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Walter Ulrich,
President and CEO

Appointed by Governor Rick Perry, Walter Ulrich served a two year term as one of 17 founding members of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund Committee that was responsible for awarding $200 million to foster the commercialization of innovative emerging technology within the State of Texas. In addition to his leadership of the HTC, he now serves as Chairman of the Gulf Coast Center for Innovation and Commercialization. Prior to joining the Houston Technology Center, he was CEO of several technology companies and an executive with two major global management consulting firms. He serves on several Boards and is active in major community organizations.  Early in his career, he was responsible for the development of the first successful email service and he founded a major regional IT leader.  He has a master and bachelors degree from Stevens Institute of Technology and served proudly in the US Marine Corps.

Paul M. Frison,
Executive Vice Chairman

Founder of the Houston Technology Center, Paul Frison served as its President from 1999-2007. He has been President and/or CEO of three public, technology based companies: LifeMark (1975-1984), NYSE; ComputerCraft (1984-1999), NASDAQ; and LifeCell (1986-1999). He has been involved in numerous other start-ups by serving on the Board of Directors. His broad experience includes many mergers and acquisitions. He has raised multiple rounds of venture capital, two IPOs, and more than a dozen follow-on rounds of public financing. In 2004 he was honored by the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year program and by the Kauffman Foundation as a national finalist for his achievements as Supporter of Entrepreneurship. In March 2011 Paul was awarded BusinessMaker of the Year by The BusinessMakers Radio Show.

Maryanne Maldonado,
Vice President and
Managing Director, Energy Acceleration

Ms. Maldonado is corporate Vice President of the Houston Technology Center and serves as the Director of Acceleration for the energy sector. She provides strategic and tactical management, as well as investment-related advice to Houston-area early stage companies developing innovative technologies applied in the energy industry. Ms. Maldonado assists in recruiting and screening new energy clients, further growing the renewable energy/clean tech area and direct special energy-related projects at HTC. Prior to joining HTC, Ms. Maldonado presided as Head of Trade and Investment and Head of the International Energy Team for UK Trade and Investment, based in Houston. Prior to working with the United Kingdom, Ms. Maldonado served as Trade Commissioner for the Canadian Consulate-Houston, following several operational and regulatory positions with oil and gas companies. A native of North Carolina, Ms. Maldonado holds a Masters of Business Administration and a Bachelors of Business Management from LeTourneau University in Longview City, Texas.

Tim Budzik,
Managing Director, JSC Campus
Houston Technology Center - JSC Campus

Mr. Budzik serves as the Managing Director for the Houston Technology Center – JSC Campus. He is responsible for leadership of HTC’s presence at JSC including client incubation and acceleration; client recruitment and screening processes. Mr. Budzik provides mentoring to local incubation and client companies, helping to accelerate their progress towards key commercialization goals and financial success. Prior to joining HTC, he was an executive consultant providing business leadership in energy, defense, IT, cyber and aerospace industries. Prior to executive consulting, Mr. Budzik was the Director of Business Development for EADS-NA, Sr. BD Manager at USA, Director of Capture and Proposal Consulting with Shipley Associates, Director of Strategic Investments with Dynegy and over 10 years of Sr. Engineering positions at JSC as a contractor. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from The Ohio State University in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering and an Executive Education certificate from Rice University.

Bob Prochnow,
CIO, Houston Technology Center
Director, Gulf Coast RCIC and Bay Area RCIC, Texas Emerging Technology Fund

Bob Prochnow has served as an executive in energy and IT technology companies ranging in size from startups to Fortune 500.  In 2001, he was honored by COMPUTERWORLD as one of their Premier 100 IT Leaders.  Bob is an honors graduate with BSEE and MEE degrees from Rice University, specializing in computer hardware and software.  Bob has been active helping early stage companies, working with the Austin Technology Incubator, Houston Technology Center, and the Rice Alliance, and as the Director of the Gulf Coast RCIC has helped early stage companies receive funding through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. Bob also serves as the Director of the Bay Area RCIC providing assistance to the NASA/JSC and surrounding community.

M. Heather Dunn,
Director, Marketing & Communications

Heather Dunn serves as Director, Marketing and Communications for the Houston Technology Center (HTC). Heather has been a high tech marketer for over ten years, most recently for seven years in various marketing management positions at Hewlett-Packard in Houston, and previously in Austin with Dell, Inc and technology start-ups/ As Marketing Director, Heather oversees all corporate communications and integrated marketing strategy initiatives, including advertising, media relations, public relations, social media and branding activities for the HTC and its sectors including energy, information technology, life sciences, nanotechnology, and NASA/aerospace. Heather will also act as a marketing resource for early-stage technology companies affiliated with the HTC. Heather is an active member of the American Marketing Association Houston Chapter, and volunteers with the Houston SPCA and Ronald McDonald House.  Heather is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, with a Bachelor of Journalism and minor in Spanish.

Pat Kidwell,
NASA Executive on Loan,
Johnson Space Center 

Mr. Kidwell is the NASA Executive on Loan for the aerospace sector.  He has extensive public sector business management experience and has worked with senior NASA program and project managers for over 25 years.  His business experience includes human-rated space flight hardware manufacturing, software development, launch and landing processing, mission operations and systems integration.  He has held management and leadership positions at the Johnson Space Center in the chief engineer, chief financial officer, safety, and risk sciences organizations.  Currently, he manages the Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate’s strategic initiatives with leadership roles in strategic planning, innovation management and new business development.  Prior to this position he was responsible for managing all phases of the Johnson Space Center’s $2 billion space operations budget.  Before joining NASA, he was a selected as a Presidential Management Fellow after receiving his Master of Public Administration degree from Angelo State University.

