State of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at The University of Massachusetts Amherst

STATE OF INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE BERTHIAUME CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

Chancellor’s Welcome

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Innovation & Entrepreneurship Working Group

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Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship

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Collegiate Summer Venture Program

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Student Innovators

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Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Academics

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Around Campus

22

Beyond Academics

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From Campus to Commerce

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Community Connections

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Pioneer Valley Entrepreneurship

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Entrepreneurship Resources Across Campus

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From the Executive Director

CHANCELLOR’S WELCOME

INNOVATING THROUGH CRISIS In the spring of 2020, when the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic was just beginning to reveal itself, researchers and innovators on the UMass Amherst campus realized that they could use their skills to help solve one of the emerging problems: a dire nationwide shortage of face shields, critical protective equipment for frontline workers providing patient care.

As demonstrated throughout this issue of the State of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, our spirit of innovation—even amid the challenges of a global pandemic—has never been stronger. Emanating from every corner of campus, it gains strength and structure through the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship and expands its reach through our partnerships with individuals, organizations, and businesses across the commonwealth.

We see the power of innovation and entrepreneurship to foster creative solutions, improve lives, and address the challenges of today. We witness the generosity and vision of Robert and Donna Manning, who endowed $18 million of their recent historic $50 million gift to the University of Massachusetts to propel the newly named Robert and Donna Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences forward, focusing on its mission of Computing for the Common Good. Complementing that generosity, we celebrate and gratefully acknowledge the leadership of Governor Charlie Baker, who committed an extraordinary $75 million to expand and enhance the college’s facilities.

In these pages, we also meet chemical engineering student Connor MacFarlane ’23, who arrived at UMass Amherst with an idea to improve the lives of people who, like him, live with Type 1 diabetes. And we watch invaluable east-west partnerships growing through the Mount Ida Innovation and Collaboration Space, with entrepreneurs sharing more than 25,000 square feet of co-working space, creating a hub of innovation while connecting UMass Amherst with the most forward-thinking individuals and companies in Massachusetts.

Clearly, our revolutionary spirit is driving us forward, challenging convention, and advancing an environment that encourages scholars, innovators, and entrepreneurs to transform their pioneering ideas into reality.

Sincerely,

Frank Sup and Meghan Huber of mechanical and industrial engineering led a cross-disciplinary team of engineers, nurses, and researchers at the university’s Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS, see page 22) aiming to design a face shield that could be produced quickly at a large scale.

Nurses and technicians from the College of Nursing assisted with testing the shield’s clinical usefulness. The design is made out of a single piece of plastic with antifog properties that is quickly cut and packed flat for distribution. It’s easy to put on, with a fold that allows it to curve around the head and create space for eyewear or a respirator underneath.

Partnering with K+K Thermoforming of Southbridge, Massachusetts, the team fabricated and distributed 100,000 face shields. The design was openly published and available to manufacturers and key findings were shared in a Fast Company article.

Sup recalls, “Supply chains were not keeping up with demand.” Since package manufacturers had underutilized materials on hand, they could “scale up the production of face shields in a matter of days to meet the vast and urgent need. All they needed was the design.”

Kumble R. Subbaswamy Chancellor UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

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INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP WORKING GROUP

STRATEGIC COORDINATION ACROSS CAMPUS

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he Innovation & Entrepreneurship Working Group consists of members tasked by the chancellor with establishing the University of Massachusetts Amherst as a higher education destination of choice for faculty, students, and greater community members who are looking to engage in innovation and entrepreneurship. The team works in small groups to strategize the best ways to provide undergraduate and graduate students—including those from underrepresented backgrounds—with opportunities to develop interdisciplinary innovation and entrepreneurial skills and to foster more productive collaborations with industry.

The working group’s scope includes:

• Document the current I&E activities on campus.

• Develop proposals to increase support for and engagement of undergraduates across the campus in curricular and co-curricular I&E activities.

• Engage more graduate students in I&E activities that link to the research enterprise, including I-Corps.

• Provide support and coordination for faculty to advance activities in the I&E area.

• Increase the participation of alumni and friends in providing expertise to increase the success of new ventures, e.g., mentors, entrepreneurs-in-residence; incorporate and utilize our Newton campus.

• Vigorously and visibly engage with off-campus groups of investors, e.g., angel and seed funds and support organizations such as Mass Challenge, Valley Venture Mentors, and Greentown Labs.

• Define goals and success metrics for I&E activities for the next three to five years.

Members of the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Working Group Mike Malone, vice chancellor for research and engagement, serves as sponsor for the group, which is led by chancellor-appointed co-chairs Gregory Thomas, executive director of the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship and a lecturer at the Isenberg School of Management, and Kathryn Ellis, director of the UMass Innovation Institute.

The other members include: Brant Cheikes, executive director of the Center for Data Science, Manning College of Information & Computer Sciences James Flynn, assistant dean of Research Business Development, Manning College of Information & Computer Sciences Karen Giuliano, associate professor, Applied Life Sciences and Elaine Marieb College of Nursing Burnley Jaklevic, director and senior licensing officer for the Technology Transfer Office Charles Johnson, associate director of the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, clinical associate professor of management, and managing director of the Maroon Venture Partners Fund Allison Jameson Koss, communications manager for Research and Engagement Sundar Krishnamurty, Isenberg Distinguished Professor in engineering and director of the Center for e-Design in the College of Engineering Peter Reinhart, founding director of the Institute for Applied Life Sciences Mark Tuominen, associate dean for Research & Innovation and professor of physics in the College of Natural Sciences Karen Utgoff, director of IALS Venture Development Programs and site director for I-Corps @ UMass Amherst

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STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Xavier Farrell ‘21

THE FUTURE OF UMASS AMHERST’S INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP CURRICULUM

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ne project under the purview of the chancellor’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship Working Group is considering academic programs that will enhance the availability of entrepreneurship resources across the UMass Amherst student body, especially for undergraduate students. To that end, the team envisions a new undergraduate curriculum, called INNOVATE, that will create a support ecosystem for small cohorts of talented students from underrepresented backgrounds to train them as successful scientists and engineers, inspired by the emerging paradigms of an inclusive innovation and entrepreneurial mindset.

INNOVATE’s integrated curriculum and co-curricular activities would provide students with a structured program to support the development of their scientific discovery process and entrepreneurial skill set, along with meaningful scholarship support. Students would receive numerous opportunities to work in diverse, interdisciplinary teams while applying their knowledge to invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship with a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

INNOVATE would be a holistic curriculum with a suite of integrated cohortbuilding, mentoring, and immersive co-curricular programmatic activities that address the importance of belonging, self-efficacy, and ability, which are integral in helping BIPOC and other STEM students navigate their unique challenges in their academic and professional lives.

The program would help increase the participation of underrepresented students of color, first-generation students, and women students pursuing degrees in STEM at UMass Amherst, and would empower the next generation of students with an entrepreneurial mindset, as they connect theory to practice and engage in equity ethics as a means for improving motivation and persistence.

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BERTHIAUME CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP

ADVANCING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET ACROSS CAMPUS The Berthiaume Center supports innovation and entrepreneurship efforts across campus, in the Pioneer Valley, and throughout the commonwealth.

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hen chemical engineering student Connor MacFarlane ’23 arrived at UMass Amherst, he had an idea to improve the lives of people who, like him, live with Type 1 diabetes.

MacFarlane sat in on one of the weekly boot camps hosted by the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship. Though he was initially hesitant to speak up, the facilitator encouraged him to share his idea for an insulin delivery system and offered advice. Over the months that followed, MacFarlane was connected to resources all around the Pioneer Valley, including the Berthiaume Center’s boot camps and incubator space, the NSF-funded I-Corps @ UMass Program, VentureWell’s E-Team, the nonprofit startup booster FORGE, and the university’s Technology Transfer Office. Berthiaume administrators also put him in touch with the executive-in-residence and a faculty sponsor at the College of Engineering.

He ultimately entered and placed in the Berthiaume Center’s 2020 Innovation Challenge, earning over $27,000 in equity-free seed money to take his idea for the Improved Insulin Delivery (IID) device to the next level.

“Connor is someone who came in and took advantage of the whole innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem on and around campus to advance his venture from a simple idea to a stage where he is now working on moving his prototype into manufacturing options in anticipation of acquisition,” said Gregory Thomas,

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STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

executive director of the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship.

MacFarlane’s story is exemplary of the transformative power of the innovation and entrepreneurship environment cultivated by UMass Amherst and the Berthiaume Center.

The center was established in 2014, thanks to a gift from Doug Berthiaume ’71 and his wife, Diana, to the Isenberg School of Management, where its programs support the dean’s priorities for business education, including innovation in teaching and learning, attracting exceptional students, and creating global citizens and inclusive leaders.

Berthiaume spent more than two decades leading the Milford, Mass.-based Waters Corporation, a multinational laboratory analytical instrument and software company, after organizing an investor group to purchase the assets of the Waters division from its parent company, Millipore Corporation, in 1994.

He found that his willingness to work independently paid off with record growth in sales and profits.

“Being an entrepreneur requires taking risks and embracing a broader type of thinking—about costs, marketing, human resources, and so much more,” said Berthiaume. “I wanted to help build opportunities for UMass Amherst students to develop that entrepreneurial spirit and skill set.”

His view is widely shared by leaders in corporate America, who prize such skills in their employees.

Connor MacFarlane ’23

“Chancellor Subbaswamy’s vision for the Berthiaume Center is to have it be an umbrella organization, promoting an entrepreneurial mindset in all our students, regardless of their field of study,” said Gregory Thomas. “We know that gaining experience with entrepreneurship early in life helps students develop skills in problem-solving, idea generation, design thinking, and creativity. It teaches them to collaborate effectively with people who approach problems differently, and not to be afraid to reach out to others for help with an idea.”

