2019 Judges

John Randall has more than 35 years of experience in nano-fabrication. He is President of Zyvex Labs, Exec VP of NanoRetina, and Adjunct Faculty at UT Dallas. He joined Zyvex in March of 2001 and was instrumental in developing and spinning out two successful nanotechnology companies, Zyvex Technologies and Zyvex Instruments (now part of DCG Systems). Before Zyvex, Randall worked for 15 years at Texas Instruments where he worked in high-resolution processing for integrated circuits, MEMS, and quantum effect devices. Prior to working at TI, Randall worked at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory on ion beam and x-ray lithography. He has 107 articles published in refereed journals. He has a BS, MS, and PhD all in electrical engineering from the University of Houston, where he was elected distinguished engineering alumni in 2010. Randall was also elected distinguished member of the Technical Staff while at Texas Instruments, is a Fellow of the IEEE and a Fellow of the Society of the AVS.

Tanis Cornell is CEO of EWF International, a leadership development company that increases representation of women in executive roles. EWF provides Peer Advisory Boards for female business owners and executives, training programs for up and coming women leaders, executive coaching and workshops. Previously, Tanis served in senior management positions in technology with Vice-President roles for telecom companies WilTel and Level 3 Communications. She was partner & Senior VP for software company PhaseWare, and led one of the largest strategic service provider relationships for NetApp, a Fortune 500 data management company. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Tech Titans, Advisory Board of ATW (Alliance of Technology and Women), Business Advisory Council for Oklahoma Christian University and served several terms on the International Board of Sales & Marketing Executives International.

A dynamic technology ninja with more than 25 years of diverse technical and leadership experience – in defense, telecommunications, medical diagnostics, financial services, security, consumer products, e-commerce and beyond. Jack embodies that rare professional who can seamlessly move between different “sides” of the house: from technology to brand, operations to finance, ideation to execution.  

Stacie brings more than 15 years of experience in the medical and research technology arena to the table. Prior to Plexon, she has worked for industry giants including Medtronic and St. Jude Medical, as well as successful early stage and start-up companies, primarily in the cardiac, neurosurgical and wellness disciplines. Her geographic experience spans the globe, including having worked for several years in Europe. Ms. Hyatt earned her bachelor’s degree in bioengineering from Texas A&M University and an MBA with a triple focus in marketing, operations and health care from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Lin Nelson is a recognized innovator with +15 years of experience developing technology-based businesses, delivering fact-based analysis & leading operational strategies. Most recently she served as Market Development Advisor for IBM; consulting as a trusted advisor with senior leadership across IT services segments. Linda founded NelsonCFO, a consulting company that worked with early stage, tech-focused, venture-capital-backed companies in medical device, Biotech, IT hardware &software services. Nelson has served as an Adjunct at Babson College, teaching entrepreneurship. Nelson earned her BS in Finance from University of Texas-Arlington and an MBA with a focus in Entrepreneurship from Babson College in Wellesley, MA where she was the Price Babson Fellow for two years.

Andrew Olowu is chief technology officer at Axxess, a national leader in home health management software, and serves on its board of directors. Olowu is responsible for the overall technology, architecture and innovation of the Axxess platform. He recently was named the recipient of the Tech Titans Corporate CTO Award for his exceptional technical leadership, which fosters the development of new technology and innovations, resulting in significant value for both Axxess and the healthcare industry.

Hubert Zajicek, MD, MBA, is CEO & co-founder of Health Wildcatters, a healthcare seed fund and accelerator in Dallas. Dr. Zajicek has extensive experience with startups and is an active speaker, panelist and thought leader on healthcare innovation, startups, entrepreneurship & financing.  He serves as advisor, mentor and board member on various organizations and startup companies. He was managing director – medical technology at NTEC (North Texas Enterprise Center), where he ran what eventually became the Southwest’s largest medtech investment conference, showcasing startups that attracted in excess of $300M. He is president and founder of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs – DFW chapter, co-founder & partner of Lone Star Angels and is on the Board of the Southwest Venture Forum. He has an MD from the University of Vienna and an MBA from SMU.