The Tech Garden announced today that Stephen P. Malak has joined the organization as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence. In this role Mr. Malak will provide advice and counsel to Tech Garden clients with particular emphasis initially on companies associated with The Tech Garden's DoD Commercialization Assistance Program (DoD CAP).

Mr. Malak was most recently vice president and general counsel of John Mezzalingua Associates, Inc. (dba PPC) in East Syracuse, NY, a global OEM of coaxial cable and RF products for the cable/TV, satellite, Telco and wireless industries. In that role he recommended and directed all IP litigation and enforcement actions and participated in all general business operations including strategic planning, new product recommendation, and evaluation of business venture opportunities. He is an inventor and co-inventor of over 45 US and foreign patents issued and/or pending.

Prior to joining PPC in 1998, Mr. Malak was Group Legal Counsel to five recreational product divisions at Brunswick Corporation. He counseled the various divisions through four major acquisitions totaling over $500 million. Earlier he co-founded Lineax Instruments (a manufacturer of high technology alignment instrumentation based on his patents) and was successful in helping bring in over $3 million in venture capital funding to the start-up business.

Mr. Malak has over 35 years of intellectual property law experience (registered patent attorney covering technical areas of electronics, analog and RF circuits, optics, mechanics, composites and acoustics), 15 years of general law experience, and 9 years of general business experience. He earned his law degree from Indiana University, and graduated from Purdue University with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering with a concentration in automatic controls and guided missile systems design. He has completed MBA courses at the University of Chicago, and Masters in Patent Law studies at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago. He has served on numerous law and engineering society committees and served for three years as a Technical Business Advisor to the Electrical Engineering Department at Tulsa University.

The DoD CAP focuses on Defense Department Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant recipients. The program assists these companies with alternative business strategies and targeted industry connections with a goal of commercializing their technologies. There are 26 companies from throughout New York State selected to participate in this program. The program will also be presenting a DoD Opportunity Forum later in 2009 at the OnCenter in Syracuse.