And a university full of people with this mindset—people who say “we can” and “yes, and”—has enormous potential to change the dynamics on campus, generate economic power in the commonwealth, attract investment, and more, Thomas added.

In 2014, Birton Cowden was part of the team that started to implement this vision.

“How could we leapfrog instead of just trying to copy existing models of top entrepreneurship centers?” said Cowden, who today is assistant professor and research director of the Shore Entrepreneurship Center at Kennesaw State University.

The Berthiaume Center is different from other centers at UMass. While housed in Isenberg, its mission aims to promote entrepreneurship across the university, serving faculty, recent alumni, and students of all levels in every school and college.

This poses some challenges in gaining buy-in from other parts of the university. The center’s leadership takes a “bottom-up” approach and directly engages students to participate in programming. Cowden recalled a series of Idea Jams—low-stakes pitching and networking events open to students across campus—held during the center’s first year. While only 20 students came to the first event, the number of attendees doubled and then tripled in subsequent sessions. Word of mouth among students led to exponential growth in 2015.

In 2016, the center inherited from the Office of Research and Engagement the Innovation Challenge, the multi-stage competition that awards equity-free seed money and coaching to ventures like Connor MacFarlane’s. According to Cowden, incorporating

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Academy and Competitions For the Berthiaume Center’s signature annual series of pitch competitions, interdisciplinary teams— consisting of students at all levels, faculty, and graduates of the last decade—develop products with a focus on customer base, scientific and technological design, and a compelling business strategy.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Academy During the fall semester, the Berthiaume Center hosts a series of competitions and co-curricular programming open to all UMass Amherst students. Participants are coached to develop their ideas, create startup plans, and scale their startups through bootcamps, advice from industry experts, guidance from mentors, and feedback from celebrity judges at competitions:

Minute Pitch

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60-second pitches made in front of audiences; $2,500 distributed to the winning teams.

Executive Pitch

Boardroom sessions that include Q&A with judges; $15,000 awarded by the judges.

Tech Challenge

Hult Prize

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Technology Invention-based competition, evaluated by judges; $15,000 awarded by the judges.

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Social impact startup competition; campus winners proceed to regional challenge with the opportunity for international competition.

Business Plan Competition

Our no-pitch event; online submissions evaluated by judges (starting fall 2022).

Innovation Challenge The spring semester brings an elevated competition with participants from the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Academy and other UMass startups that apply to compete in a preliminary round for a coveted spot in the final round of the Innovation Challenge. Winners are awarded larger amounts of equity-free funding:

this event lent credibility to the burgeoning center and opened doors for other important partnerships, such as with the UMass Technology Transfer Office.

The center won the USASBE Model Emerging Program Award in 2016. It also began offering a forcredit commercialization incubator course over two semesters, open to students campus-wide. In 2017, the center started a summer accelerator program, and acquired a dedicated space in Bartlett Hall for offices and students incubating their ventures.

Today, the center serves more than 250 students per year. According to Program Manager Carly Forcade, students get involved with Berthiaume at various stages; some are deep into developing a venture, while others have a seed of an idea and are seeking guidance in getting it off the ground.

“We meet students where they are,” said Forcade.

“Sometimes they come in a little unsure. We try to give them the confidence to dive in and explore, and

the resources and tools to advance their idea.”

The Berthiaume Center offers weekly startup boot camps and several seminars each semester.

For students ready to put their ideas to the test, the center continues to host the Innovation Challenge, which is open to all students as well as recent alumni. Thomas aims to grow its tradition of collaboration across all the university’s schools and colleges and other organizations dedicated to innovation and entrepreneurship in the region, through co-sponsored events and co-curricular activities in person, hybrid, and online. He points to the Collegiate Summer Venture Program (see page 8) as a success story of such a partnership: It combined separate summer accelerator programs previously hosted by UMass Amherst and Valley Venture Mentors, and today serves all 14 colleges and universities in the Pioneer Valley.

For Thomas, another important goal for the

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Preliminary Round

Teams pitch and engage in Q&A with judges, with the goal of winning entry to the Final.

Final

2 Finalists take the stage at a live event to present and engage in Q&A with judges; $65,000 awarded.

future is finding a permanent physical home for the Berthiaume Center.

“What makes a good program great is space,” he said. “We need a central, modern space that links to makerspaces so students can take advantage of campus resources to advance their ideas. A place where student entrepreneurs can collide, share ideas and receive advice, and build on their respective areas of strength.”

Finally, Thomas wants to continue to spread the word around campus about the resources available through the center and its partners.

“I think there are many more students like Connor—in every school and college—who have ideas that could be commercialized,” he said. “They just need support.”

Learn more at umass.edu/entrepreneurship

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COLLEGIATE SUMMER VENTURE PROGRAM

COLLEGIATE SUMMER VENTURE PROGRAM

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he Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship launched an intensive 10-week program in 2017 that serves as a boot camp for entrepreneurs. Funded through the generous support of Earl W. Stafford ’76, the program gives entrepreneurs access to the various resources of the University of Massachusetts and the Pioneer Valley without the distractions of the school year.

In 2019, a summer collegiate accelerator offered by local nonprofit Valley Venture Mentors (VVM, see page 29), which supports entrepreneurs in western Massachusetts, merged with the UMass program. In the combined program, ventures from the 14 schools and colleges of the Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Initiative work with and inspire each other, allowing participants to collaborate with a more dynamic community and form a more diverse collection of disciplines.

Founders enter the program at different levels: Some have an idea in its early stages, and others are generating revenue and looking to scale. Each works with mentors—a brain trust of the campus’s

alumni, faculty, and staff, as well as VVM’s network of supporters and many local industry experts and business leaders who are part of the Pioneer Valley entrepreneurial ecosystem. The type of progress founders will make during the summer is determined, establishing benchmarks and targets and meeting weekly with their mentors to track their progress.

Most days are spent defining who their customers are. Teams build their company visions, refining their thinking and pivoting when the data suggest they are going in the wrong direction. Teams create prototypes while working with the makerspace community on campus. Repeatedly practicing pitches, they learn what makes a strong presentation and how to look at their venture through the eyes of investors and potential partners. As they celebrate their successes and confront their obstacles together, founders become a community of entrepreneurs.

Participants spend time in the community and online doing customer discovery and meeting with entrepreneurs in the Valley, as well as visiting

the VVM co-working space, a valuable resource that’s available year-round where they can meet and get to know some of the upcoming ventures that call VVM’s space home.

A week at the Mount Ida Campus of UMass Amherst in Newton is also on the schedule. Route 128, downtown Boston, and Cambridge comprise one of the world’s most vibrant entrepreneurship communities. Happy collisions with many of the players and organizations that are central to the region’s reputation bolster the programming.

Additional outside experts join the program for single-session workshops in their areas of expertise, such as marketing, customer acquisition, legal issues, prototyping, and team development.

The culmination of the program is a showcase in Springfield, where entrepreneurs pitch to and network with a room full of industry experts, business leaders, faculty from around the region, economic development leaders, potential investors, and interested community members.

To learn more about the CSVP or the Mentor Network, go to umass.edu/entrepreneurship 8

STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Berthiaume Center Mentor Network

The Berthiaume Center Mentor Network is a group of entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts who have the knowledge and energy to support emerging entrepreneurs. These volunteers share their experiences to help ventures move forward in their entrepreneurial journey, with a particular focus on the Collegiate Summer Venture Program. The Berthiaume Center works with Eric Ashman ’89 to mobilize and manage the group—he was an early supporter who helped create and formalize the mentor network concept.

Ashman, former president and chief operating officer of Group Nine Media (which includes well-known websites Thrillist, NowThis, and Seeker), focuses on advising startups across Massachusetts.

At the 2021 Executive Pitch competition, engineering major Vishesh Gupta (second from left) and biology major Ami Mungilwar (third from left) won $2,000 in funding for their venture, Learnin, a platform for curated educational content.

Berthiaume Executive Director Gregory Thomas (left) and Program Manager Carly Forcade (right) presented the awards.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Scholars Program

Isenberg MBA alumna Rebika Shaw Bendayan was also instrumental in helping codify the mentoring program’s structure and has continued serving as a mentor. She is an experienced healthcare strategist and leadership coach with global expertise in building strong teams and infrastructure. She currently serves as a senior consultant at Commonwealth Health Advisors.

Berthiaume’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Scholars Program (IESP) is open to all first-year UMass Amherst undergraduate students, including transfer students.

Successful applicants develop startup ideas from the back-of-a-napkin stage to real businesses, or advance previously established ventures with help from Berthiaume MBA Fellows, Ventures @ College of Computer Sciences Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, and Berthiaume Expert Office Hours. They participate in boot camps, seminars, and competitions such as the Innovation Challenge, and work with the Entrepreneurship and Social Entrepreneurship Clubs.

As part of an exclusive cohort of innovative and entrepreneurial students, IESP participants complete at least 10 customer interviews and draft a business plan for their ventures. If students complete all IESP requirements, they receive a $250 award.

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STUDENT INNOVATORS

HOSTING THE HULT PRIZE International Social Impact Startup Contest Comes to UMass On April 23, UMass Amherst hosted a final regional summit in the 2021 $1 million Hult Foundation startup competition.The international competition challenges student entrepreneurs to solve social issues, such as food security (the theme of the 2021 challenge), water access, energy, education, and other priorities.

Earning the honor of serving as regional finals host was no mean feat: UMass was one of only two U.S. sites in that role.

The contest, notes Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship Executive Director Gregory Thomas, is anything but U.S.-centric, with 50 regional summits around the globe. To secure its distinction as a regional summit site, Berthiaume submitted a detailed proposal in December 2020. The plan included a list of 30 proposed judges from

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which the Hult organization chose 12. In the plan, Berthiaume also committed to publicizing the event through social media and inviting an audience to its concluding gathering.

