كيتب حفل ختريج الدفعة الرابعة - The Petroleum Institute

Tom is a successful technology innovator/developer/entre-
preneur and investor with experience sitting on both sides
of the boardroom table. He has over twenty-five years experience
in communications systems, equipment, chipsets
and software. As a General Partner at Novak Biddle Venture
Partners, he currently sits on the boards of portfolio
companies Centice, Paratek, Princeton Optronics, Command
Information, Fiberzone Networks, Digital Bridge
and Avail Media
Tom served as Senior Vice President of Engineering at
Hughes Network Systems before founding Telogy Networks,
a leader in providing embedded communications
software for wireless and IP networks, in 1990. Telogy’s
award-winning products were proven market successes
with world-class customers such as Cisco, Motorola, Sam-
sung, Nortel, Alcatel and NEC. In 1998, Motorola purchased
Telogy’s digital cellular technology and development team,
and in 1999, Texas Instruments purchased Telogy as the
pioneer in embedded VOIP software. Based on Telogy’s
technology, Texas Instruments has shipped over 1 billion
VOIP ports worldwide to date.
Prior to joining Novak Biddle, Tom co-founded and was
chairman of Cognio, a developer of spectrum management
and MIMO antenna technology for wireless applications.
Cognio was acquired by Cisco in October 2007. Tom has
also served as a Director of Torrent Networking, acquired
by Ericsson, and Integrated Telecom, acquired by PMC Sierra.
In 1995, Tom was recognized as the Joseph A. Sciulli “Entrepreneur
of the Year” by the Maryland High Technology
Council.
Tom has patents relating to software, the Internet, and
digital telephone systems, and he is the author of “Packet
Switching” in McGraw Hill’s Electronic Communications
Handbook. He’s a member of IEEE and ACM, and he is an
alumnus of Purdue University, and the Executive Management
(non-degree) program at MIT Sloan School.
The Role of Technology Innovation and
Entrepreneurialism in Economic Expansion
In these difficult recessionary times, recently characterized
by government bail-outs and stimulus packages, it is
worthwhile to consider the role of technology innovation
and entrepreneurialism in economic expansion. Entirely
new industries, such as the mobile phone business, have
sprung up as the result of technology innovation. Such
innovations are often initially under-appreciated and outright
risky; however, when coupled with entrepreneurial
attitudes and behaviors they can lead to success in the marketplace
generating enormous economic wealth and job
creation opportunities. Many of the fundamentals are the
same regardless of the industry served. Academia can play
a substantial role in preparing future technology leaders
and entrepreneurs. Some example cases will be cited.
Mr. Thomas Harold Scholl
General Partner, Novak Biddle Venture Partners, Bethesda, Maryland USA