Dr. Makhlouf is RGV STAR Professor at Manufacturing Engineering Dept. He is a leading faculty of the Rapid Response Manufacturing Center at UTPA. Makhlouf's research interests include preparation and characterization of coatings, corrosion, nano composite coatings, functional thin films, nanotechnology and advanced materials and polymers. He has published seven books for top publishers such as Springer, Elsevier, and Woodhead Publishing Limited. Makhlouf has been coordinator of several Int'l projects with USA, France, Germany, Romania and Italy on applications of engineering materials.

Makhlouf is a multiple-award winner for his academic excellence: He received several prestigious awards in Germany (Humboldt Research Award for Experienced Scientists at Max Planck Institute); USA (Fulbright Award, DOE, and NSF); Canada (NSERC Postdoctoral); Belgium (Belgian Federal Science Research Fellowship); Arab League (Arab Youth Excellence Award in Innovation 2013), Jordan (Abdul Hameed Shoman Award in Engineering Science 2012); Egypt (National Prize of Egypt in Advanced Science and Technology 2006; Egyptian Prize of Excellence in Surface Technology and Corrosion 2006; and Egyptian Prize of Excellence and Innovation in Materials Science and their Applications 2009); and Palestine (An-Najah Prize for Research 2014).

Makhlouf has a strong impact with the international scientific communities as an Expert Evaluator and Rapporteur at the FP7 program (EU). Evaluator for USA Fulbright Commission. Evaluator for DAAD, Germany. Expert Evaluator at German Aerospace Center. Reviewer for Qatar National Research Fund. Reviewer for the American Univ. of Sharjah, UAE. Reviewer for Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences. Consultant at Innosquared GmbH, Germany. He is the Senior Editor: Nanotechnology Section in Insciences J., Switzerland; Associate Editor: J. Nanostructure in Chemistry, Springer; Associate Editor: Int'l J. Applied Sciences; Advisory Editor: for the books published by Elsevier in the area of advanced coatings and thin films, USA, and a board member of 24 Int'l journals. Supervised 3 postdoctoral researchers, 8 PhD and master theses, and over 25 final projects for graduate students.

Dr. Anil Srivastava is Professor, Manufacturing Engineering Department at the University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA), Edinburg, TX. Dr. Srivastava received his Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India in 1985. In 1988, he moved to McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and conducted research on ‘Intelligent Control of Robotic Grinding Process'. In 1996, he joined Institute ofAdvanced Manufacturing Science (now known as TechSolve, Inc.) located in Cincinnati, OH, USA. He served TechSolve Inc. for eighteen (18) years in various capacities, finally working as Chief Technology Officer. In 2003, he received six million ($6,000,000) dollar NIST-ATP award to conduct research on ‘Intelligent Control and Optimization of Grinding Processes'. In 2009, he again received a $700,000 award from the Department of Defense (DoD) to conduct applied research in grinding area. He has also received grants (~$400,000) from National Science Foundation (NSF) to conduct research in ‘Machining of Titanium Alloys'. Dr. Srivastava conducts research and development work in broad area of manufacturing that can be directly transferred to industries in production environment. During his career, he has supported many industries in solving their machining-related production issues.

Dr. Srivastava is member of several International Technical Organizations such as ASM International, SME, ASME, and CIRP. Since 2010, he has served on the Board of SME/NAMRI. He has been an invited/keynote speaker internationally and presented work in USA, Brazil, India and China. Dr. Srivastava is also reviewer of technical papers for several International Journals and Proceedings and an editorial board member for the Journal of Manufacturing Technology Research and the International Journal of Nanomanufacturing.

