Dr. Matthew Laudon is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Business Development for the Nano Science and Technology Institute (NSTI) in Cambridge, MA. Dr. Laudon is an expert in academic to business relations. He obtained a Ph.D. with the Wisconsin Center for Nanotechnology and Synchrotron Radiation Center and has subsequently worked at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL), Motorola in Los Alamos National Laboratories and numerous Boston area start-ups in micro and nanotechnology commercialization and partnership development. He has worked as a technology commercialization consultant for; VC, legal, academic, start-up and established technology corporations. Dr. Laudon has served as an NSF — NNI proposal reviewer and as an advisor for the Massachusetts Nanotechnology Initiative. He has published over 30 technical publications and patents in topics ranging from nanotechnology, semiconductors, microsystems and optics. Dr. Laudon is the co-founder of the Nano Science and Technology Institute and is the co-founder and chair of the International Nanotechnology Conference (Nanotech 1998 — 2025).
Dr. Bart Romanowicz is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Technology Development for the Nano Science and Technology Institute in Cambridge, MA. He received his M.S. and Sc.D. from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne, working in the Microsystems Institute. Dr. Romanowicz is an expert in matching technology capabilities with industrial needs for commercialization. He has served as a visiting scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an industrial and academic partner manager at the Microsystems firm Coventor and as technology team lead with the Boston based Axiowave Networks, Inc. and CFD Research Corporation. Dr. Romanowicz has over 40 technical publications and several patents, primarily in microsystem design, and is the author of Methodology for the Modeling and Simulation of Microsystems, Kluwer (1998). Dr. Romanowicz is the co-founder and chair of the Nanotech International Conference and Expo and is Managing Editor or Editor in Chief of two journals and two annuals in micro and nano technologies.
Sarah Wenning is Co-founder and Vice President of Operations for the Nano Science and Technology Institute (NSTI). Ms. Wenning obtained a B.A. with the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and has worked in operational management positions at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of California at Berkeley, Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Institute, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and a variety of San Francisco Bay area biotechnology start-ups. She has worked with the NSTI since its founding in 1997. Ms. Wenning has 25+ years of meeting management and event planning experience, including directing operations for meetings ranging from 50 to as large as 8,000 attendees. She has planned meetings and events for non-profits, government agencies, government contractors, associations and corporations.
Ms. Rocha serves as Publications Director for the Nano Science and Technology Institute. She is responsible for managing the monthly Nano World News and other publications being developed by the NSTI for the business and nanotechnology community. Before joining the NSTI, Ms. Rocha was a Project Manager with the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC), a leading state economic development organization. Her work focused on MTC’s flagship publication, the annual Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy report. She conducted primary data collection and analysis for various reports, and collaborated with and managed Advisory Committees comprised of leaders from business, academia, and government. Ms Rocha also assisted in the creation of the Massachusetts Nanotechnology Initiative (MNI), an initiative that works to promote nanotechnology-related research, development, and business formation. Her work with the MNI included co-organizing the state’s first Nanotechnology Venture Forum in 2003 held at MIT, and serving as Co-Editor on the Nanotechnology in Massachusetts report.
Denise manages exhibits and sponsorships for the annual Nanotech event series. Based in Connecticut, Denise obtained a B.A with the University of Massachusetts, and has over 15 years experience in the conference and trade show industry ranging across Materials, MEMS, Sensors, Electronics, Energy, Communications and Life Sciences.
