BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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BOARD CHAIR 

 Erica Nemser, Ph.D. is the CEO of Compact Membrane Systems (CMS), an advanced materials company  providing separations solutions for some of the world's toughest industrial chemistry challenges.  CMS technology enables industry to unlock previously inaccessible sources of revenue and growth, while working better, cleaner, and safer.  
Prior to leading CMS, Dr. Nemser spent 13 years at McKinsey and Company developing an expertise in product strategy, product launch, portfolio management, new company growth, and risk management strategy for innovative products with long development cycles.  Erica led several internal strategic initiatives for McKinsey, including best practice consulting and talent management.  She received her BA in Economics from The Johns Hopkins University and her MA and PhD in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. 

BOARD SECRETARY

Barbara DeHaven is a Business Development Consultant and is currently assisting the Delaware Technology Park as the Incubator Administrator at its STAR campus wet lab space.  She was previously involved with the Delaware Economic Development Office where she held positions as a Business Development Manager, Chemical Market Leader and a Workforce Development Representative. In addition, Ms DeHaven has 20 years of industrial experience, beginning her career in the lab, then moving into manufacturing, quality control and quality assurance. Along the way, she also became a certified secondary science teacher and was involved in training. Ms DeHaven has a varied background in project management, research and testing, quality systems, as well as supply chain auditing. She received her BS in Biology with a minor in  Chemistry from James Madison University in Virginia. 

 Melinda Burn, Ph.D.  is the VP of Marketing at Solecta Inc., a company focused on the development of critical process membrane separation solutions to advance the production of nutritionally sound food, additives and materials for everyday life.  Melinda is a scientist turned businesswoman and for more than 25 years, she has worked in the industrial sector creating innovative ways to bring complex scientific solutions to the marketplace to improve process efficiency and reduce energy and waste.  She has worked globally across multiple markets with multi-nationals including DuPont, Invista, Ashland and Solenis across multiple roles from R&D to production to business leadership.  She is passionate about making sustainability an integral part of an organization’s philosophy and spearheaded the development of a sustainability strategy in her last organization.  She is also a strong advocate of diversity and inclusion and co-founded the Women’s International Leadership and Development Network at Solenis to attract, retain and develop talented women.  Having spent most of her career in industry, Melinda has become increasingly focused on ways to leverage her experience and expertise in environmental and social non-profit organizations.  Melinda is also a guest lecturer at the University of Delaware, a mentor for the Lerner College of Business, an advisory on the Wilmington University MBA Advisory Committee and former chairwoman of the Boys & Girls Club of Wilmington, STEM Committee. Melinda received her PhD in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and her BSc from the University of Alberta, Canada.

 Ellinor Carlson, Ph.D. joined Solenis as a Senior Staff Scientist in 2017 and has since been focused on technology development within the water and paper business of Solenis. Her passion for sustainability and the acknowledged need for innovative solutions drove her to pursue her Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts- Amherst.  After graduation, here roots pulled her back across the pond to Germany in order to obtain a Master of Science focused on Biotechnology from RWTH Aachen University. Later Ellinor moved back to the Delaware Region to obtain her doctorate in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from the University of Delaware. Her research focused on anaerobic fermentation of clostridia, with an emphasis on CO2 fixation through the native Wood-Ljungdahl pathway. Her work included a collaboration with White Dog Labs in achieving increased product yields through mixotrophic fermentation. She currently lives in Newark, Delaware with her husband and both enjoy the State Parks and outdoors that Delaware has to offer. 

Dora Cheatham is Vice President of Sales & Commercialization at First State Hydrogen where she is responsible commercialization, business development and communications of First State Hydrogen's green hydrogen production. Prior to joining First State Hydrogen, Dora led DESCA as its Executive Director of DESCA,  helping DESCA build its presence and validate its hypotheses, as well as leading on Delaware's Hydrogen Hub efforts resulting in a DOE Grant of $750M to establish a mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub.  

 Prior to this, she led International Business Development with Celeste Industries Corp—a subsidiary of ITW, Inc—where she implemented and managed New Product Development & Marketing procedures to create and commercialize new products on the global stage, generating several million dollars in new business and helping to establish Celeste Industries as a world leader in aviation industry specialty chemicals. 

A passionate believer in innovation and economic development, Dora  also  led the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development Council and Emerging Enterprise Center activities, helping startups and small businesses build a sustainable business model, and supporting county and state initiatives to help drive Economic Development in Delaware, including the support of key innovation and industry hubs and driving discussions that enable the development of programs to build Delaware’s talent and workforce pipeline. 

Dora spent her early years studying and/or working in the UK, France, Spain and Cyprus, holds degrees in foreign languages and international business from Thames Valley University and the University of London, and speaks fluent French, Spanish, and Greek. 

In 2018 Dora received Delaware Today’s “Women in Business” award and was named one of Delaware’s “People to Watch in 2019” by Delaware Business Times. 

Julius Korley Ph.D. is a businessperson, entrepreneur and scientist with expertise in several areas of biotechnology, including biomaterials, drugs, drug-delivery systems and medical device development. Presently, Dr. Korley is the Director of Entrepreneurship and Strategic Partnerships for the College of Engineering at the University of Delaware (UD). In this role, Dr. Korley is driving commercialization by helping UD faculty, postdocs and students develop their technologies and connect them to the startup and industry communities.

