ADVISORY BOARD
Anil Kapoor
President & Chief Executive Officer
SVAM International Inc.
Robert B. Catell
Chairman
Advanced Energy Research & Technology Center, Stony Brook University
Robert B. Catell is an accomplished global energy industry leader and is the recipient of the 2009 United States Energy Award. Bob Catell exemplifies the type of individual so heavily deserving of the recognition for which this award was designed.
Bob Catell began his career at Brooklyn Union Gas, a small regional gas distribution utility that he built into one of the largest electric power/natural gas companies in the United States. He also orchestrated the merger of KeySpan Energy with National Grid, a strategic more to foster the growth of a world-scale energy company.
Bob Catell is a past Chairman of the Board of Directors of the United States Energy Association, having previously served as Vice Chairman and as a Director, and as both a Chairman and member of various USEA committees. He served as a Vice Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the 17th Congress of the World Energy Council, held in Houston in 1998.
He also has served the energy industry in several prominent leadership roles, including as Chairman of the American Gas Association; Vice Chairman of the National Petroleum Council’s Natural Gas Committee; and as Director of the Edison Electric Institute, the Energy Association of New York and the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority. He is also Chairman of the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation and Co-Chair of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center.
Bob Catell is a timeless supporter of the New York, Brooklyn and New York State communities, in addition to his global energy leadership. The United States Energy Association is honored to announce Robert B. Catell as the recipient of the 2009 United States Energy Award.
Yacov Shamash
Vice President of Economic Development
Stony Brook University
Dr. Shamash is the Vice President for Economic Development at Stony Brook University. As Vice President, Dr. Shamash supervises the University’s four incubators, three New York State Centers for Advanced Technology, the Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT), the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, the Small Business Development Center, and the workforce development programs of the Center for Emerging Technologies. In 1995, Dr. Shamash led SUNY’s colleges of engineering to create the statewide Strategic Partnership for Industrial Resurgence (SPIR) program.
Stony Brook’s cumulative results include more than 2,985 projects completed with more than 480 companies, helping company partners win more than $95 million in competitive federal awards. During the period from 1992 to 2015 Dr. Shamash served as Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Stony Brook University. Under his leadership, the College has grown from 1500 to over 5000 students with average SAT scores of entering UG students increasing from 1150 to 1343, and external research expenditures increased six fold to $30 million. Prior to joining Stony Brook in 1992, Dr. Shamash served as the Director of the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Washington State University and was responsible for the establishment of a National Science Foundation Industry/University Center for the Design of Analog/Digital Integrated Circuits.
He is a member of the Board of Directors of Keytronic, American Medical Alert and Applied DNA. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Long Island Software & Technology Network (LISTnet) and the Long Island Angel Network. Dr. Shamash has held faculty positions at Florida Atlantic University, the University of Pennsylvania and Tel Aviv University. He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Imperial College of Science and Technology in London, England. He has authored more than 130 publications and is a Fellow of the IEEE.
Lawrence J. Waldman
Senior Advisor
First Long Island Investors
Lawrence J. Waldman, CPA, age 72, has served as a director since March 2011 and is currently the Chair of our audit committee and Lead Independent Director of the Board. Mr. Waldman has over thirty-five years of experience in public accounting. Mr. Waldman currently serves as a senior advisor to First Long Island Investors, LLC, an investment and wealth management firm since May 2016.
Prior to that Mr. Waldman served as an advisor to the accounting firm of EisnerAmper LLP, where he was previously the Partner-in-Charge of Commercial Audit Practice Development for Long Island since September 2011. Prior to joining EisnerAmper LLP, Mr. Waldman was the Partner-in-Charge of Commercial Audit Practice Development for Holtz Rubenstein Reminick, LLP from July 2006 to August 2011.
Mr. Waldman was the Managing Partner of the Long Island office of KPMG LLP from 1994 through 2006, the accounting firm where he began his career in 1972. Mr. Waldman was elected to the Board of Directors of Comtech Telecommunications Corp. in August of 2015 and since December 2015, serves as Chair of its audit committee.
In October 2016, Mr. Waldman was appointed and subsequently in December 2016 elected to the Board of Directors of CVD Equipment Corporation, and serves as the Chair of the audit committee and as Lead Independent Director Mr. Waldman served through October 2018 as a member of the Board of Directors of Northstar/RXR Metro Income Fund, a non-traded Real Estate Investment Trust and has served as a member of its audit committee since 2014. Mr. Waldman is also the Chair of the Supervisory Committee of Bethpage Federal Credit Union. Mr. Waldman also served as a member of the State University of New York's Board of Trustees and as chair of its audit committee.
