May 25, 2022

Whatcom Community College

Whatcom Community College (WCC) was awarded $686,975 from the National Science Foundation to improve the academic preparation of entering engineering students and ultimately increase the number and diversity of engineering graduates. The grant is titled “Preparing Early Engineers through Context, Connections and Community” and will be led by WCC engineering faculty Eric Davishahl as grant principal investigator and co-led by WCC faculty members including, Patrick Burnett (engineering), Mei Luu (mathematics), Anna Booker (history), Anna Wolff (English), along with senior personnel, Seth Greendale (mathematics) and Tran Phung (physics). It runs from May 15, 2022 through April 30, 2027. The project proposes to: (1) address disparities in community college students' academic, social, and emotional preparation for an engineering major using a holistic approach; (2) accelerate engagement of participating students within existing curriculum, community, and support systems; and (3) increase course success rates, improve program retention, and reduce equity gaps in engineering transfer preparation and associate degree completion. The project team will develop and pilot a two-quarter, integrated learning community with a place-based curriculum to welcome students into the engineering transfer pathway with a holistic model for academic preparation. This project will feature cross-disciplinary collaboration of faculty in engineering, math, physics, English, and history working together on design, implementation, and assessment.

CoreStack

Bellevue-based CoreStack, a global cloud governance provider, announced the appointment of Robert Ford as vice president of enterprise strategy. Ford is an experienced former Microsoft IT executive, CIO, and a digital transformation expert. In his 26-year long stint with Microsoft, he led field-based IT teams across EMEA and APAC, core engineering teams, strategic planning, and marketing & communications teams. Prior to joining CoreStack, Ford was CIO of Northwest University. As an enterprise strategist, Ford has partnered and advised many organizations around the world, providing strategic direction, proven best practice, and practical hands-on guidance to advance cloud ambitions.

Summit Bank

Summit Bank appointed Stacy Koos to the newly created position of senior vice president and market development officer for the Eugene/Springfield region. In this position, Koos will explore new business opportunities in the existing Eugene/Springfield market, as well as expand Summit's footprint to the north in communities such as Albany and Corvallis. The announcement was made by Jenny Bennett, Summit Bank's Eugene/Springfield market president. Koos has spent the past three years as Summit's commercial banking team leader and was a key driver of the bank's growth in the region. A veteran banker of more than 25 years, she has extensive experience in commercial banking, lending, and branch management. A graduate of Northern Colorado University, Koos is active in several civic and business organizations, including as the vice-chair of the Albany Millersburg Economic Development Corporation and the vice-chair of the Samaritan Albany General Hospital Board. Summit Bank has offices in Eugene, Central Oregon, and downtown Portland. In 2021, Summit Bank was named the Top Small Business Administration Community Bank Lender in the state of Oregon, and in 2022, has been named to Oregon Business Magazine's Top 100 Best Places to Work.

May 24, 2022

Kidney Research Institute

de Boer

The Kidney Research Institute (KRI) has named Ian de Boer as its new director. He becomes only the second director in the KRI's 14-year history, following the departure of founding director Jonathan Himmelfarb. de Boer has served as associate director of the KRI since 2016. He is recognized worldwide for his expertise in diabetic kidney disease and vitamin D metabolism, as well as a sought-after research collaborator and speaker. He currently serves as deputy editor of the Clinical Journal of American of Nephrology and is co-chair of the international KDIGO Clinical Practice Guideline for Diabetes Management in Chronic Kidney Disease. In addition to his own research, de Boer has been an active mentor to many training in Nephrology. He attended medical school at Oregon Health & Science University and completed his residency at the University of California San Francisco, where he was named outstanding third-year medical resident. The KRI was established in 2008 as a collaboration between UW Medicine and Northwest Kidney Centers with the mission to conduct research to improve the lives of people with kidney disease. In the years since, the KRI has become recognized worldwide for a wide range of high-impact patient-oriented research, the application of innovative technology, and advances in person-centered care for people living with kidney disease. Founded in Seattle in 1962, Northwest Kidney Centers is a regional, not-for-profit, community-based provider of kidney dialysis, public health education and research into the causes and treatments of chronic kidney disease.

Tectonic

Koro

Woodinville-based Tectonic Audio Labs announced the appointment of Fuat Koro as president and chief executive officer. Koro brings more than two decades of experience driving international growth for both B2B and B2C companies, having previously served as vice president of corporate strategy and innovation for Bose. Earlier in his career, Koro worked as a management consultant at Innosight alongside executive teams at several Fortune 500 technology companies to bolster growth strategies, business model designs and innovation capabilities. He also held engineering positions at Delphi and General Motors. Tectonic Audio Labs is an audio technology company that evolves the audio landscape through its proprietary Balanced Mode Radiator audio transducer design, which distributes acoustic energy to create an immersive listening experience. Tectonic delivers sound solutions that can currently be heard in product categories ranging from gaming, home audio entertainment and vehicles to unified communications and connected fitness products.

Veeve

Seattle-based Veeve, a retail technology startup, announced an agreement with Albertsons Companies that will make Veeve Smart Carts available to customers at a few dozen stores across the country. Once launched later this year, consumers will be able to use the smart carts to skip the checkout line with a fast, convenient, and contactless way to shop. Veeve Smart Carts offer a personalized shopping experience enabled by a touch screen that provides a running total for in-cart items and a built-in scale for easy produce purchase. The tech-enhanced carts will also integrate with the Albertsons for U loyalty program. Once done shopping, customers can complete payment on their cart and walk out, completely skipping the checkout line. Veeve Smart Carts are powered by computer vision and deploy into existing stores with no additional retrofit required. The Veeve platform integrates with existing retailer mobile apps and ad-networks.

May 20, 2022

Ultra Safe Nuclear

Novak

Ultra Safe Nuclear announced the addition of energy-industry veteran, Vladimir Novak, as chief commercial officer. Novak will be responsible for setting corporate strategy and leading commercial growth across global markets. He will also oversee the company's marketing efforts, educating industry leaders, partners, and consumers on micro nuclear technologies and the Ultra Safe Nuclear approach. He joins Ultra Safe Nuclear from Chevron where he held senior positions for the past 14 years, as well as various leadership roles at GE in technology and business development. Over the past three years at Chevron, Novak initiated and led the company's energy transition toward low-carbon fuels and next-gen vehicles. At Chevron, Novak received the EVP Transformation Leadership Award for his contributions to restructuring and focusing Chevron business units on clean-energy technologies. Ultra Safe Nuclear is a Seattle-based focuses on the deployment of micro reactors.

Flying Fish Partners

Seattle-based Flying Fish Partners announced the final closing of its second venture fund, Flying Fish Partners II, (Fund II) with $70 million in committed capital. Flying Fish invests in the artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) sector. Flying Fish makes seed-stage investments in software and mixed hardware and software companies that use AI or ML as foundations to their businesses, provide AI and ML products and services, or provide tools to AI and ML practitioners. Flying Fish has already made 10 investments in Fund II. Flying Fish's three founders – Geoff Harris, Heather Redman and Frank Chang – have complementary technical, operating and investing expertise. In Fund II, the company adds Adriane Brown as managing director. Brown is an accomplished executive and board member of Fortune 100 companies and previously served as a venture partner in Fund I. Vanessa Pegueros, a cybersecurity expert who served as a venture partner in Fund I, continues to serve as a venture partner in Fund II. Flying Fish also adds Lisa Nelson, co-founder of M12 and an active advisor and independent board member, as a new venture partner in Fund II. Notable companies in the firm's Fund I include Picnic, Symbl.ai, Reclaim and Phaidra. Portland-based Streem (sold to Frontdoor) was also an early investment in Fund I. While Flying Fish has invested in startup companies in the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada, its reach has expanded geographically. Several of its initial investments in Fund II are located along the East Coast of the United States and Canada.

Bader Martin

Advisory CPA firm Baker Tilly US has acquired Seattle accounting firm Bader Martin, effective June 1, 2022. For nearly 100 years, Bader Martin professionals have served the tax and accounting needs of affluent individuals and their families, family offices, family owned and closely held businesses as well as professionals, executives and not for profit organizations. Kelly Nelson, Bader Martin's managing principal will become Baker Tilly's managing partner for the Seattle market. Allan Koltin, CEO of Koltin Consulting Group, advised both firms on the acquisition. Baker Tilly US has offices in major regions of the U.S. and in many of the world's leading financial centers – New York, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago. Baker Tilly is an independent member of Baker Tilly International, a worldwide network of independent accounting and business advisory firms.

Karat

Carlson

Following its recent $110M Series C funding round and the news of a strategic investment from Serena Williams, Karat announced that Teresa Carlson is joining the company's board of directors. She joins existing board members, including Karat co-founders Mohit Bhende and Jeffrey Spector, former Twitch COO Sara Clemens, and Parker Barrile, partner at Norwest Venture Partners, who was previously vice president of product at LinkedIn. Carlson most recently served as president and chief growth officer of Splunk and vice president for Amazon Web Services' worldwide public sector and industries businesses. She also held the role of vice president for federal sales and operations at Microsoft. Carlson currently serves as the non-executive chair of KnightSwan Acquisition. In April 2022, Karat announced that it has received a strategic investment from tennis champion Serena Williams to scale the company's Brilliant Black Minds program, which provides free technical interview practice and feedback to current and aspiring Black software engineers in the U.S. Karat, headquartered in Seattle, created the Interviewing Cloud to solve the global shortage of software engineers. The Interviewing Cloud is an always-on, scalable and consistent human + tech solution for conducting predictive, fair and enjoyable technical interviews 24/7.