Speaker Bios

Mr. David Adewumi, Founder of Heekya, InnoBlue

David Adewumi is a senior at Penn State studying Chinese and Entrepreneurship. As a resident of State College, David developed an early interest in business startups which led him to his social-entrepreneurial venture, Heekya, a dot-com that allowed people to merge their social media outlets to tell a personalized, multi-media story. Further down the road, David teamed up with Jon Tornetta, a Science, Business major at Penn State, and founded Innoblue, a non-profit organization that starts and supports business, civic, and social innovation within the State College community. David's current goal in his entrepreneurial ventures is to prove that State College can and should be a hub of thriving entrepreneurial business. He believes in the triple bottom line: do well while doing good, in a sustainable way.

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Mr. Gil Beyda, Managing Partner of Genacast Ventures

Gil Beyda is a seasoned entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. Gil launched his first company in 1982 to develop games for the original Apple II. Gil then started a software consulting firm with Fortune 100 clients in the U.S., Asia and Europe. In 1995, Gil pioneer Internet advertising by founding Real Media, the first online ad network and server company. After Real Media was acquired in 2001, Gil pioneered the next wave of online advertising as CTO of TACODA, the first behavioral ad network. Following AOL's acquisition of TACODA in 2007, Gil founded Genacast ventures in partnership with Comcast Interactive Capital.

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Dr. Sven Bilen, Associate Professor of Penn State University

SVEN G. BILÉN, PhD, PE (BS Penn State 1991, MSE 1993 and PhD Univ. of Michigan 1998) is Associate Professor of Engineering Design, Electrical Engineering, and Aerospace Engineering at Penn State and Interim Head of the School of Engineering Design, Technology, and Professional Programs. He serves as the Chief Technologist for the University's Center for Space Research Programs and is the founding director of the Certificate in Space Systems Engineering and the Student Space Programs Lab.

Dr. Bilén's entrepreneurial experience includes his involvement-from its founding in 1999-with ElectroDynamic Applications, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI, a technology-development and consulting firm that works in the aerospace, energy, and materials processing sectors. He was a founder of i-conserve, LLC, and also a founder and chief technology officer for Buzby Networks, LLC, a State College, PA-based company that provides real-time locating solutions. He has consulted for a number of other small (and large) companies in a number of technology sectors. Dr. Bilén is member of IEEE, AIAA, AGU, ASEE, INCOSE, and Sigma Xi.

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Dr. Edward Cape, Managing Partner and Founder of Sapphire Group LLC

Edward G. Cape, Ph.D. is Managing Partner and Founder of The Sapphire Group LLC in New York City, a holding company for active equity assets in healthcare, new media, security (threat assessment), and private education sectors. Prior he was an Investment Banker at UBS Warburg, Founding Director and faculty member of the Cardiac Dynamics Laboratory at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh. At present, Cape aggressively drives growth, corporate governance and management practices for Sapphire's holdings. He has served officer roles and board seats in public and private companies, is a member of the Turnaround Management Association, the Detroit Economic Club, conducts economic development work in Florida and Michigan, and has two decades in public service on behalf of under-represented groups. He has a current interest in addressing the disproportionate representation of Veterans in the homeless and unemployed populations domestically and became involved in international affairs via the security work and as board member of the Global Autism Project. He sits on the advisory board at Georgia Institute of Technology, and runs a course on Financial Economics at CCNY where he was named Adjunct Professor of the Year (2010). Cape has B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Georgia Tech and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.

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Mr. Steve Garguilo, Validation Lead of WishVast

Steve Garguilo graduated from Penn State with a B.S. in Information Sciences and Technology and a minor in Engineering Leadership Development. His passion is applying technology to solve problems. He has multi-industry experience in strategy, project management, mergers and acquisitions, SAP, architecture, systems integration, ICT, mobile platform design, and business process improvement. He also has prior experiences with high-impact global ventures in Budapest, Hungary; Bangalore, India; Rabat, Morocco; and Nyeri, Kenya.

