Last Friday, February 2, students from UR and RIT teamed up for the NextGen Challenge, a full-day competition held to address real issues faced by a local company. The company for this challenge was Rochester-based Craft Cannery, a rapidly growing startup specializing in contract food manufacturing for sauces, dressings, marinades, teas, soups, meals-in-jars, and more. The company is looking to double their existing 5,000 square foot production facility to meet increasing consumer demand, while maintaining required safety standards and ensuring timely delivery.

Craft Cannery CEO Paul Guglielmo kicked the day off with a rundown of Craft Cannery as a company, the issues they are facing, and a layout of the current facility. Students were then split into four teams and tasked with developing updated floor plans, taking into consideration the extra square footage, safety measures, cost effectiveness, and optimizing Craft Cannery’s process flow.

After a day of brainstorming, the teams presented their ideas to the judges –– Craft Cannery Production Manager Dan Nichols, and Simon Business School professors Roberto Colangelo and Mark Wilson. 

In first place came Ujval Madhu (RIT), Bohan Cui (E5 ’24), Meina Liu (EdD ’24), and Dylan Horton ’27. In second place came Javlonbek Khamzaev ’27, Paul DeSouza ’25, Tan Phan (MS ’24), Jaimin Shah (MS ’24), Katie Lee (RIT), and Marcel Shaffer (RIT). Congratulations to both teams, and a big thank you to RIT, the judges, and everyone who participated!

From left to right: Ujval Madhu (RIT), Bohan Cui (E5 ’24), Meina Liu (EdD ’24), and Dylan Horton ’27.

From left to right: Javlonbek Khamzaev ’27, Paul DeSouza ’25, Tan Phan (MS ’24), Jaimin Shah (MS ’24), Katie Lee (RIT), and Marcel Shaffer (RIT).

From October 19 to November 16, SMD Entrepreneurs, a UR student group focused on supporting students’ entrepreneurial endeavors, held the first UR Patient Safety Technology Challenge in partnership with the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative (PRHI). PRHI is an organization dedicated to educating medical professionals about solutions to improve the quality and safety of delivered healthcare. Specifically, they seek to combat preventable medical errors, the five most common of which are medication errors, patient care errors (e.g. blood clots, pressure injuries, falls), procedure or surgery-related errors (e.g. excessive blood loss), infections, and diagnostic errors (e.g. missed or delayed diagnosis). PRHI sponsors Patient Safety Challenges at universities across the U.S., with the goal of increasing awareness on the subject and encouraging the development of innovative technologies to address these issues.

Team SAMA presenting their idea for VapGuard. Image courtesy of Henry Litsky ‘24 (E5).

Over the course of the program’s four week run, the eight participating teams received mentorship from medical professionals, as well as guidance from business experts on commercialization plans. On November 16, the program culminated with each team presenting their work to a panel of judges. The first prize winners of $2,000 were team SAMA, Sudarshan Ramanan ’29 (M.D. Candidate, SKMC), Aditya Gunturi ’28 (M.D. Candidate, URSMD), Mathew Stephen ’30 (M.D. Candidate, URSMD), and Aashay Mardikar ’26 (BS in Biochemistry). Congratulations to SAMA on their success, and to all of the teams who participated!

Image courtesy of Henry Litsky ‘24 (E5).

By Lizmairi Vargas Santa

Conference 2023: A Future of Success was a project focused in the Dominican Republic, aiming to find the disparities in the learning structure of students in 11th and 12th grade of high school. The inspiration behind the project aligns with the gap created for students who lack professional mentorship and intellectual learning support. The Dominican Republic is an island where tourism accounts for the majority of its economic growth. However, the country has not witnessed significant improvements in areas such as unemployment or education for many years. 

In economics, I have learned the massive impact unemployment and education have on one another, and on the economy in general. I have become passionate about learning how the government can tackle these issues, and further, why the government has not prevented education and unemployment from becoming one of today’s main challenges.