Barbara A. Canales is a graduate of Corpus Christi's W.B. Ray High School, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Petroleum Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Houston. Canales is a distinguished professional and active member of the South Texas community. She currently is a practicing attorney and partner of Mother Ocean, LLC. In addition to numerous past appointments, current boards and committees on which Barbara A. Canales is active include University of Texas at Austin College of Engineering Advisory Board; Ready or Not Foundation, President; Canales Foundation, President; Education is our Freedom Scholarship Foundation; Eagleford Shale Consortium Committee; and the South Texas Institute of the Arts Development Committee. She is also a member of the State Bar of Texas and the Corpus Christi Bar Association. Distinguished honors include the Las Estrellas Award; Hispanic Women's Network of Texas Girl Scout's of Corpus Christi; Hall of Honor Award, University of Texas at Austin; Distinguished Young Engineer Award; Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, President's Award; and Philanthropist of the Year, Nueces County Democratic Party.

Berenice is a Sr. International Business Consultant at the International Trade Center.
She joined the International Trade Center in 2005, under her current position she provides technical support to small and medium size businesses in the Southwest Border Region interested in exploring international business opportunities. She has been actively involved in the development of the International Small Business Development Center (SBDC) networks in Mexico, Central America, and South America.

Her previous roles at the center included International Market Research Specialist, Interns Coordinator, Client Manager Specialist and the development of SBDCGlobal.com. She holds a bachelor's degree in Management with concentration in International Business from the University of Northern Iowa, and is a Certified Global Business Professional.

Bill Cone currently serves as the Director of the Coastal Bend Business Innovation Center, which is part of the College of Business at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi, Texas. He has served in that capacity since August of 2012 and prior to that was Interim Director of the CBBIC beginning in November of 2011.

After graduating from Midland High School in Midland, Texas Mr. Cone attended Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, Texas in February of 1968. He then began a banking career as an executive trainee at Capital National Bank, Houston, Texas and culminated with his retirement from Wells Fargo Bank in July of 2010. During that time Mr. Cone was the CEO of four start-up banks, two in the Houston area, one in Austin, Texas and the most recent one in New Braunfels, Texas. The bank in New Braunfels was opened in 1986 and was sold to Norwest Bank Corp. (now Wells Fargo) in 1995. At retirement, Mr. Cone was a regional president for Wells Fargo with 58 locations in Texas, over 800 employees and total assets in excess of three billion dollars. He came out of retirement from banking for 8 months in late 2010 to assist Kleberg Bank with commercial lending in the Corpus Christi area.

During his banking career, Mr. Cone served on the board of directors of the Texas Banker's Association and the Texas Independent Bankers' Association. He also served on the administrative faculty of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University for 20 years, served as dean for bankers for several years, 16 years as a director on the banking school board, and chaired the board for two years during that time.

Civic involvement includes serving as United Way Chairperson in The Woodlands, Texas and New Braunfels, Texas, as an Opa in the Wurstfest Association in New Braunfels, and a director of McKenna Memorial Hospital in New Braunfels. Mr. Cone was an active member of the Chambers of Commerce in the Woodlands and in New Braunfels where he is a life member. Other civic organizations include the Austin Aqua Festival Association, Austin Civic Ballet, and he is currently a member of the board of directors of the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Brian Elzweig is currently an Associate Professor of Business Law at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He obtained a Juris Doctor degree from California Western School of Law and a Master of Legal Letters degree in Securities and Financial Regulation from Georgetown University Law Center. Prior to his nine years of full-time teaching he practiced law in the state of Florida. His practice included both transactional and litigation in business issues including new business start-ups, mergers and acquisitions and administrative law. He is still an active member of the Florida Bar Association.

David Fonseca currently serves as the Incubator Manager for the Coastal Bend Business Innovation Center (Innovation Center), a part of the College of Business at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi.