He is currently completing the Johnson & Johnson Information Technology Leadership Development Program focused on emerging markets opportunities for consumer products. Steve's professional interests include economic development, emerging markets, complex technology-based problem solving, innovative system integration, high-tech entrepreneurship and international social entrepreneurship. During his time at Penn State, Steve was President of the IST Student Government, Director of the IST Learning Assistant program, and President of the Penn State Marching Blue Band.

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Mr. Ming Shih Huang, Co-Founder of POWER

Ming-Shih Huang received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from National Chiao Tung University, Hsin-Chu, Taiwan, and currently he is an EE Ph.D. candidate at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA. From 2007 to 2010, he worked as a graduate research assistant in the Noise Radar group. In summer 2008, he was a research intern in Intelligent Automation Inc. and in summer 2009 and 2010, he interned in Siemens Corporate Technology in Germany. Ming-Shih is the Co-founder of POWER, a product that seeks to alleviate the risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome. Ming-Shih and his teammates are building a smart glove that provides feedback to users to ensure that they are following a specific pre-emptive physiotherapy exercise regimen.

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Mr. Norman Lutkefedder , Founder and President of SEED Fund Inc.

Norman Lutkefedder is Founder and President of SEED Fund Inc (Solar for Education & Economic Development), an organization whose mission is to provide renewable energy systems for schools, health centers and businesses in emerging markets worldwide.

Norman joined NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in 1963 where he held several positions in the Apollo Engine Program Office. In 1966 he was selected as one of the 10 engineers at MSFC to initiate Skylab (our Nation's first manned space station) which was powered by solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays.

In 1974 he initiated and directed the U.S. Federal Energy Administration's (FEA's) Solar/Renewable Energy Division, including: solar thermal & PV, wind, bioconversion & ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC). At the U.S. DOE he initiated and directed programs which installed PV systems on thousands of DOD remote facilities in the U.S. and overseas, and solar thermal systems on hundreds of government buildings. While at DOE Norman also directed the International Renewable Energy Program to assist developing countries in assessing their energy needs.

After leaving DOE, Norman founded a real estate development firm and constructed numerous building projects and subdivisions. As Senior VP with a top 5 national homebuilding corporation he directed the design, engineering and development of several major communities. Norman received a BSME from Penn State University, a MSE and MEA from George Washington University, and is a Licensed Professional Engineer.

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Dr. Robert Macy, Director of Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship (FCFE)

Dr. Robert Macy is the director of the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship (FCFE). Dr. Macy's research is largely focused on the strategic management of intellectual capital and the use of knowledge and knowledge workers to facilitate innovation. He has examined the strategic value in the aligning of knowledge worker stocks and flows with the velocity of task environment innovation; the use of interdisciplinary teams and problem-based learning to foster entrepreneurial learning; the role of market driven and market driving strategies to commercialize technology; and corporate social responsibility as an effective business strategy. He has been an entrepreneur for over 20 years and is member of the Oregon State Bar. As an attorney Robert's practice has focused on new ventures and business transactions from initial development through exit. He has represented online companies, small and medium sized enterprises, joint ventures, and worked particularly closely with start-up companies as well as serving as corporate counsel for several non-profits.

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Mr. Chanakya Mehta, Technology Lead of WishVast

Chanakya Mehta is a Master's student in the Electrical Engineering department at Penn State, focusing on systems thinking, high-tech system integration and social entrepreneurship. He completed his B. S. in Electrical Engineering in 2008 with a minor in Engineering Leadership. He is the technology lead on a cell-phone based social networking and trust building system designed for the East-African context, called WishVast. He travelled to Kenya with three other students to implement and conduct on-the-ground validation for WishVast. Chanakya has been involved with the development of a Bachelors of Education in Science degree program in partnership with Tumaini University in Tanzania, and a course on Social Entrepreneurship at Penn State, in partnership with the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) and the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) in India. He is currently working on the development of the E-Spot model of business planning for social ventures. Chanakya will be leading teams of Penn State students working on Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) ventures in India in Summer 2011.

