MIT Sandbox Mentors

Mentorship is central to the Sandbox experience. As they enter Sandbox, teams participate in group mentoring where they are introduced to a framework of foundational entrepreneurship and business concepts. As they progress, teams are paired with two mentors who provide personalized guidance and insights based on extensive entrepreneurial and management experience.

MIT Sandbox volunteer mentors are a diverse and accomplished group of experienced professionals and entrepreneurs passionate about working with student-led startup teams. They act as teachers, connectors, and facilitators as teams explore, evolve and advance in their entrepreneurial journey.

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Jinane Abounadi is Executive Director of the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund Program. She brings a unique combination of experiences, from academic research to senior operational and strategic roles in start-up companies and large businesses. After completing her graduate work, she worked as a research scientist at BBN, as a postdoctoral lecturer at MIT, and advised undergraduate and graduate students. She was recently honored with the 2021 Monosson Award for Entrepreneurial Mentorship. This award recognizes her leadership in supporting entrepreneurship at MIT, and specifically mentoring students on their entrepreneurial journeys. In 2024, Jinane was recognized as a winner of the Women that Build Awards in the Tech Executive category, celebrating her contributions to fostering innovation and leadership in technology.

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Jinane held leadership roles in two of the most successful local Boston area start-ups, ITA Software and Kayak, where she gained deep knowledge about the travel technology sector. Most recently, she ran a global portfolio of 3rd party products for Travelport, giving her the opportunity to establish partnerships with companies across the globe and to advise and evaluate a number of start-ups in the travel sector. Abounadi earned her PhD in electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, a BS in electrical engineering from Caltech, and a BA from Bryn Mawr College. She has several publications in the fields of machine learning and communication networks and is passionate about teaching and working with college students.

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Nicholas Albaugh is the MIT Libraries' Innovation & Entrepreneurship Librarian and Economics Librarian. He has been working with the MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund nearly since he started in January of 2016. He have an MLIS from the University of Rhode Island and an MBA from Bentley University.

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Dr. Khalid Aljabri is a physician-entrepreneur working at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and artificial intelligence. He is the co-founder and Chief Business Officer of Tandem Vet Care, a technology-enabled veterinary healthcare company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Khalid holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and an MA in International Affairs from The Fletcher School at Tufts University. His work focuses on building and scaling AI-native vertically integrated businesses across healthcare, AI, and financial services.

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Richard Amster is a course 6 EE Graduate, class of 75 and also has a JD from Suffolk University. His startup experience is in: software development, Ed Tech, Fin Tech, and Data Communications.

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He has held technical and managerial positions at Raytheon, IBM (Regional Office East and Central Europe), DEC, Fidelity Investments, Jardine Flemming (in Hong Kong), Nikko Asset Management (in Tokyo), Pfizer, ABB, and was director of data communication market research for the Yankee Group (where he learned first hand the difference between "what was neat" and "what was needed"). For the past ten years he has taught, mentored, and coached; students and managers, in cross-cultural management and communication and undertaken cross-cultural issues research in India.

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Alberto Arrighi is Head of Customer Success at StackAI, now part of Asana, where he works with enterprises to deploy AI agents and applications at scale. Previously, he led strategic AI initiatives at Scale AI and worked as a Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft. Alberto holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and is passionate about helping founders turn emerging AI technologies into impactful products and businesses.

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Mitchell Ayoob is a senior level manager and entrepreneurial technologist with expertise developing novel solutions for commercial and military applications. He has demonstrated leadership, program execution skills, recruiting and team building.

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He has a multidisciplinary engineering background spanning radar, communications, C4I, control systems and air traffic control systems across complete life cycle from R&D through production. He also has experience evaluating technology pipelines for investment opportunity and performing competitive analysis and price to win modeling. He has strong teamwork and collaboration experience with academia and industry. His current interests involve adopting and leveraging commercial innovation models to develop solutions or new business models in commercial and defense markets. He is an organizational leader and master in implementing DevOps and Agile in executing complex spiral development programs.

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Carl Becker is an Investor at Schooner Capital, a Boston-based multi-strategy investment firm, where he focuses on Series A and later-stage investments across energy, climate, manufacturing, SaaS, AI, and financial services. He began his career as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company, advising leading firms in financial services, energy, and technology. He later worked on product commercialization at Fuzu, a startup in Africa. Carl has mentored startups and served as a judge in numerous competitions in Europe and the U.S. He holds an MBA from MIT Sloan and a Master’s in Electrical Engineering from RWTH Aachen University.

