NH Research and Industry Council Bios

SEN. JAY KAHN

State Senator, NH Senate

Jay Kahn has represented District 10 (Alstead, Chesterfield, Gilsum, Harrisville, Hinsdale, Keene, Marlborough, Nelson, Roxbury, Sullivan, Surry, Swanzey, Walpole, Westmoreland, and Winchester) in the New Hampshire Senate since 2017. He currently serves as chair of the Education and Workforce Development Committee, and as a member of the Finance Committee. Prior to serving in the state Senate, he was a higher education administrator over 43 years including 27 years at Keene State College as Vice President for Finance and Planning and one year as Interim President. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science, Policy Studies from University of Illinois-Chicago. He has served on the Education Commission of the States as Commissioner; American Institute of Architects - NH, Honorary Member; Past chairman of Cheshire Medical Center Board of Trustees; Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce; Monadnock Economic Development Corporation; Keene City Councilor; Past Director, Society of College and University Planning; New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Higher Education Commission Board Member; National Association of College and University Business Officer, mentor and past board member.

joe doiron

Director of Workforce Development, NH Department of Business & Economic Affairs

As Director of Workforce Development, Doiron works to advance state workforce development strategies and oversees and administers the staff and programs at the Office of Workforce Opportunity (OWO) within the Department of Business and Economic Affairs. The Office of Workforce Opportunity administers New Hampshire’s federal funding under the U.S. Department of Labor’s Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. Joe previously served as Deputy Director for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Relief and Recovery (GOFERR), as the Workforce Development Administrator in OWO and as Deputy Director of the Office of Strategic Initiatives. Prior to state government service, Joe worked in Senator Kelly Ayotte’s office. He has a BA in political science from New England College and a master’s degree in public administration from Norwich University. He lives in Pembroke with his husband Gabré and their rescue dog King. 

BRIAN BICKNELL

President, Manchester Community College

Dr. Brian Bicknell is president of Manchester Community College. Previously, he served as Vice President of Academic Affairs at MCC from 2016 to 2019, and interim president until 2020. As MCC’s vice president, he provided leadership in development of market-driven academic programs focusing on student learning and success.

Bicknell joined MCC following a six-year tenure at Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology (BFIT) in Boston, where he most recently served as Dean of Academic Affairs. From 2004 to 2011, Brian was the Dean of Students at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, MA. Prior to his position at Montserrat, he was Director of Housing and Residence Life at The Boston Conservatory and began his career at Fitchburg State College directing student activities.

Dr. Bicknell attained his doctorate in Higher Education from The University of Massachusetts Boston, presenting his dissertation on “How Community College Presidents Frame the Purpose of Higher Education.” He received his Master of Mental Health Counseling from Fitchburg State College and his bachelor’s from Fairmont State College. As a college administrator for more than 15 years, Brian also relishes his role in the classroom and has served as adjunct faculty at Endicott College, Northeastern University and BFIT.

Kevin Carroll

Chair; Adjunct Professor, UNH Law; Grossman, Tucker, Perreault, & Pfleger, PLLC

Kevin Carroll is a partner at Grossman, Tucker, Perreault & Pfleger, PLLC in Manchester, NH and specializes in intellectual property law. Kevin’s practice focuses on patent prosecution, patent opinions, and IP counseling, and his clients range from start-ups to publicly-traded companies. He works in various technologies including optical communications, optics, lasers and laser processing, consumer products, and medical devices. He earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and completed his law degree at Franklin Pierce Law Center (now UNH School of Law). Prior to law school, Kevin worked as a patent examiner in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He has been an adjunct professor at UNH Law for over 18 years and previously served as the Acting Director of the Patent Practice and Procedure Program. He currently teaches U.S. Patent Law and IP Management at UNH Law. He has also served on the Advisory Council for the Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property, the board of the ABI Innovation Hub, and the Entrepreneur Forum Selection Committee of the NH High Tech Council. He was selected as the top IP attorney in New Hampshire by Business NH Magazine in 2010.

