mid 2030s, as enabler for Abundance. One of the outcomes was founding his last company eXo Imaging to develop ultrasound imager to democratize and demonetize medical imaging (75% of global population has no access to medical imaging).
He performed due diligence for top tier VC firms and was Advisor or Investor to over 60 startups.
Janusz received multiple awards including recognition as Entrepreneur of the Year by Arthur Young, Lifetime Achievement Awards from Sensors Magazine and MANCEF, Industry Impact Award for Engineering Excellence from Sensors Expo, Outstanding Polish Business Executive by Polish Consulate in Los Angeles and selected as one of 30 global nominees for the Ambassadors of Polish Innovation in London.

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 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.

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.

Dr. Michał Kurtyka Minister of Climate and Environment of Poland
Mark Chandler Director, International Relations, San Francisco City Hall
Luke Kowalski Vice President, Oracle
Prof. Arkadiusz Mężyk Rector, Silesian University of Technology; President, CRASP)
Prof. Lech J. Dzienis Chair, CRASP Committee for Cooperation with Polonia Cooperation; member, EUA Research Policy Working Group member
Prof. Bogumiła Kaniewska Rector of Adam Mickiewicz University, Chairwoman of the Conference of Rectors of Polish Universities

Minister of Climate and Environment of Poland. 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.

He is the author of the government programme for electromobility development in Poland, which was described for the first time as a concept in the book written in 2013–2015, together with Professor Leszek Jesień, New Electricity and New Cars. Starting 1 January 2016, he served as the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Energy, where he was directly responsible for the technological development and implementation of innovations in the energy sector, implementation of climate and energy policy in the fuel and gas sector, conducting international relations with countries and international organisations. He was also responsible for supervision of the state’s participation in the biggest Polish energy companies in the oil and gas industry, such as Orlen, Lotos and PGNiG. He was the originator of “The Electromobility Development Plan”, and thereafter he guided the creation of the Act on Electromobility and Alternative Fuels, thanks to which these forms of transport will be able to develop dynamically. On 27 April 2018, he was appointed as Government Plenipotentiary for the Presidency of COP24 – the United Nations Climate Summit in Poland. On 2 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. From July 2018, he held the position of the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Environment. On 15 November 2019, he was appointed as the Minister of the newly established Ministry of Climate.

Mark Chandler is the Director of the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of International Trade and Commerce.  Mark has been part of the City and County government for over thirty-one years and has served eight mayors. Mark is responsible for managing and staffing many of the international programs of the City of San Francisco including innovation and technology exchange, international aviation development, Smart City dialogue, trade missions, investment and trade promotion, sister city partnerships, diplomatic relations for trade and investment and global trade/investment policy formation.  Mark has assisted with and been part of 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 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

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 University of Leicester in his free time.

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.

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

Prof. Bogumiła Kaniewska (Professor, Ph.D., D.Litt.) is Rector of Adam Mickiewicz University and professor of Polish Studies specialising 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 labour market”. Between 2009-2012 prof. Kaniewska was responsible for modernizing the teaching process in this 15-million grant. She was also participating in 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.

She participated in numerous conferences abroad, including the universities of Belgrad, Lund, Vilnius, Brno, Bologna, Coimbra, and Rovaniemi.

 

 

Prof. Teofil Jesionowski Rector, Poznan University of Technology; President, CRUT
Jarosław Łasiński Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles
Dr. Marcin Krupa President, Katowice
Prof. Marta Kosior-Kazberuk Rector, Bialystok University of Technology
Prof. Jerzy Lis Rector, AGH University of Science and Technology
Prof. Krzysztof Wilde Rector of Gdańsk Technical University

Rector, Poznan University of Technology; President, CRUT; Professor, Ph.D. in chemical sciences, corresponding member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, professor at the Institute of Chemical Technology and Engineering at the Faculty of Chemical Technology of the Poznań University of Technology.

Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles. Mr. Jarosław J. Łasiński was appointed Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles on January 14, 2018. A career diplomat, he worked for the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for more than 30 years, both in Poland and abroad. Before taking office in Los Angeles, he was the Director of the Department of Consular Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he supervised the activities of Polish Consulates all over the world. He started his career as a diplomat working in the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs,  and subsequently became Deputy Director of the Consular and the Polish Communities Abroad Department. He has also served as Director of the Legal and Public Procurement Office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His diplomatic postings abroad include Washington, D.C., where he worked as Head of the Consular Division of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, and as Consul General in Chicago and in Malmö, Sweden. Consul Łasiński is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland. He also holds a postgraduate diploma in Foreign Studies from the Polish Institute of International Relations in Warsaw, Poland.

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.

Rector, Bialystok University of Technology. A graduate of the Białystok University of Technology (major: construction, specialization: building and engineering structures). In 2002, she obtained a doctorate in technical sciences in the discipline of construction, specializing in concrete structures, building materials. In 2014, she became a habilitated doctor of technical sciences. Prof. Kosior-Kazberuk has been a member of the Białystok University of Technology as vice-rector for education and international cooperation since 2016. From October 1, 2019, she is the vice-rector for international cooperation, and a member of the Administrative Council of European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education (ENAEE), the Accreditation Committee of Technical Scholars (KAUT), and an expert of the Polish Accreditation Committee (PKA).

Rector, AGH University of Science and Technology. Prof. Jerzy Lis Dr. Eng. is a correspondent member of the Polish Academy of Science and member of the World Academy of Ceramics, professor in materials science and chemical technology in AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow Poland, vice Rector of the AGH UST. Lis graduated AGH-UST in 1978, received his PhD in 1986, and D. Sci. in 1994. He became a full professor in 2000. His main research specialization are: Ceramics, materials science; materials technology and engineering in advanced and traditional ceramics and building materials. He is active in transfer technology management and organization of higher education. In research Prof. Lis is known mainly by his works on materials prepared by combustion synthesis (SHS) and as the author of publications in the field of engineering and traditional ceramics (tiles, refractories, sanitary and electroceramics). Lis is the Honorary Fellow of the European Ceramic Society, member of: International Society of Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis; The American Ceramic Society, the Polish Ceramic Society and the Polish Materials Society (former president of PMS). Prof. Lis is vice president of the Technical Committee of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, vice-chair of Ceramic Committee and Materials Science Committee of the Polish Academy of Science, and a member of editorial advisory boards of seven international journals. He was awarded the title of Golden Engineer by the Polish Technical Organization (2017) and received the Best Polish Inventor Award (2016).

Rector of Gdańsk Technical University.  Polish engineer, full professor of Gdańsk University of Technology, expert in bridge structures, structural mechanics and diagnostics of civil structures. Head of the Department of Mechanics of Materials and Structures (1995–2019), dean of Faculty of Civil Engineering of Gdańsk University of Technology in cadences 2004-2008 and 2016-2020. Member of the Committee on Civil Engineering and Hydro Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Committee on Mechanics of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Author or co-author of over 200 publications and 4 patents. In 1995-1999 he was working at the Tokyo University achieving the position of associate professor. Rector of Gdańsk University of Technology since 3 June 2019

Prof. Michael Lepech Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University
Aleksandra Gren Board Member, Fiserv Polska and BoS mBank
Prof. Agnieszka Czechowicz Assistant Professor, Pediatrics - Stem Cell Transplantation, Stanford University
Prof. Marcin Gruchała Professor and Rector, Medical University of Gdańsk
Clay Bullwinkel Founder and CEO, Silicon Valley Flow LLC, Tech Entrepreneur and Consultant
Mariusz Tomaka Board Advisor - Business Development, Euvic

Associate Professor, 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.

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. Global Ambassador at Bank of America GAP Mentoring Program (2019). 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

Assistant Professor, Pediatrics – Stem Cell Transplantation, Stanford University

A graduate of the Medical University of Gdansk in 1996, a specialist in internal medicine and cardiology. He has tied his entire professional life with this university. He managed, inter alia, the 1st Department and Clinic of Cardiology. In the years 2012-2016, he was the vice-rector for student affairs and a member of the Senate budget and finance committee in the years of 2008-2012 and 2012-2016. He obtained a doctoral degree in medical sciences in 2000, and a habilitation in cardiology in 2006. In 2016 he was awarded the title of professor of medical sciences. Prof. Gruchała is the author and co-author of over 120 publications in international journals. The Rector’s main scientific and clinical interests are coronary artery disease, heart failure, heart transplantation and mechanical circulation support, genetic and environmental factors of the development of atherosclerosis and its complications, and family hypercholesterolemia.

