Beat-the-Odds Boot Camp Facilitators
Mike Abbott became involved with the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps program during the summer of 2013 and now serves as an instructor for both national and regional node cohorts. He currently lives in Blacksburg Virginia where he owns and manages two businesses and serves as an instructor for several classes in entrepreneurship and technology commercialization at Virginia Tech. Mike has been working in technology commercialization and product development for the past twenty years where he has successfully launched products in the consumer, defense, medical, and industrial markets. He has a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech. He holds numerous patents and publications across a broad spectrum of domains. Mike is certified as a Professional Engineer in the state of Virginia and holds a PMP certification from the Project Management Institute.
Errol Arkilic is a Founder of M34 Capital. M34 is an investment company that focuses on seed and early-stage projects being spun out of academic and corporate research labs. Typical investments range from $250,000 to $500,000 and usually represent the first outside capital deployed. M34 focuses on turning science projects into companies and does so across a broad spectrum of technologies and geographies. He is also a founder of USRCA.org, a non-profit with a focus on entrepreneur education for science and engineering graduates. Previously, Errol was the founding and lead program director for the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program. He led the I-Corps effort from its inception until July 2013. Prior to this, he was the lead software and services Program Director for the NSF SBIR program. Before his government service, Errol was founder and CEO at StrataGent Lifesciences (Acquired by Corium International: CORI) and Manager of Product Engineering at Redwood Microsystems. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The George Washington University and his Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Aero/Astro Engineering from MIT.
John Blaho serves as the CUNY Director for Industrial-Academic Research and is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Andrew S. Grove School of Engineering. He was responsible for significantly increasing industry-sponsored research activities between industrial entities and CUNY research faculty during 2010-12 and is currently working to increase the amount of faculty entrepreneurial activities. Dr. Blaho was trained as a chemical engineer, received his Ph.D. in biochemistry, and was the PI of an academic research lab at the University of Chicago and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine for over 25 years. Subsequently, he served a full-time CSO function at a biotech company in Princeton, NJ. Since joining the Office of the CUNY Vice Chancellor for Research, he has led the creation of two new NSF IUCRC centers at the City College of CUNY and has served as the Industrial Mentor for 3 CUNY NSF I-Corps teams - all three then successfully launched NYS companies and are currently supported by initial seed funding, including NSF SBIR/STTR grants. Dr. Blaho led the creation of and serves as the Training Director and coPI of the NYC Regional Innovation NSF I-Corps Node (NYCRIN). He is also the CUNY PI of the NYSERDA-funded PowerBridgeNY Proof of Concept Center that developed a Cleantech I-Corps entrepreneurial training program. Finally, Dr. Blaho is the lead of the CUNY Innovation Hot Spot for the NYC Regional Economic Development Council of Empire State Development.
Viktor Brandtneris has a diverse financial and general management background from experiences in both corporate and entrepreneurial environments. In his early career he worked in the computer industry in numerous Financial Planning and Modeling roles for companies including IBM and Computervision. His first entrepreneurial endeavor was as co-funder of the Devonshire Trust Company, a boutique money management and mutual fund company in Salem, Massachusetts. After the sale of Devonshire Trust, Viktor stayed active in the financial markets and small business consulting. As Principal of Brandtneris Consulting, he provides business-modeling services centered on the Lean-Start Up Customer Discovery process. Recent corporate engagements have included companies in the nanotechnology manufacturing, financial engineering and alternative energy industries. Viktor is a member of the national teaching faculty of the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Commercialization program, working extensively with the University of Michigan and Innovation-Los Angeles nodes. He has an MBA in Finance & Marketing from Boston College and a double major B.A. in Economics & Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.
Michael Camp is an entrepreneur, educator, and senior business consultant with more than 27 years of experience in architecting innovative models for the rapid monetization and commercialization of technology – including the design and launch of new ventures – and designing and administering hybrid, interdisciplinary educational programs in entrepreneurship. He is the Founder and Executive Director of the Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization (TEC) Institute at The Ohio State University, where he is the chief architect of proprietary technology evaluation protocols and IP marketing and monetization services. Since 2007, the TEC Institute has trained nearly 800 faculty, graduate students and business professionals in technology commercialization and reviewed the commercial potential of more than 400 scientific discoveries. He holds a doctorate in strategic planning from The Ohio State University, along with an MBA in business analytics, a Masters of Science in organization design and a B.S. in Marketing.