Fonseca has served over 110 companies in the last 4 years. Collectively current clients (32) of the Innovation Center reported 577 full time, induced, and indirect, jobs; have raised over $2.5 million in equity, and generated revenues of 3.7 million from January 1 to June 30 of 2014. Recently, Fonseca and the Innovation Center's team facilitated the formation of the South Coast Angel Network (SCAN), which creates a forum for the introduction of entrepreneurs to potential investors. Fonseca started as a volunteer at the Innovation Center in 2009, eventually became a student worker and, upon graduation, was asked to be a Graduate Assistant and received a scholarship covering his MBA tuition. He graduated with a BBA in Finance and a Masters in Business Administration from TAMU-CC in 4 years working 40 hours a week. In 2010, Fonseca served as president Colombian Student Association where he designed a sponsorship program to support the PILEA Foundation in Colombia, which currently helps low-income children and adults with genetic disorders. In 2012, Fonseca was instrumental in writing an Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant, which was awarded for the next five years. He manages and tracks data reports on the progress of the Innovation Center for funding with agencies like the EDA, the State of Texas, City of Corpus Christi, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Professionally, Fonseca is active in several committees and groups. He serves in the board of directors of the Young Business Professional organization, the management committee for the Business Plan Competition of the Coastal Bend, and management committee of Ideation Competition. He completed the Incubator Management Certificate Program of the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) and is now a part of the training team that certifies Spanish speaking incubator managers in the United States and Latin America.

David Ortiz is an Engineer with more than 7 years of Experience in the Manufacturing Field. David has true passion for Engineering especially in the areas of Operations Management, Product Design, rocess Design, Continuous Improvement, Scientific Management Systems, Project management, Strategic Management and Marketing. His current work environment gives him he opportunity to provide his energy and expertise to small, medium sized and world class manufacturers in the US and Mexico.

David is a Manufacturing Specialist currently based in TMAC at The University of Texas PanAmerican. He coaches and helps people from all levels in the workforce, From Operators to Business Unit managers and Business Owners to find and boost the Value of their everyday activities. David uses technical tools to convert internal and external customer needs into processes and efficient action plans to execute an efficient delivery to the end customer. David has coached many individuals from companies such as Motorola, Coca-Cola, Panasonic, Corning Cable Systems, Corning Science, Emerson, Jabil, Ametek, and other successful medium sized companies such as High-Tech plastics, MJM International and many more. All of his customers have always rated David as a great manufacturing resource. His customers describe him as being a reliable and a highly professional individual with the ability of engaging and challenging them to improve their work environment.

David holds different credentials to provide a world-class experience to his customers. He earned his Bachelors and Masters degree in Manufacturing and Engineering Management from The University of Texas-Pan American, Lean Master Certification, APICS CPIM (Supply Chain and Planning Certification), and Six Sigma Black Belt Training from Air Academy. David Ortiz is a goal driven individual and his main vision is to always research for technology and use his good communication analytical and motivational skills to diffuse that information to business professionals. All of those professional have agreed that the information provided to them serves as a catalyst to their companies for reaching their goals to become more profitable.

Debra Rodriguez has been practicing immigration law exclusively for more than 18 years and is Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. She is a named partner in Rodriguez & Moretzsohn, P.L.L.C. which focuses on Immigration Law.

• 2007 Board Certified in Immigration and Nationality Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization
• 1998 Admitted to Texas Bar
• 1993 Admitted to California Bar

• 1993 J.D., National University School of Law
• 1990 National University

• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Corpus Christi Division Criminal Justice Act Panel

• Current - Member, AILA (American Immigration Lawyer's Assoc.)
• Vice Chair, State Bar of Texas, Immigration Section
• Co-Chair, American Heart Association Function
• Board Member, USTA
• Board Member, Corpus Christi Montessori School
• Past - Former President, Corpus Christi Bar Association
• Former President, Coastal Bend Women's Lawyers Association
• Recipient, Corpus Christi Young Lawyers' Association "Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year"
• Recipient, Corpus Christi Young Lawyers' Association's "Outstanding Mentor" Award

Eddie L. Garcia, a 28-year member of the Corpus Christi Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University and a Master's degree in business Administration. Mr. Garcia served in the U.S. Navy from 1970-1973 and is the recipient of the Combat Action, Navy Unit Commendation, Vietnam Service, Vietnam Campaign and National Defense Ribbon.