Berthiaume’s student assistants, MBA Fellows, and student volunteers worked closely with Hult Prize staff to create the entirely remote program, which included panel discussions about food entrepreneurship and a keynote speech

by UMass Amherst sociology graduate Fatimah Baeshen ’02, who is founder of an international affairs advisory firm called Quantum, and AuthenticFi, a creative platform.

Hult, which was founded in 2009 by social entrepreneur Ahmad Ashkar, has catalyzed initiatives by 25,000 students at 2,000-plus universities in more than 100 countries. It is an official global partner of the United Nations. Thomas credits UMass and Berthiaume’s long-standing relationship with Hult as a key factor in the choice of the campus as a regional finals site. “For at least five years running, Berthiaume has hosted local Hult challenges,” observes Thomas. “We’ve also sent students to regionals in Boston and Toronto. And in the past two years, our students have worked directly with the Hult organization on competitions.”

In November 2021, Qualtags (then called Ripe) won the local campus Hult competition. The venture of three Isenberg students—Harsha Prakki (OIM), Satish Pokuri (OIM, economics), and Dev Parikh (finance, economics)—Qualtags

is developing a sticker that changes color when food is exposed to damaging temperatures. The fall win punched their ticket to the April regional finals at UMass.

“The competitive process has added immeasurably to our enterprise,” says Prakki. “Hult offers all sorts of resources.

The process has made us stronger. We’ve all grown tremendously.”

At the event, 35 teams from 30 universities and 11 countries competed for the regional title. The judges included a mix of 14 entrepreneurs, financiers, and representatives from universities, NGOs, chambers of commerce, and others. The two winners were a University of California Berkeley team called Impact Food, which is developing plant-based seafood substitutes, and a University of Rochester team called Advanced Growing Resources that is making portable sensors to allow farmers to detect plant diseases early in the field. Both teams qualified along with the winners from each of the 50 global regional finals competitions for Hult’s four-week accelerator in August, notes Thomas. The final competition took place at the U.N. in the fall.

“Hult is above all about student growth,” Thomas says. “It helps UMass and Berthiaume to expand our horizons—to get them thinking about how they can change the world through their own ventures.”

Local Hackathons

Entrepreneurship Club

Three-Minute Thesis

The UMass Amherst campus sponsors a large annual student-organized event called HackUMass. The 36-hour event brings together as many as 1,000 students— including those from non-tech majors— from around the country to work on hardware and software projects in the Integrative Learning Center.

The first all-women and nonbinary student hackathon in western Massachusetts, HackHer413, which takes place annually, is a student-organized and run event that welcomes 350 participants from New England and beyond. The principal goals of the event are to create a welcoming hacking environment, celebrate first-time hackers, and encourage women from any major or career interest to explore computer science.

Seasoned student entrepreneurs and inexperienced idea-holders both fit into the UMass Entrepreneurship Club perfectly.

Catering to many skill levels, the club is developing spaces for both first-timers and 'old'-timers to learn and problem-solve. New this year, the club joined forces with the Social Entrepreneurship program to foster a larger audience and generate an even greater impact. In addition to its biannual startup event, ULaunch, which has created more than 50 student-run startups, the club is looking to plan a trip to Boston in the spring and aims to bring back a sense of the bustling startup scene to UMass. Lastly, the Entrepreneurship Club is teaming up with the Women of Isenberg organization for an event to help motivated women learn new skills and pursue their dreams.

The UMass Amherst Three Minute Thesis (3MT) celebrates the research accomplishments of the university’s graduate students while helping them develop their presentation and communication skills.

These popular competitions have become a global phenomenon and offer graduate students the opportunity to communicate the significance of their research to a general audience—all in three minutes or less.

The first-place winner of the 2021 contest, Adam Netzer Zimmer (pictured above), presented his doctoral research in anthropology on the historical sourcing of cadavers for medical research from marginalized populations. In a three-minute video, he explained that, before the current practice of voluntary body donation, cadavers were taken from poor families in New York City and from Aboriginal burial grounds in Australia. The identities of many bodies still being used for medical research remain unknown.

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INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ACADEMICS THE COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCES

FACULTY FACILITATORS

Cynthia Barstow Senior Lecturer, Isenberg School of Management

Neil St. John Forbes Professor of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering

Across the UMass Amherst campus, faculty members actively engage with the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem— supporting their own students’ discoveries and venture ideas, creating collaborative startups in their labs, and participating in curricular and extracurricular programs that highlight the value of creative thinking. The following faculty members are just a few of those who embrace entrepreneurship in the classroom and beyond.

Dee Boyle-Clapp Director of Arts Extension Service

Kenneth Carter Professor of Polymer Science & Engineering, College of Natural Sciences

Mark Corner Associate Professor, Manning College of Information & Computer Sciences

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Karen Giuliano Associate Professor, Elaine Marieb College of Nursing

Jeanne Hardy Professor of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences

Charles Johnson Clinical Associate Professor, Isenberg School of Management

Eric Crawley Lecturer and Entrepreneur-inResidence, College of Engineering

Sundar Krishnamurty Professor and Head of Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, Isenberg Distinguished Professor in Engineering, and Director of the Center for e-Design, College of Engineering

Jim Flynn Assistant Dean of Business Development, Manning College of Information & Computer Sciences

Jim Lagrant Professor of Practice in Manufacturing, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering

Barbara Osborne Distinguished Professor of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, College of Natural Sciences

M. Sloan Siegrist Assistant Professor of Microbiology, College of Natural Sciences

Craig Martin Professor of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences

Bogdan Prokopovych Lecturer, Isenberg School of Management

S. Thai Thayumanavan Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences, and Department Head of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering

Julian McClements Distinguished Professor of Food Science, College of Natural Sciences

Matthew Rattigan Senior Lecturer, Manning College of Information & Computer Sciences

Gregory S. Thomas Executive Director of Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship and Lecturer, Isenberg School of Management

Jennifer Merton Associate Chair, Law Lecturer Coordinator, and Senior Lecturer, Isenberg School of Management

B.J. Roche Senior Lecturer, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Neena Thota Senior Lecturer, Associate Chair of Teaching Development, Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences

Gerome Miklau Professor, Manning College of Information & Computer Sciences

Jonathan P. Rothstein Professor of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering

Mark Tuominen Associate Dean of Research & Innovation and Professor of Physics, College of Natural Sciences

C. Andras Moritz Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, College of Engineering

Betsy Schmidt Professor of Practice, School of Public Policy

Derek Lovley Distinguished University Professor of Microbiology, College of Natural Sciences

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INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN ACADEMICS THE COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCES

BUILDING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL MAJOR

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or students who come to UMass Amherst with a vision for a specific career and discipline, the journey is somewhat clear: Taking required courses amid a selection of electives can develop new ways of thinking with content that caters to personal or professional interests.

But for those who come to campus without a prescribed learning vision, two options exist that allow them to craft a major from thousands of courses and determine their own journey in preparation for an entrepreneurial future: Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration (BDIC) and University Without Walls.

BDIC is an interdisciplinary academic program whose mission is allowing undergraduates the opportunity to design an individualized portfolio of courses that enables them to thrive and energize their passion. Of the 400-plus students in the program, many build a major with a focus on specific areas of entrepreneurship, from social and educational to fashion and sports.

Learn more at umass.edu/bdic and umass.edu/uww

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“I decided to become a BDIC major because I saw it as an opportunity to correlate my personal drive with interdisciplinary courses among the entire UMass system,” says Patrick Scanlon ’22, who participates in pitch competitions through the Berthiaume Center as he develops venture ideas. “Entrepreneurship is more than just having a skill set. To me, it involves standing out of the crowd, working with others, and pursuing paths that can be uncertain or out of the ordinary.”

Securing credits for previous life experience is where University Without Walls (UWW) enters the picture. UWW students can chart their own course— literally—and create a major that brings together their existing professional and academic background with a portfolio of online and on-campus learning experiences to complete their undergraduate education. Similarly, many of these students craft an entrepreneurship major to satisfy their personal career vision.

Their own ingenuity, while utilizing the vast educational resources at UMass Amherst and through the Five College Consortium, can make professional goals become a reality.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT CONCENTRATION IN ISENBERG

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or students majoring in management who aim to launch their own ventures, the Isenberg School of Management offers an entrepreneurship and innovation concentration that ensures they know how to evaluate the commercial applicability of a new product or service and bring that idea to life in the marketplace. Courses focus on financing and organizing new ventures, and electives offer insights on starting businesses in sport and social entrepreneurship, among other areas.

“The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management Concentration allows students majoring in management to make meaningful contributions to the diffusion of innovation and new businesses throughout the economy,” says Jennifer Merton, associate chair and senior lecturer for Isenberg’s Management Department. “While entrepreneurship in the context of new ventures is at the heart of this concentration, students develop an entrepreneurial skill set, which is also applicable to work in the traditional corporate setting.”

The concentration, which was developed in conjunction with the creation of the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, is supported by Berthiaume and the many opportunities it provides for advancing student ventures, including advising services, pitch bootcamps, and the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Academy and Competitions.

Read about Isenberg programs at isenberg.umass.edu

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AROUND CAMPUS

THE INTEGRATED CONCENTRATION IN SCIENCE: An Entrepreneurial Approach to Scientific Pedagogy Preparing 21st-century scientists requires a 21stcentury approach. Thinking outside the traditional pedagogy box, the College of Natural Sciences at UMass Amherst launched the Integrated Concentration in Science (iCons) program in 2010. A unique approach to science education, the program answers the pressing need to produce the next generation of leaders in science and technology with the attitudes, knowledge, and skills required to solve the multifaceted problems facing our world.

Today’s society faces urgent challenges, such as developing clean energy, curing diseases, producing drinkable water, and responding to climate change.