It is evident that a lack of education and unemployment have a strong correlation. A lack of educational support throughout high school leads to a disinterest in higher education, which in turn increases unemployment rates. This increase in unemployment leads to the discouragement of students and their dependents, due to difficulties in accessing jobs. 

This project was focused on gathering data from these students, to try to discover the conflicts surrounding their educational goals. We did so through a five day long conference, filled with workshops that covered many different topics such as financial stability, career readiness, and entrepreneurial innovation. It took four months to design the content of and market this project. 

Vargas Santa and Randy Custodio Brito with group of students after a workshop.

I partnered with organizations here at UR, such as the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, iZone, the Fellowship Office, and the Office of Global Engagement. This project was also supported by the Ministry of Culture in the Dominican Republic, and a few radio stations there. These organizations helped me design, execute, and fund this project. 

With more than 300 attendees, the outcome was overwhelmingly positive from all the academic institutions that participated. The senator of the town in which the conference took place was very grateful that we took such an initiative, and many parents of attendees reached out after the conference concluded to express their gratitude. 

This experience was exceptional for me, as the individual who created it, and inspirational for the attendees. Not only was I able to expand conversations about certain topics, I had the opportunity to hear students talk about the issues they currently face. I found that students want support systems to orient themselves toward opportunities that are best for their career and personal goals. 

As a future entrepreneur, I had the opportunity to put my entrepreneurial spirit into practice through planning this event, and gathering all necessary requirements for this conference to take place. Entrepreneurship means “embracing change to drive innovation,” and my contributions to this project highlighted this message throughout every workshop offered. 

Vargas Santa presenting to a group of students.

I want to make a change in education in the Dominican Republic, and help students not feel hopeless about career opportunities in their native countries. My goal is to embrace the importance of education in Latin America, and work with organizations to promote the exposure of career content to create avenues for students who are interested in certain areas of study. 

I am proud to have had the courage to create this conference because I am now more aware of the areas of focus for my future businesses. Also, I want to give my gratitude to the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation and all the other offices that made this project a reality. I want to express my continued interest in promoting change in education, and articulate that this is a path I see my entrepreneurship ventures focusing on in the future.

Check out this video for a look at the event!

Lizmairi Vargas Santa ‘26 is intending to double major in Economics and Business Entrepreneurship. Lizmairi is the 2022-2023 recipient of the Delno Sisson Prize, and a HOBY Youth Leadership alumni for the state of New Jersey. Lizmairi is also the Minister of Social Outreach for the Student Organization for Caribbean Awareness (SOCA), and the Fundraising Chair of UR’s chapter of UNICEF. This past spring, Lizmairi traveled to the Dominican Republic to host her Medallion Capstone Project Conference 2023: A Future of Success, and is currently dedicating her free time to learning about real estate. In the future, Lizmairi wants to work for an investment banking company as a management consultant, and hopes to found her own shoe brand in New York City.

By Alex Prideaux

My independent research is into the methane production of North American termites. In order to complete my research I required a ton of materials. Sensors, containers, switches, microcontrollers, and of course – the termites themselves (which are actually crazy expensive). The initial tests required housing different sections of termites in different containers to see if they would produce methane differently based on their diet. This quickly proved to be too big of a bite for me to swallow academically so I worked with Professor Kessler to refine the experiment into one that…. Still didn’t get quite the results we were looking for, but produced solid data, and more importantly, helped me understand exactly how to solve all the issues I was coming across. So the next version of this experiment should produce data I can actually publish. I plan on staying in the Rochester area post-graduation and continuing my research. I included the abstract and introduction to the paper I wrote on my research below.

Abstract

Termites produce significant amounts of methane as a byproduct of their digestion. Zimmerman et al. estimate that, globally, termites could produce as much as 1.5*1014 grams of methane per year. This experiment is designed to analyze the methane production of North American termites. To test this, Eastern Subterranean termites (Reticulitermes flavipes) were kept in a closed system that was regularly flushed with clean air. After flushing, the system was closed again, and methane was allowed to build up. While significant sources of error prevent the conclusions from this study from being completely reliable, the data collected in this way suggests that a moderate size termite colony could produce methane equivalent to about 40 Watts of energy. It is worth noting that this is significantly higher than the estimates in Zimmerman et al. showing the need for added testing.

