Revolutionizing materials discovery for carbon capture and gas separations.
Steve has 25 years of experience in the semiconductor, sensor and wireless industries. As CEO of Matrix Sensors, Steve brings his results-oriented approach to guide the growth of the company by focusing on talent, technology innovation and customers. Prior to Matrix Sensors, Steve was VP of Business Development and VP of Operations at Qualcomm, as well as General Manager at KLA. Steve holds a Ph.D. in physics from UC San Diego and a MBA from San Diego State University.
Tom brings over 35 years of experience as a technical leader in the semiconductor, biotech, nanotechnology, and industrial automation industries. Prior to Matrix Sensors he led the industrial automation and material modelling groups at Parker Hannifin’s Filtration Innovation Center. Tom was VP of Engineering and Process Development at FibeRio Technology, a start-up that successfully developed a high throughput method of manufacturing nanofibers for the filtration and biotech industries. He has also served in leadership rolls at KLA-Tencor, Life Technologies, and Eastman Kodak. Tom holds a B.S. in Analytical Chemistry and an MSEE.
As a senior member of the technical staff, Jessie oversees Matrix Sensors’ MOF materials bench development team. Jessie holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from UC San Diego where she studied MOF/polymer composites with Professor Seth Cohen. Jessie was an NSF/ASEE Fellow under the Innovative Postdoctoral Research Fellowship – a prestigious award that goes only to the top 5% of applicants across the U.S. She has 5 publications in the field of MOFs.
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Marissa has 10 years of experience starting in R&D for electronics and automotive industries and transitioning to Technical Sales in materials characterization instrumentation. As Sales Director, Marissa brings customer centricity, a growth mindset, and problem solving skills to build strategic partnerships that help R&D organizations accelerate their materials discovery and development. Marissa holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Ohio State University while completing a M.S. in Computer Science at Georgia Institute of Technology.
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Rob obtained his Ph.D. at KU Leuven (Belgium) and was a Fulbright postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley (USA). In 2014, he joined the KU Leuven academic staff, where he is currently a tenured professor at cMACS, the Centre for Membrane Separations, Adsorption, Catalysis, and Spectroscopy. He was awarded starting, consolidator, and proof-of-concept grants by the European Research Council for his work on microporous materials.
In general, he is passionate about pushing the envelope in porous materials and process technology, with a healthy disregard for traditional subject boundaries.
Trained as a materials scientist, John Newsam has served senior research roles with ExxonMobil Corporate Research, as CSO of Molecular Simulations Inc., Office of the President for hte AG, CEO of fqubed, Inc. and CEO of Tioga Research, Inc.
Dr. Newsam holds BA Hons, MA and DPhil degrees in Chemistry from Oxford University. He is an inventor on 29 issued US patents and the author of over 150 scientific publications, on topics which include superionic conductors, high throughput experimentation, topical formulations, crystallography and materials simulation.
Dr. Newsam has delivered undergraduate courses on entrepreneurship and business innovation at UC San Diego, and has been an Adjunct Professor at both UC Santa Barbara (Materials Department) and UCSD (Chemistry & Biochemistry Department). He has been recognized by several awards, including the Corday-Morgan Medal, and by elections as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, of the American Chemical Society, and of the UK Royal Society of Chemistry.
Dr. Newsam has served as a founder or co-founder of more than ten companies, including: Permeatus (2017), DMK Pharmaceuticals (2016), Tioga Research (2011, acquired by Encube Ethicals in 2019), and hte AG (1999, acquired by BASF in 2008)
Dylan is a technology developer and executive with 25 years of experience in the development and commercialization of breakthrough semiconductor technologies with a specialization in RF and analog applications. He most recently completed the turnaround of Resonant, Inc. (RESN), a pioneer of acoustic-wave filter technologies, increasing EV from $70M to a >$300M sale to Murata in 26 months. Prior to Resonant, Dylan was the President and COO of pSemi, an RF and analog semiconductor company, where he led the high-volume commercialization of RF SOI.
Dylan holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and a M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of numerous technical papers and has more than 50 patents allowed or pending.
Omar M. Yaghi is the James and Neeltje Tretter Chair Professor of Chemistry at University of California, Berkeley. He is widely known for pioneering several extensive classes of new materials: Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs), and Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIFs). These materials have the highest surface areas known to date, making them useful for gas sensors, hydrogen and methane storage, carbon capture and conversion, water harvesting from desert air, and catalysis, to mention a few.
Professor Yaghi received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and was an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, and has been honored with many awards for his scientific accomplishments. He has published over 300 articles and is listed among the most highly cited chemists worldwide.
