A charged-up network of influential and well-connected UC Davis alumni and "friends of the campus" who have successful track records of funding and launching start-ups and managing top high-tech companies has banded together to encourage, coach and develop entrepreneurial activities at the university.

Branded the "UC Davis Catalysts," the group was formed late last year at the urging of Graduate School of Management Dean Nicole Biggart, who sought to harness the collective firepower of several serial entrepreneurs, prominent executives and angel investors who offered their time and energy.

The group has grown to more than a dozen members and has been spearheaded by alumnus and high-tech veteran Greg Chabrier. The 1976 UC Davis graduate was the first sales representative hired by Sun Microsystems and went on to help start a batch of Silicon Valley ventures. The Catalysts are working closely with the UC Davis Office of Research, Technology and Industry Alliances to offer their expertise and support — as well as potential financial backing to promising innovations.

"Stanford and UC Berkeley have large numbers of venture capital and business groups who assist their campus communities with commercialization," Chabrier said. "UC Davis has an incredible amount of basic research, technology and intellectual property and a huge opportunity to bring it to the commercial markets. UC Davis Catalysts was formed to make the most of this potential."

Several of the Catalysts visited campus March 10 to hear presentations at the Institute of Transportation Studies, the Institute for Data Analysis and Visualization, the Biomedical Engineering Imaging Facility, the Center for Molecular and Genomic Imaging, the Genome Center, as well as pitches made by doctoral students in the Graduate School of Management's new Business Development Program.

"We had a fabulous tour of some of the cutting-edge technology that is being addressed at UC Davis," said Chabrier. "I remain very impressed with the hospitality and interest of the administration and faculty at all levels to help commercialize the intellectual property being developed."

Fellow UC Davis alumni joining Chabrier on the tour included Edward Kozel, former chief technology officer for Cisco Systems who is a managing director of investment banks in New York and Silicon Valley and serves on the boards of Reuters andYahoo!; Stevan Jovanovich, president and CEO of Microchip Biotechnologies, which is developing a next-generation DNA sequencing system; Christine Smith, a nanotechnology scientist with five degrees from UC Davis who left the venture capital world to launch two nanotech start-ups; Antonio Espinosa, a 15-year Silicon Valley software industry executive; and David Petroni, a former vice president of business development at PeopleSoft who is chief financial officer at Valchemy, a growing software firm.

"I'm excited to be part of the Catalysts," said Petroni, who along with Chabier serves on the Graduate School of Management's Dean's Advisory Council.

"The elements are already in place at UC Davis — from world-renowned research to novel business models. We hope to accelerate the innovation cycle by offering real-world perspective, tactical knowledge and contacts to the campus entrepreneur."

Former Cisco executive turned-investment banker Edward Kozel said he was impressed with the leadership of the campus and the environment at UC Davis that encourages cross-disciplinary collaborations.

"Many of the new markets and technologies require a synthesis of technology that is precluded by the organizational structure of otherwise excellent universities," Kozel said. "UC Davis has reinvented itself in a more appropriate way for the 21st Century technology markets. I hope the Catalysts can leverage the good work conducted so far, and hopefully, assist with the development of entrepreneurial programs, practices and culture."

The Catalysts already are working with at least three teams affiliated with UC Davis to put their business plans together and pursue venture funding. They would like to extend a helping hand to the winners of the Big Bang! Business Plan Competition by arranging meetings with interested venture capitalists.

"We also have discussed setting up a workshop for the top 10 to 12 business projects teams at UC Davis to give them advice and provide mentoring based on our experience," said Chabrier.

The Catalysts are looking to recruit more successful Aggie entrepreneurs to join in the fun and spread the start-up fever. Chabrier, who's a big football fan, invites those who want to reconnect to join the Catalysts at a tailgate party Sept. 17 at Stanford University before the Aggies face the Cardinal on the gridiron.

Just as UC Davis' jump to Division I-A athletics means more money and notoriety, Chabrier and the Catalysts want to see the research arm of the campus run up the score. "We're game," he said.

For more information about the UC Davis Catalysts or the tailgate party, Chabrier can be reached at greg@chabrier.com.