He began his career with 3M in St Paul, MN as a process development engineer working in a process technology center. After spending five years in process development, he moved into the Data Storage manufacturing organization at 3M’s Wahpeton location. There Jim held a variety of engineering and management positions in support of manufacturing operations. He transitioned to Imation when 3M spun off the new company and the Wahpeton site was designated as part of Imation. His roles with Imation included manufacturing operations manager, R&D manager, and heading up a contract manufacturing business which serviced customers external to Imation.

In 2007, when Imation announced their plans to exit the Wahpeton site, Jim worked with other Imation colleagues, Bruce Weeda and Carter Hansen, to form a business to continue operations at the Wahpeton location. The result of that effort was the formation of ComDel Innovation Inc which started operations in December of 2007.

Jim graduated from the University of North Dakota in 1984 with degrees in Chemical Engineering and Applied Mathematics. He completed an MBA from St Thomas College in St Paul in 1988.

He subsequently became Appareo’s Director Quality, Process, and Program Management, overseeing all Appareo development programs, quality programs, certification, and regulatory compliance work before being elevated to the COO position. Batcheller is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and resides in Fargo, ND with his wife Mary.

Tim is a member of the Windows Mobile team working on future cell phone technologies. He joined Microsoft in 1991 as part of the Great Plains Software acquisition and has 16 years of experience in the business applications space. Since joining Microsoft, Tim worked for two years in the Developer Division as part of the Visual Studio team researching CLR-based, model driven business frameworks. He’s also had stints in the SQL Server team and Outlook Mobile teams.

He was elected president, CEO, and a member of the Board of Honeywell in February 2002, and named Chairman of the Board on July 1, 2002.

Previously, Mr. Cote was president, CEO, and chairman of TRW, a multi-billion dollar products and services provider for the automotive, aerospace, and information technology markets. Mr. Cote joined TRW from General Electric, where he served 25 years progressing through a series of positions in manufacturing, finance, marketing, strategic planning, and general management. In 1996, Mr. Cote was appointed corporate senior vice president, president, and CEO of GE Appliances.

Under Mr. Cote’s leadership, Honeywell has delivered strong performance in sales, earnings per share, segment profit, and cash flow from operations. Today, the company has great positions in good industries globally, with approximately 50 percent of its products linked to energy efficiency.

Mr. Cote was one of 10 U.S. CEOs invited to serve on the U.S.-India CEO Forum established by President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2005. In June 2007, Mr. Cote received the Corporate Social Responsibility Award from the Foreign Policy Association. Mr. Cote was one of several CEOs from major global corporations to join Henrietta Fore, Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and other U.S. government representatives, on the public private partnership fact finding trip to Sichuan Province China following the May 12, 2008 earthquake.

Mr. Cote is a 1976 graduate of the University of New Hampshire, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration. In 2001, Mr. Cote received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from the Graziadio School of Business and Management, Pepperdine University. Mr. Cote received an honorary professorship from Beihang University Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA) in Beijing, China in 2009. BUAA is the top university in China for research and application of aerospace science and technology and has been the launching pad for China’s aerospace talents for the past 50 years. Mr. Cote is also a member of the Board of Directors of JP Morgan Chase and is an advisor to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR).

She has been a scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory since 1987, carrying out NASA-funded research on volcanic eruption clouds and lava flows. For the Mars Pathfinder Project, she was the Assistant Rover Scientist and the Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer Investigation Scientist. For the Spirit and Opportunity rover mission, she was the Project Scientist for six years. Now in her current job as the Mars Science Laboratory Deputy Project Scientist, she works to maintain the science integrity of the mission, and to ensure the science team will be prepared to carry out landed operations when that rover gets to Mars in 2012.

Senator Dorgan served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992. He is a senior member of the Appropriations, Commerce and Energy committees. He also serves as Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and the Democratic Policy Committee.

With his experience and ever-growing influence in Congress, Senator Dorgan has worked to expand North Dakota’s burgeoning energy sector, preserve a strong safety net for family farmers, and spur economic development throughout the state.

In 2002, he conceived of the concept of a Red River Valley Research Corridor that would help attract research funding and high-tech companies to North Dakota. A 2006 North Dakota State University study found that the initiative created thousands of jobs and a $759 million economic impact, allowing the state’s college graduates to pursue careers close to home.

Senator Dorgan is a strong advocate of energy policy that will move our country aggressively toward the use of renewable energy and domestic energy sources, and away from our dangerous reliance on foreign oil. As Chairman of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, he has worked to fund development of renewable energy sources like wind, solar and biofuels, as well as clean coal research that will help us find better ways to use the resource that fulfills 50 percent of our nation’s energy needs.

As a young boy in rural North Dakota, Senator Dorgan was ingrained early in life with a deep appreciation for the family farmers and ranchers who rise before dawn every day to put food on the tables of families around the world. He has emerged as one of the nation’s leading voices on behalf of America’s agriculture industry.

