BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jeffrey Smith
President
Jeff Smith is the VP/GM for Autonomous and Undersea Systems at Saab, Inc. responsible for growing a new US division focused on UUVs, ROVs, USVs, and Autonomy. Prior to joining Saab, Jeff was a Chief Scientist for UUV Systems for BAE Systems FAST Labs. Jeff was the president and founder of Riptide Autonomous Solutions, a major market disruptor in the unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) market and brought the company to acquisition by BAE Systems in 4 years. Jeff has spent over 31 years supporting the US Navy through his industry roles at General Dynamics, Bluefin Robotics, Riptide, BAE Systems, and now Saab. In 2010, he was tapped by the PMS403 (now PMS 406) to chair a broad industry team to conduct a study of the supporting technology areas for Unmanned Maritime Vehicles in support of a planned UUV Master Plan update. Over the past several years, Jeff has also been selected as a subject matter expert to participate in numerous war games and study panels focused on the future of undersea warfare for multiple government offices. Jeff also holds patents in UUVs, robotics, electro - optical systems, rapid prototyping, subsea battery safety systems, biomedical devices, and in a counter-sniper system. Jeff was formerly an advisor for Open Water Power, prior to their acquisition by L-3 Technologies. Jeff is also a member of the Board of Directors for Aretê Associates.
Nate Walton
Vice President
Nate Walton is the founder and principal of Sachem Strategies, a consulting firm that provides
business development and government relations services. The firm’s client focus is innovative
firms in the defense, technology, financial services, and energy sectors.
In his role at Sachem, Nate has played a leading role as an advocate for businesses at the
forefront of innovation. This has included organizing coalitions within Congress to advance
research funding, address intellectual property threats, and reduce regulatory obstacles. Nate has
also partnered with industry leaders and think tanks to design reform proposals that would
integrate more innovative firms into the defense industrial base.
Nate has taken on multiple roles that have allowed him to support and strengthen the innovation
ecosystem in New England. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts
Technology Collaborative and the Blue Venture Forum, two organizations that seek to support
business formation and growth in the local technology sector.
Nate holds a B.A. in political science from Bates College and a M.P.P. from Brown University.
Dr. Tobias Stapleton
Director
Dr. Tobias (Toby) Stapleton is a recognized leader in New England’s Blue Economy ecosystem. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and has extensive experience supporting investors, founders, and policy makers as they grow blue economy focused initiatives. Toby holds a PhD and MA from UMass Dartmouth, an MBA from Suffolk University, and a BA from Bryant University.
Kristin Barishian
Board Member
Ms. Barishian is a Certified Public Accountant in Massachusetts and Director at Marcum LLP – Boston and Providence, with more than 10 years of experience in public accounting focusing on audits of public and private companies. She works primarily with companies in the technology industry, particularly in software, life sciences and renewable energy. Kristin also has experience providing in-house technical consulting for public companies. She has also worked for 4 years in private industry as a manager of SEC and financial reporting and as an accounting manager. Kristin graduated from Bentley College (now University) in 2003 and obtained her Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) from Bentley University in 2004. In her spare time, Kristin enjoys mentoring start-ups.
Dr. Patricia L. Gruber
Board Member
Dr. Gruber is a
s
cience and
t
echnology
executive
with
leadership
exper
ience in
government,
industry and university
organizations
.
At the Office of Naval Research (ONR), s
he
served as the
Director of Research
w
ith responsibility
for the
Dept. of Navy
basic and early applied research
portfolio
.
In this role, she also
led the development of the Naval S&T Strategic Plan
and
coordinated ONR’s education, outreach and diversity programs. Mo
re
recently, she served as
Technical Director for
ONR
Global
, leading
a group of
fifty
scientists and engineers
who
facilitate
d
international research collaboration and act
ed
as
technica
l
liaisons to operational
fleet/forces
.
Dr. Gruber has served as the Vice President, Maritime Systems at Battelle and as
the Deputy Director, Applied Research Laboratory at the Pennsylvania State University. She holds a B.S. in Meteorology from the Pennsylvania State University and a M.S. and Ph.D. in
Applied Marine Physics from the University of Miami.
