John Williams
Director of Innovation and Technology
SBA, Office of Investment and Innovation
Mr. John Williams is Director of Innovation and Technology for the Office of Investment and Innovation (OII) within the US Small Business Administration (SBA). Mr. Williams’ primary responsibility is to serve as senior principal for the Federal policy implementation, and programmatic oversight, of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs across all 11 participating agencies.
Prior to joining the SBA in December of 2014, Mr. Williams served as the Director of the Navy SBIR and STTR programs. While at the Navy, Mr. Williams conceptualized the Transition Assistance Program (TAP), an 11 month program to educate and assist Navy Phase II awardees in the Technology Transition process. Commercialization of technologies developed under the SBIR and STTR program was a major focus of his work. Through Mr. Williams’ leadership the Navy led the way in supporting the acquisition and transition of SBIR/STTR seeded technologies, awarding more Phase III contracts than the rest of the DOD combined. His career with the Navy spanned 27 years, including positions at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, the Naval Sea Systems Command, and the Office of Naval Research.
As a result of his endeavors and distinguished leadership, Mr. Williams been recognized via prestigious accolades such as the Tibbetts Award and Hammer Prize, and has been a featured speaker at The National SBIR Conference, Navy Opportunity Forum, Defense Energy Summit, NCET2, Cleantech Open, and The National Academies (NAS, NAE, IOM & NRC).
Mr. Williams is a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES), with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland College Park, and a Masters in Engineering Management-Marketing of Technology from George Washington University.
G. Nagesh Rao
Chief Technologist, Office of Investment and Innovation
G. Nagesh Rao is a practicing technologist, commercialization strategist, entrepreneur, and highly cited policy expert working at the intersection of applied science, law, business, and public policy from both domestic and international perspectives with over 10+ years of successful experience.
He primarily serves as Chief Technologist & Entrepreneur in Residence with the US Small Business Administration’s Office of Investment & Innovation. His portfolio of work includes the SBIR/STTR program and coordination of the Fueling Small Business Innovation Interagency Policy Committee for the White House’s Lab to Market Commercialization Agenda. He played an instrumental role in the creation and execution of 5 major interagency policy committee reports regarding the SBIR/STTR program on behalf of the White House-OSTP and SBA for US Congress, as well currently co-leading the re-vamped build out of the www.sbir.gov platform that centralizes the programmatic efforts of the 11 participating federal agencies. Nagesh has been afforded the privilege to work with top-tier cutting edge organizations such as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Office of Technology Commercialization, The National Academies (NAS, NAE, IOM & NRC), US Department of Commerce (USPTO, EDA, &OIE), LAUNCH, CleanTech Los Angeles, Global Access in Action, NCET2, Innovation Endeavors, Planet Labs, Ecovative Design, Publicbeat, Peek, Stiefel Family Foundation, and most recently Virginia Tech’s Applied Research Corporation.
Within those various organizations Nagesh has worked in a myriad of roles including: patent examination, investment diligence, intellectual property portfolio curation, startup company formation and scale up, fundraising, expert advisory assessments, crafting of policy reports and much more. As well through his work he has played a significant role in developing the following programmatic endeavors: i6 Green, FLoW, Patents for Humanity, VT-ARC Additive Manufacturing Grand Challenge, and AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassador Program.
Furthermore he composes and presents intellectual musings which have been featured via WAMC-NPR, TechCrunch, The Scientist, Triple Pundit, MIT XPrize Lab, UC Berkeley, RPI, Stanford, Cleantech Open at Xerox-parc, NCET2, BPIA, The National SBIR Conference, Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, The National Academies, Next Gov Prime 2020, and PwC’s CleanTech Revolution at the LA Autoshow.
His involved efforts in various programmatic endeavors have led to numerous accolades from his personally receiving the RPI Key Alumni Award to the RPI DC-Alumni Chapter in conjunction with the Rensselaer Alumni Association winning Silver and Bronze commendations from CASE to the USPTO-Patents for Humanity Program receiving LESI's National IP & Tech Transfer Policy Award. Nagesh's credentials include a MBA (Global Strategy and Entrepreneurship) from the University of Maryland-College Park, a MSc in Legal Studies-Intellectual Property Law from Albany Law School, a BSc dual-major in Materials Engineering and Philosophy from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a Patent Bar License from the USPTO (Registration Number: 69006). Currently, he is an Advisor to LAUNCH (public-private partnership between NASA, USAID, US State Department, and Nike) and the AAAS-Lemelson Invention Ambassador Program, as well served over the past 5 years as a Board member on his alma mater's (RPI) Alumni Association Board of Trustees.
(202) 205-6565
nagesh.rao@sba.gov
Edsel M. Brown Jr.
Assistant Administrator, Office of Technology
U.S. Small Business Administration
Mr. Brown has served with the U.S. Small Business Administration since 1990. He iscurrently the Assistant Director for the Office of Technology. In this position he provides oversight over the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs.
In addition to his tenure at the SBA, Mr. Brown has served as a Financial Consultant to several NASD broker dealers, owned a Liberty Tax Franchise, and operated an Entertainment/Sports Law practice.
He has been a member of a number of organizations including the DC Chamber of Commerce, Calvert County Economic Development Commission, National Bar Association, American Bar Association, NAACP, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity (Life Member)
A native of Plainfield, N. J., Mr. Brown holds B.A. (Government/Political Science) and M.A. (Public Administration) degrees from Ohio University, and a J.D. (Law) degree from the University of Toledo College of Law. He is a licensed Attorney.
(202) 205-7343
edsel.brown@sba.gov
Lisa Younger
Program Analyst, Office of Technology
(202) 619-0359
lisa.younger@sba.gov
Louis Cupp
New Markets Analyst, Office of Investment and Innovation
(202) 619-0511
louis.cupp@sba.gov