Senator Dorgan is the author of the New York Times bestseller “Take This Job and Ship It: How Corporate Greed and Brain-Dead Politics Are Selling Out America,” and “Reckless: How Debt, Deregulation, and Dark Money Nearly Bankrupted America (And How We Can Fix It!).”

He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of North Dakota and his Master of Business Administration from the University of Denver. Senator Dorgan is married to Kim Dorgan and has four children: Scott, Shelly (deceased), Brendon, and Haley.

Jean received her doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2000, specializing in microelectronics fabrication. Upon completion of her degree, she began work at Imation Corporation in Wahpeton, ND as a thin film engineer. Her time in the industry has resulted in twelve invention records and one US patent. She is currently employed at the North Dakota State College of Science where her work encompasses teaching a 2-year nanoscience technician program, training local workforce in micro/nanofabrication and conducting science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) outreach sessions to North Dakota youths. She also received chemical engineering degrees from the University of North Dakota (B.S.) and Lehigh University (M.S.).

He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In June 2005 Dr. Osterholm was appointed by Michael Leavitt, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to the newly established National Science Advisory Board on Biosecurity. In October 2008 he was appointed to the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Pandemics; he serves as chair of that council.

From 2001 through early 2005, Dr. Osterholm, in addition to his role at CIDRAP, served as a Special Advisor to then–HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson on issues related to bioterrorism and public health preparedness. He was also appointed to the Secretary's Advisory Council on Public Health Preparedness. On April 1, 2002, Dr. Osterholm was appointed by Thompson to be his representative on the interim management team to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). With the appointment of Dr. Julie Gerberding as director of the CDC on July 3, 2002, Dr. Osterholm was asked by Thompson to assist Dr. Gerberding on his behalf during the transition period. He filled that role through January 2003.

Previously, Dr. Osterholm served for 24 years (1975-1999) in various roles at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the last 15 as state epidemiologist and chief of the Acute Disease Epidemiology Section. While at the MDH, Osterholm and his team were leaders in the area of infectious disease epidemiology. He has led numerous investigations of outbreaks of international importance, including foodborne diseases, the association of tampons and toxic shock syndrome (TSS), the transmission of hepatitis B in healthcare settings, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in healthcare workers. In addition, his team conducted numerous studies regarding infectious diseases in child-care settings, vaccine-preventable diseases (particularly Haemophilus influenzae type b and hepatitis B), Lyme disease, and other emerging infections. They were also among the first to call attention to the changing epidemiology of foodborne diseases.

Dr. Osterholm has been an international leader on the critical concern regarding our preparedness for an influenza pandemic. His recent invited papers in the journals Foreign Affairs, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Nature detail the threat of an influenza pandemic and steps we must take to better prepare for that event. Dr. Osterholm has also been an international leader on the growing concern regarding the use of biological agents as catastrophic weapons targeting civilian populations. In that role, he served as a personal advisor to the late King Hussein of Jordan. Dr. Osterholm provides a comprehensive and pointed review of America's current state of preparedness for a bioterrorism attack in his New York Times best-selling book, Living Terrors: What America Needs to Know to Survive the Coming Bioterrorist Catastrophe.

The author of more than 300 papers and abstracts, including 20 book chapters, Dr. Osterholm is a frequently invited guest lecturer on the topic of epidemiology of infectious diseases. He serves on the editorial boards of five journals, including Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology and Microbial Drug Resistance: Mechanisms, Epidemiology and Disease, and he is a reviewer for 24 additional journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and Science. In July 2008 he was named to the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center's Academy of Excellence in Health Research. He is past president of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) and has served on the CDC's National Center for Infectious Diseases Board of Scientific Counselors from 1992 to 1997. Dr. Osterholm currently serves on the IOM Forum on Emerging Infections. He has served on the IOM Committee on Emerging Microbial Threats to Health in the 21st Century and the IOM Committee on Food Safety, Production to Consumption, and he was a reviewer for the IOM Report on Chemical and Biological Terrorism. As a member of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), Dr. Osterholm has served on the Public and Scientific Affairs Board, the Task Force on Biological Weapons, and the Task Force on Antibiotic Resistance. He is a frequent consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department of Defense, and the CDC. He is a fellow of the American College of Epidemiology and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

Dr. Osterholm has received numerous honors for his work, including an honorary doctorate from Luther College; the Pump Handle Award, CSTE; the Charles C. Shepard Science Award, CDC; the Harvey W. Wiley Medal, FDA; the Squibb Award, IDSA; and the Wade Hampton Frost Leadership Award, American Public Health Association. He also has been the recipient of five major research awards from the NIH and the CDC.

Streiffer holds a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from Stanford University (1993) and a bachelor’s degree in materials science and engineering from Rice University (1987). The Center’s portfolio includes research on Electronic & Magnetic Materials & Devices, Nanobio Interfaces, Nanofabrication, Nanophotonics, Theory & Modeling, and X-ray Microscopy.

