NanoMaterials Commercialization Center Staff

Leoné Hermans-Blackburn, Ph.D. – Acting Executive Director
412.918.4239

Dr. Hermans-Blackburn serves as the Center’s acting Executive Director leading the strategic development efforts, applying the Centers current funding and developing the future funding path. The Center is focused on establishing industry-driven commercialization of new technologies, with the goal of impacting economic development in our region. Dr. Hermans-Blackburn was previously responsible for developing and maturing the Center’s Program using the unique model for the commercialization of new technologies as it applies to technology development. Dr. Hermans-Blackburn is experienced in forming and leading the cross functional teams consisting of the technology provider and the industry partners. The superior evaluation and development of the technology is supported by the Center’s seed funding, the Center’s distinguished technical advisory committee and the project management services.

Dr. Hermans-Blackburn held the position of Manager of Research and Development at Cohera Medical Inc. a fast-growing biomedical device start-up company based in Pittsburgh. Dr. Hermans-Blackburn spent seven years at Bayer MaterialScience in the Coatings division and held positions of increasing responsibility. She was the technical project lead in the pioneering area of high throughput screening (HTS) for coating materials followed by leading a new product development team. She was responsible for aligning the strategic initiatives of the global business with the product project goals. Dr. Hermans-Blackburn holds three patents with eight pending and is the author of numerous technical publications and presentations.

Dr. Hermans-Blackburn has her Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry from the State University of New York at Binghamton; she earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Cape Town in RSA.

Tricia Straw, B.A. - Program Assistant
412.918.4244

Tricia serves as the Program Assistant for the Center. In this role she develops marketing materials for the Center, updates the Center’s web site and provides general administrative duties. She joined the Center in February of 2008.

Before joining the Center, Tricia worked as an Administrative Specialist at Serco North America in Washington, D.C. Serco North America. They are the leading provider of professional, technology, and management services which focuses on the federal government. At Serco North America she assisted seven Program Managers and also assisted the Security & Application Solutions Director of the IT-Professional Service Group in a number of duties. In addition, she created and maintained sensitive documents, as well as process improvement and quality assurance documentation.

Tricia graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.