E. Challenge judges are individually selected members of San Diego’s technology and entrepreneurial community choosen to represnet a wide range of backgrounds.  Generally, Judges are Angel Investors, Venture Capitalists, CONNECT EIRs, and Legal/Business professionals.

If you are interested in becoming a Judge with our competition please email the Director of Judging .

2008-2009 E. Challenge Judges

Del Foit

Del has over 32 years experience in the Medical Diagnostics and Biotechnology Industry, including Executive Management responsibilities for Operations, Quality Assurance, Materials Management, Product Development, Information Technology, Distribution and Customer Support.  Del has held positions as Chief Operating Officer at Sequenom, Inc.(retiring in October 2002), Vice President North American Operations at Roche Diagnostics (formerly Boehringer Mannheim Corporation), and Director, Operations, Infectious Disease Business Unit at Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (a Johnson & Johnson Company).    Del began his academic affiliation with University of California, San Diego in 2005 with academic appointments of Lecturer at the Rady School of Management and Director Life Science Programs at Extended Studies.   As Lecturer at Rady School of Management Del, teaches “Lab to Market Workshop I & II” in the MBA program and “Innovation to Market A & B” in the undergraduate program.   As Director, Life Sciences Programs Extension, Del was responsible for the creation and development of continuing education programs for Life Science professionals. He was also Academic co-coordinator and Lead Instructor for two UCSD Extension courses – Biomedical Product Development and Assessment of Medical Technology (for the Masters of Advance Studies in conjunction with the UCSD School of Medicine).   In June 2008 Del resigned this academic appointment.   In 2004, Del was appointed as Volunteer Faculty, Clinical Instructor at UCSD School of Medicine.  Prior to taking on these roles, Del was Director of the CONNECT Springboard Program, assisting High Tech and Life Science companies during their critical germinal stage - when their business strategies and products are still undeveloped and in need of honing and focus.  This assistance was provided via a mentoring process and creating linkages for the entrepreneurs with the resources needed for success:  technology assessment, funding, management, partners and support services.  Del is also President  & CEO of StructureSpec Biosciences, Inc., a start-up biotechnology company which he co-founded that is developing a proprietary chemistry platform that will improve the accuracy and specificity of protein research and their medical applications.   Del is a Trustee Emeritus of the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park and is a member of the Board of Directors of Aubrey, Inc., a member of the Medical Advisory Board of Avitacor, LLC, and a member of the Board of Advisors for Let’s Go Robotics.  On the weekends you can find Del and his wife, Cindy, either sailing in the San Diego Bay or flying his plane to various destinations in California and the neighboring states.   Mr. Foit holds a BS in Biology from Rutgers University and an MBA from Rider University.

Dan  Ruchman

 Dan Ruchman is a senior financial executive who is effective in both the boardroom and “the trenches”.  He brings broad experience in financial, operations and administrative management across a variety of industries including life sciences, high tech and consumer products, in both public and private companies.  Mr. Ruchman has a proven track record of accomplishment, in both entrepreneurial and established companies, in business strategy, financial management, system implementations, financial controls, financial planning and modeling, and corporate governance. Ruchman serves as an entrepreneurial and turnaround financial management consultant, as Ruchman & Associates and the Board of Direction™, helping companies enhance their current and future profitability.  Prior to that, he served as vice president Finance & Administration at Phyton Biotech, based in upstate New York with a European subsidiary.  He implemented cost accounting, and led major projects including venture financing, tax planning, and the overhaul of financial systems, risk management, stock options and HR management.  Previously, he was director of finance at Thomson Publishing’s Lawyers Cooperative Publishing subsidiary in Rochester, NY.  He implemented a new financial system to facilitate a total business reorganization to a decentralized structure, and created a new business development function to oversee acquisitions, enabling six such acquisitions in the first year.  Prior to that, Mr. Ruchman was the director of financial planning and analysis for Bausch & Lomb, overseeing that $2 billion corporation’s strategic planning, capital budgeting, annual budgeting process and ongoing financial forecasting and analysis.  He previously held operational, financial and management positions with Computer Consoles Inc., a Rochester telecommunication and office systems manufacturer and marketer; Inslaw Inc., a Washington, D.C. developer, marketer and consultant for its proprietary case management software systems; and Transamerica Mortgage Company, then one of the largest mortgage banking firms in the U.S., based in San Francisco.  Mr. Ruchman holds a BA in History from Princeton University and MBA from the Yale School of Management.  He is a member of Financial Executives International, TiE Entrepreneurs and San Diego Connect as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence.  He served on the Advisory Board for the Tech Ventures investment fund, currently serves as Co-Chair of the San Diego Financial Executives Networking Group and is on the Advisory Board for Rochester Institute of Technology’s College of Liberal Arts.  


