Strong management and advisors are key factors in any company's success. MetOx is extremely proud of its management advisory board. Board members biographies are listed below.
Lou Castellani
founded Metal Oxide Technologies I
nc.
in 1997. MetOx’s mission is to commercialize high temperature
superconductor technology based on revolutionary material and process
science licensed from the University of Houston.
Mr. Castellani attended the New Jersey Institute of Technology and is a
Mechanical Engineer. Mr. Castellani has been involved in the ownership, management,
sale and acquisition of numerous businesses. He was the founder and CEO of Clearwater Engineering, which was
acquired by a public corporation. Mr. Castellani began his career as an application engineer with
the engineered power projects division of the Worthington Corporation, which
was eventually sold to Brown Boveri, the predecessor of ABB.
Ross Davis joined Davis Brothers after graduation
and
has been involved in all facets of the oil & gas and technology business.
Ross currently manages Davis’ oil & gas exploration and production
activities from Houston. Mr. Davis also leads the Davis family’s
technology investment activities. In addition, Mr. Davis is involved in
the general management of the family’s real estate, oil & gas and technology
investment portfolio. Mr. Davis has many years of experience in
financing and structuring oil & gas and technology business transactions.
Mr. Davis received a BS degree, cum laude, in Geology and an MBA from the
University of Texas.
Dr. Alex Ignatiev, MetOx Senior Technical
Consultant
& Director TcSAM/UH
is a Welch Distinguished Professor of
Physics, Chemistry, and Electrical and Computer Engineering at the
University of Houston
(UH). Ignatiev received a B.S. in Physics and Applied Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin
his Ph.D. in Materials Science from
Cornell University. Ignatiev’s research interests have been focused on
advanced thin film materials and device development and surface chemical
interactions that form the basis for thin film growth. He has had three
experiments flown on the Space Shuttle, and is working in the areas of
photovoltaics, detectors and sensors, and computer memory. Ignatiev’s
research in thin film high temperature superconducting materials pioneered
the application of MOCVD to HTS materials, and has led to the development of
high performance superconducting wire. Ignatiev has published more than 275
scientific articles, has 8 patents, is on the editorial boards of three
scientific journals, is a member of 12 scientific societies, and has been
recently elected to the International Academy of Astronautics.
John Kermath co-founded and serves
as a Managing Director of Kilimanjaro
Partners, a
venture development and financial advisory firm. Prior to Kilimanjaro, he
was a co-founder and Managing Director of K2 Capital, a manager of private
equity funds of funds. Previously he served as the Securities Principal
for Citigroup’s investment services subsidiary in Houston providing
investment, capital markets and financing advice and execution to high net
worth families in the Southwest. Mr. Kermath also spent ten years with
Bankers Trust's Corporate Finance Group, where he was involved in corporate
finance and investment banking transactions, primarily in the energy
industry. Mr. Kermath graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Economics from
Princeton University. He is a board member and past President of the Houston Venture
Capital Association and an advisory director of
three
Murphree Venture Partners funds. He was also a past member of the
Houston Committee on Foreign Relations and previously served on the
Executive Committee of the Board of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce,
Southwest Chapter. Early in his career, Mr. Kermath served in the U.S. Army Reserve Components
for eight years, completing his military service in 1988 as a Captain.
Steve Shaper is a Principal
of Convergent 
Investors.
Mr. Shaper joined Convergent Investors after serving as Chief Executive Officer of TeleCheck Services,
Inc., the worlds largest check guarantee and verification company based in
Houston. Prior to TeleCheck, Steve owned or was a partner in more than 30
manufacturing, distribution, and importing companies during his business
career. Mr. Shaper currently is a board member of Associated Building
Services, CDP Corporation, General Investment and Trust, Middlemarch Capital
Corporation, SureFire Commerce and Teravicta Technologies. He is very active
in church and community work and recently completed a term on the Rice
University Board of Governors. Steve earned a Mechanical Engineering degree
from Rice University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Mr. Shaper
resides in Houston, Texas.
Bob Wittman
is currently a consultant to and serves
on
the board of several Houston companies. Bob also owns Fratelli’s, a well
known Houston restaurant. Mr. Wittman was major stockholder, President and
CEO of Hydro Tech Systems which was sold to a public corporation. Mr.
Wittman also owned Material Services Associates a material science
consulting company. Mr. Wittman worked at various jobs at Hughes Tool Hydro
Tech Systems division including VP Engineering and QA. Mr. Wittman’s early
career includes working at Battelle Memorial Institute - Columbus Labs and
University of Denver Research
Institute. Mr. Wittman has a BS Metallurgical Engineering from University
of Illinois,
a MS Material Science from Ohio State/University of Denver and has completed course work for a
PhD in Material Science from University of Denver.
Marvin Woskow
is the retired president of
Mobay Synthetics
Corp. Prior to Mobay he was president of Denka Chemical Corp. Mr. Woskow
started his business career at PetroTex Chemicals where he advanced to Vice
President. Mr. Woskow served as President for the Real Estate Investment
Corporations: NBJ, North; NBJ, West; NBJ Austin; NBJ, Houston; Sandy Creek,
Inc. He also served as President of Impact Business Management. Mr. Woskow
graduated from Rice University with a degree in Chemistry and
from LSU with a MS in Chemistry. He served as an Electronics Technician in
the US Navy. His professional affiliations include: President –
International Synthetic Rubber Products, Board Member -Texas Chemical
Council, Chairman - Houston Chamber of Commerce Manufacturing Division and
Director of US/USSR Trade Commerce. Mr. Woskow is very active within the
local community: He sits on the Rice University Fund Council and the
Nanoscale Technology Committee, He is a member of the Executive Committee
and Board of the Holocaust Museum of Houston, he is President of the Jewish
Federation of Greater Houston and President and Director of the
Emery-Wiener School.