CLAIRE KOMIVES, Ph.D.
Dr. Komives is a Biochemical Engineer. She taught Chemical Engineering courses at San Jose State University for over 20 years and managed a bioprocess laboratory beginning with $5000 start-up funds.
Chief Executive Officer
GOPAL CHOTANI, Ph.D.
Trustee
Dr. Chotani earned a Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering from IIT Delhi. He led scale-up operations at Genencor (now IFF) for decades. Recently retired as a Laureate Biochemical Engineer from IFF.
Logistics Engineer
Elizabeth (Liz) Connors received a B.A. in Philosophy from UCLA and went on to pursue a graduate degree in Occupational Therapy. She is currently a mother of seven and is expecting her eighth. She has a strong interest in STEM education and has hosted a science class in their 5000 Sq. ft. warehouse, which also served as an incubator for EJI from its outset.
LIZ CONNORS
THE TEAM
Passionate, Committed and Resourceful
ROB FRANKENBERG
Board Member
Rob Frankenberg has spent 32+ years in GMP development and production of biopharmaceuticals, biologics, bulk chemicals, medical device consumables, and human primary cells. He currently serves as 12K Asset Head of Lonza Vacaville. He has led development, quality, engineering, and manufacturing teams across diverse geographic locations; introduced continuous improvement cultures to maximize manufacturing efficiency. He utilized core competencies in LEAN processing, large-scale manufacturing, ERP implementation/optimization, project management, 3rd party management, production finance, regulatory compliance, inventory management, and supply chain management, which have driven continued operational success. He has a BS in Biochemistry from UC Davis and a Ph.D. in bioengineering from UCSF/Berkeley.
ROB GELPHMAN
Board Member
Rob Gelphman is an advisor with the Silicon Valley chapter of Small Business Development Center (SBDC), where he turns good ideas into profitable businesses.
He retired in 2020 after more than 14 years as VP of Marketing for a home networking consortium, called MoCA.
Prior to that, he was founder and principal of Gelphman Associates, an integrated marketing and investor relations firm serving startups in technology.
He has also been a board members of the Los Gatos Education Fund (LGEF), and served on the marketing committee of National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ).
Rob has a BS in Business Administration (marketing) and MS in Communications.
He has also taught marketing at Golden Gate University.
Board Member
Chris Connors received a B. S. degree in Electrical Engineering from UCSB. He has worked as an Electrical Engineer at General Dynamics and then he took a job as Zenverge, where he was the company expert on quality control of major circuit boards. Currently he serves as Principle Staff Engineer of Hardware Development at Broadcom.
CHRIS CONNORS