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.

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.

Prof. Zbigniew Nawrat Professor, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice
Paul Marca retired Assoc. Vice Provost and Director of Stanford Center for Professional Development
Piotr Zaremba President of the Management Board, ElectroMobility Poland
Robert Hryniewicz Director of Product Marketing, Cloudera
Prof. Jędrzej Kociński Chair of Acoustics, Physics Department, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań; Co-Founder and VP Regulatory StethoMe
David Tell Co-Founder & Head of Provider Operations, TaskHuman

Professor, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice. Zbigniew Nawrat is theoretical physicist, who devoted his professional life to advance the field of medical robotics and artificial organs. He pioneered research in 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

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.

President of the Management Board, ElectroMobility 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.

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.

Co-Founder & Head of Provider Operations, Task Human. He is focused on two-sided communication marketplaces and network effects. Prior to co-founding TaskHuman, he worked at Western Digital Corporation and SanDisk, where he blended his legal background with operations, strategy, and data science. He is a two-time alum of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida where he completed his Bachelors Degree and Law Degree.

Łukasz Radomski CEO Apollogic & apoQlar
dr Rafał Stroiński Senior Partner, B2RLaw Jankowski, Stroiński, Zięba
Prof. Andrzej Nowak Chair, Dep. Civil Faculty Engineering, Auburn University
Prof. Krzysztof Dyczkowski Dean of Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań
Grzegorz Szulik CEO & Founder at Provema
Kazimierz Babiarz President of Polish Engineers Association in Canada

Lukasz Radomski is an experienced entrepreneur with a legal background and a proven record of business proficiency. Focused on the IT world for 20 years, enjoying his years as a consultant focused on business processes, designer of new solutions as well as team manager and chief executive. Thanks to his customer-oriented attitude, openness to innovation and a strong drive towards teamwork, he witnessed a transformation of a small group of enthusiasts into successful IT company, recognized internationally in areas of Enterprise Solutions, Business Intelligence, Internet of Things, and Artificial Intelligence. Results led to numerous victories in national and international competitions such as SAP Innovmatch Challenges, DemoJams, BI Trends Leader, Business Gazelles, and Forbes Diamonds.

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.

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.

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.

Technologist & Visionary at Provema.  Grzegorz has many years of experience in the field of programming. He is an expert in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning. A fresh look at the world of ITC technologies and customers expectations allowed him to develop “LoanByLink” – innovative solution for Fintech to revolutionize the market. Grzegorz supports sustainable business activities by leading or co-leading variety of  social projects.
Provema is a leading company in world of digital transformation.

President of Polish Engineers Association in Canada

Dr. Ellen Chang Principal Scientist, Exponent
Prof. George Flowers Dean of the Graduate School and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Auburn University
Prof. Renate Fruchter Director of PBL LAB, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University
Karol Leśniewski CEO, Messor Sp. z o.o.
Dominik Schmidt Managing Director, QVT Investment
Prof. Maria Kaszyńska President, Polish Assoc. of Construction Engineers and Technicians

Principal Scientist, Exponent. Dr. Chang earned her undergraduate degree in English and American literature and language from Harvard College. She earned her Sc.D. (Doctor of Science) in epidemiology with a minor in biostatistics from the Harvard School of Public Health, and she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Karolinska Institute. She is a member of the Stanford Cancer Institute and a former Consulting Assistant Professor in the Division of Epidemiology, Department of Health Research and Policy at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Chang has published more than 170 peer-reviewed research articles and reviews, and 12 book chapters. Dr. Chang has nearly two decades of experience in designing, conducting, and interpreting epidemiologic studies, with a particular focus on studies of cancer and other chronic diseases. She provides scientific consultation on the potential human health effects of various chemicals (such as dioxins, chlorinated solvents, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs], and perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances [PFAS]), air pollutants, metals and metalloids, fibers, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, electromagnetic fields, and nutrients. She has expertise in qualitatively and quantitatively synthesizing the weight of epidemiologic evidence on causal effects of environmental exposures

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.