Derry Connolly

Derry is President of John Paul the Great Catholic University in Scripps Ranch. Derry most recently represented the University of California, San Diego on the Executive Board of the Center for the Commercialization of Advanced Technology (CCAT), and headed up CCAT mentoring services.
Since 2003, he has taught 'Applied Innovation' at the Von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism and Technology Advancement at UCSD.
Prior to co-founding JP Catholic, Derry worked full-time as the Associate Dean of Continuing Education at UCSD Extension, leading a program with 40,000 part-time adult students, 125+ full time staff (academic and administrative), 1500+ part-time Instructors. Derry spent 15 years working in industrial Research and Development with IBM and Kodak. He holds 8 US patents and has numerous technical publications

Karl Umstadter

Karl Umstadter is a UC Discovery Fellow and a member of the PISCES Team at the UC San Diego Center for Energy Research where he is studying the plasma-materials interactions for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER). Dr. Umstadter received his Ph.D. in Engineering Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1997. His background is in plasma physics, laser technology, diagnostics, and nuclear/materials engineering. His previous experience was as the diagnostics coordinator and senior experimental physicist for Archimedes Technology Group, in a program that employed plasma technology to separate nuclear waste by mass. Prior to Archimedes, he was at Los Alamos National Laboratory where he built and operated an electron-ion trap to study inertial electrostatic confinement fusion, and was also the lead safety diver for underwater operations at LANL's cosmic ray experiment MILAGRO.

Chris Fantozzi

Chris is Founder of Globeostasis – a social responsibility nonprofit striving to contribute to the balance and equilibrium in the world through the efforts of trade and economic development.  He is also founder of Dorian Global Ventures, a firm dedicated to assisting in the development of new and emerging technologies.   Previously he served as an international investment banker, most recently as an officer at Credit Suisse First Boston.  There he contributed to raising funds for major projects in the developing markets.  His experience ranges from infrastructure (oil and gas, energy, roads, water) to metals and mining, telecommunications, healthcare, renewable energy and nanotechnology.   He has served as Honorary Chief of Trade and Economic Development for Melbourne Victoria with respect to trade with and between New England and Victoria Australia, as Vice Chairman of the Boston Melbourne Committee and as Senior Advisor to the Massachusetts Nanotechnology initiative.   He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and attended Babson College’s #1 ranked MBA program in entrepreneurship.

Ricardo dos Santos

Ricardo dos Santos is a Senior Director of Business Development at Qualcomm Corporate. Ricardo’s role is focused on developing new growth opportunities for Qualcomm.  As part of his role, Ricardo manages the Qualcomm Innovation Network and the Venture Fest program, strategic corporate initiatives aimed at promoting innovation and corporate entrepreneurship throughout the company.   Ricardo is also an adjunct professor of management at San Diego State University where he teaches corporate entrepreneurship and innovation to MBA students.  Ricardo brings more than fifteen years of experience in new business development, entrepreneurship, corporate strategy, and operations management in multiple industries including wireless technology and services, automotive, financial services and health care.    Prior to joining Qualcomm, Ricardo helped launch two wireless consulting firms, Mobilocity and Wireless Knowledge – now part of Qualcomm.  Ricardo’s previous experience includes having worked as a management consultant for The Boston Consulting Group in Boston and Brazil, and as an Industrial Engineer and internal consultant for Volkswagen in the United States, Portugal and Mexico.   Ricardo holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in industrial engineering from Louisiana State University, as well as MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