Streiffer’s scientific expertise is in nanostructured complex oxides and in structural characterization of materials, particularly using transmission electron microscopy and x-ray scattering techniques. Overarching themes in his research program include the development of novel concepts for integration of oxide heterostructures, establishing a fundamental understanding of polar interfaces, and exploring how these interfaces may be manipulated to influence electronic and chemical function. His active research projects focus on utilizing in-situ synchrotron x-ray methods to probe chemical vapor deposition of complex oxides as well as phase transformations and nanoscale size effects in ferroic thin films. He is also currently involved in in-situ synchrotron x-ray studies of the synthesis of InGaN heterostructures, as part of an effort to expand the basic understanding of materials for energy-efficient solid state lighting.

Streiffer is an active member of the Materials Research Society and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and a Fellow of the American Physical Society. He also serves on the Ferroelectrics Committee of the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society and is a member of the Ferroelectrics Standard Committee of the IEEE. He has been a tutorial instructor for the Materials Research Society and the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society. Dr. Streiffer was awarded The IEEE UFFC Ferroelectrics Young Investigator Award in 2006, a sabbatical fellowship by the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland in 2005, received an Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung Postdoctoral Fellowship in 1993, and was awarded an Electron Microscopy Society of America Presidential Award in 1991. He has authored or co-authored more than 150 scientific publications, and holds one patent.

Tarter received her Bachelor of Engineering Physics Degree with Distinction from Cornell University and her Master’s Degree and a Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley. She served as Project Scientist for NASA’s SETI program, the High Resolution Microwave Survey, and has conducted numerous observational programs at radio observatories worldwide. Since the termination of funding for NASA’s SETI program in 1993, she has served in a leadership role to secure private funding to continue this exploratory science. Currently, she serves on the management board for the Allen Telescope Array, a joint project between the SETI Institute and the UC Berkeley Radio Astronomy Laboratory. When this innovative array of 350 6-m antennas begins operations at the UC’s Hat Creek Radio Observatory, it will simultaneously survey the radio universe for known and unexpected sources of astrophysical emissions, and speed up the search for radio emissions from other distant technologies by orders of magnitude.

Tarter’s work has brought her wide recognition in the scientific community, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Aerospace, two Public Service Medals from NASA, Chabot Observatory’s Person of the Year award (1997), Women of Achievement Award in the Science and Technology category by the Women’s Fund and the San Jose Mercury News (1998), and the Tesla Award of Technology at the Telluride Tech Festival (2001). She was elected an AAAS Fellow in 2002 and a California Academy of Sciences Fellow in 2003 (and CAS Scientific Trustee in 2007). In 2004 Time Magazine named her one of the Time 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2005 Tarter was awarded the Carl Sagan Prize for Science Popularization at Wonderfest, the biannual San Francisco Bay Area Festival of Science. In 2006 Tarter became a National Advisory Board member for the Center for Inquiry’s Office of Public Policy in Washington, DC. She is also a Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) Fellow. Tarter was one of three Technology, Education, Design (TED) prize winners in 2009.

Tarter is deeply involved in the education of future citizens and scientists. In addition to her scientific leadership at NASA and SETI Institute, Tarter has been the Principal Investigator for two curriculum development projects funded by NSF, NASA, and others. The first, the Life in the Universe series, created 6 science teaching guides for grades 3-9 (published 1994-96). Her second project, Voyages Through Time, is an integrated high school science curriculum on the fundamental theme of evolution in six modules: Cosmic Evolution, Planetary Evolution, Origin of Life, Evolution of Life, Hominid Evolution and Evolution of Technology (published 2003). Tarter is a frequent speaker for science teacher meetings and at museums and science centers, bringing her commitment to science and education to both teachers and the public. Many people are now familiar with her work as portrayed by Jodie Foster in the movie Contact.

Prior responsibilities included the launch of IBM's Linux Cluster business, IBM's early involvement with High Performance Grids, and development responsibility (hardware and software) for the IBM SP (affectionately recognized as Deep Blue, world chess champion, retired). Turek is also a member of the Council on Competitiveness High Performance Computing Advisory Committee; has degrees in Philosophy and Mathematics and has studied at the University of Rochester, Trinity College and the University of Pennsylvania.

Warner is a widely-recognized expert in the field of Machine-to-Machine communications and the emerging “Internet-of-Things” also known as “Symantec Web”. He consults with the DOD in support of their “Net-Centric Warfare” initiatives. Warner has led Pedigree Technologies to international acclaim by being recognized as one of the top 100 companies in Machine-to-Machine communications in the world, as well as one of the top 25 companies in the United States in the field of “Sensor-Networking”.

Warner holds a B.S. in Plant Sciences and Communications from North Dakota State University (NDSU) as well as B.S. in Information Systems from St. Cloud State University. In 2005, he was named the Young Entrepreneur of the Year by the NDSU College of Business. Warner’s diverse work experience includes sales, operations and IT consulting positions with Bitstream Underground, Network Guidance, and Accenture (all out of Minneapolis), as well as with software heavyweight, Microsoft.

Warner lives in Fargo with his wife, Leah, and their son, Luke, and their Newfoundland Dog, “Bjorn”.