Overview – The Evolution of Commercial Space Businesses: Is Now the Time for Asia?

Speakers

Rick Giarrusso

Founder and Managing Director, Finance Technology Leverage LLC

Rick Giarrusso is a leader in developing exciting new businesses and new markets. He is an active investor and advisor to numerous high-growth companies.Over the past 20 years, Rick’s history of launching market-changing companies has spanned software, aerospace, consumer products, energy, and financial services.Today, as a founder and Managing Director at Finance Technology Leverage LLC, Rick focuses on providing financing to innovative, capital-intensive projects in aerospace, energy, and biotech.Rick was previously a Managing Director at Llenroc Capital, an investment management firm focusing on publicly traded companies of all sizes and industries.Prior to that, Rick was Managing Partner at Decision Strategies, an international strategy consulting firm serving clients in energy, life sciences, consumer products, and more. There he focused on helping clients meet critical challenges that were vital to the success of their businesses.As founder and CEO of Data Digest Corporation, Rick helped pioneer the development of adaptive data-mining and predictive analytics, approaches that have since become the industry standard in both the public and private sectors, and some of the most significant technology advances of the past decade.In 1996, Rick co-founded Rotary Rocket Company, which revolutionized the aerospace industry–effectively creating the private space industry as we know it today, and resulting in some of the most exciting new developments since the moon launch in 1969.In the early 1990’s Rick revamped and taught Stanford University’s award-winning program in entrepreneurship in high-technology. While at Stanford, Rick also designed and led the largest, most comprehensive analysis of US taxation ever performed. He was invited to testify to the US Congress on the results of this analysis, which eventually formed the basis for several tax overhaul initiatives.Rick’s work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, Time, CNN, Fox News, NBC Nightly News, New Scientist, and countless newspaper articles, movies, television documentaries, and books.Rick is on several corporate boards, and was a national trustee of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, serving approximately 4.5 million children daily, at 4,300 locations throughout the United States.Rick holds a Ph.D. in management science and engineering from Stanford University. He studied engineering at Washington University and mathematics at Princeton University.

Emeline Paat-Dahlstrom

Co-Founder and Senior Consultant, International Space Consultants

Emeline was most recently on the executive management team as the Chief Impact Officer and Executive Vice President of Operations for SU over the past five years – having company oversight on impact strategy, implementation and metrics tracking. Previously she was VP of Programs and Curriculum, and was instrumental in the development and operations of the Global Solutions Program from its foundation in 2009. Emeline is currently Faculty in the Space and Physical Sciences track.  She is a Co-founder and Consultant for International Space Consultants based in Silicon Valley.  Originally from the Philippines, she has traveled to over 75 countries, and has lived and worked in the Philippines, France, Switzerland, Canada, U.S., Spain, Sweden, Austria, and China.

Emeline has a BS in Physics from the University of the Philippines and an MS in Earth and Space Science from York University, Canada. She attended the International Space University (ISU) Space Studies Program in Strasbourg, France. She subsequently worked and volunteered for ISU – developing programs and running academic operations for its graduate programs around the world for two decades.  In commercial space development, she has served as Director of Program Development and Research and Director of Operations for Space Adventures Ltd, a space tourism company sending private citizens to the International Space Station. She also worked and consulted for several startups including  Odyssey Moon and Moon Express, which plan commercial transport to the Moon. Emeline is co-author of the book “Realizing Tomorrow: The Path to Private Space Flight,” University of Nebraska Press (2013), which was selected that year for the US Air Force’s Chief of Staff reading list.