Dr. Renate Fruchter is the founding director of the Project Based Learning Laboratory 
(PBL Lab), lecturer in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Senior Research Engineer thrust leader of Collaboration Technologies at the Center for Integrated Facilities Engineering (CIFE), at Stanford. She leads a research effort to develop collaboration technologies for multidisciplinary, geographically distributed teamwork, and e-Learning. Her interests focus on R&D and larger scale deployment of collaboration technologies that include Web-based team building, synchronous and asynchronous knowledge capture, sharing and re-use, project memory, corporate memory, and mobile solutions for global teamwork and e-Learning. In addition, she has established in 1998 a strong research effort focusing on the impact of technology on learning, team interaction, and assessment. She is the leader and developer of the innovative “Computer Integrated Architecture/Engineering/Construction Global Teamwork” course launched in 1993, at Stanford, that engages universities from US, Japan, and Europe. Dr. Renate Fruchter has received her Engineering Diploma from the Institute for Civil Engineering in Bucharest, Romania (1981), her MSc. (1986) and Ph.D. (1990) from Technion Israel Institute of Technology. She has joined Stanford University in 1990.

CEO, Messor Sp. z o o. Specializations: 1. Greenfield / startup – implementation of 3 large investment projects (automotive greenfields from 0 up to 900 employees). 2. Creation / modification of organizational and process structures, dynamic growth of sales and production for existing enterprises. 3. Implementation and launch of new products. Currently Karol Leśniewski is CEO at Messor and managing R&D electric utility vehicle category L7e supported by EU funds: project launched 1st of January 2016 engineering & design, project approved by EU 1st November 2020, serial production start 1st December 2022.  Strategic target: readiness for serial production of electric vehicle homologated in L7e category with innovative and competitive solutions not yet available on the market

Managing Director, QVT Investment. 24 years in the semiconductor industry, primarily in the reconfigurable logic, advanced memory and wireless communications sectors. Led large teams in taking complex semiconductor designs from concept to product to customers. Owned P&L responsibility, developed new technologies, filed 100+ patents and 50+ papers. Currently focused on evaluating companies and technologies for investments. Technology Investing, Specialties: RFIC Design, Analog Design, Communication system design, Power management, RF power electronics, International Project Management, Hand Held Device Design.

President, Polish Assoc. of Construction Engineers and Technicians

Prof. Michał Zasada Rector, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, SGGW, Vice President, CRASP
Łukasz Maliczenko Director Of Product Development, ElectroMobility Poland

Graduate of the Faculty of Forestry, Warsaw University of Life Sciences – SGGW. PhD in forest mensuration (@SGGW). Postdoc at D.B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA (2001-2004). Adjunct professor at UGA (2004-2012). Professor of forest sciences since 2014.

Research interests: forest mensuration, forest management planning, growth and yield modeling, the use of remote sensing technologies and statistical methods in forest inventory, decision support systems in forestry and natural resource management.

Author of >120 publications, including >50 in scientific journals indexed in Web of Science. Reviewer in 5 journals and member of editorial board in 2 journals.

Supervisor of 4 PhDs, co-supervisor in the PhD procedure in Kazakhstan and opponent in the PhD defense in Finland. Visiting professor at S.Seifullin Kazakh Agro Technical University, Astana (Nursultan).

Head, coordinator or PI in 15 and participant in 25 projects funded by EU Framework Programs, domestic research funds, Polish State Forests, Tempus, Erasmus+ and other sources.

Currently appointed as the rector of SGGW. Outside of SGGW: vice-president of the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (CRASP), member of the Forest Sciences and Wood Technology Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences, board member of CASEE (Regional Network of Life Sciences Universities for Central and South Eastern Europe).

Łukasz Maliczenko currently holds a position of Director of Product Development in ElectroMobility Poland where he leads the design and technical development of Izera vehicles. Łukasz graduated from Gdansk University with Master’s degree in Automation and Robotics.  He is a seasoned engineer with many years of experience in automotive engineering ranging from passive safety systems, to hybrid propulsion systems and vehicle integration. Prior joining EMP he worked for Jaguar Land Rover leading the development of hybrid and electric propulsion systems and concept cars. He was involved, among many others, in early phase of concept development of electric propulsion architecture used in Jaguar i-Pace and in the development and integration of  JLR’s newest Modular Longitudinal Architecture implemented in next generation of electric Jaguar XJ.