Mr. Garcia is the past President of the Corpus Christi Rotary Club, Nueces County A&M Club, Texas State Aquarium, and the United Married Couple Club. He has served as Chairman of the Buccaneer Commission. Mr. Garcia has also served as a Texas A&M University Chancellor's Century member, and has served for the Corpus Christi Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, the Coastal Bend Association of Health Underwriters (Board Member) and the Million Dollar Table, Life and Qualifying Member. Mr. Garcia also serves as a Corpus Christi Mustang.

Mr. Garcia brings a wide range of experience as a small business owner and community leader advocating, promoting and facilitating the success of small, minority and woman owned businesses in the Coastal Bend. He has been a small businessman in the community for the last 36 years and in the last 24 years, he has worked as a New York Life agent working with the small business owners to help provide executive benefits and tax deferred retirement options.

Mr. Garcia has been a member of the Most Precious Blood Catholic Church for 33 years. Mr. Garcia has been married to Berta Garcia for 41 years. They have three daughters together, Rebecca, Rosella, and Rubiana.

An Economic Development Specialist, Elizabeth primary focus is optimizing the positive impacts and contributions that the SBA small business economic development programs and services make to the growth of the local economy served by the Lower Rio Grande Valley District- Harlingen/ Corpus Christi.

Her work focuses on marketing all SBA programs and services through outreach and marketing; conducting training and education to various organizations and small businesses; and building and maintaining collaborative alliances and partnerships with resource partners and small business owners; and furthering the SBA mission.

Heather Moretzsohn has focused her practice on the field of Immigration Law. Born in Saipan and raised in Hawaii, she has had a variety of international experiences. Heather has lived and traveled extensively in Europe, Japan, Asia and Latin America. She was a former Fulbright Scholar to Japan, an International Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to Austria, and has worked at the U.S. Department of State both in Washington D.C., and São Paolo, Brazil. Heather is a former President of the Corpus Christi Sister City Committee where she set up a new Sister City between Corpus Christi, Texas and Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.

• 2000 - 2004 Japan - Waseda University, School of International Law, Tokyo, Japan
• 2001 M.A., University of Hawaii at Manoa, International Law/PIS
• 1999 J.D., William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaii at Manoa
• M.A., University of Hawaii at Manoa, Political Science
• 1992 - 1993 Japan - Ryukyu University, Japan
• 1991 B.A., George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
• 1987 - 1988 Austria - University of Salzburg, Austria
• 1987 Mexico - Goethe Institute, Guadalajara, Mexico

• 2013 U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas
• 2013 Corpus Christi Division Criminal Justice Act Panel
• 2010 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• 2008 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas

• 2010 - present Corpus Christi Downtown Rotary Club
• 2005 - present Corpus Christi Sister City Committee

John E. Gamble is a Professor of Management and Dean of the College of Business at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi. He has taught strategic management and entrepreneurship in the U.S. and Germany for more than 20 years. He is also the co-author of two strategic management textbooks that are published in 6 languages and used by more than 400 colleges of business. Dr. Gamble's research interests focus on strategic issues in entrepreneurial, health care, and manufacturing settings. His work has been published in various scholarly journals and he is the co-author of Crafting & Executing Strategy and Essentials of Strategic Management.

Dr. Gamble's vision for the College of Business seeks to enhance engagement with the Coastal Bend business community through entrepreneurship education and mentoring, economic and business development, and leadership development.

• Ph.D., Management, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
• Master of Arts, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
• B.S. Psychology, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Dr. Jianzhi (James) Li received a B.S. degree in automobile engineering in 1992 and his M.S. degree in manufacturing engineering in 2000, both from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. He received his Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Texas Tech University, Lubbock, in 2003. He is an Associate Professor with the Department of Manufacturing Engineering at The University of Texas-Pan American. He has about eight years of industry experiences in the information technology and logistics field in China. His past research has focused on sustainable manufacturing technologies including remanufacturing, end-of-life management, reverse logistics, and decision-based green design. His current research topics also include additive manufacturing for rapid prototyping and 3D Printing, product and business innovation, and optimization of health care systems. He received grants from various sources including federal government agencies and industries. His previous work has been published in numerous articles in internally renowned journals. He also served as member of editor board for two international journals.

