Tag Archive for: Andrea Pesce

Chris Bley Tech Titan

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On behalf of Monterey Bay DART, we are beyond proud of our Board Member and Co-founder, Chris Bley, for receiving the incredible award: “Titan of Tech.” 

Every year, Santa Cruz Works honors the people who have contributed to the growth of the local tech and entrepreneurial community. In the past, several of the nominees have consisted of CEO’s and founders. This year, Titan of Tech awards highlighted the MVPs who are essential to any thriving business and make tremendous impact in more ways than one. 

In his acceptance speech, Chris reflected on “a chance meeting in my neighborhood with a neighbor that worked with Fort Ord Reuse Authority (FORA)… We got together and formed this non-profit (DART), which led into this connection with Joby Aviation and the re-education of under-privileged areas to work in the new manufacturing world that we would love to see in our communities.” He went on to share with the audience “I’m a little bit of an accidental entrepreneur and business owner, but, incredibly, it’s all worked out and I have to thank Santa Cruz for that.”

In addition to serving as a Board Member for Monterey Bay DART, Chris also brings years of entrepreneurial leadership to the Monterey Bay region and remains dedicated to tech related projects including Monterey Bay DART (a non-profit focused on supporting and connecting drone innovators), Insight Up Solutions (drone and sensor resale) and AirSpace Integration (provides shared work spaces, air spaces and training). These companies are located in the Monterey Bay region, La Selva Beach and the Marina Airport. Chris holds a BA in Biology from UC Santa Cruz.

Congratulations, Chris! You make the entire DART community so proud!
Watch his acceptance speech here.

Laura Oliphant | Serendibite Partners

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Join Andrea Pesce of UCSC and Laura Oliphant of Serendibite Partners talking about Investor Topics for October 19-23 DART Symposium.

Dr. Laura Oliphant is an accomplished technology executive, venture investor, and board member.  She spent 25 years with Intel, 15 of which was in Intel Capital, where she received Intel’s highest award in recognition of the strategic impact of her investments.  Immediately after leaving Intel, Laura served as the CEO of Translarity, an investor backed semiconductor test startup that focused on RF test applications. Laura currently serves on the Board of Directors for Novelda AS and Numascale AS, both based in Oslo, Norway.  Numascale is a maker of chips that enable high performance, scale up computing, and Novelda enables presence sensing with their ultra-high-resolution radar technology.  Laura is also on the boards of Aehr Test Systems (NASDAQ: AEHR), a maker of burn in systems, and Feasible, a pioneer in battery intelligence systems.  In addition to her boards, she is very active in the startup community.  Laura received her PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where her thesis research was centered on candidate batteries for electric cars.

University Related Entrepreneurship & Innovation

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Join CSU Monterey Bay Professor Brad Barbeau, Institute for Innovation and Economic Development Executive Director, and UC Santa Cruz Director of Industry Alliances Andrea Pesce in talking about the University Related Entrepreneurship and Innovation support activities happening around the Monterey Bay Region.