He previously served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Long Island Power Authority and as Chair and a member of the finance and audit committee of its Board of Trustees. Mr. Waldman meets the definition of a financial expert as defined by the SEC and The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC.
Michael L. Faltischek
Senior Partner
Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C.
Worked at Ruskin, Moscou, Evans & Faltischek, Professional Corporation (Mineola, New York) specializing in Corporate, Commercial, Trial and Appellate Litigation in State and Federal Courts, Securities, Commercial Finance, Creditors" Rights, Bankruptcy and Work-Out, Real Estate, Health Care and Hospital, Criminal, Estate Planning and Administration, Probate, Construction. Admitted to the bar, 1974, New York and United States. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New New York 1975, United States.
Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. 1977, United States. Supreme Court. Member, Brooklyn Law Review, 1972-1973.Trustee, Long Island Power Authority, 1995 Member, Rockville Centre Cabinet, United Jewish Appeal, 1986. Member, Board of Trustees, 1978, Vice President, 1986-1990 and President, 1990-1992, Temple B"Nai Sholom of Rockville Centre.
Member: Nassau County (Member: Membership Committee, 1978-1981. Medical Jurisprudence Committee, 1976-1981.
Company-Chairman, Health Care Provider Subcommittee, 1977-1978.
Corporation Law Committee, 1989-1991. Professional Ethics Committee, 1995. Chairman, Professional Economics Committee, 1991-1993), New York State (Member, Committee on Public Health, 1978-1991.
Section of Public Contract Law, 1983) and American (Member: Forum Committee on Health, 1978-1991.
Forum Committee on Construction Industry, 1978) Bar Associations. Ruskin, Moscou, Evans & Faltischek, Professional Corporation has a twenty-eight year history of providing clients with the highest quality, cost effective legal services.
Headquartered on Long Island, with offices in New York City, the firm has a professional staff of approximately 40 individuals. Clients range in size from individuals and small businesses to major public corporations.
Regardless of client size, personal attention is the firm"s hallmark.
RME&F is skilled to address complex legal problems through various specialized departments.
Dr. Satya P. Sharma
President and CEO,Zortag
Dr. Satya Sharma is the President and CEO of Zortag, Inc. He is also the Executive Director of the Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT) and a Professor at Stony Brook University. Dr. Sharma was previously Senior Vice President at Symbol Technologies (now part of Motorola) from 1995 to 2003, overseeing various divisions of the company including World-Wide Operations, Mobile Computing & Wireless Engineering, and Quality & Process Improvements. During Dr. Sharmas tenure at Symbol, the revenue increased from $450 Million to more than $1.6 Billion. While leading Symbols Mobile Computing & Wireless Engineering, the company won the National Medal of Technology in 2000, the highest technology award given by the US Government. Symbol was only the third electronics company to win this coveted award in addition to IBM and Bell Labs. He also led Symbol to win the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing in 2003 and established Symbol's software center in India and its manufacturing facility in Mexico and oversaw its operations in US, Mexico, Singapore, Japan, China and India.
Prior to his tenure at Symbol, he was Director at Bell Labs and at AT&T Power Systems. He led Lucent Technologies to win the Deming Prize, considered the Noble Prize in Management in 1994, making it the first and still the only American manufacturing company to have this honor. Dr. Sharma also led Lucent to win the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing in 1992. Under Dr. Sharmas leadership, Lucent also won the US Senate Productivity Award and the Environmental Excellence Award from US President George Bush.
In 2009-2010, Dr. Sharma was advisor to the Chairman and CEO of Bilcare Technologies headquartered in India and with operations in Singapore, USA and Europe. Bilcare Technologies is a leading enterprise engaged in preventing counterfeiting worldwide. He was also the Chief Operating Officer of RF Technologies, Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2006 and has been a consultant to a dozen startup and small and medium size companies worldwide.
Dr. Sharma has managed technology, led product development, managed marketing and financial functions, led manufacturing and logistics operations, set strategies and has created great organizations with innovative cultures.
Dr. Sharma has written more than 70 technical publications, has received several patents and is an expert in a wide variety of disciplines including wireless and mobile computing, quality management, materials science, manufacturing, and information technology. He holds a Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA degree from the Ohio State University.