Management
Susan Barich - Executive Director
Susan Barich joined the Marina Technology Cluster in 2003 from the Silicon Valley World Internet Center. She has more than 20 years of experience serving businesses in the Silicon Valley and Monterey Bay areas, particularly in the areas of business communications, strategy and project development, including eight years working with small and emerging companies. She sits on the advisory boards of the San Jose Environmental Business Cluster and the Silicon Valley Small Business Development Center. She was founding chair of the Silicon Valley Industry Education Advisory Board, and is a founding member of the Pacific Incubation Network. Susan is the former director of communications and client services for the Silicon Valley World Internet Center. She was the director of the Regional Environmental Business Resource and Assistance Center at Mission College in Santa Clara, and she was the associate director of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network's environmental initiative. Susan also spent one year with the TEN/NASA incubator, assisting technology start-ups with marketing, as well as designing and implementing the Academic Bridge, the incubator's outreach to colleges and universities.
Alan Barich - Operations Director
Alan Barich's 30 years of engineering, sales, marketing and general management experience includes complete profit and loss responsibility in the power industry, manufacturing and logistics and 8 years working inside start-up companies. He has run small, privately owned businesses as well as large divisions of publicly held enterprises. Alan has turned around small companies by managing cash flow and customer confidence. He worked his way up through the ranks of Enterprise Engine Company, an engine-manufacturing division of both Transamerica Delaval and, later, IMO Industries, from field engineer to sales and marketing to customer service to general manager of the division. He was then recruited to create the TurboCare Division of IMO Industries, now owned by Siemens, from 5 former competitors servicing the after-market needs of turbo machinery world-wide. After successfully positioning TurbCare in the market, Alan worked with start-up companies in Silicon Valley, then provided turn-around general management for a failing aftermarket engine company in northern California, managing their cash flow and client relations to bring them back to profitability. From 1997 to 2007, Alan was vice-president of a privately held warehousing and logistics company in Hayward, managing all aspects of the business. Alan currently consults with renewable energy technologists to commercialize products from their technologies. He holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo.
Chris Khan - Associate Director
Chris Khan has been supporting the Marina Technology Cluster over 3 years helping to qualify individuals to recieve grant funds, providing business and technology consulting to MTC clients, assisting with opeations support, and working with MTC to develop new grant-funded programs at the incubator.
Chris' background includes 18 years in the semiconducor industry in the areas of production, engineering, management, and as CEO of Epitaxy, Inc. He has been a research fellow working with "Smart Cards" for the Department of Defense, and he currently shares his time working in program development, coordination, and advising for the School of Information Technology and Communications Design at CSU Monterey Bay. Chris' graduate degree from California State University Monterey Bay is in Management and Information Technology.