Jim Hanlon
Board Member
Jim Hanlon’s leadership has helped unlock the vast potential of Atlantic Canada's ocean economy. As the founding CEO of the Centre for Ocean Ventures & Entrepreneurship (COVE), he’s fostered rich collaborations between industry, government and universities and developed new talent in the sector as a mentor to up-and-coming researchers and entrepreneurs.
Born in Nova Scotia with an engineering degree from Dalhousie and a MBA from Saint Mary’s, Hanlon has led a 40-year career as an ocean technology entrepreneur and executive with senior roles in engineering, marketing and general management. He played an integral role in helping attract nearly half a billion dollars in public and private investment in the sector to the region between 2014 and 2019. A decade ago, Hanlon took on the role of initial CEO of the newly formed Halifax Marine Research Institute (HMRI), and later spearheaded efforts to establish COVE as its successor. Under his leadership, COVE grew into a $30-million, 60-tenant ocean technology hub that has drawn admirers from various countries looking to mirror its success.
A consummate matchmaker, Hanlon brings agile leadership, strategic thinking and persistent optimism to the table in building bridges across sectors and through his work on boards and as a mentor with initiatives such as CDL-Atlantic.
Hope Hopkins
Board Member
Hope Hopkins is a leading advocate for growing entrepreneurial and innovative communities globally. She is currently the Development & Outreach Lead for L156 - Underwater and Acoustic Systems at Mitre. Prior to joining Mitre, Hope led the Acceleration Programs for all US-based MassChallenge programs including the Early Stage Program and Industry specific Challenge programs, HealthTech and FinTech. She was also a VP at the RI Commerce Corporation, a quasi-public agency where she worked under the Raimondo administration to advance companies in their growth, expansion, and relocation to the state. Hope has a consumer insights background having spent her early days as a Strategic Planner in Manhattan at BBDO assisting companies develop and refine product lines, rejuvenate brands via a redefined messaging platform and execution. Following her time in advertising Hope furthered her human-centered design competency working as a Research and Product Strategist for a Medical Device Development Firm.
Justin Manley
Board Member
Justin Manley is an innovative technologist and executive with experience in startup, public corporation, academic, and public sectors. He is a recognized leader in unmanned systems development and operations. Mr. Manley founded Just Innovation in 2015 to support clients from startups to multi-national corporations with core technical specializations in unmanned vehicles, robotics, sensors, and undersea systems. Mr. Manley offers clients support with strategy and innovation, business and product development, evangelism, and marketing.
Roger Race
Board Member
Roger E. Race has years of oceanographic experience with such companies as Rolls Royce, BOT USA, and YSI. Currently, he is innovation director at Dartmouth Ocean Technologies which involves directing all phases of the research, planning, design, testing, and construction of technically challenging oceanographic projects. Mr. Race started and ran successfully two small businesses, which produced patented marine products for the Global Marine Market.
Mr. Race’s more than 30 years of experience includes designing and bringing to market products for the marine and oceanographic industry. At Endeco Inc., as senior engineer Mr. Race created underwater designs that contributed to a three million dollar company. While Chief Engineer at Edson International Mr. Race created successful marine hardware designs sold worldwide by this five million dollar company. As a director at YSI, Mr. Race was responsible for design, construction, and project management of numerous marine product lines, including towbodies, floating platforms, ocean instruments, and cable and mooring systems. Mr. Race was also responsible for marketing these systems worldwide. At Rolls Royce, Mr. Race was program executive for advanced systems in the Naval Marine Group. Mr. Race holds degrees in both mechanical engineering and marine biology.
Roger Race is an avid sailor who loves nothing better than to be out on the water messing about in boats!
Jon Rotolo
Board Member
Jon Rotolo has founded multiple asset management companies over the past two decades which have cumulatively managed over $8 billion of capital. As a manager he has overseen teams which have made nearly seventy portfolio company investments and executed hundreds of follow on acquisitions. As an investor he has held board seats across multiple industries including telecom, media, technology, renewable resources, infrastructure and healthcare. Currently Jon serves on the Board of Concord, the Board of Managers of the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research, and is an officer of LSJ Charitable Corporation. Mr. Rotolo is a graduate of Hamilton College, Boston University’s Questrom School of Business and Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.