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In over three decades of professional experience, Dr. Afarin Bellisario has held executive strategy, marketing, and technical positions with major firms such as Intel, Analog Devices, BBN (Raytheon), Booz-Allan and Hamilton, as well as MIT and a number startups.

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Most recently she managed MIT’s portfolio in Electronics, Communications, and Semiconductors encompassing over 500 inventions, where she licensed over 80 patents and cases in a span of 3 years. She is the founder of Transtrategy Inc., a consulting firm specializing in commercializing technology in advanced materials and semiconductors. Her major clients include investment firms, major manufacturers of semiconductor and materials, prominent management consulting firms, venture capitalist, as well as two major universities. She holds a doctoral degree in Mechanical Engineering, and an MBA from Sloan School of management, both at MIT.

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Maureen Boyce is the co-founder and COO of Ignition Ventures, which helped create fundable companies alongside technology entrepreneurs; she helped start companies such as SiOnyx, Zoragen, Ember, and Lilliputian Systems Extensive consulting experience both in the US and Asia.

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She worked in Hong Kong with a Fortune 100 senior management team to build and implement its Asia entry strategy Associate Partner in IBM’s Business Strategy practice, 10+ years leading the worldwide Thought Leadership Practice in Consumer Products, Retail and Travel, as well as leading client facing teams to create growth strategies for Fortune 100 companies and start-ups Strategy Consultant at Bain & Company, in both Boston and Sydney offices. Taught at MIT in engineering management and economics. Co-led MIT's research to determine what percent of the US GDP is derived from ocean and coastal resources, a leading environmental initiative of the Clinton Administration. The National Ocean Economics Program (NOEP) was created from this work, and Maureen has served on its Board. Served in the US Peace Corps, building small water systems for Fijian villages Holds a PhD, MS, and MBA from MIT and a dual BS in Civil Engineering and Technical Writing from Carnegie Mellon. Maureen's PhD research in Engineering Project Management focused on multi-criteria decision-making under uncertainty with multiple decision makers, a skill she leverages often as it is highly applicable to start-ups.

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Seb Boyer is an entrepreneur and tech investor. He is the co-founder and Chairman of FarmWise, an AgTech company leveraging AI and robotics to help farmers profitably use more sustainable practices. Seb Boyer started Farmwise in 2017 and run it as CEO for almost 7 years raising more than $75m. Its impact has been recognized in media such as Bloomberg, The Economist, the TIME magazine and the Financial Times.

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He was named one of the 35 Innovators Under 35 for Europe from MIT Technology Review in 2018, featured in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2019, received the Young Entrepreneur of the year 2019 award by the French-American Business Association and was part of the list of the 40 under 40 leaders in the US Fruit and Vegetable industry. Seb Boyer is a recurring guest teacher at Stanford and regularly advises public and private organizations about their AI strategy. Before starting Farmwise, Seb Boyer worked as a Data Scientist for Facebook and a Research Scientist in mathematics for IBM. He holds a Master’s in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from MIT, and a bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics from Ecole Polytechnique in France.

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Alexander Bratianu is the CEO of De-Ice which he co-founded out of MIT in 2015. De-Ice is eliminating the departure delays and messy chemicals involved with airplane de-icing. Prior to co-founding De-Ice, Alexander interned at the National Energy Board. Alexander studied chemical engineering at McGill and finance at MIT.

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Bernice Broyde was a research associate Cornell, UCLA, Stanford, Stanford Medical School, Harvard. She was also an executive at Startup acquired by Xerox

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Bruce Cameron is the Director of the System Architecture Group at MIT. His work at MIT include technology strategy, system architecture, and the management of product platforms. Dr. Cameron has supervised over 50 graduate students, and has directed research projects for Amazon, BP, Sikorsky, Nokia, Caterpillar, AMGEN, Verizon, and NASA. Dr. Cameron is a co-founder of Technology Strategy Partners, a consultancy created to help firms to restructure product development organizations. He has worked with 15 Sandbox companies from medical devices and online platforms.

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Yuri Cataldo is an entrepreneur, author, and designer with a rich tapestry of experience. Originating from a classical background in set and costume design at institutions like Juilliard and Yale, he transitioned into the entrepreneurial realm, founding the globally recognized IndigoH2O bottled alkaline water and co-writing the bestseller "Be Left Behind" on Bitcoin and Blockchain.

