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6/18/2015
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CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
JUNE 22 - 28, 2015
WHO TO WATCH IN TECHNOLOGY
Technology is a fast-moving field, one that includes a variety of specialties. In Northeast Ohio, there are countless individuals spending their time thinking up the next best thing or building upon and efficiently implementing current technologies. In this section, we highlight just of few of those who are making a mark in the field of technology.
MONIQUE WILSON
FELIPE GOMEZ DEL CAMPO
Executive director, Center for Information Technology Training Corporate College, a division of Cuyahoga Community College
Founder and CEO FGC Plasma Solutions
A little less than a year ago, Monique Wilson set off on a new career path — and put the Center for Information Technology Training at Corporate College on a new course. Wilson was recruited in July 2014 to the division of Cuyahoga Community College from Hospital Corp. of America, where she was senior project manager of supply chain at the world’s largest for-profit operator of health care facilities. She previously worked in IT management positions at other large companies, including Xerox and Bridgestone/Firestone. While she enjoyed corporate life, Wilson also had a passion for education, having taught for eight years as an adjunct instructor at the University of Phoenix and Volunteer State Community College in Tennessee. Her bachelor’s and master’s degrees are in computer information systems, but she earned her doctor of management degree in community college policy and administration from the University of Maryland University College. “Education increasingly became a major part of my life,” Wilson said. When she interviewed for the position at Corporate College, Wilson said she was “impressed by the energy and the enthusiasm” for ramping up the scope of the school’s IT training offerings. The school already has begun to do just that, with new computer networking and programming educational tracks and plans for expansions into areas including data analytics, cloud computing, the Internet of Things and cyber security. Wilson said the Corporate College focus is on preparing students for what she calls jobs with “middle skills” — those requiring more than a high school degree but less than a bachelor’s degree. So, she said Corporate College wants to be able to prepare data analytics students who can, for instance, produce charts, graphics and data visualizations for researchers working on medical genome information. Corporate College plays a critical role for Northeast Ohio employers, Wilson said, by filling gaps in a talent pipeline that traditionally overproduces students with bachelor’s and graduate degrees.
If you weren’t working in the technology sector, what would you be doing and why?: “I’ve worked in IT since I was 19, so it’s kind of hard to say, but I guess I’d be a professional dancer. I want to dance!” Robert Peterson, president and CEO of Corporate College, said the Center for Information Technology Training already has made “a lot of progress” under Wilson’s direction. He said she “quickly identified a need for a fresh look at the IT training programs,” with the goal to “make sure the programs aligned with the needs of the business community.” Her “high-level IT background at Fortune 500 companies,” coupled with her teaching experience, “offered a unique perspective and skill set” for Corporate College as it strengthens IT training, Peterson said. “She’s looking at where the puck is going, not where it is,” he said, using a popular sports metaphor. Wilson had never been to Cleveland before she interviewed for the Corporate College job. She was accustomed to the more mild winters in her former home, Tennessee, but says she has become more acclimated to Cleveland’s climate — especially after buying a coat “that’s actually made for a winter.” She gets back to Nashville occasionally to see her 2-month-old grandson. In her free time, Wilson said she enjoys all varieties of dancing, including ballroom dancing, and researching family ancestry back to the 14th century. — Scott Suttell
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Felipe Gomez del Campo started a company that has raised more than $130,000 in funding and recently won a top regional prize in the Energy Department’s National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition. He’s hired a couple of employees, and this Wednesday, June 24, his company will compete for more federal funding in the Energy Department’s national competition in Washington, D.C. Not bad for a 22-year-old who is still working to complete his undergraduate degree at Case Western Reserve University. “He’s a very unique mix of ambitious, capable, humble and an outstanding listener,” said Mindy Baierl, the commercialization program manager of the Great Lakes Energy Institute at CWRU and one of Gomez del Campo’s mentors. “All I can say is he is an absolute delight to work with. And I think most people who come into contact with him feel the same way.” Gomez del Campo’s passion project — developing a method of injecting fuel into jet engines that improves safety and decreases fuel consumption — started as a high school science fair project for the Weston, Fla., native. It led to a full scholarship at CWRU — where Gomez del Campo has juggled his schoolwork, his company and being a member of the swim team — and a product that Baierl and others believe could revolutionize the airline industry. He originally looked at the technology from a research perspective, but once he got to CWRU and worked with the entrepreneurial-minded professors there, he said he became “motivated to pursue it as a commercial endeavor.” By taking that approach, “your access to capital is improved a lot,” Gomez del Campo said. As one of five regional winners who will compete in the Energy Department’s national competition this week, he has a chance to receive more funding. The winner of the June 24 event will receive a $50,000 prize, plus services to help bring their technologies to market. Because of the complexities involved in commercializing a device that would be installed in a jet engine, Gomez del Campo ad-
If you weren’t working in the technology sector, what would you be doing and why? “I think I’d want to be in health care or some sort of public policy role,” Gomez del Campo said. “I’m also interested in seeing what are the best practices to promote entrepreneurship.” mits his company is “very far away from a product launch.” But as Gomez del Campo and his colleagues — CWRU student Joe Scott, FGC Plasma Solution’s chief financial officer, and recent CWRU graduate Joe Heebner, the company’s vice president of research and development — work to perfect their technology, the soon-to-be senior plans to earn his master’s in aerospace engineering. After that, he’d like to get his Ph.D. He’s even met the president, thanks to his participation in a panel that was part of the White House’s celebration of entrepreneurs on May 11. There, Gomez del Campo received advice from three of the judges on “Shark Tank.” The sharks liked his oneminute pitch, along with his responses in a question-and-answer session that followed, Gomez del Campo said. That experience means he’s no longer eligible to be on the popular ABC show, but it seems as if he’ll be just fine. “Except for the winters, I wouldn’t change my time here for anything,” Gomez del Campo said. “It’s the perfect place to launch a business, and I didn’t plan it like that all.” — Kevin Kleps