Philip S. Green, President Miranda Technologies, Inc. Palo Alto, California

Philip Green formed Miranda Technologies, Inc. in 1998 to enable the development of products based upon his independent inventing and patenting activities. He invented and patented two endosurgical systems and, in June of 2000, licensed one of these for further development.

Subsequently, Mr. Green invented, patented and began manufacture of a novel travel guitar that could be disassembled in one minute for transport. Unlike any other travel guitar, these full-size instruments travel in a violin-size case. Miranda guitars feel, play, and sound like an acoustic guitar and are adapted for "silent" practice with headphones. They are recognized as the best of their kind.

Formerly, Mr. Green was Director of the Biomedical Engineering Research Laboratory at SRI International (originally, Stanford Research Institute.) There, he was engaged in general laboratory management and contract-research business development, in the leadership and supervision of a broad spectrum of medical technology research and development projects, in strategic consulting, and in technology licensing.

At SRI, Mr. Green's own research and development was undertaken with extensive grant and contract sponsorship from three of the National Institutes of Health (NCI, NIGMS, and NHLBI), the Department of Defense, and from many medical equipment manufacturers. He pioneered in the development of peripheral vascular and endoscopic ultrasound, ultrasound transmission imaging, and ultrasonic holography, establishing a highly regarded medical ultrasound R&D group that, at its peak, had a staff of 18. He has lead many large, multi-institutional projects, and has collaborated in clinical evaluations of his technologies with hospitals and medical schools in the U.S. and Europe.

In 1984 Mr. Green became interested in the possibility of enhanced teleoperator surgery and, several years later, he began developing his unique Telepresence Surgery System. Under a grant from the NIH, his team developed a laparoscopic version of the system, which made "closed" surgery look and feel like open surgery. With the support of the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency, they developed a remote-surgery version that, in animal studies, enabled surgeons to do micro-vascular anastomosis and other surgical procedures at a distant site, with ease and precision.

Mr. Green spearheaded the search for venture capital to commercialize the Telepresence Surgery System. This culminated in the founding of Intuitive Surgical, Inc. in 1995. Intuitive has had great clinical success in applying its da Vinci "robotic" technology to laparoscopic and minimally invasive surgery, including heart valve replacement, coronary artery grafts, radical prostatectomy and many pediatric, gynecologic, and other procedures. Through Q3, 2011, Intuitive had a worldwide installed base of over 2,000 systems. Mr. Green also played a pivotal role in the establishment of Communication Intelligence Corporation, which sells handwriting recognition products developed in his SRI laboratory. He left SRI in 1995 to devote his full attention to independent research and product development.

Mr. Green has been awarded over 45 U.S. patents in medical diagnostic and surgical technologies. At SRI, he was a successful licensor - over $5 billion worth of medical products licensed under his patents have been sold. His aggressive pursuit of infringers resulted in eight favorable settlements and one major lawsuit judgment, altogether netting SRI $60 million.

Before joining SRI, Mr. Green began his work in ultrasonic imaging and acoustic holography at the Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratories. Prior to that, he was engaged in the development of video systems and medical imaging systems, respectively at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and the Johns Hopkins Hospital Radiology Department.

Mr. Green holds an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and a Masters in EE from Stanford University. He has published over 80 papers in journals and conference proceedings, is a Fellow (emeritus) of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM), a SRI Fellow, and a recipient of several awards for his contributions to the development of healthcare technology, including SRI's Gibson Achievement Award "for outstanding contributions that have had noteworthy impact on the standard of living and on the peace and prosperity of society" and the AIUM's Terrance Matsuk Memorial award "for innovative research in the development of ultrasonic instrumentation and technology."

In 2008, Mr. Green was named European Inventor of the Year by the European Commission and European Patent Office for the primary patent on which the da Vinci surgery system is based. In 2009 he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Johns Hopkins University. In 2011, the same award was received from the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute.

Mr. Green is a member of the Advisory Board of the Johns Hopkins Intellectual Property and Technology Commercialization Office (Homewood Campus) and chairman of the board's Venture Outreach Committee.

He is also on the Advisory Board of Ocean Conservation Research, a former member of the Boards of Directors of the South Bay Guitar Society and the Flamenco Society of San Jose, and currently is a mentor for college students through StudentMentor.org .