iMatSci Keynote

Building materials-based companies can be rewarding—and sometimes can change the world and generate tremendous financial dividends—but it’s hard.

Consider this a chance to learn lessons in the new materials venture arena without paying tuition. A veteran of several new materials businesses—some in Fortune 500 companies like DuPont and Corning, and many from leading universities like MIT, Cornell and UPenn—shares some basic do’s and don’ts in launching VC-financed start-ups and bringing new technologies to market that often have become new industry standards.

About Dan Button

A business leader with a unique blend of entrepreneurial success in start-ups and Fortune 500 companies [respectively E Ink (Prime View), Boston MicroSystems (Pall Corp), QD Vision, Innova Dynamics (TPK); DuPont, Corning, Rohm and Hass (Dow)], Dan Button has built exceptional teams and forged global partnerships with world-class companies to launch and grow industry-leading businesses.

High technology arenas, particularly in consumer electronics and renewable energy, define his experience:

• Solid state devices: Displays, imaging and lighting; Physical, chemical, and most recently, optical sensors for 3D-cameras; Batteries and photovoltaics
• Nanotechnology, MEMS and other advanced materials
• Printed and flexible electronics; Optical and opto-electronic film components.

Dan has repeatedly helped launch businesses and established materials-based products as cutting-edge industry standards to enable new—now ubiquitous—applications that continue to dominate their competitive industries, including:

• The world’s first under-the-hood electronics (Toyota)
• The world’s first, color LCD displays for laptops (Sharp)
• The world’s first, paper-like eReader devices (Sony, Amazon)
• The world’s best color LCD TVs (Sony)

During the course of his career, he has raised more than $100M to build successful businesses, with three M&A exits—two on his watch. He now serves as CEO of AIRY:3D, a computer vision company based in Montreal. You can connect with Dan at [email protected].