Introduction:

This experiment used a two-part enclosure (figure 1). Termites lived and digested wood and paper in the lower container (no additional wood or paper was added over the course of the experiment), while gas was collected in the upper container. The upper container also held a methane sensor and a temperature/humidity sensor. The container would be flushed of methane before the test and then methane levels were allowed to build back up, this supplied approximate rates of methane production. The levels seen were consistent across most tests. There was a significant die-off of termites halfway through testing and tests after that point showed significantly lower methane production rates, but similar peak values. This, and the fact that observed rates far exceed those found by Zimmerman et al. indicates a number of flaws in the experiment. It seems there was gas escaping the current system leading to an equilibrium point of ~ 1700 parts per million of methane (PPM). There also seem to be factors that affected the readout of the methane sensor that falsely inflated the magnitude of readings. The most likely explanation for this is CO2 present in the system. 

1)    Zimmerman, P. R., et al. “Termites: A Potentially Large Source of Atmospheric Methane, Carbon Dioxide, and Molecular Hydrogen.” Science, vol. 218, no. 4572, 1982, pp. 563–565., https://doi.org/10.1126/science.218.4572.563. 

Alex Prideaux is a mechanical engineering major and journalism minor who wants to develop technologies and methods for: green energy production, low-resource food production, tech communication, problem-solving in early education, space missions, and storytelling through games like Dungeons and Dragons. He can be found dancing, working in his Hopeman office, or staring at birds in Genesee Vally Park. You can contact him at aprideau@u.rochester.edu or on LinkedIn

By Helen Shammas

Technology has revolutionized the healthcare industry, and medical device conferences have played a crucial role in advancing this technology. Medical device conferences provide a platform for healthcare professionals and technology developers to showcase the latest advancements in the field. As a student in the Center for Medical Technology and Innovation (CMTI) Biomedical Engineering Master’s  Program, I was particularly interested in MD&M West which is part of the largest annual advanced manufacturing event in the US and the conferences that showcase MedTech industry leaders and innovations. The conference included many events, including but not limited to networking opportunities, exhibits, workshops, and speakers.

One of the workshops that was interesting to me was a case study on medical devices and clinical trends. This workshop focused on what trends are driving some of the biggest changes in the industry, it spoke about the effects of our daily changes on the MedTech “ecosystem”. The speaker highlighted how the pandemic revealed how truly broken the supply chain system is, how many alterations had to be enforced within a very short period of time, and the increased demand for telehealth among health professionals. The case study also highlighted the trend for non-invasive solutions. This part was particularly relevant to my CMTI project which focuses on a non-invasive surgical procedure.

Another particularly interesting session was a speaker panel from Johnson & Johnson, the medical devices and pharmaceutical company. They started by talking about their different experiences and background but then gave a lot of amazing advice starting from how to get into a company like J&J, but also how to properly self-examine yourself and your efforts to further grow. They talked about how it is important to always work on your leadership qualities and never stop networking as leveraging internal relationships can often be the key to success. The setup of this session included some informal networking and two of the panel speakers were willing to have a lengthier chat with me after the session which was extremely informative and useful for my next steps.

The conference however was not only limited to these speakers and workshops. The exhibit hall was one of the biggest that I’ve ever seen. The variety of technologies was astounding, ranging from robotic arms and manufacturing setups to hydrophobic materials and lab equipment. Everybody was extremely friendly, and once they knew that I’m a student, they were happy to talk to me about what they do, their main products, and also about their life in the company, and if they had openings. More importantly, I went to the conference with the mindset of finding technologies that may be useful to my project or other projects in my class. This was indeed possible, and many representatives were happy to talk about their usual applications and the limits of their products. I did leave the conference with so much more information and well so many more brochures, booklets, and business cards for all these companies.

I wanted to thank the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation for offering me the support necessary to attend this opportunity. This support is what helped me learn so much more about a side of the medical industry that I’ve never seen before. It allowed me to network with potential useful resources for my project and provided me with the opportunity to meet experienced leaders and entrepreneurs in the field.