DEAN MADDEN

Vice Provost for Research, Dartmouth College

Dean Madden is a Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology in the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. He also serves as PI and Director of the COBRE Institute for Biomolecular Targeting and the Dartmouth Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Research Center. His research interests include ion-channel conformational flexibility, trafficking, and localization. In the context of CF, Dean’s lab focuses on the molecular interactions that regulate the half-life and overall abundance of functional CFTR. The group then uses biochemical and structural approaches to develop patented and patent-pending inhibitors of endogenous and bacterial protein targets. Dean received his A.B. in Physics (1985) and his Ph.D. in Biophysics (1992) from Harvard. During a post-doctoral fellowship, and then as an independent group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, Germany, he directed his interests towards ion channels and their molecular structures and interactions. He joined the Dartmouth faculty in 2002.

MICHAEL BEHRMANN

Principal, Revolution Energy, LLC

Michael Behrmann is an offshore wind consultant and a co-founder and partner of Revolution Energy, LLC, where he investigates and develops innovative energy projects throughout the region.  Previously, he was Director of Offshore Wind Industry Development for the NH Business Finance Authority. He formerly held the position of Director of Business Development for Clean Energy New Hampshire (CENH) where he supported and advocated for the expansion of the clean tech industry in the state. He currently sits on a number of boards including the Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy (EESE) Board at the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission, the Dover Energy Commission, and as a board member for Rett's Roost. Michael graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a BS in Environmental Conservation and from Vermont Law School with a Masters in Environmental Law.

Liz Gray

State Director, NH Small Business Development Center

Liz Gray joined the NH Small Business Development Center as State Director in July 2018. Prior to this, she served as director of entrepreneurship at the NH Business Finance Authority. She established Live Free and Start, an initiative to make New Hampshire an even better place for innovative companies to be able to start, grow, and succeed. She held the position of economic development business services manager at the NH Department of Resources and Economic Development, and has extensive experience within the New Hampshire political community. Additionally, she worked for more than ten years in various capacities in the offices of governors Shaheen, Lynch, and Hassan, and as a legislative aide in the NH State Senate. Gray serves on the UNH Manchester Advisory Board, and on the boards of directors of the UNH Alumni Association, the Alpha Loft, and the NH High Tech Council, where she is the council’s chair of the Government Affairs Committee. She earned her master’s in public administration from UNH, as well as her bachelor of science, cum laude, with dual majors in environmental conservation and international affairs.

AIMEE HODGE

Vice President of Operations, Lyophilization Services of New England

With more than seventeen years of experience at Lyophilization Services of New England (LSNE), Aimee has direct responsibility for the operations, validation, facilities and project management group across numerous contract manufacturing facilities. She brings together knowledge of industry practices, regulations, quality and customer service to ensure the successful execution of all pharmaceutical and medical devices projects. She holds a number of patents for medical devices and received a B.S. in Biology from the University of New Hampshire.

JAY HOYING

Chief Scientist, Advanced Solutions Life Sciences

James (Jay) Hoying, Ph.D. FAHA is Partner and Chief Scientist of Advanced Solutions Life Sciences (ASLS), a company pioneering solutions in vascularized tissue fabrication and biomanufacturing. Prior to joining ASLS, Dr. Hoying was the Chief of the Division of Cardiovascular Therapeutics at the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute (CII) and Professor in the Department Physiology at the University of Louisville. He has over 25 years of experience in basic and applied biological sciences research with a focus in tissue biology, tissue vascularization, and cell therapeutics. He received his Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Biology and Molecular Biology from Case Western Reserve University and his PhD in Cardiovascular Physiology, with an emphasis on the microcirculation, from the University of Arizona. Following this, Dr. Hoying served as a New Investigator in the National Institutes of Health Program of Excellence in Molecular Biology of the Heart and Lung (POEMB) in the Department of Molecular Genetics at the University of Cincinnati. He currently serves on the Editorial staff of two national scientific journals and reviews for several other national and international journals. Dr. Hoying reviews individual and program grant proposals for the National Institutes of Health, the Veterans Affairs, the American Heart Association, and international funding agencies. In addition to his numerous published works, Dr. Hoying holds patents related to vascularizing tissues and related cell-based therapies; technologies that have been translated to companies. Dr. Hoying was one of the first to publish in the area of vascularized tissue model fabrication. He is a Fellow of the American Heart Association.