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To make meaningful contributions to the issues of their time, students must possess a deep understanding of relevant scientific concepts and the ability to apply these concepts in real-world contexts. Unfortunately, most fields of science are taught the same way they were a century ago—in separate silos isolated from economic and political realities. Without offering a wider cultural perspective, science instruction cannot inspire today’s students to create solutions our world needs.

While deep technical expertise is critical to solving the world’s biggest problems, standard

UMass Amherst All-Campus Makerspace Currently housed in the former Astronomy Research Facility, the Makerspace is available to all UMass community members. It is a place for creating, tinkering, collaborating, sharing, and relaxing. It includes a lounge area for casual meetings, a presentation area, a staffed front desk, arts and crafts and sewing stations, electronics testing and soldering stations, molding and casting areas, and 3D printers.

Visitors create projects on their own and in groups, for assignments or just for kicks.

To learn more, contact umamakerspace@umass.edu

science instruction alone does not provide students the breadth of training they need to succeed as future leaders in industry, government, or academia.

New skill sets in collaboration, communication, leadership, and interdisciplinary thinking define the needs of the 21st-century technical workforce.

Organizations must identify and recruit employees armed with these skills to compete in today’s world.

The iCons program is at the cutting edge of integrative education, bringing together undergraduate students to: • Collaborate on complex societal issues in diverse teams; • Understand multifaceted problems from multidisciplinary perspectives; and • Develop and study creative solutions to realworld challenges.

Initially focused on STEM, iCons has expanded its partnerships to include students from 40 different majors from the College of Natural Sciences, College of Engineering, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, Manning College of

Information & Computer Sciences, and, as of 2020, the Isenberg School of Management. Building on the disciplinary strength of each student’s major, the 20-credit iCons curriculum consists of one course per year over four years, culminating in world-class research experiences. iCons projects involve student teamwork on case studies, laboratory experiments, and research—all fostering cross-disciplinary communication and integrative problem-solving skills. iCons does not replace a major. Instead, the certificate program enhances a major by providing opportunities to engage with real-world issues as part of interdisciplinary teams—skills that translate directly to careers at the leading edge of science.

Students apply knowledge from their disciplines to existing problems of global significance, such as the cholera epidemic in Haiti, endocrine disruptors, or the development of algae biofuels.

Spring 2021 projects focused heavily on the UMass Amherst goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2032, exploring campus heating and cooling proposals including geothermal heat transfer.

Find more information about iCons at icons.cns.umass.edu

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

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AROUND CAMPUS

CMASS

ELAINE MARIEB CENTER FOR NURSING AND ENGINEERING INNOVATION In spring of 2021, the University of Massachusetts Amherst announced a $1 million gift from Michael ’76 and Theresa (Murphy) ’77 Hluchyj to serve as seed funding for the establishment of the new Elaine Marieb Center for Nursing and Engineering Innovation. The center will forge new collaborations between nurses and engineers, bringing together the two fields to create clinical solutions that can improve personal well-being and save lives.

The center has also been supported by a $21.5 million gift in honor of Elaine Marieb, who received her master’s degree in nursing in 1985. The center will support participating students, staff, and faculty from both colleges, and provide financial support for activities and resources, such as graduate fellowships, seed funds for R&D pilot projects, and an annual symposium. Funds will be shared between the newly named Elaine Marieb College of Nursing and the College of Engineering, enabling them to recruit the top student researchers from both colleges, as well as others from outside the university.

“We are excited to support UMass in this new initiative,” says Michael Hluchyj. “Innovation is often accelerated at the intersection of different academic disciplines. The

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worldwide health crises resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic make clear the critical need for innovative solutions in clinical settings, where both nursing and engineering play vital roles.”

The center will not only provide students with an environment to work together, but will also integrate innovation and entrepreneurship into the current nursing and engineering curriculum. With support from faculty leaders, students will engage with industry partners on enhancing and inventing their own products.

“The ability to quickly and effectively tackle everyday challenges in health care requires both nursing and engineering expertise,” explains Karen Giuliano, joint associate professor for the College of Nursing and the Institute for Applied Life Sciences. “The power of a nurse-engineer approach is derived from mutual collaboration, where the nurse identifies the problem, the engineer creates potential solutions, and through bi-directional, real-time continuous collaboration, iterations and tradeoffs occur until the best solutions are found.” Giuliano will serve as an inaugural co-director of the center along with Frank Sup, associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering.

The university’s Center for Multicultural Advancement and Student Success (CMASS) opened doors in 2011 to support the student success and sense of belonging of first-generation students, students of color, multiracial students, and low-income students. The center offers social engagement, guidance in navigating the university, cultural connections, and feedback on students’ plans for success, and it works to promote inclusion. Its program offerings include ongoing success coaching as well as events such as the annual Cultural Connections event, which takes place at the start of the fall semester. Attendees learn about the four cultural centers on campus and connect with the cultural registered student organizations (RSOs) and multicultural Greek organizations. The event features performances and appetizers from around the world, and is a highlight of UMass Welcome.

CMASS also organizes interactive programming throughout the academic year, such as an event called The Return of the Black Wall Street, whose guest speaker, Marcelius Braxton, assistant dean of students at Capital University School of Law, explained the truth of the massacre that occurred in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1921 and the impact it had on Black and brown businesses.

Nursing Faculty Members Join Innovation Advisory Board The American Nurses Association has named Elaine Marieb College of Nursing Associate Professor Karen Giuliano (pictured above) and Associate Professor and PhD Program Director Rachel (Rae) Walker to its newly-formed Innovation Advisory Board. The board comprises 15 nurse leaders with commitment to healthcare innovation that encompasses design, education, nonprofit, business, venture, and philanthropy sectors.

The central focus of Giuliano’s work is to improve patient outcomes through innovation in healthcare delivery practices and products. While at Philips Healthcare, she spent 12 years in various global roles, working with patient monitoring systems and clinical outcomes research. In 2016, Giuliano completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at Yale University, where she collaborated across the schools of nursing, engineering, and business while working on improving the safety and usability of IV smart infusion pumps.

Walker is an associate director of the UMass Center for Health and Human Performance—a multidisciplinary translational science center that specializes in developing sensors, wearables, and digital health technology. They earned their PhD in nursing, certificates in health disparities research and nursing education, and completed their postdoctoral fellowship in innovation for aging and translational science at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Their clinical background includes oncology nursing and patient navigation, as well as experience in rural emergency response, humanitarian disaster relief, wilderness search and rescue, and as a U.S. Peace Corps-Mali volunteer.

UMass Amherst Libraries As a key partner in teaching, learning, and research at UMass Amherst and beyond, the libraries foster a diverse, inclusive, and user-centered environment in which to engage with ideas and acquire the skills necessary for independent learning and critical thinking.

The Digital Media Lab’s 3D Innovation Center (DML) has seven digitizers and fifty 3D printers, which can facilitate cross-discipline collaboration, rapid prototyping, educational models, final products, and more. The Virtual Reality system at the DML can be used for personal or academic use.

The UMass Amherst Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC) librarian and materials are in the Science & Engineering Library in the Lederle Graduate Research Center. PTRC is a nationwide network of about 80 public, state, and academic libraries designated by the United States Patent and Trademark Office to support the diverse intellectual property needs of the public. In Massachusetts, UMass Amherst libraries and the Boston Public Library assist with trademark and patent searches, the application process, and general intellectual property questions.

The Business & Entrepreneurship Services librarian is located in the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, along with three databases in the Entrepreneurship Collection, available to users: Entrepreneurship Database (ProQuest) supports teaching, research, and academic competition for undergraduate and MBA programs, as well as other students or individuals looking to launch new business opportunities. CB Insights provides a real-time listing of U.S. venture capital/ private equity deals with the ability to search by keywords for deals, companies, or investors. Foundation Directory Online is a comprehensive search for grants, grant makers, and grant recipients, complete with funding opportunities and financial information.

Learn more at library.umass.edu

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

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AROUND CAMPUS OF NATURAL SCIENCES THE COLLEGE

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING Engineers are inventive. Their creative ideas and approaches result in solutions that are inclusive, sustainable, and improve quality of life. At UMass Amherst, engineers are immersed in design experiences that focus not only on specifications, fabrication, and analysis, but also on customer need and the economic, social, and environmental impact of their solutions. In the College of Engineering, we also partner with industry to tackle real world production issues, and with local community organizations to address urgent projects that have an immediate social impact—experiences that further ready our students for the workforce.

The following are examples of College of Engineering student work, including projects completed by teams of graduating seniors as well as course-based accomplishments.

Pelican Packaging Manufacturers need packing material that is ecofriendly and more customizable. This challenge was issued to the college’s engineers by Pelican Products. Currently, the company fits a proprietary polyethylene foam into shipping cases through a labor-intensive deductive manufacturing process, using bandsaws and waterjets, that leaves behind hard-to-recycle scraps.

The solution? Establish key foundational performance characteristics of various 3-dimensional connective rod structures. These custom-designed additive manufactured structures, when incorporated within rotationally molded containers, will ensure high-quality protection.

The Coffee Valve Project You expect liquid energy from your morning cup o' joe, but what about harmful chemicals? Inexpensive plastics in consumer-grade coffee makers are leached by hot water during brewing. The Pioneer Valley Coffee Machine Company (PVCC) challenged our engineers to create a non-traditional coffee valve for an innovative, hybrid/drip coffee maker that eliminates plastic from the brewing process.

The solution? An inexpensive metal “showerhead” coffee valve that functions to industry standards— modular, compact, and with simple assembly. A fluid and thermal analysis, coupled with prototype testing, demonstrated that the students’ design prevents overflow and allows for even dispersion.

Team Captcha-Shield Face masks muffle speech and prevent lip-reading.

