The MIT Startup Exchange Lightning Talks and Startup Exhibit listed below are part of the full agenda for 2022 MIT Research and Development Conference.
MIT’s Mission Statement highlights its commitment to bringing “knowledge to bear on the world’s great challenges.” Indeed, as the world emerges from a once-in-a-century pandemic, challenges have only multiplied in the face of geopolitical conflict and political turbulence. Compounded by the increasing effects of climate change, these events continue to impact global food supply and security, economic growth and inclusion, international trade, and the environment.
Together with partners in industry and government, MIT faculty and researchers continue to seek compelling problems where MIT innovation can make a transformative impact. Please join us at our annual Research and Development Conference on November 15-16, 2022 to hear from MIT researchers, MIT Startup Exchange entrepreneurs, and global business leaders dedicated to innovating to create a better world.
In addition to plenary sessions, attendees will choose among seven tracks:
Day One Concurrent Tracks Track 1: Emergence of Industry 4.0 Track 2: Climate and the Environment Track 3: Connected World Track 4: The Brain / Body Connection Day Two Concurrent Tracks Track 5: Global Economy and Supply Chain Track 6: Sustainable Solutions Track 7: Digital Worlds and the Metaverse Track 8: Powering the Future
Ariadna Rodenstein is a Program Manager at MIT Startup Exchange. She joined MIT Corporate Relations as an Events Leader in September 2019 and is responsible for designing and executing startup events, including content development, coaching and hosting, and logistics. Ms. Rodenstein works closely with the Industrial Liaison Program (ILP) in promoting collaboration and partnerships between MIT-connected startups and industry, as well as with other areas around the MIT innovation ecosystem and beyond.
Prior to working for MIT Corporate Relations, she worked for over a decade at Credit Suisse Group in New York and London, in a few different roles in event management and as Director of Client Strategy. Ms. Rodenstein has combined her experience in the private sector with work at non-profits as a Consultant and Development Director at New York Immigration Coalition, Immigrant Defense Project, and Americas Society/Council of the Americas. She also served as an Officer on the Board of Directors of the Riverside Clay Tennis Association in New York for several years. Additionally, she earned her B.A. in Political Science and Communications from New York University, with coursework at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico City, and her M.A. in Sociology from the City University of New York.
Dr. Cyrus Shaoul obtained his BSc in Cognitive Science from MIT in 1993, and his PhD from the University of Alberta in 2012. While at MIT he was an undergraduate researcher at the Media Lab. He co-founded one of the first Internet technology companies in Japan in 1994, called Digital Garage. Cyrus is a co-founder and the CEO of Leela AI. He and his team are laser-focused on building a scalable solution to the problem of building a new, more powerful kind of visual intelligence. Cyrus speaks Japanese, French and Spanish.
Elaheh Ahmadi is a co-founder and CEO of Themis AI. She received her BSc and MEng in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT. Ahmadi and her peers at MIT CSAIL spun-off Themis AI with the vision to bring fair AI into the industry. Themis AI is a leader in providing high-performance and risk-robust AI solutions — identifying and tackling bias, uncertainty, and other real-world generalization challenges.
Benedetto J. Buratti is the Co-Founder and Head of Data Science at Einblick, a Data Science platform spin-off from Brown University and MIT. Before founding Einblick in 2019, Benedetto was a Ph.D. student in the Theory group at Brown, working with Eli Upfal and Tim Kraska on Automated Machine Learning and Neural Networks. Benedetto holds two MSc degrees in Computer Science and Data Science from Brown and Sapienza University and a BEng in Control Engineering from Sapienza.
Katie is the Founder and CEO of Claira, a competency analytics platform helping companies understand their workforce and hire better. Before starting Claira, Katie spent 10 years in global workforce development, where it became clear that customers and the market were ready for a more precise, inclusive future of work. Katie regularly speaks and writes on a variety of topics including diversity hiring, ai ethics, and automation impact on the workforce.
Previously, Katie worked for the United States Attorney’s Office, Department of Justice, Executive Office of the President, The White House and the State of Michigan. She holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and an MPA from the University of Michigan, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and a BA in Political Science from Hope College. She also played and coached volleyball for 20 years.
Mark Dipsey is a Project Manager and Senior Engineer at Finwave Semiconductor. He has been with the company since its early days when he worked to refine the technology and fabrication process through university-scale R&D fabrication. He now manages Finwave’s ARPA-E funded project to bring their revolutionary 3DGAN technology to full-scale production in the US, as well as oversees internal device characterization. Prior to joining the MIT spin-off, Mark earned a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from Lehigh University where he studied GaN physics under Professor Nelson Tansu. He went on to work in the silicon semiconductor industry leading a team on power MOSFET failure analysis before ultimately returning to the world of GaN to work alongside Finwave’s CEO, co-founder, and MIT graduate Bin Lu.