Helen Shammas ‘23 is a master’s student in the Center for Medical Technology and Innovation (CMTI) Biomedical Engineering Master’s Program. She graduated last year from the University of Rochester with a major in Biomedical Engineering and a minor in Chemical Engineering. She balances both her program and research at the Chia-Lung Lab with the simple connection of being extremely interested in orthopedics. After graduation, Helen is interested in pursuing a career in manufacturing and is interested in improving the translation from the lab to scale-up.

By Brandon Davis ’23 (PhD)

On Wednesday, March 8th, 2023, the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, MyHub, and the student organization for entrepreneurial trainees at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, SMD Entrepreneurs, hosted the second annual SMD Big Ideas in Science and Medicine Pitch Competition.

As a 6^th year biochemistry PhD Candidate, co-founder of RHM Innovations Inc., and founder and president of SMD Entrepreneurs, I designed this competition as an opportunity for experiential learning, to gain valuable experience pitching ideas and receiving feedback from scientific experts with years of business experience.  Our whole platform is centered around experiential learning: each month we have an interactive workshop or an invited speaker, who themselves received rigorous scientific or medical training, that has applied their skills to become successful entrepreneurs.  It has been very beneficial for our members to connect with people they can relate to and would like to emulate.

Although we’re excited about business development, SMD Entrepreneurs has something for everyone, whether it’s learning about investing, consulting, or making connections with distinguished scientists and industry leaders. SMD Entrepreneurs aim to show that entrepreneurship is a career path that trainees should consider.  In a world with increasing financial uncertainty, gaining entrepreneurship skills provides increased security that us trainees can provide interdisciplinary value to a variety of institutions in academia and industry.  As a group, we are rapidly growing and very excited to continue offering more experiential learning opportunities with cash prizes to our trainees.  For the second year in a row, I was thrilled to be the EMCEE and connect with so many talented and enthusiastic young entrepreneurs.

With the help of the SMD Entrepreneurs network, we were able to assemble a panel of distinguished judges for the competition, including Dr. Steve Feldon, Dr. Robert Hill, Dr. Ram Haddas, and Dr. Anthony Franchini. Six teams competed, giving a three-minute pitch of their venture or idea, followed by Q&A with the judges. The judges critically evaluated each team, and selected first, second, and third place winners.

The first-place prize of $500 was awarded to Phlotonics. Team members Daniel Steiner Ph.D, Benjamin Miller Ph.D., and Michael Bryan Ph.D, proposed multiplex, photonic integrated circuit sensors to drastically decrease diagnostic time and cost, while increasing information density and sensitivity.

Second place and $250 went to GutSounds’ Krish Jain (BS) for his proposal of a mobile application that leverages artificial intelligence to pre-diagnose and detect gastrointestinal issues through the analysis of abdominal sounds and visual aids.

Finally, third place and $125 was awarded to Michal Shaposhnikov (Ph.D) of DRUGS!, an informational tool for parents and children that allows anyone to explore the finer scientific details in a fun and collaborative experience.

This event would not have been possible without the help and support from many key collaborators: Eric Vaughn and Elaine Smolok of MyHub for their continued support and financial contribution to the competition; Kathy Driscoll, Heidi Mergenthaler, Erin Sefca, and Catherine Livingston at the Ain Center for sharing their resources and enthusiasm of bringing entrepreneurship to URMC; and our SMD Entrepreneurs institutional and community connections for helping us connect with our judges. The collaboration of everyone involved allowed us to showcase some of the innovative research happening on our campus.

Congratulations to the winning teams! You can watch the full video of the competition on Vimeo.

Brandon Davis ’23 is a 6^th year biochemistry PhD Candidate and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, co-founder of RHM Innovations Inc., and founder and president of student organization SMD Entrepreneurs.

Consortium of 10 regional colleges and universities is awarded $15 million to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in STEM researchers and accelerate local economic development

Rochester, NY, September 8, 2022 — The University of Rochester is thrilled to be a partner in the newly awarded NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps™) Hub: Interior Northeast Region (IN I-Corps).