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Mr. Mohamed Ali Niang, Founder of Malo Traders

Mohamed Ali Niang is a a senior at Temple University (Pennsylvania) and expects to graduate in May 2011 with a BBA in International Business/Entrepreneurship and minors in Economics and Sustainability. He has previously interned at a variety of organizations dedicated to social change and poverty alleviation including, UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Niger, Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) the Women's Opportunity Resource Center in Philadelphia and Tissina Ltd. in Mali, a company that specializes in developing and marketing renewable energies equipment.

During these internships, Mohamed Ali developed valuable experiences and insights into the agriculture sector, micro finance and project management. In addition, he is the co-founder of a student-led venture called Malo Traders and received the Judge's Choice Award at the Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition, received a grant from NCIIA to attend Advanced Idea to Venture workshop at MIT, 2010 Sparkseed Venture and has also been selected as a Cordes Fellowship to the 2010 Opportunity Collaboration. Mohamed Ali received the 2010 Sol Tutelman Memorial Prize from Temple University, an award given to a student achieving the highest standards in the field of entrepreneurship. He has won first prize at Temple Innovative Idea Competition for the last 2 consecutive years. This Fall he was on the winning team of the 2010 CIBER International Case Competition, where he received an honorary mention.

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Dr. Paul Polak, Founder of International Development Enterprises

http://www.paulpolak.com/

Dr. Polak has M.D. in psychiatry from the University of Western Ontario and did his residency at the University of Colorado Medical Center. After receiving his certification from the American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry in 1968, Polak practiced psychiatry for 23 years. In 1971, Polak founded the Southwest Denver Community Mental Health Services Inc., which played a prominent national and international role in advancing both the concept and practical working models of community based care for severely mentally ill clients. He has published more than seventy articles on psychiatric research, psychiatry, and community mental health.

Dr. Polak is the founder of the Colorado-based non-profit International Development Enterprises (IDE) which is dedicated to developing practical solutions that harness the power of markets and attack poverty at its roots. IDE has 13 people at its headquarters in Denver and 550 full-time staff who come from the nine countries where they directly implement projects-Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Ethiopia. IDE has had an impact on the lives of 3.5 million dollar-a-day small-farm families (17.5 million individuals) since its inception, and is working together with its partners to reach 30 million families by 2020. IDE achieves results in challenging environments of extreme poverty, poor infrastructure, disease, and war. With 90% of its employees locally employed in these countries, IDE uses an entrepreneurial approach to succeed where traditional development models have failed. IDE listens to what its customers, the rural poor, say about their needs and then develops appropriate, affordable solutions that increase their incomes. These solutions include developing and marketing technologies for water access and control, providing expertise and training, and increasing access to markets.
Polak's newest project is D-Rev, a non-profit that seeks "to create a design revolution by enlisting the best designers in the world to develop products and ideas that will benefit the 90% of the people on earth who are poor, in order to help them earn their way out of poverty".

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Mr. Chris Rothe, IP Attorney of RatnerPrestia

Mr. Rothe is an attorney with RatnerPrestia, PC, a law firm located in Valley Forge, PA. Christopher counsels clients in all areas of intellectual property law, including patents, IP risk management, and IP transactions. Mr. Rothe has expertise in prosecuting domestic and international patent applications. He is currently responsible for managing patent portfolios for a major U.S. manufacturer of surgical implants, and one of the nation's top children's hospitals. Mr. Rothe is accustomed to explaining complex IP issues to individuals with various backgrounds, including general counsels, company presidents, CEOs, technology transfer specialists, marketing directors, engineers, scientists, and beginning entrepreneurs. Mr. Rothe received a law degree from Villanova University School of Law. Before attending law school, Mr. Rothe spent four years working as an engineer in private practice. Mr. Rothe received a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the Pennsylvania State University in 1992.

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Dr. Rajeev Sharma, Founder of VideoMining

Dr. Rajeev Sharma, Founder & CEO, VideoMining, has led the evolution of the company from a technology startup to a successful industry leader for shopper marketing intelligence. Dr. Sharma is recognized as a pioneer in automated human behavior analysis and its application to market research. Dr. Sharma is a frequent speaker at industry events and a thought leader on shopper marketing research. Prior to founding the company, Dr. Sharma was a tenured faculty at The Pennsylvania State University and a research faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has a Bachelor's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, and a PhD from the University of Maryland at College Park.

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