Aris Melissaratos, former secretary of Maryland’s Department of Business and Economic Development and now special adviser to the president of Johns Hopkins University for enterprise development, called Mtech a consistent force in developing tech startups.
‘‘It actually brings academic experience to companies instead of just providing real estate,” Melissaratos said about the Technology Advancement Program, Mtech’s incubator system. ‘‘It sets the standard for incubators throughout the state.”
Barbe agreed that anything that can be done to spur more research and development in technology fields is extremely important, to keep pace with other states.
‘‘We’re trying to provide extraordinary support to maintain the entrepreneur spirit in the region. It’s hard to do here because of the huge [federal] government presence,” Barbe said, as many people would rather take high-paying and secure government jobs rather than form their own businesses.
Mtech, run through the university’s A. James Clark School of Engineering since 1983, has brought more than $17 billion in fiscal benefits to Maryland and has generated more than 7,200 jobs since its creation, according to the program.
A passion ‘to makemoney on my own’
‘‘I’ve always had an interest in entrepreneurship. Most people with that spirit can trace it back to their early stages with lemonade stands and fix-up shops. It was the same for me,” Barbe said. ‘‘I always wanted to make money on my own.”
Growing up in West Virginia, getting into the technology field was a challenge, he said, attributing his interest to both his surgeon brother-in-law and an engineering professor.
‘‘When I was a sophomore in high school, [my brother-in-law] told me if he had to do it over again, he would consider electrical engineering. It opened my eyes to the field,” Barbe said. ‘‘I’d probably have done something different otherwise. It’s the little incidents that shape you.”
Barbe worked many jobs before joining the university, including running his own company for charged couple devices, which are used to transfer electrical charges in items such as cameras. He also worked in the U.S. Naval Research Lab and the Pentagon, where he worked in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy for six years before branching out into more technical naval positions.
When Mtech approached him, he had already reached the point that he could not really advance his career unless he wanted to get into more ‘‘wheeling and dealings,” he said. Having worked with Rabin in the Navy Department, Barbe was intrigued with the fledging program.
He worked to enhance existing Mtech programs as the Technology Advancement Program and VentureAccelerator, an 18- to 24-month training program for young companies. Barbe has also been influential in Maryland Industrial Partnerships, which helps companies develop products using university faculty expertise and facilities and has worked with more than 51 companies.
Some venture capitalists say these tech-transfer programs can help catch the interest of investors because they sharpen an entrepreneur’s focus.
‘‘We look at not only how much work has been done on the business, but also the passion of the entrepreneurs,” said Jon Sakoda, a principal with New Enterprise Associates in Chevy Chase. His company invests from $500,000 to $3 million in early-stage companies.
Still, other venture capitalists, such as William Gust of Anthem Capital Management, say many companies graduating from incubators and tech-transfer programs are still off most investors’ radar screen and may never reach what investors are looking for.
‘Nothing short ofphenomenal’
Barbe directs a ‘‘fantastic team,” said Steven Hutcheson, a life sciences professor in College Park and chief technical officer with Zymetis, which produces enzyme mixtures that convert certain elements of waste into ethanol. That team helped Hutcheson merge his research knowledge with that of business-savvy people.
‘‘The No. 1 thing about Dr. Barbe is that he makes sure the program continues to grow,” said Scott Laughlin, Zymetis CEO. ‘‘The best managers find talented people and give them what they need, to do what needs to be done.”
Mtech has also had a significant role in launching Martek Biosciences, producer of infant formula that aids in sensory development, in Columbia, and Digene Corp., a Gaithersburg biotech that was acquired by Qiagen of the Netherlands last year for about $1.5 billion.
‘‘Mtech is nothing short of phenomenal,” said university president Dan Mote Jr. ‘‘It was created as a service organization to help create economic development for the state and now it takes on a whole range of economic activities. It’s the best example of how universities drive the economies of their state and the region.”
The university would have a tough time hiring someone else with Barbe’s level of experience and success, Mote said.
‘‘He’s someone you love to have working on a project because you know he’ll make it happen,” he said.
Barbe said he hopes Gov. Martin O’Malley’s recently announced $1.1 billion initiative to develop Maryland’s bioscience industry will help the university build its second incubator and continue the work Mtech is doing.
Having one of the few incubators on a university campus gives startups easy access to faculty and student resources, he said.
Other tech-transfer programs at state universities include Towson Global, an international incubator owned by Towson University; a virtual incubator and technology acceleration program at John Hopkins University; the Eastern Shore Regional Office of Engineering Research Center co-owned by the University of Maryland and Salisbury University; and the Technology Business Incubator at Frostburg State University.
David F. Barbe
Position: Executive director of Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute, a unit of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is also a professor of electrical and computer engineering.
Residence: Clarksville
Family: Wife, four children, five grandchildren.
Hobbies: International travel, fixing things around the house, skiing, racquetball, reading biographical novels.
Favorite authors: James Michener, Edward Rutherford, Margaret George.
Favorite restaurant: Pasta Plus in Laurel, where he sits at the same table every visit and enjoys the mussels marinara and fish dishes.
Honors: Olympus 2008 Lifetime of Educational Innovation Award; Stanford’s Price Institute 2002 Innovative Entrepreneurship Educators Award; 2003 American Society for Engineering Education’s Outstanding Entrepreneurship Educator Award; fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