JEFFREY MC IVER II

Consumer Product Manager, Consolidated Communications

Jeff McIver is consumer product manager at Consolidated Communications, a broadband and communications provider. Prior to joining Consolidated Communications in 2018 he was senior product manager at SilverTech, a digital marketing agency, and at FairPoint Communications, he was application and infrastructure release manager. He earned his Master of Business Administration in Global Studies at Southern New Hampshire University and his Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics the University of Maine.

ALEXANDER TITUS

Strategy & Innovation Lead, Healthcare & Life Sciences for the Global Public Sector, Google, Inc.; Founder, Bioeconomy.XYZ

Alexander Titus is a Strategic Business Executive (SBE) at Google Cloud for the Global Public Sector and the founder of the consulting and communications firm, Bioeconomy.XYZ. Alexander’s career is focused on the intersection of technology and public benefit, with experience spanning the private and public sectors, as well as non-profits and academia. Prior to his role at Google, Alexander was the inaugural Assistant Director (AD) for Biotechnology within the Office of the CTO at the Department of Defense (DoD). As the AD for Biotechnology, Alexander was the DASD-level senior executive in charge of the DoD’s enterprise strategy for biotechnology, where he led the team developing the biotechnology modernization roadmap for the DoD.

Alexander joined the DoD from McKinsey & Company, where he was a management consultant and a member of the inaugural cohort of Defense & Security Specialists working with the national security community on high-priority issues related to organization effectiveness, leadership, and analytics. On the technical side, Alexander is a trained data scientist with expertise at the intersection of AI and biology. Prior to consulting, Alexander was a data scientist at the venture capital firm In-Q-Tel, as a member of their B.Next group, as well as a data scientist at Amazon on the Alexa AI team and at Dartmouth in the Geisel School of Medicine. Alexander holds a PhD in Quantitative Biomedical Sciences from the Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies at Dartmouth, as well as a BS and BA in biochemistry and biology (respectively) from the University of Puget Sound.

Eric Feldborg

Education Consultant, New Hampshire Learning Initiative

Eric Feldborg is currently an Education Consultant with the New Hampshire Learning Initiative. Prior to that, he was the Director of Career & Technical Education for the Career Development Bureau within the New Hampshire Department of Education, and before that, an administrator and science teacher at Great Bay eLearning Charter School. At Plymouth State University, he earned his Ed.D. in 2014, CAGS in 2010, and M.Ed. in 2005. He earned his BS in Ceramic Engineering at New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University in 1992. He arrived in New Hampshire right out of college to be the plant engineer for Norton Pike, a sharpening stone manufacturer in Littleton. During the last 23 years, he has edged his way south while engineering and training in businesses small and large, and teaching science in schools small and large.

Terrance Large

Retired, Eversource Energy

Terrance (Terry) Large served as the Director - Generation Engineering and Technical Services for Eversource/PSNH/Northeast Utilities until he retired in 2018. He had more than 32 years of service with the company in a variety of roles including Operations and Administration. Terry has also served in roles leading New Hampshire's strategic and business planning processes, legislative and regulatory work associated with Generation ownership and operation, and Renewable Energy Market activities. He has overseen PSNH's Economic and Community Development and Energy Efficiency functions and managed the PSNH Capital and O&M budget processes. Most recently, he served as the Director of PSNH Customer Operations. Previously, Terry served on the staff of the New York State Department of Public Service. Additionally, Terry served for six years as a member of the Board of the Northern Forest Center, an organization working to promote sustainable forest-based economies in the northern forest regions of New England. He currently serves as Board Chair for Leadership New Hampshire, and on his local community’s Planning Board and Business Development Commission. Terry earned his AB in Engineering Science from Dartmouth College and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Union College. He also completed the Penn State University Executive Management Program and the Leadership New Hampshire program.

Justin Slattery

Executive Director, Belknap County Economic Development Council

A New Hampshire native, Justin joined the Belknap Economic Development Council (Belknap EDC) in 2014 as its Executive Director. He is responsible for implementing Belknap EDC's strategic goals including supporting entrepreneurs, enhancing business development programming; and managing its business financing programs. He joined Belknap EDC from the New Hampshire Division of Economic Development where he worked on workforce and economic development initiatives throughout the state. Earlier in his career, he served as an aide to Governor John Lynch. He volunteers as a Director of the Granite United Way and New Hampshire Research and Industry Council and is Past President of the New Hampshire Alliance of Regional Development Corporations. He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Plymouth State University.