Julie Collins is a Commercialization Catalyst with VentureLab, Georgia Tech and is an Instructor with the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps. She provides entrepreneurial education to faculty, researchers and students using the Customer Discovery methodology developed by Steve Blank. She also has over a decade of experience working with faculty and community entrepreneurs, helping them acquire early stage funding. Julie served as a member and then Director of SBIR Georgia, a program of the Enterprise Innovation Institute that provided education and consulting to small businesses and faculty entrepreneurs applying for SBIR/STTR funding from the Federal government. As the Director, Julie oversaw the administration of two SBA Fast grants and provided commercialization reports for SBIR applicants. Prior to joining SBIR Georgia, Julie led a career in academic research working for both the Emory University School of Medicine and the VA Medical Center, Atlanta.
Max Green serves as the Lead Instructor for NSF’s Southwest I-Corps Node and as Project Director for the IC2 Institute. His charge is to advance business opportunities for both domestic and international clients, capitalizing on his expertise developing go-to-market strategies for engineering innovations. Max has advised thousands of entrepreneurs worldwide, guiding evidence-based development of commercialization roadmaps and actionable milestones. Max previously led development efforts for more than 500 scientific innovations while serving at The University of Texas at Austin and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center; yielding more than 50 revenue-bearing agreements with corporate partners and the formation of 11 technology startups with fundraising efforts exceeding $30M in venture financing. B.S. Mechanical Engineering & M.S. Technology Commercialization - The University of Texas at Austin.
Paul Freet teaches entrepreneurship for the National Science Foundation and at universities throughout the southeast. Paul also works with professors and researchers as part of Georgia Tech VentureLab where he creates startup companies based on their research. Before joining Georgia Tech, Paul was the founder and CEO of VC-backed ATDC graduate company Racemi. Prior to founding Racemi, Paul was a founder and CTO of TruSOLUTIONS. In 2007, Paul was inducted into the Georgia Tech College of Engineering Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni. He earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech.
Brian Hanley directs research alliances at IBM with a focus on commercializing technologies for health care, materials science, transportation, energy and financial sectors. His responsibilities include managing intellectual property portfolios, identifying new business opportunities, developing investment cases, and closing partnerships. He has also co-founded four startups in the IT, Electronics and Services industries. Brian remains active in the community by volunteering his time to many entrepreneurial organizations, including the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, Rice Alliance, TeXchange, TechArb, and Ann Arbor Spark. He is a certified core instructor at both regional and national I-Corps levels, helping the University of Michigan deliver quality programs. He is a graduate of Purdue University, earning a dual bachelor’s degree in computer and electrical engineering. He also holds an MBA degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan with his wife and two young sons.
Nancy Kamei is firm believer in the for-profit model as the most effective vehicle for creating change in the world. She is an experienced investor and serial entrepreneur who has attempted to build a life which will accomplish both doing good and making money: a compassionate capitalist. She is currently an Entrepreneur in Residence at UCSF, teaching (National Faculty for NSF I-Corps), and launching various ventures. After receiving her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from UCSF, she joined Merck in sales. She returned to California to get her MBA from Stanford and was then recruited to the biotechnology industry. Over six years, she was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Institutional Venture Partners and on the start-up teams of four successful biotechnology companies – the most notable was Onyx Pharmaceuticals (recently sold to Amgen for >$10b). She then moved to the investor side of the table: first in public equities at Capital Group Companies (Biotechnology, Healthcare IT, Hospitals) and then in corporate venture capital at Intel Capital (Digital Health). She investigated Global Health for Aberdare Ventures and served as the Venture Capital Fellow for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She has over forty years of uninterrupted service to the non-profit sector including: Trustee and Chairman of the Investment Committee for the Marin Community Foundation (>$1b endowment) and Governor of the Japanese American National Museum. She lives in Marin County and has one son, who has started his own career as an investor in New York City.