Lorena Parada-Valdes is the owner of The Language Bridge, a provider of foreign language and cross-cultural services founded in Corpus Christi, Texas in October 2005. The company's offerings include cross-cultural and diversity training and development, foreign language instruction, as well as translation and interpretation services in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, and Mandarin.

Lorena's has extensive training and expertise in both court interpretation and health care interpretation. She is a Federally Certified Court Interpreter by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and a Nationally Certified Judiciary Interpreter and Translator, and has provided services in court and legal settings across the United States. In addition, Lorena is a certified educator in foreign languages and bilingual education, and her experience includes working with culturally diverse groups throughout her teaching career in Alaska, Guam, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East.

A frequent presenter and facilitator, Lorena has years of experience in training and development both in the United States and overseas, and her areas of expertise include cultural competence, foreign language education, training in virtual environments, and interpretation and translation. Lorena works as a trainer for the Delmar College Center for Economic Development in Corpus Christi, Texas. She also currently serves as a faculty member in the Justice Management Master's Degree program at the University of Nevada-Reno, where she teaches cultural competence to students across the United States.

Mataz received his B. S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Aleppo, Syria and M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Institut National des Sciences Appliquees (INSA) de Toulouse, France. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from INSA, Lyon, France. After working as a postdoctoral researcher at Laval University, Quebec, Canada and at Texas Tech University in Lubbock Texas, he joined the University of Utah in Salt Lake City as a Research Professor and then he joined the College of Textiles at North Carolina State University as a Research Assistant Professor. Dr. Alcoutlabi currently holds a joint appointment as an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering Department and in the Rapid Response Manufacturing Center at The University of Texas-Pan American.With over 15 years of research and teaching experience in different fields, Mataz has managed to combine his engineering and research background with his passion for leading research projects, teaching and training undergraduate and graduate students in Europe and North America.

Dr. Alcoutlabi's research interests encompass several areas of polymer physics and composite mechanics; melt rheology and rheology of polymer smart hydrogels, physical aging of glassy polymers by supercritical carbon dioxide CO2, polymer and carbon nanofibers, nanocomposites, electrochemistry, Li-ion batteries and biosensors. More specifically, his research focuses on using and applying concepts from these areas to design nanomaterials with desirable thermal and mechanical properties for use in biomedical, energy storage and aerospace and defense applications.

Prof. Alcoutlabi has nearly 33 publications in the field of polymers, Rheology nanofibers, nanocomposites and lithium-ion batteries. His recent work at TTU, University of Utah, NCSU and UTPA focused on the development of nanostructured materials, oil rheology, nanofibers, nanofiber composites and the effects of confinement at material behavior at nanoscale. Dr. Alcoutlabi's recent work at NCSU and UTPA has focused on the design of polymer nanofibers and carbon nanofibers for use as anode, cathode and separator in rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries. At UTPA and since November 1st 2013, Prof. Alcoutlabi's research group consist of one postdoctoral research associate, one graduate student and three undergraduate research assistants, dedicated to work on Forcespinning of various polymer and composite nanofibers for energy storage devices.

John entered the field of economic development in 2000 and his focus at The Corpus Christi Regional Development Corporation is to attract businesses to the Region. He comes to the organization with a background in commercial real estate and economic development. In fact, he holds the honor of being the only person in the nation to hold certifications both as an active member of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) and as a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD).

John graduated from Texas A&M University and is a licensed Texas Real Estate Broker. Upon graduation John received a Commission as an Officer in the United States Army where he completed his military service obligations as an infantry captain with an honorable discharge.

