IP Engineering Group’s vision is to be the most respected provider of technical and business services to the intellectual property marketplace. Our goal is to be the first-choice resource for all solutions related to IP management.

Walter G. Copan. PhD., CLP™
President and CEO

Dr. Copan is an internationally recognized business leader and expert in technology transfer, innovation, strategy and intellectual property. His wide-ranging background includes executive leadership in large and small company settings, venture capital and public sector organizations. At The Lubrizol Corporation, he led R&D, product development and company business units, and also established its highly successful technology transfer, licensing, and venturing businesses. Walt served at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and at Brookhaven National Laboratory, leading technology commercialization and R&D partnerships.

As Executive VP and CTO, he led the growth of Clean Diesel Technologies Inc. to its listing on NASDAQ, and set the foundation for its subsequent merger. He also served as President of an IP services company and led its successful business turnaround. Dr. Copan has recently been appointed as Undersecretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland. As a result of this appointment, Dr. Copan is on an extended leave of absence from IP Engineering Group. IP Engineering Group is extremely proud to have Dr. Copan recognized in this way for his lifetime of contributions to science, technology and intellectual property.

Dr. Walter Copan has been appointed as Undersecretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). As a result of this appointment, Dr. Copan is on an extended leave of absence from IP Engineering Group. We are extremely proud to have Dr. Copan recognized in this way for his lifetime of contributions to science, technology and intellectual property.

The official NIST press release can be found here: https://www.nist.gov/people/walter-copa

James R. Adams, Ph.D.
CTO

Dr. Adams has over thirty years of experience in managing the definition, development, and transfer of intellectual properties, new products and technologies. Jim has held senior engineering and management positions with Sandia National Laboratories, INMOS, Monolithic Memories, United Technologies, and TAEUS. He has also served as an expert witness in copyright, trade secret, and patent infringement cases. His expertise includes strategic planning and program management, patent evaluation and analysis, forensic engineering, process integration, device physics, microelectronic reliability and failure analysis, electronic materials, semiconductor memories and microprocessors, software, management of quality, and radiation effects in microelectronics.n

Maria Hansen
COO

Maria has 30 years of experience in high technology marketing, including 20 years specializing in intellectual property and IP transactions. At TAEUS, Maria was responsible for patent transactions (buy and sell). Maria previously served as Marketing/Communications Manager at Simtek Corporation, a Colorado Springs-based semiconductor memory company. She is a Certified Negotiation Expert, has a B.S. in Business Management with a minor in Mathematics from Plymouth State University, and also studied International Business at New England College in Arundel, England.

Richard Mintle
Vice President, Business Development

Rick has over 25 years of experience driving marketing, business development, and project management strategies for the intellectual property and high technology industries. His expertise is in market assessment, strategic account planning and sales channel development. He has held management positions at Harris, Honeywell, Signal Processing Technologies, EM Microelectronic and TAEUS. Rick has extensive engineering experience driving new product developments, hardware and software reverse engineering, patent portfolio analysis and patent evaluation in consumer electronics, mobile devices, automotive, semiconductor, software, and telecommunication systems markets. Rick has a BS in electrical engineering from the University of New Mexico and an MBA from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Hiroyuki Noguchi
Director, Strategy and Business Development and Japan Operations

Hiro specializes in international high technology business, assisting corporate executives and counsel on strategy matters.

Hiro has functioned as an advisor on management strategy formulation and implementation on R&D, technology commercialization and technology transfer works including licensing, patent acquisitions and sales, and IP litigation matters. Hiro has substantial experience in analyzing damages in intellectual property litigation, breach of contract and other commercial disputes internationally. He has worked for major international consulting firms such as PWC (Coopers & Lybrand), KPMG Peat Marwick, LECG, Navigant, Peterson Consulting.

Hiro has an MBA and MS in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University, a BS in Electronics Engineering from Tokyo University.

Jeff Chapman
Business and Technology Strategist

Jeff has more than 35 years of experience in the telecom, software and high technology space. His expertise is in product planning, management & development; enterprise application architecture; and business consulting. Jeff provides strategic & tactical planning, from business formation to product definition and organizational alignment.