In his previous position, Dr. Korley served as the Associate Director of the Case-Coulter Translational Research Partnership (CCTRP) in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University where he focused on translational medicine and the commercialization of laboratory technologies that address unmet or poorly met human healthcare needs.  In this role, Dr. Korley helped secure millions of investment dollars in early-stage companies as well as gifts, grants, and sponsored research for the university.

Dr. Korley also co-founded the biomedical engineering company Affinity Therapeutics and has successfully helped the company raise all non-dilutive funding to date. He has extensive experience in fundraising, business development, strategic partnering and licensing activities and was named Affinity Therapeutics, LLC inaugural President and CEO in August of 2015.

Prior to co-founding Affinity Therapeutics, LLC and joining Case Western Reserve University, Dr. Korley first worked at a then startup in Boston (Momenta Pharmaceuticals: MNTA). In October of 2020, Momenta was acquired by Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Korley earned a Ph.D. at Cornell University and an MBA at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

Since joining the DESCA Board, Jeffrey Politis Ph.D. has been particularly focused on advising start-up companies and connecting University of Delaware graduate students with the broader industry.

Jeffrey’s most recent industrial role was at Ashland Inc. as Director of Incubators, Accelerators, and Ventures. In this role, he created and executed strategies for Ashland to develop new markets into stand-alone business units. Prior to this role, he led the Technology organization for a $600MM business, including more than 10 markets and 7+ technology platforms by building the R&D and Technical Service functions out globally to more than 60 people in labs around the world. 

Jeffrey supports his broader community. Along with his board role for DESCA, he also serves as the Town Chair of the Village of Arden and a board director of the Cab Calloway School Fund. He has served on the board of the Arden Club, served on various Arden town committees, and coached children for Odyssey of the Mind and Lego League.

Janet E. Reed, PhD is a partner at Potter Anderson Corroon, LLP and the head of the firm’s intellectual property transactional and counseling practice. Though she counsels in all aspects of intellectual property, Janet focuses her practice on patents related to biotechnological inventions in food, medicine and agriculture. Her clients span a variety of industries and include large and small pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, agricultural and food companies, and academic institutions. Janet has extensive experience in domestic and foreign patent prosecution, patent portfolio management and strategic planning, evaluation of new technology, drafting of license and other commercialization agreements, conducting and responding to due diligence inquiries, and preparation of opinions on patentability, infringement and freedom to operate.   In addition to her law degree, Janet holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry and a Master’s degree in plant pathology. Prior to entering patent law, Janet accumulated ten years of laboratory experience in biochemistry, molecular biology and plant physiology/pathology, in graduate-level research and as a visiting postdoctoral research scientist at DuPont. 

Nick Strickland is a chemical engineer with extensive market and business development experience at DuPont, DuPont's customers, and suppliers. Nick is recognized for collaboratively leading teams to develop proprietary products and creating positive market energy resulting in high-margin revenue growth. In 2006, with the full support of DuPont's executive team, he spun out a product concept, maintained his employment, and built and sold a new brand over 11 years. Nick is retired and enjoys mentoring ambitious entrepreneurs. Nick is married with two children and lives in Wilmington, DE.   

 Bryan Tracy, Ph.D. is the CEO and co-founder of SuperBrewed Foods (formerly White Dog Labs). Previously he was CEO and co-founder of Elcriton, which was acquired in 2014. WDL is inventing and commercializing biochemical technologies that reduce our world’s dependence on oil. Bryan is an expert in bacteria genetic engineering and fermentation process development. He has published numerous scientific articles, invented several patent families, and received numerous SBIR grants and an Israel-U.S. BIRD Foundation grant. He has developed and licensed technologies to the world's largest biobutanol producer, created lines of business with multinational chemical companies, and helped raised capital to build a demonstration plant in Delaware. Bryan is also a guest lecturer at the University of Delaware, a technology to market consultant for the Department of Energy Advanced Research Program Administration, and board chair of the Delaware Sustainable Chemistry Alliance. Bryan is also passionate about public education and youth development. He serves as board chair of FAME (Forum for the Advancement of Minorities in Engineering), hosts numerous high school students for internships, was an inaugural mentor in the Delaware Youth Leadership Network, and served on the industrial advisory board for Conrad Schools of Science. Bryan is also a Leadership Delaware fellow.Bryan received a BS and PhD in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University and Northwestern University, respectively. He is married to Melissa Tracy, and the proud father of daughter Deirdre and son Gabriel. 

Yati Waghray is a senior chemical engineer with global market and business development experience spanning across Industrial and specialty chemicals. Yati is currently with Synthomer responsible for growing the companies specialty chemicals businesses in new markets through market analysis and new product development.  Prior to joining Eastman, he worked at BASF Chemicals as the North America Business Manager for the Commercial Vehicles and Industrial coatings business where he was responsible for leading the build of a market strategy, new product development, and business execution.  Prior to joining BASF he worked with DuPont for 20 years with roles spanning across manufacturing, technology and various business and commercial roles.  He was responsible for building the Materials division of DuPont Knowledge Center in India to help support and grow business in Asia Pacific through regional collaboration with local customers, research institutions, universities and Government agencies.  

Yati holds a BS and MS in Chemical Engineering along with an MBA.   He actively mentors non-profits in India for supporting education for low income students and adults.