John Dobak

John Dobak, M.D. is the Founder and President of the JAKK Group. Dr. Dobak is currently the CEO of Lithera, Inc. (www.lithera.com). Lithera was recently financed with $21.5 MM in venture capital from Domian Associates and Alta Partners. The Lithera technology, business plan, and intellectual property were developed by the JAKK Group.  Dr. Dobak has also been the founder and CEO of several venture backed start-ups including Leptos Biomedical, INNERCOOL therapies, and CryoGen. Dr. Dobak has lead the establishment of these ventures through multiple financing rounds, management team formation, product development, clinical trials, FDA approvals and clearances, and intellectual property creation and procurement. Dr. Dobak's investment partners include top rated venture capital firms such as Domian Associates, Alta Partners, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, and Byers, Thomas McNerney Partners, Spray Venture Partners, CS First Boston, Institutional Venture Partners, Invesco, and Technology Partners. Dr. Dobak has also conducted corporate financing and merger transactions with Boston Scientific and American Medical Systems. His Companies have won various awards for innovation including: UCSD Connect's Most Innovative New Product Award, the AeA Lifescience Innovation Award, the T-Sector's Biofusion Award for Innovation. Dr. Dobak is a recipient of the 1999 MIT's Technology Review Top 100 Innovators of the New Millennium Award Dr. Dobak serves on the Board of Directors of the UCSD Medical School Alumni Association. In addition, he serves as a course director on biomedical entrepreneurship in the UCSD Department of Bioengineering.  Dr. Dobak received an M.D. from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.S. from the University of California, Los Angeles. After graduating from medical school, Dr. Dobak completed a post-doctoral fellowship in molecular biology at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla. He subsequently completed an internship in internal medicine at UCLA-Harbor County Hospital. Dr. Dobak is licensed to practice medicine in the state of California.

Chris Humphrey-VP, GM Sperian-Hearing Protetion Group


Steven Petersen-Strategic Business Consultant at CUSTOMatrix and Lewis Hyan Inc.


Steve Flaim

Dr. Flaim holds a doctorate in Human Physiology and Pharmacology from the University of California at Davis.  He held faculty positions in Medicine and Physiology at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and senior management roles at McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc., the Squibb Institute for Medical Research, Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp., Trega Biosciences, Inc. and Galileo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Flaim is Founder and President of Flaim Partners Consulting, a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, the American College of Clinical Pharmacology, the Royal Society of Medicine and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He is a board member of Pivotal Biosciences, Inc., on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, a Technology and Business advisor to the University of California, San Diego, on the Board of Governors of the Tech Coast Angels, on the Executive Board and Vice President of the San Diego Tech Coast Angels, an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with CONNECT, and is also active in numerous regional and national scientific organizations. Dr. Flaim is also a founder and CEO of CardioCreate, Inc. and Chairman & CEO of OncoFluor, Inc.

Martin Staubus

Martin Staubus is Director of Consulting for the Beyster Institute, Rady School of Management, University of California at San Diego. He has more than twenty years of experience in employee ownership, human resources, law and organizational development. Trained as an attorney, Staubus has experience as a practicing lawyer, consultant and corporate VP of human resources. His resume includes service as an employee ownership attorney, policy analyst for Labor Secretary Robert Reich, legal advisor to the California State Labor Relations Board, and deputy director of the ESOP Association. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the National Center for Employee Ownership. Staubus holds a B.A. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley, an M.B.A. in organizational development from the George Washington University, Washington DC, and a law degree from Golden Gate University, San Francisco, CA.

John Shearer

Mr. Shearer, founder of Powercast Corporation, is a pioneer in the emerging wireless power industry. Mr. Shearer is one of the primary inventors of the Powercast Wireless Power Platform™ and associated transmission algorithms. He has held executive management positions with several start-up and venture-backed companies and has successfully commercialized early-stage research and development projects ranging from innovative image conversion systems and output devices to large-scale data collection and network optimization systems for companies in the electric power, gas, and telecommunications industries. Mr. Shearer founded Information and Graphic Systems, Inc., and grew revenues to more than $10 million in the company’s first few years. He has managed and coordinated multi-site, multi-disciplinary product development/distribution projects and was responsible for the design and launch of the innovative data conversion software suite that became the anchor product for a division of Hitachi Software America. Mr. Shearer holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and an M.B.A. from the University of Colorado, where he was accepted into Sigma Pi Sigma (Physics Honor Society) and was also named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Graduate School of Business. Mr. Shearer currently holds multiple patents, granted and pending, in the wireless power and RF power-harvesting fields.