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Prof. Piotr Moncarz Chairman, USPTC; Adjunct Professor, Stanford University
Dr. Jerzy Orkiszewki President, USPTC; Senior Director of Engineering at Cutera
Mariusz Tomaka President, USPTC Poland; Board Advisor - Business Development, Euvic
Dr. Robert Barski Jacob of Paradies Academia in Gorzów Wielkopolski,
Prof. Krzysztof Dyczkowski Associate Professor, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
Gregory Grabiec Head of US-Poland Investments and Initiatives, USPTC; US Strategic Partnership Catalyst, Euvic

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.

Since 1989 in Silicon Valley he has been working for a variety of 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. He is a pilot with commercial and instrument ratings. PhD and MS in Biomedical Engineering, Warsaw Technical University, and École Nationale Supérieure de l’Electronique et de ses Application in Cergy, France.

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.

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.

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.

Aleksandra Gren Country Manager, Fiserv Poland
Ela Kozera Director of Programs, USPTC
Robert Kowalski Head of Business Development Megaspace
Kamila Krawiec Program Coordinator, USPTC
Kaja Łapińska Program Assistant, USPTC
Dr. Krzysztof Szczerba Sr Principal Engineer - Finisar Corp

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.

Ela Kozera acts as Director of Programs at US-Polish Trade Council. She has gained the managerial and organizational skills while working for various Polish and U.S. emerging growth companies. Her interests in human nature make her a personable and energetic individual who cultivates positive relationships with persons from diverse cultures and backgrounds. She has been searching constantly for beauty and simplicity in words, design and every other aspect of human expression. Her creative side and attention to detail have been expressed during her consulting, teaching, training and volunteering projects. In her professional and personal engagements, she always looks at things from all perspectives. She holds M.A. and B.A. degrees in German Studies of History and Culture from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland. She also completed her studies focused on International Business and Administration at UC Berkeley. Recently, she received her EMBA degree with honors from the University of San Francisco.

Leads customer development, sales and partnerships at open source blockchain API startup Megaspace in Menlo Park.
Previously Business Development Manager at OpenGov (a16z portfolio) the fastest growing govtech startup in the US, where he sold data productivity and open source cloud software to state, federal in the US and local governments internationally. Earlier experience includes startups (AI, SaaS), venture capital, policy and business development. He and his team
successfully led tax, R&D and higher education reforms in Poland on the advisers team to the former President of Poland Komorowski, inter alia creating Poland’s first R&D tax credit. Robert is a graduate of the Stanford Graduate School of Business (MBA), Stanford (MA Policy) and the London School of Economics (BSc Economics and Economic History) with highest academic honors.

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.

Kaja 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.

Dr. Krzysztof Szczerba is a globally recognized expert in optical communications. He specializes in high speed optical interconnects used in mega scale datacenters and supercomputers. In his interdisciplinary work he combines information and communications theory, signal processing, optoelectronic device physics, in particular Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) and high speed radio frequency engineering. He has demonstrated numerous transmission speed records in optical interconnects. His recent research interests include machine learning and neural network modeling. He has authored numerous peer reviewed publications in leading journals and talked as invited speaker at most important conferences in the industry. Apart from research he has been very actively involved in research commercialization and entrepreneurial projects. Collaboration and knowledge transfer between industry and academia has been an ever-present part of his career from the very beginning. He is an alum of the Technical University of Lodz in Poland, Technical University of Denmark and Chalmers University of Technology in Göteborg, Sweden. He is fluent in Swedish and has a great interest in Scandinavian history and culture.

Marek Żywno Founder- CEO, Silicon Valley Ventures
Jacek Chmielewski Research Scholar, Auburn University
Prof. Andrzej Nowak Chair, Dep. Civil Faculty Engineering, Auburn University
Sylwia Stawska Doctoral Student, Civil Engineering, Auburn University

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.

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.

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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