Enter Captcha-Shield—a lightweight system that sits on custom face shields and prints audio-to-text on screens to help those with hearing impairments better understand their face-mask-wearing counterparts. It uses a noise-proof microphone, and a microcontroller displays the converted, easy-toread text on the screen. The team’s prototype appears in a 3D-printed enclosure and features a fully populated and functioning printed circuit board and efficient integrated system.

La Finca, Nuestras Raíces Farm In fall 2020, the College of Engineering offered a new team-based course focused on community engagement and social justice. Students were partnered with local organizations including La Finca, a farm run by a grassroots urban agriculture organization called Nuestras Raíces in Holyoke, Mass., where engineers designed a cover that could protect irrigation valves and pipes from freezing winter temperatures. The students also learned about the farm’s mission to improve nutrition and agricultural awareness, and its focus on Caribbean cultural crops. As course evaluations noted, the experience “let engineers know that they have a social impact and responsibility.”

Coffee Valve Project members at the fall 2021 Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Senior Showcase.

Find more details at engineering.umass.edu

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ROBERT AND DONNA MANNING COLLEGE OF INFORMATION AND COMPUTER SCIENCES

Innovative Engineering Faculty Honored Sundar Krishnamurty (pictured), professor and head of the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, was named the second Ronnie & Eugene Isenberg Distinguished Professor in Engineering in July 2020. The designation was created to enhance interdisciplinary teaching and research among the fields of management, engineering, and science. Krishnamurty also directs the Center for e-Design, an NSFsupported Industry/University Cooperative Research Center, and serves as associate director for the Center for Personalized Health Monitoring, which focuses on development of wearable sensor systems for personalized health care.

In 2019,Chemical Engineering Professor Christos Dimitrakopoulos was named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors.

Dimitrakopoulos holds more than 89 U.S. patents; he has worked on organic and hybrid semiconductor materials and devices for large area flexible electronics as well as wafer-scale epitaxial graphene growth, characterization, and optoelectronic devices.

An essential skill for any entrepreneur is the ability to respond to market signals. Identifying what customers want and then fulfilling that demand is a prerequisite for business success. In 2012, UMass Amherst responded to market signals when it created the College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS). Since its inception, CICS has grown rapidly—its graduates become the data scientists, cybersecurity experts, software engineers, researchers, and other technologists required to make the innovation economy possible.

Technologies in which CICS excels, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, are driving innovation across virtually all industry sectors, from Amazon to the latest fintech unicorn.

This fall, the college’s success and potential were recognized with a transformative gift of $18 million from Robert and Donna Manning, along with a $75 million investment from the state, announced by Governor Charlie Baker, to enhance and expand its facilities.

Although the demand for computing talent from innovative businesses creates fantastic career opportunities for computer science and informatics majors, the leaders at CICS know their students are not satisfied with just finding high-paying jobs; they seek meaning in their work. They want to bring about positive change. To support entrepreneurship and innovation in the CICS community, the college has the following initiatives: • Ventures @ CICS Program—Members of the CICS and UMass Amherst community can draw on the expertise of the college’s experienced entrepreneurs in residence (EIRs).

This year, CICS recruited three additional entrepreneurs to increase its lineup to seven EIRs.

Learn more at cics.umass.edu

• Software Entrepreneurship (COMPSCI 420)—CICS designed this course for students interested in developing software that moves from early-stage proof-of-concept ideas toward marketable products with societal benefits. During the semester, students develop business plans and minimum viable products (MVPs) for their ideas.

The EIRs from the Ventures @ CICS program serve as guest lecturers and reviewers for the final presentations. Many of the MVPs that students develop in this course are either ready or nearly ready to launch as revenue-generating offerings.

• Center for Data Science Mentoring Program—In this program, students team up with industry partners to work on solutions to real-world problems in data science. Student teams work under the supervision of PhD candidate teacher assistants, who report to a faculty member who has ultimate responsibility for the various customer projects.

• Industry Research Partnerships—When companies like Microsoft, Adobe, Stanley Black and Decker, and others have technical challenges in areas where CICS excels, they regularly turn to our faculty-student teams to address those challenges. There are always numerous research projects ongoing within CICS that provide partners with answers to their most vexing research questions, while students get experience dealing with real-world challenges.

• Hackathons—CICS students routinely take leadership roles running campus-wide hackathons, such as HackUMass, which attracts students from throughout the northeast, and HackHer413, which creates an inclusive environment for all women (cis and trans) and nonbinary students of all backgrounds.

In addition to all of its ongoing initiatives, Manning has significant plans for the future. The college is developing an additional entrepreneurship course, which will be called Software Entrepreneurship Launchpad. The new course will allow students to transform the projects they started in COMPSCI 420 into revenue-generating businesses.

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

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BEYOND ACADEMICS

THE INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES Connecting university researchers with industry resources

IALS is organized into three large centers: The Center for Personalized Health Monitoring addresses real-world problems in the emerging field of digital health care, wearable sensor technologies, and personalized, precision health care delivery, interfacing closely with provider networks, hospitals, and industry across the commonwealth and the world.

The Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS) is a pancampus organization whose objectives are: to be a catalyst and resource for “applied” and “translational” life science and technology R&D activities; to further industry engagement and collaborations; to contribute to workforce development; and to participate in growing an innovation and entrepreneurship culture on campus.

To achieve this vision, deep and interdisciplinary expertise of more than 250 faculty-led research groups from seven colleges and 29 departments on the UMass Amherst campus is combined with the diverse capabilities of industry and government partners. IALS partnerships support academic innovation that focuses on delivering high unmet-need product candidates.

The Center for Bioactive Delivery develops novel drug delivery platforms for next-generation nutraceuticals, small-molecule, and bio-molecule therapeutics to facilitate “the right drug to the right place.”

IALS Venture Development The IALS Venture Development team offers innovation services (programs and resources) to support campus researchers aiming to translate their discoveries and inventions into product concepts and startup ventures that address real-world problems to improve human health and well-being.

Venture development resources include a cadre of Business Innovation Fellows as well as external mentors and experts, all of whom work directly with applied science and technology founders on commercialization planning. The group helps prestartups and startups from the idea stage through early implementation to secure funding through Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants and/or Series A funding.

Support from the Venture Development team ranges from one-time meetings on a specific question to ongoing commercialization planning with a small team of Business Innovation Fellows.

Mentors, experts, and other campus organizations are engaged as warranted. Drawing upon a broad tool kit, the entire Venture Development team tailors

its efforts to the individual needs of each emerging venture with emphasis on identifying and meeting key business milestones that de-risk and add value to the project.

The Venture Development team encourages and facilitates participation in events and programs to accelerate progress and raise visibility.

For example, founders from the IALS startup community have participated in the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center’s NexGen program, BIO 2018 Startup Stadium, MassBio’s MassConnect and MassConnect PI programs, the CleanTech Open Northeast Summer Accelerator, I-Corps @ UMass Amherst, the UMass Innovation Challenge, VentureWell E-Teams Stage 1 and Aspire programs, and various MassChallenge accelerators. Recently, IALS Venture Development collaborated with five startups from the campus to help them secure spots in the 2021 Massachusetts Life Science Innovation Day (MALSI+) poster showcase.

In addition to its work with founders of individual pre-startups and startups, IALS Venture Development works to strengthen the campus

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The Models to Medicine Center discovers novel disease-related cellular pathways, drug targets, and therapeutic candidates. These targets/candidates represent next-generation therapeutics in disease areas of high unmet need.

A significant resource facilitating the IALS objectives is a newly created set of more than 30 Core Facilities, which contain cutting-edge equipment to facilitate a wide range of applied projects—from device

prototyping, 3D printing, precision manufacturing, and roll-to-roll fabrication to human motion and gait studies, EEG and sleep studies, human energy metabolism, and brain/muscle magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). All Core Facilities are available to academic researchers as well as industry partners.

Near these Core Facilities are “Collaboratories”—lab space available to industry partners and UMass startup companies to allow them to work alongside UMass faculty and Core Facilities. An “Industry Sabbatical Program” allows industry researchers to spend time embedded in UMass research laboratories or in the IALS Core Facilities.

IALS works with industry partners to combine the best in academic innovation with an industrylike focus on delivering commercially significant products, services, and technologies over a defined timeline. Resources and facilities are equally accessible to academic, government, and industry collaborators. By design, IALS is product-focused, interdisciplinary, collaborative, outward-looking, and entrepreneurial.

innovation ecosystem by creating resources to inspire and educate emerging innovators and through collaborations with other campus organizations— the Technology Transfer Office, the Manning/IALS Innovation Awards program, the Office of Research & Compliance, I-Corps @ UMass Amherst, the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, the College of Natural Sciences, the College of Engineering, the Manning College of Computer & Information Sciences, the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing, Maroon Venture Partners, and more. For example, in 2020–21, the Venture Development Team launched the Startup Navigator (umass.edu/ials/startupnavigator) to provide general information for students and faculty seeking more information regarding STEM entrepreneurship and innovation. The team also collaborated with the Technology Transfer Office on a series of “Startup Know-How” talks (umass.edu/ ials/innovation-services/startup-know-how-talks) and with the Manning/IALS Innovation Awards program which added “Create a Commercialization Plan in 90 Minutes” sessions, and are now available on the IALS website.

IALS Business Innovation Fellows The Business Innovation Fellows program selects students from the Isenberg School of Management On-Campus MBA Program and other UMass colleges and schools to gain hands-on innovation and entrepreneurship experience as part of the IALS Venture Development team. In collaboration with startup founders and IALS Venture Development leadership, agile teams of fellows work to de-risk and add value to business concepts by assessing competitive landscapes, finding potential funding sources, analyzing key markets, and building financial projections to clarify commercialization opportunities and plans.

Since 2018, fellows have engaged with more than 30 applied research and technology startup teams and have helped to secure SBIR funding from the National Institutes of Health

and National Science Foundation, as well as VentureWell and the UMass Office of Technology Commercialization and Ventures.