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His ventures span multiple industries, from a 3D-printed sunglass company, a web3/metaverse project at MIT, and a subterranean construction company. He has earned acclaim at events like the Oscars and in over 260 publications, including Forbes and CNN. A sought-after speaker, Yuri has enlightened audiences worldwide on topics like Blockchain and Creative Entrepreneurship. He is part of Autodesk Research and leads the Generative AI focus, is the co-founder/Managing Partner at Athenian VC, and co-founder/COO of ForumHQ (MIT Startup)

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Maren Cattonar is currently the CEO of Automated-Analytics US LLC, a lossless large scale image processing company, and leads the Government business for Neurala, Inc., a robotics neural network company.

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For 6.5 years at MIT, she was the Assistant Director of MIT’s Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation focused on moving technology from the lab to the marketplace, and a Senior Industrial Liaison Officer at MIT’s Industrial Liaison Office where she managed a portfolio of aerospace and defense companies. Prior to joining MIT, she was with Northrop Grumman for 8.5 years where she was the manager of technology strategy and portfolio development, and the manager of sector mergers acquisitions and divestitures.

She was deputy corporate lead against IEDs, a systems engineer on strategic missile defense programs, and a program manager for advanced technology in chemical and biological weapons detection, advanced radar and communications. Most recently she spent a year working as a venture capitalist for ClearSky, as VC firm focused on the Energy and Security sectors.

She also is an appointed Affiliate to MIT LL, currently supports Neurala Inc.’s business development activities part-time, and mentors MIT student start-ups. She received two BSs in engineering and economics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a masters from the Wharton School and School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Angela Chang is a practicing artist and designer with a focus on enhancing human communication through embodied senses. She received her SB in Mechanical Engineering from MIT and her Masters and PhD from the MIT Media Lab in Media Arts and Sciences. Her research and work have led to the development of haptic technology and devices that translate touch through remote communication. Angela is also an inventor on several tactile interface patents and has contributed to the creation of wearable textiles and digital media. Her work aims to improve interpersonal relationships and enhance people's presence in social situations. She publishes on Anjchang.com, Tinkerstories.com, and is a founding editor for the Taper digital zine.

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Rick Chavie is now CEO of “stealthy” software venture in Quebec looking to improve speed and accessibility of digital transformation software.  Most recently, he was CEO of EnterWorks, where he turned around a struggling company to become #1 globally in Product Information Management software, according to Forrester, and subsequently led a highly successful exit to the equity firm STG.

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Prior to that he was the Chief Solution Officer for hybris, the leader in ecommerce software prior to a more than $1 billion exit to SAP, a company where Rick had previously been the Global SVP for Retail.

Rick draws on his industry experience as a former retail executive at The Home Depot and C&A, as a technology leader in NCR’s retail and hospitality business, and his partner roles at Deloitte and Accenture.

Rick is a Harvard MBA and a Fulbright Scholar in International Trade.  He is a noted speaker and author on content, commerce, and software enabled intelligence and is frequently cited in industry publications.

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Yu Chen is a product leader and angel investor. She built products at Google across Maps, Search, Google.org, and Internet Access for emerging markets. She also spent 2 years building online learning products at the Flatiron School. In her spare time she angel invests and advises startups. Lastly - she's also an MIT course 6 alum!

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Feng Chi Wang is an MIT Course 6 graduate, serial entrepreneur, angel investor and full-time tech startup advisor. His career was focused on defense signal processing at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, digital video compression algorithms, mobile application development, and FinTech. His most recent position was with VISA as Engineering Director, Digital and Mobile. Feng is an investor and mentor at Capital Factory in Austin TX, and serves on multiple advisory boards at early-stage startups.

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Trafford Clarke holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry. He has 31 years experience in pharmaceutical R&D at Eli Lilly and Co.

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Marilyn Davidson is a certified Mediator skilled in addressing the internal challenges that teams can experience as they work on their entrepreneurial companies. She has managed workplace mediation as a management consultant for 20 years working with executive teams and entrepreneurs while based in France. She has extensive experience working with international teams and their specific challenges. Marilyn currently works with international teams at the Tufts Fletcher School and Hult Prize.

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Michael Divine offers deep legal expertise in the development and rollout of technology-based products and services. Active with MIT Sandbox teams since 2019, he also mentors within the MIT/UM6P Explorer program and judges for the Harvard Innovation Lab. Previously, Michael played pivotal roles as Chief Legal Officer at Lendshift and as a Consulting Technology Attorney for Meta. He's a proud graduate of both the University of Minnesota and Harvard University.

