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Former CCEW Interns

Spring of 2009 Mentors

Tom Apel

Tom Apel currently serves as president of Intrepid Ideas Inc., a product development, technology evaluation and business strategy consulting firm for financial services and real estate finance companies. He also is a fellow with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the advanced study program currently focused on business model taxonomy and IT portfolio strategies.

Previously, Apel was president and CEO of Centex Title and Ancillary Services, responsible for national title, escrow and insurance operations.

John Gotto

Dr. Gotto, former Senior Director for Global Business and Development for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, possesses more than 25 years in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and vaccine industries, with a wide range of experience in the development of biotech and vaccine products and in the assessment and evaluation of new product opportunities. This experience began with scientific work on the development of protein biologics for the first generation of biotech vaccines, followed by the management of a development group working on a number of bioactive substances and products in several therapeutic areas. This work, over a period of nine years, brought multiple drug and vaccine candidates into clinical development, and contributed to FDA licensure of products such as Acel-Imune®, the first acellular pertussis vaccine in the United States, and Mylotarg®, first monoclonal antibody-targeted oncology drug.

In addition to a foundation in Research & Development and experience with the FDA approval process, Dr. Gotto's career has focused on new product and business development with responsibilities for identifying, evaluating and acquiring new product candidates, technology, and intellectual property from academic institutions, government research labs, smaller companies and peer companies in the biopharmaceutical industry. Dr. Gotto is the inventor on nine issued United States patents.

Dr. Gotto received a A.B. from Wabash College, a M.S. from the University of Miami and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.

Piyush Patel

Piyush Patel is the CEO of PL Studios, Inc., an educational software company with more than 36000 registered students. Mr. Patel's company creates educational software for the animation and game development market, and has worked with clients like Pixar, Apple Computer, Nike, and MTV. PL Studios has grown 111 percent since its relocation to Oklahoma City in May 2004.

Mr. Patel serves on the Oklahoma Technology Council Advisory Board for The State Chamber and the Francis Tuttle Advisory Committee for the New Media Program. He has written nine college textbooks, advised on more than a dozen others and assisted in curriculum development for the state Career Tech office. Awards he has received include the Oklahoma State University Rising Star Award, Main Street Premier Partner Award, Oklahoma TRIO Achiever of the Year, Innovator of the Year, Telly Awards, NISOD Distinguished Faculty Award and Oklahoma State Leadership Legacy.

He has also been a keynote speaker at several trade shows and user conferences. Mr. Patel has a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and a Master of Science in Adult Education with an emphasis on e-learning.