Management team and advisors

The Stonybrook team is a strong foundation of top business and academic "thought leaders" in the membrane industry.

MANAGEMENT

Eric Lee (CEO and Chief Operating Officer)

• Significant experience in commercializing new membrane technology products over three decades.
• As VP R&D of Sartorius Stedim Biotech, headed major new product development that led to over 20 patents and adoption by major pharmaceutical companies.
• VP Technology & Engineering at Hemasure, where he developed manufacturing for the industry's leading leukocyte reduction filters.
• Director of Membrane Research & Technology Development at Sepracor.
• Ph.D Chemical Engineering, M.S. Fiber and Polymer Science, B.A. Textile Chemistry, North Carolina State University.

Clint Kopp (Chief Technology Officer)

• Has built two highly successful companies in the high-technology filtration industry, managing technology commercialization, testing, and business development. Brings to Stonybrook a unique combination of technical and  category business expertise, including direct experience scaling membrane technology and in-depth knowledge of worldwide water treatment markets.
• As VP R&D/Chief Technical Officer of Memtec, Ltd., helped guide Memtec’s membrane technology development from inception to approximately $300 million in revenue and an acquisition by Siemens.
• More recently, as CEO of Dual Vortex Microfiltration Corporation, successfully introduced a cutting-edge filtration technology to the worldwide water treatment market, where it has been validated as a cost-effective process for separating sub-micron particles from water.
• Inventor or primary co-inventor on 34 patents, most of which involve in filtration and liquids processing.

Benjamin Chu (Co-Founder)

• Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science, and Engineering, Stony brook University, New York, with 500+ scientific papers published
• Ground-breaking research in materials chemistry, polymers, and colloids to solve fundamental problems with useful applications that benefit society through polymer physics, colloidal science and processing technologies
• Research innovations on which Stonybrook technology is based involve: - High-flux Low-fouling three-tier Membrane filters - Development of Multiple-Jet Electrospinning Technology for Mass Production of Nanofibers - High-flux Low-Fouling Ultrafiltration Membrane Filters Based on Nanofibrous Scaffolds - Electrospun Nanofibrous Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering
• The research in the past five years were supported by agencies such as the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the U.S. Army Research Office, the Office of Naval Research, the National Human Genome Research Institute, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the Army Natick Laboratory, and the Petroleum Research Funds

Benjamin S. Hsiao (Co-Founder and President)

• Chairman of Chemistry Department, Stony Brook University, New York, with 300+ scientific papers published
• Research innovations in manipulation of polymers provide basis for Stonybrook technology. Areas include property/process relationship in nanostructured polymers, elastomers and nanocomposites;  and In-situ structural studies during processing (spinning, electrospinning, deformation, and flow)
• 16 patent applications involving filtration membranes, electro-spinning technology, and nanofibrous scaffolds,
• Consults with DuPont (where he was in R & D years ago), Dow Chemicals, Ethicon Inc. (a Johnson and Johnson Company), ExxonMobil Chemicals, Estee Lauder, Hybrid Plastics, Kimberly Clark, Conoco, Milliken, Kodak, Eastman Chemicals

Victor Hwang (Co-Founder)

• Founding CEO of Stonybrook Purification
• Past President of Larta Institute, one of the nation’s leading technology commercialization firms with a 10-year track record.
• Co-founder and Managing Director of T2 Venture Capital, a venture fund focused on breakthrough technology spinning out of government and academia.
• Chief Strategy Officer of Veatros, a video search company, where he led the company's acquisition by industry leader DivX. He has mentored over 200 companies and has structured venture capital and technology transactions as a corporate attorney in world-class law firms.
• Kauffman Fellow: member of a selective program to groom the future leaders of top-tier venture firms.
• Prior to Larta Institute, practiced law in the Corporate Securities and High Technology groups of Irell & Manella in Los Angeles.  
• AB Harvard with honors, JD University of Chicago

ADVISORS

Benny Freeman (Advisor)

• Pre-eminent scholar on filtration membranes.
• Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Texas.

Bob Riley (Advisor)

• Since 1986, President of Separation Systems Technology, leader in membrane research and associated process development (reverse osmosis, microfiltration, and gas separation).
• Over 40 years of experience in the development of synthetic polymeric membranes, separation devices, processes for water desalination, water purification, and membrane filtration.
• His private consulting firm, Separation Systems International, in La Jolla, California,  provides technical services in membrane science and engineering to government agencies, private industry, suppliers, and users of membrane and separation equipment.
• Has authored numerous publications and patents in the area of polymers, synthetic membranes, and separation processes.