Kaz Karwowski joined the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership (RCEL) as Executive Director in July 2013 after four years with the Bernard M. Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program (GEL) and three years with MIT’s Army ROTC Program. Prior to joining GEL, Kaz served in the U.S. Army Infantry Branch for 20 years and retired in 2009. Kaz has been developing leaders on college campuses for 10 years. At MIT’s Army ROTC program, he was responsible for the leadership development of students from MIT, Harvard, Tufts, Salem State, Gordon and Wellesley College. While at MIT and Rice, Kaz has been involved in the entrepreneurship community and has mentored multiple startups that have gone onto great success, such as NVBots, Ministry of Supply, Big Delta Systems. Kaz has a deep interest in the leadership development of young people and feels that leadership and entrepreneurship go hand-in-hand. He served as Platoon Sergeant in Iraq and a leader with the 10th Mountain Division in Mogadishu, Somalia, Haiti, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Kaz also served in the First Armored Division in the Persian Gulf War.
Dan Kunitz is a media and technology executive and entrepreneur who has been involved in the creation and management of several successful web and media start-ups. As Director of the DC I-Corps Accelerator Dan advises and provides support to all early stage technology companies in the NSF-sponsored DC I-Corps program run by University of Maryland, George Washington University, Virginia Tech University, and John Hopkins University. In addition to working with many ventures that originate in University labs, Dan mentors a growing number of teams from Federal Lab initiatives and from incubators throughout the Washington region. Dan serves as Chairman of the Washington DC Economic Partnership’s AccelerateDC program, where he manages a mentor network of technology start-up founders and executives. He has also served as a Senior Advisor at Venture Well to NSF’s National Innovation Network. Dan has championed, instructed, and/or managed several international I-Corps and lean startup initiatives. Prior to joining the DC I-Corps team, Dan was an entrepreneur, founder, and executive for several startups in the web, new media, and education sectors. As Co-Founder and COO of Irides, LLC, a Virginia-based managed services provider, Dan oversaw all aspects of the company’s strategy and operations, and negotiated six acquisitions. Dan was on the founding team of Politico, a Virginia-based new media venture covering politics, Capitol Hill, and lobbying. As Associate Publisher and Managing Editor of politico.com, Dan was responsible for all aspects of the online strategy, built and managed a team of developers, designers, and content producers, and negotiated numerous strategic partnerships. Politico grew to over 100 employees and had 5 million monthly unique visitors in its first year. Dan was involved in two other new media start-ups in the Washington region: Local Point TV, an innovative short-form entertainment-based digital spectrum sub-channel, and NewsIT, a mobile platform for crowd-sourced news. Dan’s career also includes two education ventures. At MBA Center, Dan directed all aspects of the company’s communication, marketing, media, and editorial activities for Europe’s largest test prep provider with 12 locations throughout Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Dan subsequently co-founded Professional Prime, a strategic advisory and consulting company headquartered in Paris and London, with offices throughout Europe and education clients worldwide. Dan has a B.A. from Wesleyan University, and an MBA in International Business from Ecole des Ponts.
Roman Lubynsky is the Program Director for the MIT Venture Mentoring Service (VMS) and has been part of the leadership team at the MIT VMS since 2002. He is the PI and Lead Instructor for the MIT I-Corps Site and is also a member of the I-Corps national faculty. In addition to leading the creation of many new programs and initiatives at VMS, he has mentored hundreds of faculty and students to help advance their ideas. His focus is on graduate students and postdocs commercializing inventions from MIT labs. He holds an M.S. in management of technology from MIT and a doctorate in management from the University of Maryland University College. Roman has over 30 years of experience in startups and with growing technology companies.
