March 10, 2004 — NGEN Partners LLC, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based venture capital firm specializing in the materials field, has hired Daniel Colbert as principal and chief technology officer.

Colbert is a former chemistry professor at Rice University and co-founder of Houston-based Carbon Nanotechnologies Inc., where he served as vice president of business development. At NGEN, he provides technical leadership to the firm as well as its portfolio companies and strategic limited partners.

“(NGEN’s) focus is on materials, which is obviously very aligned with my experience and capabilities. And, as luck would have it, they had a need at the same time for CTO,” Colbert said. “They needed somebody … to be the technical nexus, or hub of the firm. Their needs were very timely and aligned with what I’m looking for.”