OPEN 2023 Highlights
A look back at the OPEN 2023 Conference, held March 21-23 in Alexandria, Virginia. https://venturewell.org/open/
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Innovator Spotlights
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Protecting Patient Privacy: Acorn Genetics Is Revolutionizing DNA Testing
Acorn Genetics COO Max Derbyshire shares how the E-Team Program and the Aspire program advanced his innovation.
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The Inventor Series Sponsored By Qualcomm: Featuring CurveAssure
The CurveAssure co-founders share how Qualcomm’s Innovator Stipend Program helped them file their first provisional patent.
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Innovator Spotlight: KLAW Industries
The co-founder of KLAW Industries discusses his journey as an entrepreneur with the support of the E-Team Program.
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The Inventor Series Sponsored by Qualcomm: Featuring 3D-OPS
Haley Noelle has been hard at work developing a big idea: using spider silk as an adhesive to repair severe tissue injuries.️
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READI
Elissa Russell and Timesha Brooks of READI share their unique path to entrepreneurship, with the support of the E-Team Program.
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Reaction Technologies
Brandon Martin of Reaction Technologies discusses his startup’s device, which is designed to increase athletes’ safety.
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Green Fertilizer
Benard Tabu of University of Massachusetts Lowell discusses Green Fertilizer, which is developing a system that produces nitrogen fertilizer from air and water and delivers it on-demand to crops.
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CVPath Surgical: Creating Synthetic Hearts for Medical Training
Dr. Annie Hedman of Texas A&M University discusses her venture CVPath Surgical and VentureWell’s support.
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Emme: Innovating Birth Control Management
CEO Amanda French shares how early-stage training and funding helped VentureWell E-Team Emme create an innovative birth control pill smart case that was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2021.
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NUMiX Materials, Inc.: Recovering Metal Contaminants
Katie Kollhoff, CEO of NUMiX Materials, shares how support from VentureWell's E-Team Grant Program helped her team gain an in-depth understanding of the business model canvas.
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Aeronics: Enhancing Oxygen Therapy
Blake Dube, CEO of Aeronics, and Mark Spitz, COO of Aeronics, share how VentureWell's E-Team Program helped them challenge their early assumptions and discover a new product market fit as they explored new ways to commercialize their technology.
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Global Water Labs: Fluoride Removal Technology
Katya Cherukumilli, founder of Global Water Labs, share how VentureWell's E-Team Program helped her navigate a business model shift and jumpstart fundraising efforts.
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HandHero: A Low-Cost Medical Device for Rural Burn Patients
Kimberly Souza, co-creator of HandHero, shares how VentureWell's E-Team Program helped her develop a sustainable business model to maximize the impact of her invention.
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Advancing Equity
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Why Mentorship Matters: CJ Cornell
CJ Cornell of the Arizona Commerce Authority describes the skills and qualities of a good mentor.
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Why Mentorship Matters: Audrey Iffert-Saleem
Audrey Iffert-Saleem, then at Oregon State University, outlines how the school built its mentorship program, accentuating the cultivation of relationships.
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Why Mentorship Matters: CJ Cornell
CJ Cornell of the Arizona Commerce Authority shares pertinent statistics about mentoring in innovation & entrepreneurship (I&E).
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Engagement at Community Colleges and Beyond: Talmesha Richards
Talmesha Richards of the National GEM Consortium explains how to unpack real barriers vs. perceived barriers.
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Engagement at Community Colleges and Beyond: Caron Sada
Caron Sada of Paradise Valley Community College discusses making students part of the ask when seeking financial support.
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Engagement at Community Colleges and Beyond: Christine Mooney
Christine Mooney of CUNY Queensborough Community College explains how to get students to come forward with a problem.
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Engagement at Community Colleges and Beyond: Talmesha Richards
Talmesha Richards of the National GEM Consortium addresses how “failures” can feel like show-stoppers for students.
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Engagement at Community Colleges and Beyond: Caron Sada
Caron Sada of Paradise Valley Community College discusses pushing back the starting line for entrepreneurship.
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Engagement at Community Colleges and Beyond: Christine Mooney
Christine Mooney of CUNY Queensborough Community College outlines how to gain external funding.
