MARCHING ORDERS: The Military as Customer and Collaborator

Event Description: Do you know the various branches of the U.S. Military are one of the largest procurers of products and services in the country?  Do you realize that if your strategic outreach is limited to commercial and civilian customers, you also limit your chances of success and survival?  From high-tech to biotech, from cybersecurity to healthcare, the military is interested in what you have to offer. It serves a pivotal role for technology companies.  Even in these times of federal budget cuts, DoD, DHS, HHS, and other agencies, will still be awarding billions of dollars in contracts and grants to further their various missions.    However, companies often seem daunted and intimidated by the size and complexity of the military, and need guidance on how to approach the different offerors.  February's MITEF event will provide a highly valuable opportunity to learn and discuss the various funding mechanisms available, speak about technology transfer, and gain insight into partnering with our Armed Forces.

Event Organizers: Michael Salgaller, SAIC, and Dietrich Ruehlmann, Oscamo, Inc.

Speakers :

Martin MacPhee, Chief Scientific Officer&  Executive Vice President, STB Lifesaving Inc. co-founded two biotechnology companies in Montgomery County and was involved with the development of seven plasma-derived products and three International Biologic Reference Standards. In 1992, he invented the first advanced hemostatic dressing capable of treating lethal hemorrhages, sparking the field of hemorrhage control research and beginning a 20-year long association with the US Army. His work attracted over $30M in Grants and Contracts from the DoD, along with more than one million dollars in funding from the NIH, and approximately the same amount from investors. Dr. MacPhee received his Ph.D. from the McGill University Department of Surgery in Montreal, Canada. He published over 60 scientific papers and book chapters, and served on the Scientific Advisory Boards of several biotechnology and medical device companies. 

John Troyer, Vice President, Product Development at PharmAthene, Inc., has over 20 years experience in multiple aspects of biologic and small molecule drug development from discovery through licensure and has been responsible for the submission of over 30 INDs, multiple BLA and NDA filings as well as Orphan Drug and Fast Track applications.  For the past 10 years he has been the Program Director for five advanced development biodefense contracts with DARPA, DoD (CBMS), NIH (NIAID and NINDS-CounterACT) and HHS (BARDA) with total funding of over $450M.  In this capacity he has gained an in-depth understanding of how to be successful at drug development with the government customer, from research through advanced clinical development.

Panelists: 

Jerome K. Maultsby, Associate Director, Office of Small Business Programs, US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC), is responsible for advising and assisting the Commanding General, USAMRMC and contracting personnel in developing strategies to ensure maximum participation in prime and subcontracting by all small business concerns including small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned small businesses, veteran and service disabled veteran-owned small businesses, HUBZone, Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Institutions.  Additional responsibilities include: evaluating small business subcontracting plans to ensure compliance with Army Federal Acquisition Regulations; monitoring, reporting and making recommendations regarding the achievement of socio-economic goals for USAMRMC; interacting with small business representatives and academia; participating in government and industry small business conferences. Prior to this appointment in 2002, Jerome’s 20-year active duty military career consisted of various logistics and procurement related assignments at the command and staff levels from 1981 through 2001.

Elizabeth Barrows, a government relations professional with Fabiani & Company, consults to life sciences companies seeking to secure federal government support for their research and development programs.  She holds a master's degree in biomedical engineering, and spent 5 years managing pharmaceutical research and development projects in blood products, resuscitation fluids and analgesic drugs on contract to the US Army. Previously, she worked with NASA and private industry on biomedical sensors and robotics. She holds both Project Management Professional (PMP) and Regulatory Affairs (RAC) certifications and is certified under the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act training scale at Level 3 in Science and Technology Management and Level 2 in Program Management. Her current focus includes interaction with the Legislative and Executive branches of the US Government – particularly DoD and HHS, regulated medical product project management, government strategy, development of non-dilutional funding opportunities and government partnering.

Mark Sauter, Senior Managing Director, Spectrum Capital Advisors, LLC helps clients increase the value of their enterprises through strategic planning, due diligence and decision support for capital raising and M&A. This includes providing actionable insights on key defense and federal buying decisions and budget trends. His clients have included major private equity groups focused on the defense sector as well as operating companies in areas such as cybersecurity; data analytics; federal services; and biometrics. During his career, he has served as the principal investigator/program manager for a contract with a major U.S. intelligence agency; senior executive for venture capital-backed emerging companies; and investigative correspondent/defense reporter for national and local news media. Additionally, Mr. Sauter is co-author of widely-quoted security-industry white papers and the leading McGraw-Hill university textbook: Homeland Security: A Complete Guide. Mr. Sauter, a former Army officer in infantry and special forces units, is a graduate of Harvard University, magna cum laude, and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.

Mark Hibbard is the President and Founder of CoVar Applied Technologies, a research and development firm specializing in sensor systems, signal processing, and machine learning technologies.  CoVar has sub-contracts from US DoD prime contractors and has developed software and hardware for radar image processing, night vision goggle imagery analysis, underwater acoustic waveform synthesis, and automated video instrumentation processing for oil and gas drilling rigs.  Prior to founding CoVar, Mark was Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of NIITEK, Inc., a company dedicated to saving warfighter lives through the development and manufacture of its proprietary ground penetrating radar sensor systems. Mark was responsible for technology and product development from the inception of the company, through the initial deployment of its first system, to aggregate sales in excess of $250M. He holds more than half a dozen patents and pending patents and has presented as an invited speaker at international conferences on counter-IED and sensing technologies. Mark has a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the College of William and Mary and a Master of Business Administration from the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland.