Amir A. Fardad

NP Photonics, Inc. develops and manufactures fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers and transport fibers. Its proprietary fiber technology is used across a broad family of products, including narrow linewidth, low phase-noise fiber lasers designed for operation in industrial environments. The firm's products include micron fiber lasers, multi-channel fiber laser systems, fiber amplifiers, laser lockers and mid-IR transport fibers. The company was founded by Bernard Kippelen, Honkanen Seppo Kaleva, Nasser Peyghambarian and Shibin Jiang in 1998 and is headquartered in Tucson, AZ.

Southeast TechInventures, Inc. develops technologies and intellectual property for commercial licensing and production. It focuses on medical devices, diagnostics, biotechnology, nanotechnology, materials, electronics, and agriculture including agricultural biotechnology. The company was founded by Karen L. LeVert and Kristina M. Johnson in January 2003 and is headquartered in Durham, NC.