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Engagement at Community Colleges and Beyond: Michelle Marie
Michelle Marie of Oregon State University discusses how narrow the cultural representations of entrepreneurship are.
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Cultivating Inclusivity: Fleck and Verhoeven on Storytelling
Emma Fleck and Betsy Verhoeven of Susquehanna University discuss how to empower students to tell their own stories.
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Cultivating Inclusivity: Kurt Paterson and Justin Henriques on Podcasts
James Madison University’s Kurt Paterson and Justin Henriques explore how podcasts let us curate a story that’s being shared.
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Cultivating Inclusivity: Kurt Paterson on Understanding the Person Behind the Work
James Madison University’s Kurt Paterson discusses deepening mentor discussions beyond the work, to include the person.
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Cultivating Inclusivity: Belonging Matters
A plenary explored the importance of feelings of belonging to budding science and technology innovators and entrepreneurs.
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Find Mentors Your Students Can Identify With
Juan Barraza describes how authentic mentorship is critical to supporting student innovators from underrepresented backgrounds.
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Advancing Equity: Navigating New Terrain — hosted by NACCE
Authors of the VentureWell publication series Advancing Equity: Navigating New Terrain discuss ways to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion.
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Rethinking Recruitment Helped Reach a Diverse Student Population
Juan Barraza describes how intentional and consistent outreach can lead to higher engagement by student innovators from underrepresented backgrounds.
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A Faculty Member’s Journey
Jacen Greene explains how he used heart and data to increase diversity and improve his teaching.
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Community Conversation: Authentic Outreach
Isabelle Monlouis explores solutions for addressing barriers in conducting authentic outreach to early-stage innovators.
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Community Conversation: Validating Multiple Pathways
Juan Barraza discusses the importance of validating multiple pathways to success for innovators.
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Community Conversation: Creating Inclusive Spaces
Ji Mi Choi discusses creating inclusive spaces to help bridge participation gaps in STEM innovation and entrepreneurship programs.
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Community Conversation: Building Confidence
Jade Lockard discusses building confidence to help bridge participation gaps in STEM innovation and entrepreneurship programs.
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Community Conversation: Mentorship
Isabelle Monlouis stresses the importance of designing systems to engage faculty as mentors.
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Community Conversation: Creating Holistic Organizational Approaches
Debra Joy Pérez offers insight into developing a holistic organizational approach to advancing equity.
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Faculty Spotlights
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Creating Innovators, Not Companies: Measuring the Success of an Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship Course
José Lugo and Mari Luz Zapata Ramos of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez share how VentureWell funding helped them expand their entrepreneurship class.
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Faculty Spotlight: Bayo Ogundipe
Bayo Ogundipe of James Madison University introduces engineering students to the global nature of innovation and entrepreneurial thinking.
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Faculty Spotlight: Carlee Bishop
Dr. Carlee Bishop of Agnes Scott College shares her approach to integrating design thinking into human-centered design.
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Peace Lab Studio Course
Dr. Justin Henriques of James Madison University discusses Peace Lab Studio, a course supported by a VentureWell faculty grant that serves as a launchpad for student teams to develop climate solutions for the developing world.
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VentureWell Faculty Grantee: Julie Messing - Kent State University
Julie Messing shares how a VentureWell Faculty Grant funded an initiative to cross pollinate innovation and entrepreneurship programs at Kent State.
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VentureWell Faculty Grantee: Khanjan Mehta - Lehigh University
Khanjan Mehta explains how a Faculty Grant supported student teams at Lehigh University in developing tech-based social ventures for low-income countries.
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VentureWell Faculty Grantee: Marc Facciotti - UC Davis
Marc Facciotti explains how a VentureWell Faculty Grant supported a new program to bridge gaps in the I&E ecosystem at UC Davis.
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VentureWell Faculty Grantee: Nordica MacCarty - Oregon State University
Nordica MacCarty shares how a Faculty Grant allowed her to integrate entrepreneurship and environmentally responsible principles into her curriculum at OSU.
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OPEN
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OPEN 2024 Highlights
A look back at the OPEN 2024 conference, held March 18-20 in San Diego, California.
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OPEN Annual Conference: Poster Session
Hear from our 2023 OPEN Poster Session winners and learn about the benefits of submitting a proposal.