He also served on a number of boards including President and Board Director of The Commercial Network, an international association of commercial brokerage firms, representing 140 major metropolitan areas in the United States, Asia, Canada and Europe. John lives on North Padre Island with his wife Regina.

Robert Mirabal is a Procurement Specialist with PTAC (Procurement Technical Assistance Center at Del Mar College). Robert has been with PTAC since 2013 and holds Federal Contractor Certifications (FCC) Levels I, II, & III. Prior to employment with PTAC Robert worked for over 30 years in a manufacturing facility managing the firms government contracts. Additional responsibilities included estimating, production management, supply and logistics, and human resources.

Robert earned an A.A.S. Degree in Industrial Management from Del Mar College, a B.A.A.S Degree in Applied Sciences from The University of the Incarnate Word, and a M.A. Degree from St. Mary's University.

Ron George is a former news journalist turned technical/grant writer and research development officer. Born in Corpus Christi into a military family, he's lived from coast to coast (Virginia to California) and north to south (Wisconsin to Louisiana). He returned to his hometown and worked for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times from 1983 to 1999, when he moved to College Station to teach journalism and advise the student newspaper at Texas A&M. He returned to Corpus Christi in 2006 to join the Office of Special Projects at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He moved to the Division of Research, Commercialization and Outreach in 2011. He led the university's collaboration with Camber Corporation in successful pursuit of an FAA UAS test site on behalf of Texas, which resulted in the establishment of the Lone Star UAS Center of Excellence & Innovation in Corpus Christi. The LSUASC team is composed of the Governor's Office of Aerospace, Aviation and Defense, four state universities, two state agencies, two non-profit organizations and six private-sector service providers.

Silvia M. Zubizar-Garcia has worked and served since 1990 in different major corporations of the automotive and electronics industries in manufacturing and servicing operations both in the US and Mexico. With 21+ years of experience, her areas of expertise include Manufacturing, Quality, Purchasing, Supply Chain, Training, and Environmental, Health and Safety. Since April of 2006, she joined the TMAC South Texas Group as a Manufacturing Specia6st and has been instrumental in supporting the program with her skillsets that induce project management process improvement, and strategic business analysis. She is current on critical thinking - business intelligence, knowledge management, business process improvement, and human capital.

Silvia has a Bachelors in Business Administration and a Master's in Engineering in Quality and Productivity from the lnstituto Tecnol6gico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (I.T.E.S.M.) - Monterrey, Mexico. Silviais Bilingual (English/Spanish). She holds certifications and accreditations such as: Certified Quality Manager (CO Manager and Improvement Associate) and Certified Quality Auditor (CQA) by the American Society of Quality (ASQ), OSHA Outreach Program Authorized Bilingual Instructor for the General Industry, a Six Sigma Black Belt by Air Academy of TMAC-UTPA and working on obtaining her Six Sigma Master Black Belt with Air academy. She has also satisfactory completed the RABOSA-Certified Auditor Training Course for Quality Management Systems, with 1sorrs 16949 SACT.

Silvia has extensive experience in leading Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing improvement projects, quality and environment management systems implementation to achieve certifications. She is currently active supporting organizations as a consultant and instructor for an Enterprise, Six Sigma, and Quality Management Systems like IS0- 9001, IS0 13485, AS9100 and TS16949, Environmental Management Systems IS0- 14001, Health and Safety Management Systems like OHSAS-18001 and legal compliance to D.O.T.-HAZMAT and O.S.H.A in the US and STPS in Mexico. She also provides training in different areas like leadership, management and supervision, team building and automotive industry core tools like APOP and Control Plans, Measurement Systems Analysis, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis, etc.

Susana Martinez has lived in Corpus Christi for the last 11 years, and she is currently our Outreach Business Advisor at the DMC- Small Business Development Center. Previously, she was associated for five and a half years with the Corpus Christi Literacy Council, a non-profit organization, first as a student of English as a Second Language and then as program coordinator.

