Ryan M. Confer, MS, has served as our Chief Financial Officer since September 2016. From December 2013 through September 2016, he served as our Chief Operating and Financial Officer, and from June 2011 to December 2013 as our business manager. Mr. Confer has more than ten years of entrepreneurial experience in planning, launching, developing and growing emerging technology companies. He has served in c-level and vice president roles for a variety early-stage technology companies since 2008. Most notably, Mr. Confer served as VP of Customer Experience and then later as VP of Strategy for KaiNexus, Inc., an emerging technology company that develops continuous improvement software. Prior to his entrepreneurial experiences, Mr. Confer served as a business development consultant for the University of Texas at Austin’s IC2 Institute, an international thinktank and incubator, where he focused on evaluating the commercialization potential of nascent technologies in emerging growth markets. From 2006 to 2009, Mr. Confer served as a portfolio manager for a $500M early-stage technology investment fund. Mr. Confer holds a BS in finance and legal studies from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania and an MS in technology commercialization from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin.