NACET’s Core Consulting Team
Tom Rainey, President
Tom Rainey joined NACET in August 2007, bringing with him a distinguished career in business development that includes years of experience leading high-technology incubators. The former President of the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies and cofounder of the Vermont Business Incubator Network, he directed the Florida/NASA Business Incubation Centers and the St. Louis (Missouri) Enterprise Centers. He also served as Business Development Manager for the St. Louis Defense Adjustment Program and Executive Director of the California Central Coast World Trade Center.
As president of Rainey & Associates, he developed business, economic, and fundraising strategies for clients such as Dartmouth College, the State of New Hampshire, the University of Vermont, and the towns of Bennington, Springfield, and Windsor in Vermont. His work as a consultant was integral to the implementation of the Dartmouth Regional Technology Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire.
Tom holds an MS in Science and Technology Policy from Lund University, a graduate degree in Social Sciences from the University of Stockholm, and a BS in Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis.
Dr. Al Poskanzer, Senior Technology Commercialization Advisor
Dr. Al Poskanzer, President of Poskanzer & Associates, brings over three decades of experience to NACET. He has led research groups at the Dynachem Division of Morton-Thiokol, served as the Chief Operating Officer of a small startup company, and spent 20 years as a technology assessment consultant. During his 11 years in academia (University of California and Arizona State University), he managed a broad portfolio of technologies and negotiated complex licensing deals. He has licensed patented technologies as varied as rechargeable lithium battery technology and anti-cancer pharmaceuticals. Under his watch, ASU became tenth in the nation for new inventions and seventh for new startups. Most recently, Dr. Poskanzer served as Director of Technology Licensing at Boeing.
Dr. Poskanzer has authored over 120 papers and publications and has received a “Gold Medal Award” from the American Electroplaters Society. He also earned the 1999 Chairman’s Award from the Arizona Governor’s Strategic Partnership for Economic Development for his work in creating and implementing the Intellectual Property Policy of the Arizona Board of Regents — one of the most progressive in the nation.
Dr. Klaus Brasch, Senior Science Advisor
Klaus R. Brasch, Ph.D., is a versatile scientist with a background in research, administration, teaching, and technology transfer. From 1998 to 2006, he served as Director of Research Development and Technology Transfer at California State University, San Bernardino, where he facilitated the institution’s first successful patent and trademark filings and its first commercial licensing deal. He also codirected a technology commercialization program at CSUSB. In 2004, he was named District Research Advocate by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Santa Ana, CA. He served as CSUSB liaison with the California Space Authority, the Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance (LARTA) and the Canadian Consulate in LA.
Tony Skrelunas, Native American Entrepreneurship Advisor
Tony Skrelunas was raised in Big Mountain, Navajo Nation by his great grandparents in the Dineh Tradition. He has an M.B.A., Masters in Business Administration Degree, from Northern Arizona University. He currently serves as Native America Program Director at Grand Canyon Trust, stockholder for Southwest Tradition Log Homes, Board President for KEYA Earth, and Board Member of the Coconino County Sustainable Development Board. The former Executive Director of the Navajo Nations Economic Development and Government Development Divisions, he is widely known for his work on the Local Governance Act. His other accomplishments include making changes to the sales tax code and land use planning policies, securing the first grants from NAHASDA for land use planning, and other pioneering work.