Meet the Judges
2024 Judges
Priyank Patel
California
Priyank is currently the Hardware Engineering Manager for MacBook Air at Apple. He has contributed to several high-impact Apple products, including the Apple Watch magnetic charger, Apple Watch Series 4, Series 5, Series SE, Series 7, and Series 8, and the first 15″ MacBook Air. Priyank received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from UCLA, specializing in integrated circuits. His research interests include low-power analog and digital circuit design, power electronics, system integration, and reliability.
Donald Silsbe
North Carolina
Don has led teams that designed, developed, and launched interior components on most automotive lines at Chrysler facilities in Detroit and Austria, including the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Liberty, Chrysler 300, and Chrysler Town & Country.
Donna Davis
Texas
Ms. Davis was inducted into the Plastics Hall of Fame and is a Fellow and Distinguished Member of the Society of Plastics Engineers. Most of her career was with ExxonMobil Chemical Company where she led developments in Product and Process Technology, Market Development, Sustainability, and New Opportunity Identification.
Lance Heard, Ph.D.
North Carolina
Dr. Heard is a former college professor with a background in computer programming and chemistry. Lance has over 40 peer-reviewed publications in computational science.
Ashu Jain
Virginia
Ashu presently manages the Digital Health/Home business for Welch Allyn, a subsidiary of Baxter, a global multinational medical device company. His experience spans several industries including medical devices and diagnostics, medical equipment, water, renewable energy, consumer products, and agriculture. He has an MBA from Syracuse University Martin J. Whitman School of Management, in Finance and Marketing with an Innovation Management specialization.
Joon Cho
Virginia
Joon is the Director of Corporate Relations and Business Development at The University of Virginia, where he identifies opportunities for strategic partnerships with corporate partners to support university research, drive innovation, and create opportunities for students and faculty.
Brad Tompkins
Tennessee
Brad is a Vice President at Innovatis Group, where he leads business development and client relationship management. Brad also serves as Executive Director of VMware User Group (VMUG), responsible for building and leading top-performing teams for 150,000 active global members.