The program was conceived in 2016 by Mark Fuller, then-dean of the Isenberg School, and IALS Founding Director Peter Reinhart as a vehicle to help technical founders while providing hands-on experience in research-based innovation and entrepreneurship for business students. Since its inception with fewer than 10 fellows, it has grown to involve more than 20 fellows each year. While fueling IALS Venture Development efforts to support startups and pre-startups, fellows work in an industry-like environment that complements their education, thus preparing them to lead in the innovation economy. Fellows have gone on to impactful positions in startups and key innovation organizations and have established technologydriven companies.

Learn more about IALS and the Core Facilities at umass.edu/ials

I-CORPS @ UMASS AMHERST The UMass Amherst I-Corps Site—I-Corps @ UMass Amherst—was established in late 2018 with funding from the National Science Foundation and the campus, with the goals of increasing research commercialization and startups while enhancing the campus innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

A robust three-part program introduces STEM faculty, students, and postdoctoral fellows to the lean startup approach, and provides training and experience in customer discovery interviewing. In addition, research and program materials have been developed to engage and support the participation of members of groups who are underrepresented in science, engineering, and technology entrepreneurship.

More than 200 STEM researchers have participated in the Innovators Warm-Up, a 90-minute workshop that includes a hands-on exercise to engage and inspire participants. It is offered several times a semester in open sessions and through classes or other groups.

Ninety-three individuals on 36 teams have completed the Innovators Jump-Start, which provides substantial initial hands-on training (six to eight hours of workshops) in support of required customer discovery interviewing (10 interviews).

It is offered once each semester to selected teams.

The Innovators Jump-Start includes training in “Overcoming Blind Spots and Unconscious Bias” to help participants address diversity, equity, and inclusivity concerns related to customer discovery and commercialization planning.

The Innovators Rev-Up is a capstone experience for teams that have successfully completed the Innovators Jump-Start and want to conduct additional interviews. Upon successful completion of the Innovators Rev-Up, participants are deemed prepared for the National Science Foundation’s National I-Corps Teams program.

The I-Corps @ UMass Amherst Innovators JumpStart and Rev-Up act as springboards to launch teams into successful participation in other programs on campus and beyond: • 4 NSF National I-Corps Teams • 2 VentureWell E-Teams Stage 1 grants • 1 CleanTech Open Northeast Summer Accelerator team • 1 MALSI+ showcase participant • 2 Manning/IALS Innovation Awards recipients • 4 Innovation Challenge 2021 finalists The I-Corps @ UMass Amherst teaching team includes instructors from the College of Natural Sciences, the Technology Transfer Office, the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, and IALS Venture Development.

Learn more at umass.edu/ials/innovation-services

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

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FROM CAMPUS TO COMMERCE

THE UMASS OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND ENGAGEMENT The Office of Research and Engagement administers the campus’s research enterprise. It works in conjunction with academic, government, and private partners to translate new knowledge and scientific discoveries into technical innovations and scholarly works that benefit society and create opportunities for students, faculty, and the public. Its major functions encompass two broad areas: research administration and compliance, and research development and engagement. Research and Engagement also oversees large, multi-college centers, institutes, and affiliated core facilities.

T

he Technology Transfer Office (TTO), under the Office of Research and Engagement, is a faculty-service organization that lends its specialized expertise in “intellectual property”—patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets—to faculty, students, and staff across campus. It helps people recognize when they may have made an invention, evaluate patentability and commercial potential, and file and pursue patent applications. The TTO works with inventors to find companies interested in selling the patented products or to create startup companies for this purpose. It also provides advice to faculty, students, staff, and university leadership on a wide variety of matters that touch on intellectual property.

One of the TTO’s most valuable functions is seeking patents on inventions that result from UMass Amherst research, and then entering contracts, called “licenses,” that give companies the right to make and sell the patented products. The patent rights give companies an incentive to invest money and effort in developing and marketing the new products because the patents prevent other companies from selling the same products for a period of time. In some cases, the TTO licenses patent rights to already-existing companies, both large and small.

In addition, the TTO actively supports the UMass Amherst National Science Foundation Innovation Corps Site (see page 23). The TTO director, Burnley Jaklevic, is co-principal investigator on the I-Corps Site grant. The TTO licensing professionals serve as instructors or coaches for I-Corps Site program participants.

If you have intellectual property questions or are considering forming a venture, please call us at 413-545-3606, email us at tto@umass.edu, or consult our website (umass.edu/tto).

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Technology Transfer Office

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BY THE NUMBERS FISCAL YEAR 2020

$605,200 Total revenue

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In other cases, the TTO collaborates with other campus organizations, such as the Office of Research Compliance, IALS Venture Development, and Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship, to support faculty, students, and others as they consider forming a company to commercialize inventions. The startup route is sometimes the only avenue for commercializing promising and highly advanced university inventions because existing companies consider them too risky.

New patent applications filed

31 51 Invention disclosures

Patents issued

License and option agreements executed

2 New startups formed

The UMass Innovation Institute

UMass Amherst–Based Startups

The following university-affiliated ventures have formed commercial entities within the past decade; some are in the process of raising funds from government grants and investments, and others are developing projects.

Automated Controversy Detection, LLC (AuCoDe) Shiri Dori-Hacohen, CICS Automated computer system for detecting the presence of controversies on the internet. Applications in automated stock trading, artificial intelligence.

Cyta Therapeutics, Inc. Thai Thayumanavan, Chemistry Nanogel-based drug delivery system that is capable of stably encapsulating a drug of choice, targeting the nanogel to a desired tissue, and releasing the drug upon entering the target tissue cells.

Sperm Capacitation Technologies, Inc. (SCT, Inc.) Pablo Visconti, VASCI Kit for increasing the fertilization rate and embryo quality achieved in artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization.

Applications in hard-to-breed gene-deficient research mice, breeding cattle and horses, improving human fertility enhancement.

TetraMem, Inc. Qiangfei Xia, ECE Developing next generation computing devices for AI and IoT applications.

Two Trees, LLC Ginny Chandler, Nursing Deploying proprietary strengths-based learning model to activate resilience, increase thriving to boost adaptive success.

Ernest Pharmaceuticals, LLC Nele Van Dessel/Neil Forbes, Chemical Engineering Salmonella has long been known to target cancer cells, but use as a drug delivery vehicle has failed. Novel gene construct that causes bacteria to burst inside target cells now makes this possible.

Anellotech, Inc. Chemical Engineering Sustainable technology company commercializing technology for the production of cost-competitive renewable chemicals and fuels.

HasenTech, LLC Barbara Osborne, VASCI Using purified exopolysaccharide (EPS) from Bacillus subtilis to provide protection against inflammation associated with inflammatory disease.

In Market

Intrata, Inc. Greg Tew, PSE Synthetic protein-transduction-domain mimics that are capable of intracellular delivery of antigens, antibodies, and other biomolecules for vaccine development and therapeutic applications.

Kyttarinic Technologies, LLC Kenneth Carter, PSE Commercializing new technologies based on cellulose and nanocellulose materials to address modern problems.

Latde Diagnostics, LLC Sloan Siegrist, Microbiology Diagnostic for blood-borne infections; technology could be adapted to detect bacterial growth in humans, animals, food, and manufacturing contexts.

Marvel Diagnostics, Inc. Jonathan Rothstein, MIE Marvel Diagnostics innovative BlowFISH technology offers the potential for a simple, inexpensive, non-invasive, massively-deployable, rapid diagnostic or sentinel system for detecting respiratory illness and airborne viral threats.

Optical Waters, LLC Mariana Lopes,Civil & Environmental Engineering Germicidal, ultraviolet side-emitting optical fibers to disinfect the inside of tight channels in medical equipment and air/water treatment applications.

Soliyarn, LLC Trisha Andrew, Chemistry Conductive cloth for heated garments made using vapor deposition at high pressures. Thin and flexible, low power consumption.

These seven teams have products or services available.

Aclarity, LLC Dave Reckhow/Julie Bliss, Civil & Environmental Engineering Point of use water purification device that uses a small electric current to generate chlorine and peroxide, avoiding need for expensive cartridges.

Felsuma, LLC Al Crosby & Duncan Irschick, PSE/Biology Geckskin® products, based on revolutionary adhesive technologies, developed at UMass Amherst and provide easily releasable and reusable adhesive materials.

Genoverde Biosciences, Inc. Sam Hazen, Biology Agri-biotech company developing plant-based solutions to address economic, social, and environmental challenges of the 21st century.

Lumme, Inc. Deepak Ganesan, CICS Developing a behavior change platform that combines machine learning, wearable devices, and behavioral psychology.

MedZu, Inc. Nationwide surveillance of arthropod vectors of human disease that provides actionable data to individuals, care providers, and communities.

PearlPod, LLC Carlos Gradil, VASCI Intra-uterine device that limits erratic behavior of mares during breeding season.

Tumult Labs, Inc. Gerome Miklau, CICS Information privacy technology that allows data to be used effectively while respecting and maintaining the privacy of contributing individuals.

Designed to foster industry-sponsored basic and applied research, gain collaborations with industry partners, and apply technology transition to industry, the mission of the UMass Innovation Institute (UMII) is to increase opportunities for companies to work with university researchers in order to elevate projects from concept to commercialization.

The goal is to have an impact on regional and national economic growth by ensuring that knowledge and technology developed at UMass Amherst are rapidly and broadly disseminated to advance the nation’s social and economic interests.

On average, 20 percent of university-wide research projects (200 per year) are affiliated with industry partners. UMII is the central office for coordinating projects across campus for companies seeking expert research.

UMII is committed to real-time responsiveness with agility and flexibility, understanding that companies have a short window of opportunity and recognizing that any delay can impact projects.