Dr. Faye Wu (S.B. '09, S.M. '12, Ph.D. '17) is the CTO and a co-founder of Manus Robotics, a wearable technology startup dedicated to improving human capabilities. While at MIT, Faye researched medical device design, instrumentation, robotics control, and machine learning. The team she led, developing a device to help those with macular degeneration, was selected as a winner of the IDEAS Global Challenge and a finalist of the World Technology Awards. She also invented the Supernumerary Robotic Fingers, a wrist-mounted robot that assists hemiplegic patients with activities of daily living, which prompted the founding of Manus Robotics. Besides overseeing the R&D efforts at Manus, Faye has led the team to win various awards and recognitions, including receiving an NSF Small Business Innovation Research grant and being selected as a finalist of the 2021 MassChallenge Houston cohort.
Bio coming soon.
Andrew Magyar, PhD is the co-founder and CTO of Capra Biosciences. Dr. Magyar first became excited about the power of biology as a graduate student working in Angela Belcher's lab at MIT where he developed bio-templated catalysts for solar hydrogen production. As a research scientist at Draper, Dr. Magyar helped to build their synthetic biology team - leveraging Draper's unique capabilities at the interface of biology and engineering to capture more than $30M in government contracts. Through engagement with leaders in industry and government, Dr. Magyar identified that cost-effective solutions for manufacturing products using biology at scale is a key challenge facing industry. Together with his co-founder and Capra's CEO, Elizabeth Onderko, Ph.D., Dr. Magyar started Capra Biosciences leveraging advances in both biology and hardware to make cost-competitive sustainable chemicals.
William T. (Bill) Mahoney is the Chief Operating Officer of QuesTek Innovations, LLC. Bill is also the CEO of WTM Development, LLC, a strategic advisory and operations services firm. Through this entity, Bill currently serves on the Boards of QuesTek International, LLC, Mid-America Applied Technologies Corporation, Intelligent Manufacturing Systems International, and the World Manufacturing Foundation. His most recent operations contract prior to QuesTek was as CEO of ASM International, the world’s largest professional technical society for materials scientists, engineers, and technicians. Bill held that post between September, 2016 and November, 2020. Bill is a Harvard graduate and former member of both the Harvard Crew and the US National Rowing Team.
Erez Kaminski is the CEO and Founder of Ketryx Corporation, a company striving to create innovative new approaches to regulated software development. Over the last decade, he worked in various industries, including computational mathematics, biotech, and energy, developing mission-critical applications like monitoring systems for pharmaceutical equipment and AI for medication management. Erez is deeply concerned with improving patient care and health outcomes with software solutions. Through Ketryx, he is redefining the complex process of regulated software development and empowering others to change lives and improve software safety and quality. Prior to Ketryx, Erez worked with Amgen, the world’s largest biotechnology company, as the head of AI/ML for their medical device division and with Wolfram Research, the builders of Mathematica and Wolfram|Alpha. Throughout his career Erez has helped companies large and small build and improve the safety and reliability of their software. He now dedicates his time and focus to improving patient safety and expanding the possibilities for regulated software development, especially as they pertain to AI/ML and Open Source software. Erez holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and a Master of Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and served as a platoon sergeant in the Israel Defense Forces.
With a background in chemistry and nanomaterials, Kathryn has focused on the translation of academic research breakthroughs into impactful products, working across disciplines of biology, chemistry, and engineering. Prior to co-founding Vaxess, Kathryn was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology at Harvard. Kathryn began her career in research and development at Merck. She holds a BA in chemistry from Colby College and a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Northwestern University
Leela AI | Themis AI | Einblick | Claira | Finwave Semiconductor | Manus Robotics | Skylla Technologies | Capra Biosciences | QuesTek | Ketryx | Vaxess
Startups at Lunch Exhibit Only
Disclaimer: MIT Startup Exchange can make introductions that ideally provide open ended discussions in order to share mutual interests and potentially create common ground that incite the parties to collaborate. MIT Startup Exchange introductions may eventually lead to mutual partnerships, but that is not in any way guaranteed by MIT, MIT Corporate Relations, MIT Industrial Liaison Program (ILP) or MIT Startup Exchange, which takes no responsibility for these outcomes and no formal part in such discussions following our introduction. MIT Startup Exchange and its activities and events are not for purposes of soliciting investment or offering securities.