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced this morning that they’ve awarded $15 million over five years for the implementation and execution of the IN I-Corps Hub. The Interior Northeast region that stretches from New Hampshire to West Virginia is representative of large portions of the US that are largely rural, economically underserved and working to restore economic vitality. IN I-Corps aims to expand the nation’s geography of innovation by creating a cohesive innovation ecosystem that delivers inclusive models of education and workforce training designed for and by innovators in rural regions and small cities.

The University of Rochester will be joined by Hub partner institutions Dartmouth College, Rochester Institute of Technology, SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Buffalo, Syracuse University, University of Pittsburgh, University of Vermont, West Virginia University and Hub lead Cornell University. Each institution will be hosting regional I-Corps courses and contributing to programming and curriculum strategy.

“We are honored to be a part of this esteemed group of institutions and are looking forward to working together to provide the comprehensive I-Corps training that will help strengthen the entrepreneurship ecosystem across the region” said Duncan T. Moore, Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship at the University of Rochester.

Founded by the NSF in 2011, I-Corps programming nationwide empowers researchers to combine their technical and scientific knowledge with an entrepreneurial mindset to develop new technologies and startups that benefit society. The I-Corps curriculum addresses the knowledge gap between the skills needed to develop an innovative technology in a lab and the skills needed to bring that technology to market. With a core tenet of customer discovery, participants in I-Corps courses work to connect with potential customers and ensure the solutions they’re developing fill an existing market need.

The IN I-Corps Hub joins nine other I-Corps Hubs within the National Innovation Network (NIN), expanding the geographical reach of the network and promoting economic growth and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) talent development within rural communities and the small cities on their boundaries.  The Hub will regularly offer regional courses designed to support geographically-dispersed participants in learning the I-Corps method of customer discovery and applying it to real world opportunities, while still remaining connected to their home institutions and communities.

The University of Rochester has a proven track record in supporting commercialization and entrepreneurship. Since receiving its NSF I-Corps Site award in 2015 and as a partner in the Upstate New York (UNY) I-Corps Node in 2016, the University has trained more than 100 teams in the I-Corps methodology. In addition to the I-Corps courses, the University offers numerous other training programs, workshops, bootcamps, student incubators spaces, funding, and more to support entrepreneurs and innovators. In 2020, the UR received 117 invention disclosures from 36 departments and divisions. 36 external collaborators from 22 institutions, agencies, and corporations were also named as inventors. Additionally, 109 patent applications were filed. More than $1.79M in licensing revenues were returned to the UR in 2020. Companies in the UR Student Incubator program have also raised more than $6.3M since it was established in 2012. “From across the University, we have a vibrant ecosystem that supports entrepreneurship, and the I-Corps program is a critical component of that ecosystem that helps launch startups from across our community. We also have unique strengths in the areas of optics, digital health, and nursing innovation that we will leverage to train future innovators, including those in underrepresented minority groups and in other colleges and universities across the region”, said Dr. Moore.

A mission-critical element of the IN I-Corps Hub’s approach to entrepreneurship is the creation and administration of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) initiatives. STEM researchers in underrepresented groups face heightened barriers to success, and creating equitable access to resources and talent development is crucial to ensuring the most innovative deep-tech developments are being discovered and amplified. Hub leadership and partners are working to actively create opportunities to support the development of STEM research talent who are women, veterans, people of color, and individuals with disabilities. These initiatives will include collaborations with organizations like the National GEM Consortium’s Inclusion in Innovation Initiative (i4) and RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf.

“The IN I-Corps Hub will provide multiple opportunities for the growth and development of STEM research and entrepreneurial activity among historically underrepresented groups.  Diversity, equity and inclusion are foundational principles in this project, and I am so pleased that the University of Rochester is leading the way on this important venture,” remarked Beth Olivares, Dean for Diversity in Arts, Sciences & Engineering at the University of Rochester.

The Interior Northeast Hub will officially launch on January 1, 2023. Details are forthcoming for STEM researchers interested in learning about opportunities to participate in regional I-Corps courses at a Hub institution. For more information, visit in-icorps.org.

About I-Corps™: In 2011, the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps™) program was launched to support NSF’s mission through experiential learning using the customer discovery process — allowing teams to quickly assess their inventions’ market potential. I-Corps prepares scientists and engineers to extend their focus beyond the laboratory to increase the economic and societal impact of NSF-funded and other basic research projects. 

By Susanna McDonald

According to the 2022 U.S. News & World Report, Simon Business School ranks as the #2 most diverse MBA program in the country. I recently experienced the school’s belief in the importance of diversity and its willingness to support its students. I was fortunate to receive funding from the Ain Center of Entrepreneurship, as well as the Center for Experiential Education, to attend Reaching Out MBA (ROMBA) in Washington, D.C. The ROMBA Conference is the world’s largest gathering of LGBTQ+ business students and alumni. The event included a variety of panels, workshops, receptions, and a career fair with 100 corporate partners across industries recruiting LGBTQ+ MBA talent. At the conference, I was able to attend events like Navigating Intersectional Identities for Women, The Subtlety of Language: Allyship for our Trans Colleagues, and the Startup Pitch Competition.

One workshop of note was Funding Your Future: Securing Capital for your Startup. In the Q&A portion of this talk, I mentioned to the panelists that service-based businesses are often overlooked for venture funding (I run an online wellness coaching company). I further asked the panelists if they saw anything faulty about venture firms only investing in companies with 10x multiples vs. 2-3x. The panelists responded that venture firms are not designed to fund service-based businesses and that instead service-based business owners should look to revenue based financing and traditional small business loans.

I left that talk a little disheartened, but a ROMBA participant approached me later in the evening, regarding my share. He was a fellow coach and had also felt discouraged by the talk. He mentioned that coaches need to stick together in the entrepreneurial world, and shared his positive experiences booking speaking engagements and writing books to establish himself as a thought leader. We swapped LinkedIn connections, and he offered to share the pitches he sends to organizations on the keynote talks he can provide. I was blown away by the common ground I found with this participant. We were both queer, MBAs running service-based businesses. Those three markers are central to my identity, so to be in community with someone from that overlapping perspective brought immense value, not just from a knowledge-sharing perspective, but from a sense of being seen and being part of a larger whole.

Another conference highlight was when Simon Alumnus, Dusty Riddle, hosted the Simon ROMBA participants at his home for a happy hour. We were able to network with other DC Simon Alumni at the event, giving us a firsthand example of the importance of affiliations and extended networks. We expressed differing viewpoints on current events and public policy, but all with the air of mutual respect and a desire to entertain opinions other than one’s own.

Thank you to the staff of the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship for offering me the support to expand my mind and professional network at this conference. I am also grateful to the Simon Business School’s Center for Experiential Education for their pre-conference preparation. More broadly, thank you to the University of Rochester for your creed of ‘Meliora’, and the push to be ever better, which has inspired me toward challenging the cultural and social aspects of my personhood. I am left with the words of one of the featured conference speakers, Julie Goodridge, who was one of the lead plaintiffs in the nation’s first case to legalize same-sex marriage. Julie shared that she hoped us participants would look back on ROMBA as the starting point of our LGBTQ+ activism. I fully intend for my ROMBA experience to be just that.

Susanna McDonald ‘23 is a pansexual, mixed-race, feminist, cisgender woman from Romulus, NY. She is a second year at the Simon Business School at the University of Rochester, pursuing her MBA, with a major in general studies and a minor in entrepreneurship. She serves Simon students as Vice President for Student Wellness on the Graduate Business Council and is an active member of Simon Spectrum. Susanna owns a small business, Train With Susanna, where she helps clients improve their holistic wellness via private coaching online. For leisure, Susanna spends time with her fluffy son, Winston, obsesses over song lyrics, and reads about spirituality. You can connect with Susanna on LinkedIn or at trainwithsusanna.com.