Description:

Join the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and the Innovation and New Ventures Office (INVO) to learn about opportunities and resources in sustainability and energy-related invention management.

Faculty and industry experts will share their insights on accelerator projects and translation opportunities in the cleantech space. Attendees will have an opportunity to participate in a facilitated panel discussion.

The event will be followed by a networking reception.

Location: Tech Institute · J-wing Atrium · J205

Date: Wednesday, October 30 · 4 - 6pm

Event Agenda:

4:00pm · Opening Remarks | Eric Perreault · Vice President for Research 

4:05pm · INVO-Q Current Resources, Programs, Support | Sonia Kim · Executive Director, Querrey InQbation Lab · INVO

4:15pm · Trienens-Q Accelerator and Entrepreneurship | Phillip Carter · Director, Strategic Alliances · INVO

4:25pm · "Making Circularity a Reality for Mixed Nylon Waste Streams” | Professor Yosi Kratish · Chemistry 

4:45pm · Facilitated Discussion - Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Challenges | Panelists: Gami Maislin · Venture Partner · Convergent Ventures | Shashank Churukanti · Venture Associate · Evergreen Climate Innovations | Ben Schlatka · Partner · Material Impact

5:30pm · Refreshments and networking 

About Guest Speakers

Shashank Churukanti is a Venture Associate at Evergreen Climate Innovations. Prior to joining the team, Shashank spent a decade at SpaceX, where he worked as a technical program manager on projects such as Avionics architecture of the Falcon 9 / Falcon Heavy launch vehicle, and a free-space electro-optical communication terminal.  Shashank works on the investment team at Evergreen, where he analyzes new investment opportunities, conducts due diligence on prospective companies, analyzes market trends across a range of climate tech sectors, and provides consultation on product development for Evergreen’s portfolio companies.  Shashank received a dual bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering & Economics from Northwestern University.

Dr. Gami Maislin is a Venture Partner at Convergent Ventures supporting the fund’s sustainability strategy, bringing to the role more than 20 years of experience in new technology development and R&D team leadership across a wide range of physics-based hard tech.  Prior to this role, Gami was an executive at the RTX Technology Research Center, leading a department of 7 different technology disciplines. She was also an Engineering Fellow and Raytheon Certified Architect at RTX in a wide range of leadership roles, including new energy technology company sourcing & partnering, and advanced technology concept development, prototyping and systems-level architecting.  In the commercial world, Gami worked as a Principal Investigator in startup and small businesses. She is a frequent judge and reviewer for cleantech incubators and sits on the Board of Advisors of Seaman’s Holdings, an office focused on financial and societal stability. She is a recipient of a Boston Business Journal Women to Watch in Science and Technology award. Gami earned her PhD in optical physics from the University of Rochester.

Ben Schlatka, Company Building Partner at Material Impact, has a mission to make founders and their companies successful while leveraging unique insights into new areas of investment and firm driven venture creation. Ben co-founded, served as the CEO and exited MC10, a pioneer in wearable sensors and new end point development in life science research (acquired by Dassault Systemes). He has spent his career specializing in deep tech, material science based commercialization at both mature and startup organizations.  He began his career as a corporate “intraprenuer” at IBM, and then went on to grow a series of successful startups including Volunteer Solutions.org (Sold to the United Way) and Nantero (Sold to Lockheed Martin). He frequently lectures on the formation and commercialization of disruptive science-based businesses.  Ben received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA, Business Administration & Political Science from University of Massachusetts-Amherst.