A one-stop shop, UMII coordinates all aspects of proposal development for industry projects, reaching internally across multiple offices in order to process a grant. Its work is tightly coordinated with the university’s Technology Transfer Office regarding intellectual property in order to achieve equitable deals for both the company and UMass Amherst researchers. The institute conducts meetings across campus to assist researchers (of which there are more than 700) with various types of contracts, as well as helping prepare the scope of work, budget, timeline, and milestones for each project.

MOUNT IDA INNOVATION AND COLLABORATION SPACE The Mount Ida Innovation and Collaboration Space, located on UMass Amherst’s Mount Ida Campus in Newton, is home to a community of entrepreneurs, comprising more than 25,000 square feet of co-working space. There are offices—both dedicated and shared—in addition to conference rooms, auditoriums, laboratories, a makerspace, and event spaces. The space serves as a hub for innovation by connecting UMass Amherst with the area’s most forward-thinking companies and individuals.

Memberships start at $350/month. Full-time, part-time and virtual options are available. Consistent with the mission and strategic plan of the Mount Ida Campus, Innovation and Collaboration Space members are expected to provide professional development opportunities for UMass Amherst students, including informational interviews, internships, and networking opportunities.

The space is located within the Newton-Needham Innovation District and adjacent to the Wells Avenue Commercial District. The area has become a hotbed for revolutionary technology, booming startups, and enterprising corporations. Located less than 10 miles from downtown Boston, the Mount Ida Campus offers free parking, on-site dining, and outdoor recreational facilities.

Learn more at umass.edu/umii

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COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

PORT IN A PANDEMIC In the spring of 2020, when it became clear that the COVID-19 pandemic was going to cause major disruptions to everyday life, staffers at the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center (MSBDC) shifted into high gear.

“Small businesses were frantic—particularly those in restaurants and hospitality,” says Allen Kronick, senior business advisor for the Western Massachusetts Regional Office, one of the nine business centers that make up the statewide MSBDC network. “Information was very hard to come by, answers were not there, federal and state programs were very complicated to access. We were able to help clients feel a little better and get some information.”

The MSBDC is a partnership of the U.S. Small Business Administration, the Massachusetts Office of Business Development, and a consortium of institutions of higher education led by the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst. The six regional business advisory centers, the Mass Export Center, Procurement Center, and Technology/SBIR programs offer in-depth one-on-one advising and training across the state.

26 STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

“We were people that small business owners—many of them mom-andpop companies—could talk to, and we could intervene to help them out,” Kronick says.

At the same time, the MSBDC worked on the front lines to help Massachusetts companies that found their moment for success in the pandemic, including the Future Air Filters system, a product line started by the father-and-son team of James and Matthew Patterson.

James Patterson’s HVAC business, Orchard Valley Heating and Cooling, is based in Southampton, Mass. When he learned about the devastating COVID-19 outbreak that took at least 76 residents’ lives at the nearby Holyoke Soldiers’ Home in early 2020, he began looking for solutions.

He realized that a technology he was very familiar with, bipolar ionization, could be a great tool—it destroys viruses, bacteria, allergens, odors, and molds that are airborne and on surfaces by sending charged particles out into a room to purify the air. He had been using the technology inside the duct work of allergy-sensitive homeowners and businesses with high foot traffic for the past decade.

ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF THE MSBDC Because state revenues are dependent on sales, income, and employment taxes paid by small businesses, the MSBDC’s work with startup and existing companies allows them to contribute to the economic growth and stability of the commonwealth.

EXPORT CENTER MOVES TO THE MOUNT IDA CAMPUS Since its inception in May 1994, the Massachusetts Export Center has assisted thousands of companies and individuals. Recognizing the need to make export services easily accessible to companies of all sizes, it was established as a specialty office of the MSBDC to serve as the state’s one-stop resource for export assistance, offering a full range of targeted, customized services to Massachusetts businesses at any stage in the export process. The Export Center recently moved to the Mount Ida Campus of UMass Amherst in Newton, Mass., just 10 minutes from downtown Boston.

He built a prototype of a unit that could sit within a portable enclosure, and thanks to donations from customers, he was able to present the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home with two air purification units. When nearby businesses and homeowners learned about the project, they were anxious to purchase units.

James’s son, Matthew Patterson ’15 (pictured at left, with James), who graduated with a management degree and a concentration in entrepreneurship, joined his father’s team and focused on marketing the Future Air Filters. For advice, Matthew contacted Allen Kronick, whom he had worked for during an internship at the MSBDC. “The MSBDC referred us to many associations, grants, and assistance programs that were happening at the time for small businesses, as well as for businesses specifically working toward eradicating COVID and getting back to a new normal,” Matthew says, adding that the organization also helped with forming the identity, brand, and strategy for going to market.

“Matthew was the marketing brains of the operation,” Kronick says. “We worked with him to help him develop markets, advertise his services to the right people, and do some networking.”

The Future Air Filters units are modular boxes designed for ease of assembly and require no installation for the customer; they can simply be plugged in to begin purifying the air in enclosed spaces. The MSBDC connected the Pattersons with a statewide innovation challenge focused on slowing the spread of COVID-19.

“We wouldn’t be where we are today without this connection,” Matthew says. “We placed third in the challenge, which was remarkable. We met dozens of brilliant business owners, investors, and other public figures who were all pushing to get through this difficult time using innovation as a catalyst.”

Learn more at msbdc.org

$87.9 MILLION Amount MSBDC secured in financing for small business clients in FY20

$15.8 MILLION Total tax revenue generated by MSBDC clients ($4.87 million in federal tax revenue and $10.9 million in Massachusetts revenue)*

6,058 JOBS MSBDC advisory services contributed to jobs created and retained in Massachusetts*

$142 MILLION Amount that clients secured in federal procurement contracts in FY20 via the Procurement Technical Assistance Center

$150 MILLION Export sales that MSBDC contributed to through Massachusetts Export Center services *Figures based on results of a survey conducted by James Chrisman on the impact of MSBDC services for clients receiving five or more hours of assistance in 2018.

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PIONEER VALLEY ENTREPRENEURSHIP THE COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCES

THE WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP ECOSYSTEM Since George Washington chose Springfield as the site for the U.S. National Armory in 1777, the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts has been a hub of innovation.

Agriculture, wood products, rural enterprises, metal and precision manufacturing, and colleges have all made their home in the area. Intellectual, financial, and practical networks have long linked the doers and the makers of western Massachusetts, and in recent years, organizations supporting entrepreneurs have gained traction to help everyone with great venture ideas find the best ways to bring them to life.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR EVERYBODY

The nonprofit EforAll aims to foster inclusive entrepreneurship in communities with the goal of accelerating economic and social impacts. The Holyoke, Mass., site started in 2015 as SPARK, a program of the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce; SPARK joined forces with the Lowell-based EforAll in 2018, and last year launched a Spanish-language version of the program, called EparaTodos.

EforAll’s approach is predicated upon the understanding that under-networked and under-funded groups face barriers to entry into entrepreneurship, which impede their success.

The organization provides would-be entrepreneurs with the three necessary components for success that they so frequently lack—business know-how, access to capital, and a professional network—by offering a year-long accelerator program twice a year, and four pitch contests.

The programs are totally free, thanks to generous funders and corporate and individual donors. These three local entrepreneurs have participated in Holyoke EforAll programs: Nicole Ortiz, Crave Food Truck & Restaurant: Ortiz (pictured left) is the proud owner of Crave Food Truck, which opened in August 2020. Her delicious tacos and rice bowls made with local fresh ingredients became an instant hit in Holyoke. This business is the culmination of Ortiz’s long-time fascination with food trucks, which led her to culinary school to get her start. Like many EforAll graduates, Ortiz’s first experience with the organization was participating in a Pitch Contest, where she won first prize. In addition to her thriving food truck, Ortiz opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant that now employs 10 people.

Mike Bennion, LifeBooch Kombucha: Like many entrepreneurs, Bennion started his business based on passion (in his case, a love of kombucha) and identification of a market (his neighbors wanted to buy it from him). Bennion and his partner teamed up and started slowly, brewing in a shared kitchen and, occasionally, selling small quantities at farmers’ markets. After completing EforAll, Bennion and his partner moved out of the shared kitchen and into their own 1,200-square-foot custom-built brewery, where they run LifeBooch Kombucha. They also got their wholesale license and expanded their brewing capacity from 75 gallons/month to 600 gallons/month.

Jessika Rozki, Rozki Rides: Rozki was a bus driver for 15 years, but after her baby was born, she wanted to be more present in her daughter’s life. She launched Rozki Rides, a transportation service taking families to and from school and day care, and to medical appointments or sports activities. Rozki was accepted into the Winter 2020 Accelerator Cohort, where she received the support of mentors and lessons ranging from finance to marketing, allowing her to take her business to the next level. After graduating, Rozki expanded her business to work with local foster care agencies and added a second driver to her team.

Find more information at eforall.org

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GRINSPOON ENTREPRENEURSHIP INITIATIVE

Local real estate entrepreneur Harold Grinspoon developed the Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Initiative (EI) in 2003 (a program of the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation) to elevate the importance of entrepreneurship and recognize entrepreneurial excellence among college students.

The mission of the EI is to encourage entrepreneurial activity in the Pioneer Valley by fostering an educational environment among participating colleges and universities that informs, supports, and inspires students, and by recognizing and awarding students who display entrepreneurial spirit.

Grinspoon EI hosts two high-profile events—an annual fall conference and a spring awards banquet—and recognizes outstanding students with Entrepreneurial Spirit Awards.