Susana holds two business diploma degrees from University of Manizales, Colombia and an Associate Degree in Accounting from Del Mar College. She has over 20 years of business experience, including her last job in Colombia with one of the best travel agencies in the country, where she managed a branch of the company since inception and for more than ten years.

Susana is a member of the Instituto de Cultura Hispanica, the Hispanic Women Networking of Texas and continues to volunteer at the Corpus Christi Literacy Council. Now, as part of the SBDC's team, she effectively helps individuals and small businesses providing technical assistance to entrepreneurs in the development and management of new business in the Texas Coastal Bend area.

Teresa Rodriguez was born in Cuernavaca, Morelos Mexico and she graduated in 1982 from the Tecnologico de Monterrey in Mexico with a Bachelors of Science in Communication.

Teresa's began her 30 year professional career as the Director of Marketing and Advertising for the Aerolineas Internacionales, a Mexico based airline. During her 10 year employment she founded and served as editor of the airline's monthly In-flight magazine.

Teresa went on to serve as the Vice President of International Relations and Community Development for the Chamber of Commerce in McAllen, Texas. During her tenure at the McAllen Chamber of Commerce, she managed the Sister Cities program between Belize and Tamaulipas. She also established relations with and coordinated the visitation of the Consulate of Guatemala into Texas. Teresa was also the only civilian invited to serve as a member of the Border Liaison Mechanism. She aided as a governmental instrument to further regional bilateral dialogue, in which representatives from both sides of the Rio Grande Valley-Tamaulipas border discussed issues of mutual interest, including public safety and law enforcement issues.

In 2010, she joined WoodCrafters as the Human Recourses Director, a manufacturing company consisting of 2000 employees and 6 plant locations. Among the 6 plants, 3 are located in Mexico.

Teresa's international relations, great leadership skills, positive attitude of community servant hood as well as her love for the Hispanic culture and heritage has led her to become the President and CEO of the Corpus Christi Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Since she began her current position in December of 2012, she has initiated various programs in order to fulfill the void in International relations between the City of Corpus Christi and Mexico. She currently serves as the liaison between the Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and the ITESM.

Born in Mexico City from an American father and a Spaniard mother. Educated in the United States from Primary School all through College. Graduated in 1975 with a B. A. in Economics from Claremont McKenna-FSU, in CA. As well as post Graduate studies in Global Ship Managing/ Financing from UNCTAD.

In 1976 was hired as an Assistant to the President of Group TMM. At said time the largest Latin American Shipping Company with Maritime Liner Services trading to Asia, Europe, South America and the United States.

Worked within TMM for 27 years handling positions in the Accounting, Chartering, Marketing, Shipping Agency as well as managing Liner Operations services to the Mediterranean, South American and Asia handling Container and Car Carrier vessels. From 1988, appointed General Manager in charge of TMM's Representative offices; in Miami 1989-1991, Long Beach 1991-1993, Tokyo, Japan 1993-1998.

• In 2006 joined Marine Terminals (today Ports America), in Oakland, CA. as a Consultant for their business expansion plans into Latin America.
• In 2009 hired by the Port of Corpus Christi as Manager for their Business Development Department. In late 2011 was promoted to Director of such department.
• Fluent in Spanish, French, Portuguese and conversational Japanese. Member of Rotary, AAPA, NASCO, Free Trade Alliance, World Affairs Council.
• Married to Maria del Carmen for 37 years and have two sons and one daughter. All three are graduates from the University of Notre Dame, In.

Ms. Ochoa is an attorney, specializing in intellectual property protection. She is also associated with the firm of Ferrells PLLC. Her practice areas include drafting and obtaining protection in the form of patents, trademarks, copyrights, preparation of agreements having a legal-technical nature such as licensing, joint development, non-disclosure/confidentiality, etc. Her practice also includes preparing opinions such as freedom to operate or agreement assessments, and conducting searches and IP portfolio assessment.

Juris Doctor (J.D.), William Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota Licensed in: Minnesota, Texas, USPTO B.S. Chemistry, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas