Leadership Team

 

Al Mink (Director)

Al works at the intersection of technology and US National Security. He consults for the US Air Force and defense contractors. He also teaches a graduate course for American University on technology strategy for business.

Al earned his Bachelor’s degree in computer science from MIT, his Master’s in business from Carnegie-Mellon, and a recent PhD in Cloud Computing from George Mason University. Al is a former combat pilot and technology leader in US Air Force, having retired at the rank of Colonel after 22 years of service. In the private sector he ran a $100M business unit. He has also held the positions of COO and CTO at a leading technology organization. He’s on the board of AFCEA, the professional association for technology in national security; is a co-founder of FAST ROPE, and is a life member of the Air Force Association.

Al is engaged in the entrepreneur ecosystem, having served as the regional chair and then at large member of the global MIT Enterprise Forum. He sits on the Board of Advisors for several startups, reviews SBIR I & II proposals for the National Science Foundation, and has led expert panels on startup funding.

 

Dave Lemus

Dave is an experienced C-Level executive (CEO-COO-CFO) and non-executive board member with extensive US and international business experience spanning 20+ years in the pharmaceutical & biotechnology industry. Dave has served in multiple executive board roles in various US, European, private and publicly-traded biopharmaceutical companies. His deal sheet accumulated as an executive involves more than $3 billion in licensing, financing/capital markets and M&A transactions - including executing Germany's first-ever biotechnology IPO, and successfully closing two of the largest biotech-pharma deals in the biopharmaceuticals space.

He currently sits as a non-executive director on multiple boards of life-science focused companies in both the US and Europe, and runs the strategic advisory firm LEMAX, focused on serving the global biopharmaceutical industry.

Dave received a BS from the University of Maryland, an MS from MIT, and is a licensed CPA in the state of Maryland.

 

Terry Hsiao

Terry Hsiao is an entrepreneur, advisor and investor with extensive experience in mobile messaging, payment and fintech. He has founded multiple companies in mobile that got acquired by Sybase, Verifone, and Kaleyra.

Appointed by two governors across party lines, Terry served on the board of Virginia’s Center of Innovation and Technology, a state-funded economic development and investment agency. Terry is the current President of Monte Jade DC, representing Asian American business leaders and entrepreneurs for 25 years. He has served on the Board of Governors at MIT Sloan and on the Board of Advisors at the College of Engineering at Rutgers University.

Terry received a BSEE Honors degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Rutgers University and a Master’s degree in Management of Technology from MIT Sloan.

 

Michele A. Kaliski

Cornell BS ORIE ‘85, MIT SM MechE ’87
President, Kaliski Fichtl Innovation Fund
New York, NY

Michele A. (Fichtl) Kaliski brings more than three decades of practical experience investing in students, start-ups, and social enterprise. After graduating from Cornell University, Kaliski studied as a General Motors Fellow at MIT. Her master’s thesis outlined an innovative strategy for engaging employees in continuous improvement of factory operations by aligning cultural and process change, a basis for her work as a manufacturing engineer at GM’s Harrison Radiator and as a competitive analysis engineer at A.C. Rochester. After starting a family, Kaliski turned her career attention to public service. Contributing to the university sector, she helped Cornell’s College of Engineering establish and organize its Innovation Competition and supported the MIT IDEAS Social Innovation Challenge’s early move to an online format, also serving as a judge for both programs. She completed three terms on Cornell’s Engineering College Council and was co-chair of its Educational Task Force. She’s also mentored students in the MIT delta v educational accelerator.  In the start-up space, she serves as deputy director of the MIT Alumni Angels of DC, chairing the selection committee, overseeing quarterly startup presentation events and leading due diligence on promising ventures. And in social enterprise, Kaliski is a member of TechnoServe’s Global Advisory Council and the TechnoServe Labs Advisory Board, and leads the Kaliski Fichtl Innovation Fund, a family foundation dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs and inspiring innovators who are bringing new ideas to their communities and to the world.

 

Cyril Draffin

Cyril is actively involved in entrepreneurship, energy technologies, and national security. He was co-founder and early President of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Washington-Baltimore, was vice president of an American Stock Exchange traded venture capital company with focus on information technology, served as board member on multiple early-stage companies, was member of the National Venture Capital Association, and is MIT Angel investor.

Cyril currently is Senior Fellow, Advanced Nuclear for the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council where he supports licensing and deployment of advanced nuclear energy systems, is Vice Chair of the Infrastructure Subcommittee of the Maryland Cybersecurity Council, and is affiliate of the MIT Energy Initiative. Previously he was director of strategy for Northrop Grumman Corporation with focus on cybersecurity, homeland security, information technology, and defense strategy, and coordinated homeland security initiatives for the company. He was a director and strategic planner with the U.S. Department of Energy; and led strategic assessments and technology development for solar, wind, fossil, biomass, and nuclear energy, and funded shale gas fracking technology now being used to produce substantial amounts of natural gas in the U.S.

Cyril has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in chemical engineering from MIT, and is a MIT Corporation Development Committee member.

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