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OPEN Annual Conference: Faculty Testimonial
Faculty talk about finding their community and why attending VentureWell’s OPEN Annual Conference is important to them.
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Techniques and Tools for Integrating Sustainability in the Classroom and Beyond—OPEN ’23 Foundation Session
Learn from three different campuses how they have worked to center sustainability.
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Designing and Running Effective Mentor Programs—OPEN ’23 Foundation Session
Panelists discuss how they have leveraged research and lessons to turn mentorship program deficiencies into opportunities.
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Creating Inclusive and Interdisciplinary Design Competitions—OPEN ’23 Foundation Session
Hear how three different institutions have successfully designed and run their own design challenges.
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E-Team Program Founding Stories: A Fireside Conversation with Student Entrepreneurs—OPEN ’23 Foundation Session
E-Team Program alumni share their stories, including when they felt most supported.
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OPEN 2023 Highlights
A look back at the OPEN 2023 Conference, held March 21-23 in Alexandria, Virginia.
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Studying the Impact of STEM Entrepreneurship Programs
Learn the critical steps faculty of STEM entrepreneurship programs must take on their entrepreneurship education research journey.
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Innovating Sustainable Food and Agriculture
A panel discussion of early-stage companies focuses on innovations in sustainable food and agriculture all along the value chain.
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Sustainable Practice Impact Award Winner: Danielle Boyer
Boyer was honored for her work increasing access to STEM and robotics education for minority students, particularly Indigenous girls.
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Screw Ideas
Innovation and entrepreneurship faculty share a bold idea—that approaching global challenges through ideation doesn’t lead to new, relevant, or impactful solutions.
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Highlights of OPEN 2022
Hundreds of leaders in higher education innovation and entrepreneurship attended VentureWell’s lively, session-packed OPEN 2022 conference.
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National Science Foundation Innovation Initiatives TIP Directorate
National Science Foundation leaders discuss new initiatives to ensure that the federal pipeline for innovation, entrepreneurship, and engineering continues to evolve and contribute to prosperity and progress.
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OPEN 2017 Conference Kickoff: Wearable Design Contest
Our conference kick-offs are legendary. Watch OPEN 2017 attendees create and model prototypes of wearables from repurposed items.
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VentureWell's OPEN Conference: Curating Learning Opportunities
Raja Schaar of Drexel University explains how OPEN offers a variety of tools, ideas, and resources to help her effectively guide design students to solve societal problems around the world.
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Innovator Resources
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Customer Discovery: Assumptions & Interviews
Cara Barnes covers the process of customer discovery for startups and innovators.
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Economic Value Creation
Sarah Wharmby explores the economic factors that impact consumer decisions regarding your product or service.
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Intro to Non-Dilutive Funding and the Advantages of the Prize Mechanism
Christina Tamer delves into the intricacies of non-dilutive funding for early-stage science and technology startups.
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Thinking Like An Entrepreneur: What Does That Mean?
The world is full of people generating ideas. The real question is: do you have what it takes to turn this idea into a reality?
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Thinking Like An Entrepreneur: Which Path Is Right for You?
There are lots of different paths you can take on your journey to commercialization. In this video, we'll walk through some options.
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Thinking Like An Entrepreneur: Why Should Customers Care?
A lot of innovators love building the features of a product. But it's important to know those features are important to your customers-- and that they're willing to buy them.
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Inventing Green
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Sustainable Design: Life-Cycle Thinking
These are the three critical phases in the life-cycle of an invention where environmental impact should be considered.
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Helix Steel: Cutting-Edge Concrete
Helix Steel created technology that is both stronger than traditional rebar concrete and less carbon- and labor-intensive to produce.
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Promethean Power
Promethean Power Systems invented refrigeration systems for cold-storage applications in off-grid and partially electrified areas of developing countries, enabling food suppliers to store perishable food items without the need for diesel-powered generators.
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Trends
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5 Ways Startups Can Navigate Supply Chain Challenges
There are steps early-stage companies can take to plan for inevitable delays, manage stakeholder expectations, and ultimately deliver the product to a happy customer.
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Trends To Watch for Early-Stage Startups: 5 Pros Weigh In
What’s on the horizon for science and tech innovators in 2022? VentureWell experts weigh in on three trends they’re tracking.
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