Grinspoon EI Member Institutions American International College Amherst College Bay Path University Elms College Greenfield Community College Hampshire College Holyoke Community College Mount Holyoke College Smith College Springfield College Springfield Technical Community College University of Massachusetts Western New England University Westfield State University

VALLEY VENTURE MENTORS Since its inception in 2011, Springfield-based nonprofit Valley Venture Mentors (VVM) has become the center of a community of

entrepreneurial thinkers: small-business owners using its co-working space (pictured above), experienced advisors mentoring startup founders, and people with ideas trying to figure out next steps. The organization, which helps entrepreneurs turn their ideas into thriving, scalable businesses, has been the Berthiaume Center’s partner in producing the Collegiate Summer Venture Program since 2019. VVM also holds lively monthly mentorship meetings, where volunteers help startup founders with their pitching skills and discuss solutions to their business problems. The connections made at meetings create vital social capital among entrepreneurs, helping to make western Massachusetts a destination for startups.

Chris Lucas, cofounder and CEO of the digital well-being platform Ompractice, describes how VVM’s accelerator program helped his team launch a business based on live two-way yoga classes: “Without a doubt, VVM was transformative for our company, creating a sense of structure and community at once. The forcing function helped us focus on the right things at the right times, and we got to know an incredibly diverse group of founders, operators, advisors, and mentors! The setup where all companies were invested in the success of each other was—and remains— completely unique to any other accelerator we’ve been part of since.

“Having a free place to gather and co-work proved invaluable early on; and we loved it so much, we signed up for a full office in the new space. It is such a special community hub where people from all stages of a company’s life can swap stories, pitch in with ideas, and get real-time feedback.

“The VVM accelerator eventually led to investments by three local funds. It is no exaggeration to say Ompractice would not exist without the VVM accelerator. We were investable because of what we learned and applied, giving us a huge advantage early on.”

Learn more at valleyventurementors.org

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PIONEER VALLEY ENTREPRENEURSHIP

30 STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Local Business Groups Foster Innovation “With the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Improvement District (BID), the Downtown Amherst Foundation (DAF) raised close to $500,000 to support small businesses” during the pandemic, said Gabrielle Gould, who leads both the BID and the DAF as executive director. Gould noted that the foundation gave 65 grants ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 to Amherst businesses and donated $10,000 worth of personal protective equipment.

“Plus, we became experts in grants from the Paycheck Protection Program and the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation,” she added. “We helped the Amherst area receive literally millions of dollars in grants, loans, and support.”

Her counterpart at the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, executive director Claudia Pazmany, elaborated on how her organization had supported local entrepreneurs: “We supported local startups like the Yerli,” Pazmany says, referring to an app developed by UMass Amherst students Kevin Cutinella (management) and Avi Benmayor (industrial engineering) that provides a platform where residents—including college students—can learn more about local small businesses. “We also supported local businesses with new product development, such as Amherst Coffee’s delivery option during COVID,” she added.

“Everything we have accomplished during the pandemic has been a direct result of partnership,” Pazmany continued. “Every single initiative was a reinvestment in our small businesses, with a lens of setting them up for success in the future and attracting new entrepreneurs to our local ecosystem.”

Every single initiative was a reinvestment in our small businesses, with a lens of setting them up for success in the future and attracting new entrepreneurs to our local ecosystem.

—Claudia Pazmany, Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce executive director

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP RESOURCES ACROSS CAMPUS

ELAINE M NURSING INNOVAT

CONTACTS AND INFORMATION

MASSACHUSETTS SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER

University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 01003 Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration (BDIC) 350 Campus Center Way Amherst, MA 01003 (413) 545-2504 bdic@bdic.umass.edu umass.edu/bdic

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship Isenberg School of Management Business Innovation Hub N175 121 Presidents Drive (413) 545-9482 berthiaume@umass.edu umass.edu/entrepreneurship

MANNING COLLEGE OF INFORMATION AND COMPUTER SCIENCES AND CENTER FOR DATA SCIENCE

Collegiate Summer Venture Program & Mentor Network berthiaume@isenberg.umass.edu

Maroon Venture Partners Fund

BA

Charles Johnson, Managing Director cjohnson@isenberg.umass.edu maroonventurepartners.com

Clubs: Entrepreneurship Club

umassentreclub@gmail.com isenberg.umass.edu/people/umass-entrepreneurship-club

Social Entrepreneurship Club umass.seclub@gmail.com facebook.com/SEClubUMass

College of Engineering

Dean’s Office, 125 Marston Hall 130 Natural Resources Road (413) 545-6388 engineering.umass.edu

College of Natural Sciences Dean’s Office, 101 Stockbridge Hall 80 Campus Center Way (413) 545-2766 cns.umass.edu

Mahoney Life Sciences Prize

cns.umass.edu/research/mahoney-life-sciences-prize

Elaine Marieb Center for Nursing and Engineering Innovation 240 Thatcher Road nurse-engineer@umass.edu umass.edu/marieb-nurse-engineer

32 STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Elaine Marieb College of Nursing 651 North Pleasant Street (413) 545-2703 umass.edu/nursing

Grinspoon Entrepreneurship Initiative hgf.org/programs/entrepreneurship-initiative

I-Corps @ UMass

S485B Life Science Laboratories 240 Thatcher Road Karen Utgoff, Site Director (413) 253-7108 kutgoff@umass.edu umass.edu/tto/icorps

Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS) N510 Life Science Laboratories 240 Thatcher Road (413) 545-1710 contactials@umass.edu umass.edu/ials

IALS Venture Development S485B Life Science Laboratories 240 Thatcher Road Karen Utgoff, Director (413) 253-7108 kutgoff@umass.edu umass.edu/ials/venturedevelopment

IALS Core Facilities

Andrew Vinard, Director avinard@umass.edu

Isenberg School of Management Dean’s Suite, N330 Business Innovation Hub 121 Presidents Drive (413) 545-5610 isenberg.umass.edu

INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES AND I-CORPS @ UMASS

MARIEB CENTER FOR G AND ENGINEERING TION

ELAINE MARIEB COLLEGE OF NURSING ISENBERG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND ENGAGEMENT

COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCES

BERTHIAUME CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP INCUBATOR SPACE

ACHELOR’S DEGREE WITH INDIVIDUAL CONCENTRATION UMASS INNOVATION INSTITUTE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OFFICE

Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences

140 Governors Drive (413) 545-2744 info@cics.umass.edu cics.umass.edu, cics.umass.edu/ventures

Center for Data Science

Lederle Graduate Research Center, A205 740 N. Pleasant Street Brant Cheikes, Executive Director (413) 545-2561 bcheikes@cs.umass.edu ds.cs.umass.edu

MSBDC State Office

Tillson House 23 Tillson Farm Road Georgianna Parkin, State Director (413) 545-6301 gparkin@msbdc.umass.edu msbdc.org

MSBDC Western Regional Office Scibelli Enterprise Center 1 Federal Street, Building 101 Springfield, MA 01105 Samalid Hogan, Regional Director (413) 577-1768 smhogan@msbdc.umass.edu msbdc.org

Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement

362 Whitmore Building (413) 545-5270 vcre@umass.edu umass.edu/research/engagement/about/leadership

Technology Transfer Office Mass Venture Center, Suite 201 100 Venture Way Hadley, MA 01035 tto@umass.edu umass.edu/tto

University Without Walls (UWW) (413) 545-1378 umass.edu/uww

Valley Venture Mentors

276 Bridge St Springfield, MA 01103 (413) 337-2887 admin@valleyventurementors.org valleyventurementors.org

UMass Innovation Institute 100 Venture Way, Suite 201 Hadley, MA 01035 umii@umass.edu

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP RESOURCES ACROSS CAMPUS

Maroon Venture Maroon Venture Partners Fund I, LP, is a for-profit venture fund that invests in early stage companies linked to UMass Amherst. Investments are typically in the range of $50,000 to $200,000 and are often a venture’s initial outside equity funding. Maroon Venture Partners looks for companies that can use its funds to accomplish significant milestones toward commercial success. Its broader goal is to foster the growing spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship throughout the UMass Amherst community.

The following are the fund’s current portfolio companies: 88 Acres: nutrition powered by seeds (88acres.com) Theromics: radiofrequency and microwave medical device technology to optimize ablations of lesions and soft tissue (theromicsinc.com) HomeBinder: management platform for homeowners (homebinder.com) Aclarity: electrochemical water treatment solutions (aclaritywater.com) TOP The Organic Project: 100 percent cotton organic tampons (toporganicproject.com) QSM Diagnostics: rapid animal testing (qsmdiagnostics.com) Adelante Shoes: men’s and women’s footwear (adelanteshoes.com) Ompractice: online yoga and meditation (ompractice.com)

TedX Amherst A local, independently organized event following guidance from the TED Conference, TEDx Amherst takes advantage of a community brimming with intellectual promise.

The 2021 event was held online in May and featured speakers Kavya Krishna ’16 (pictured), cofounder of the Society of Women coders; Erin Baker, UMass professor of industrial engineering and operations research; and seventh-generation dairy farmer Denise Barstow, among others.

34 STATE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Since the last State of Innovation and Entrepreneurship report was published in 2019, UMass Amherst’s entrepreneurship ecosystem has grown and evolved—crosscampus partnerships have strengthened and our collaborations with community organizations have matured. We at the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship developed this updated report to help all the students, potential students, faculty members, neighbors, friends, educators, and financial supporters who want to participate in creating and nurturing new businesses navigate this complex ecosystem.

Our mission is to connect the right people and catalyze the creation of ventures that bring the university’s bright ideas to the world. If you’re interested in participating, we hope you’ll find guidance in these pages. If you need more direction, give us a call.

Gregory S. Thomas ’91 Executive Director Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship

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NON PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID AMHERST MA PERMIT NO. 2

Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship Isenberg School of Management Business Innovation Hub N175 121 Presidents Drive Amherst, MA 01003 162069

Example

NON PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID AMHERST MA PERMIT NO. 2

The indicia MUST appear in the extreme top right corner of the mailing panal 8 point minimum type