Deborah Mansfield,
Director, Life Sciences Acceleration and
Associate Director, Gulf Coast RCIC

Ms. Mansfield serves as the Director of Acceleration for the life sciences sector, providing strategic and tactical management, as well as investment-related advice to Houston-area early stage companies developing innovative technologies applied in the life sciences industry. Ms. Mansfield has an extensive background in business development, management, non-equity funding, entrepreneurship, compliance, and research in the life sciences sector. She has provided operations support to the Governor’s Council on Science and Biotechnology Development and currently acts as associate director for the Gulf Coast Regional Center of Innovation and Commercialization, Texas Emerging Technology Fund. Prior to joining HTC, Deborah served in a number of management and research roles at UT MD Anderson Cancer Center and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. She is an active advisory board member for ACCION Texas, Lone Star College-Montgomery Biotechnology Institute, University of Houston Biotechnology Industrial Advisory Committee, Nurtured by Design, Laser Tissue Welding, Inc., Fairway Medical Technologies, Inc. and Rice Alliance for Technology & Entrepreneurship, as well as, is in leadership roles for the Bio/Medical Technology Club of Houston and Gulf Coast Medical Device Manufactures.  Ms. Mansfield holds a Masters of Business Administration from Our Lady of the Lake University, MS from Pennsylvania State University, and BS from California State University of Pennsylvania.

Sheila Whanger,
Director, Special Events

Sheila Whanger serves as Director of Special Events for Houston Technology Center (HTC) and has been affiliated with HTC since their inception in 1999. A seasoned event planner, with more than 30 years of experience in Houston, Sheila manages all of HTC’s major events, driving increased revenue and visibility for the organization. These include the Energy Technology Venture Capital Conference (ETVCC), the annual Gala: and the Gulf Coast Innovation Conference & Showcase (GCIC&S). Sheila acts as liaison with the Mayor’s and Governor’s offices when either of these two officials participates in an HTC event. She acted as HTC’s project manager during the construction of the two buildings that house HTC and its’ tenants. Prior to joining HTC, Sheila was in advertising sales at PennWell Publishing Company (1988-1999), her role there also included planning and coordinating OTC related events. Sheila was Assistant Executive Vice President of the Houston Association of Realtors (1976-1988), the largest membership trade organization in Houston. While there, she was elected to serve as Chair of the Texas Association of Realtors Executive Officers Committee. She has been a member of the Willow City Ranch Owners Association for over four years.

Greg Wright,
Director, IT Acceleration

Greg Wright serves as Director of Acceleration for the IT sector, recruiting and screening clients and assisting those clients in accessing the Houston Technology Center's resources and fulfilling their goals for growth and success.  Greg has over 20 years of experience in executive, management consulting, and enterprise technology architecture roles. Prior to joining the Houston Technology Center, he co-founded Mbira Group where he is a Virtual CIO, providing IT direction and strategy to executives at medium sized companies. Prior to that he was the Chief Technology Officer at a start-up (Prepaid Works), Director of Technology at Sapient, Principle and Energy Trading/Netmarkets Solutions Manager at CSC Consulting (Computer Sciences Corp.), and Senior Consultant at Andersen Consulting (Accenture). Greg has a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science. 

Phil Fraher,
HTC Asia Chairman

Phil has over 20 years of leadership experience within business intelligence, data delivery, and business-to-business (B2B) software companies. As Chief Financial Officer, Phil manages the day-to-day financial and accounting operations for FuelQuest as well as leverages his extensive background to guide the company through key growth opportunities. Previously, he served as President and CEO of Visual Numerics, Inc.; performed as COO and CFO of Brightmail, Inc.; and held other financial management positions at Cahners Business Information Electronic Media Division, Pilot Software, and Dun & Bradstreet. Phil has extensive venture capital, M&A, and international business expansion experience. He began his career as a software engineer with Exxon Production Research. Phil holds an MBA from the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester and a BS in Computing Engineering at Auburn University.

Carlos Lara,
HTC Americas Chairman

Mr. Lara is the President of Lara & Associates LLC, a financial and business development advisory firm that provides corporate strategies, advocacy and project facilitation, and outsourcing solutions related to Human Resources and Technology/ Software development matters. In addition he is a principal in several independent business ventures, ranging from the electricity to healthcare issues. Mr. Lara has successfully created and managed public and private projects at national and bilateral levels for grass roots and investment promotion related campaigns, internet initiatives and web portals, sports franchises, mass Hispanic retail and electricity markets, corporate and public finance activities and international funds transfer business; along with nonprofit initiatives such as the Mexican Council for Hispanic Business, the NAFTA Internship Program of the Washington Center and the HTC Americas.  Mr. Lara was born in Mexico City, where he obtained a Bachelor's and Master’s degree in Business Administration and International Management (MBA-MIM) from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), while having the opportunity to teach international marketing and finance.

Diane Askins, Accounting Coordinator

Ruby Ramirez, Receptionist/Administrative Assistant

Cheri Rocha, Administrative Services Manager

and

Executive Assistant to Walter Ulrich, President & CEO

Meghan Smith, Acceleration Coordinator

Kendra Trueba, Property Manager and

Leasing Agent