Keith McGreggor is the director of VentureLab, Georgia Tech’s comprehensive center for technology commercialization, open to all faculty, research staff, and students who want to form startup companies based upon their research. VentureLab has launched more than 150 companies, which have raised more than $700M in angel and VC funding. In 2013, VentureLab was named the #1 university based early stage incubator in the world. He is the lead instructor for the NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program for Georgia Tech, a founding node in the I-Corps network. He is also a member of the NSF I-Corps curriculum committee, and gives frequent invited talks on I-Corps and the foundations of the lean startup philosophy. He has been an entrepreneur for the last three decades. His first company, Artificial Intelligence Atlanta, was the first AI companies in the southeast, which led to a gig in robotics for Lockheed. He has been a founder or co-founder of six software companies. He wrote and shipped the first 3D program and first color paint program for the Macintosh. He developed the color architecture for the Macintosh, wrote substantial portions of the graphics system, and managed the graphics group at Apple Computer in Cupertino. A stint as co-founder of an internet company in the mid 1990s led him to becoming a director of engineering at Yahoo in 1999. Keith holds a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in computer science from Georgia Tech, and is an instructor of Georgia Tech’s new StartupLab for undergraduates in the College of Engineering.
Edmund Pendleton is the Director of the DC I-Corps program, which is administered by the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) within the Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. The DC I Corps program is one of seven locations (nodes) selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to host and provide training under the NSF Innovation Corps (I Corps™) program. I Corps provides innovation and entrepreneurship training for federally funded scientists and engineers, pairing them with business mentors for an immersive, fast-paced curriculum intended to help them discover a demand-driven path from their lab work to a commercial product, service, or process. Over 500 teams have completed the curriculum, which is based on the “Lean Launchpad” model developed by serial entrepreneur Steve Blank. The program has created over 260 companies that have collectively raised more than $40 million in funding from outside sources. Edmund is a certified NSF I-Corps instructor, acts as the Lead Instructor for national and regional teaching teams, and has led efforts to provide similar training to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and NSF SBIR programs. He has also trained international teams, most recently running a program in Mexico that was jointly sponsored by the NSF and US State Department, but organized and led by CONACYT and FUMEC (their partners in Mexico). Edmund has also led regional courses at the University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, Virginia Tech, University of Virginia, and Virginia Commonwealth University. In these various roles, he has provided innovation and entrepreneurship training to well over 500 teams and companies. Edmund also serves as the Assistant National Faculty Director for NSF. In this role, he helps to identify and develop new faculty for the program, and he has trained over 30 national and regional I Corps instructors and adjuncts. He also serves on the NSF I Corps Curriculum Committee and has developed variants of the curriculum that span a wide range of participants, including: university undergraduate and graduate students; executive MBA students; academic and industry researchers; SBIR Phase I and II companies; small business “main street” companies; and even large federal agencies and corporate clients. Edmund is a technology entrepreneur, angel investor, and startup mentor. He is an Adjunct Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, and a Board Member of the Investment Advisory Board at the Center for Innovative Technology in Virginia. He co-founded a technology company that developed and sold a high accuracy “indoor GPS” system for aerospace and other industrial applications, which was ultimately acquired by Nikon Corporation. He led the business development and sales efforts for the company, but also held several patents related to the technology. He has advised and served on the boards of numerous startups in the DC area. Edmund earned an S.M. in Management from the Sloan School of Management at MIT, and an S.M. in Civil Engineering from MIT. He also holds a B.S. in Physics & Mathematics from the College of William and Mary, graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and served as a Rotary Foundation Scholar in New Zealand.
Grant M. Warner is the Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Howard University’s College of Engineering, Architecture and Computer Sciences. In that role, he spearheads HowU Innovate, an interdisciplinary initiative which provides campus-wide programming in innovation, including the Bison Startup and Bison Accelerate courses, in which students are guided through the process of founding technology startups. He also directs the Howard University – Hampton University I-Corps Site which focuses on commercializing university research from HBCUs in the DMV area. Dr. Warner is a certified Lean Launchpad Educator and a nationally trained I-Corps Instructor. He is the co-founder of ConnectYard, a social analytics platform integrated into leading learning management systems and e-learning platforms. He is also a co-founder of XediaLabs, a DC-based incubation firm that provides training and technical consulting to local startups. He received a B.S. degree from Cornell University, an M.S. degree from Penn State University, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University all in Mechanical Engineering.