Inventor of the Year 2010

Nicolas Girard	Bijan Harichian	Richard Caizza

Good evening everyone, I am very honored to receive this award today. It is truly a great honor and a privilege to be recognized by the NJIHoF.

The essence of our invention is a fundamental paradigm change on how wireless networks operate and specifically how to leverage multiple wireless technologies simultaneously to provide a vastly enhanced wireless service to users and to operators by making better use of that scarce resource that is RF spectrum. We believe it is a true game-changing technology for the wireless industry that will provide greater performance, reliability and availability to the next-generation of wireless devices.

It all started with the initial research at Stevens in 2003, backed by two consecutive grants from the National Science Foundation. In 2005, a year after patenting the invention with the help of our friends at Greenberg Traurig, we incorporated a company, called Attila Technologies to commercialize it. If anything, Attila's story from its genesis to today, is a prime example of the entrepreneurial spirit that Stevens enables and fosters.

But, the Attila adventure is far from being an individual success and as such, I would like to acknowledge a few individuals: First my wife, for her love and support throughout the years, second management and faculty at Stevens, some of them have since moved on but I would like to acknowledge: Helena Wisniewski, Hal Ravéché, Georges Korfiatis, Chris Christodoulatos, Malcolm Kahn and Dave Peacock who has been managing this patent for Stevens for the last 7 years.

Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge Frank Ianna, aka Mr Telecom NJ in some circles. When I met Frank, he had been on Stevens' Board of Trustees for 10 years. Frank believed so much in the company's potential that, within months, he stepped down from the Stevens Board, and became the angel investor and CEO of Attila. That was 3-1/2 years ago and without Frank, Attila would not be what it is today? so I would like to thank Frank for his support, mentoring and friendship. And thanks again everyone and the NJIHoF for this great honor. Have a good evening.
- Dr. Nicolas Girard

Dr. Nicolas Girard, Founder, President & Chief Operating Officer at Attila Technologies leads the development and commercialization of their breakthrough patented technology (DPCC) he invented and developed while a researcher at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. Nicolas led the development of benchmarking tools for the European IST project NESSIE, (New European Schemes for Signatures, Integrity, and Encryption the equivalent of FIPS in the United States.

Nicolas has a PhD in Computer Science from Universität des Saarlandes in Germany, and holds a M.S in Information Systems from Wesley J. Howe School of Technology Management, a M.S in Computer Science Engineering from EPITA School of Engineering (Paris, France) and a Bachelor degree in Mathematics and Physics from PARIS XI University (Paris, France). He holds multiple patents (granted or in pending state) in network communication, security protocols and algorithms.

Dr. Bijan Harichian carried out his undergraduate and graduate studies at Imperial College, London University, England where he received his Ph.D in Medicinal Organic Chemistry/Synthetic Organic Chemistry in 1979 working with Prof. Phillip Magnus and late Nobel laureate Prof. Sir Derek Barton. He became a member of the staff at the Organic Chemistry Department at the University of Texas at Austin until he joined Unilever in 1988 as a Senior Scientist.

Bijan has been granted more than 55 patents in 23 different scientific fields and has dozens more patent applications pending for approval. He is frequently published in a wide array of reputable journals and has made numerous scientific presentations worldwide. Bijan is currently a Senior Manager and head of Chemistry in the Bioscience Expertise group at Unilever?s Skin R&D located in Trumbull, CT. He has won a number of awards at Unilever, including the Scientist of the Year distinction which was awarded by his peers.

Mr. Caizza is the Founder of Fulcrum PDC LLC, a medical device technology consulting firm providing design and development expertise. Rich is listed on 40 US Patents and pending applications and 270 international patents, applications and publications. He is a pioneer in the design of engineered injection safety devices for both healthcare workers and patients.

During his 23 years at Becton Dickinson, he was privileged to positively impact many global healthcare issues through his designs. Rich created most of BD?s modern portfolio of safety injection devices, generating over $100 million in annual revenues in the US alone. He has traveled extensively in Africa, China, South American and India, conducting research to address the challenges of disease spread via unsafe injection practices.Rich serves as Technical Advisor for HONOReform Foundation, a national advocacy organization dedicated to protecting patients through safeguarding the medical injection process. Mr. Caizza is a graduate of NJIT.