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Bill Douglas, a Sloan graduate, worked for 24 years in the capital markets with areas of specialty in structured finance and, as a portfolio manager, risk management. He has also performed quantitative and qualitative risk analyses for the oil and chemical industries as an engineering consultant as well as built, utilized, and analyzed mathematical and computer models. Investment professional experienced in portfolio management and security valuation. Creates proprietary solutions in: portfolio construction and risk management; security valuation; and macro-economic data analysis using non-textbook approaches.

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Pablo Espuela, a current MIT Sloan Fellows MBA student, brings over 17 years of extensive leadership experience in the European and Latin American entertainment and sports industry. In addition, he has a successful track record as the founder of a Fintech company, which received support from Switzerland's Tenity accelerator program (SIX Group AG). As a mentor at MIT Sandbox, Pablo is enthusiastic about leveraging his industry insights and entrepreneurial expertise to guide and support emerging innovators in their startup journeys.

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Naji Gehchan is a broadly experienced biopharma physician executive with expertise in drug development, commercialization, and general management. Naji thrives building and leading teams with care and discipline to deliver for the patients served. He is currently Head of Development Oncology at Eli Lilly, leading the development of an oncology drug from early to late phase and global commercialization.

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Previously, he led teams through several launches in different senior leadership roles across Australia, Canada, EU & the USA, consistently delivering on P&Ls and bringing life-changing medicines to patients. During his years at medical school, Naji volunteered in the Lebanese Red Cross as a rescuer first responder and team leader in moments of war and unrest in the country. Those experiences shaped his career choices, inspiring him to dedicate his life to serving patients and leading teams toward the noble purpose of making life better. Additionally, Naji cofounded an e-health startup that was elected one of the hottest startups in MENA and recently launched a podcast, spreadloveio.com, partially funded by MIT Sandbox, focusing on purpose-driven, human-centered healthcare leadership.

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Karen Golz is a board member of Analog Devices, Inc., Aspen Technology, Inc. and Osteon Holdings/Exactech, a privately owned company.  She is a senior advisor to The Boston Consulting Group’s Audit and Risk Committee.  Karen is an NACD Board Leadership Fellow and was named by Women Inc magazine in January 2020 a 2019 Most Influential Corporate Director.   

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Previously, Karen was a senior leader and Global Vice Chair of Ernst & Young (EY), a global professional services firm with revenues of $31.4 billion where she led the global professional practice and independence groups for many years. She is a solutions-oriented leader with on-the-ground international experience in Europe and Asia.  She has worked with large organizations and early state high-growth companies on issues in accounting, auditing, financial and corporate reporting, internal control, regulatory, risk, securities registrations, initial public offerings and ethics matters.  Karen is a CPA and qualifies as a financial expert.

Karen graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, with Highest Honors.   In 2017, she was named the Distinguished Alumnus of the University of Illinois, Gies College of Business. She previously served on the Financial Stability Board’s, established by the G20 in April 2009, Enhanced Disclosure Task Force (EDTF) as Chair of the Market Risk Workstream. 

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Rick Grinnell is Founder and Managing Partner of Glasswing Ventures, focusing on investments in AI-enabled security and enterprise infrastructure. At Glasswing, Rick has led investments and serves on the Board of Directors of Allure Security, Black Kite, Flux Cyber, Lambent, Nametag, and Trustle, and previously Terbium Labs (acquired by Deloitte.)

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As an experienced venture capitalist and operator, Rick has invested in some of the most dynamic companies in security, storage, analytics and SaaS applications during his 23 years in the venture capital industry. In his previous role as Managing Director at Fairhaven Capital, Rick led investments and served on the Board of Directors of Digital Guardian (acquired by HelpSystems), EqualLogic (acquired by Dell), Prelert (acquired by Elastic), Resilient Systems (acquired by IBM), TrackVia (acquired by Primus Capital) and VeloBit (acquired by Western Digital). He also has deep operating experience having held senior marketing and engineering roles at Adero (acquired by Inktomi), ClearOne Communications (acquired by Gentner Communications, later renamed as ClearOne), and PictureTel (acquired by Polycom).

Rick is a member of the Educational Council at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is active with the entrepreneurial programs at Harvard, MIT and Northeastern, and is a frequent judge at MassChallenge. Rick’s contributions to the broader community include serving as a member of the Board of the Advanced Cyber Security Center, New England’s public/private security collaboration. He is active at the Museum of Science in Boston, having served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Advisers, and with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts, where he served on the Board of Directors.

Rick has been recognized by New England Venture Network with the Community Leadership Award for his philanthropic work and contribution to the community. Rick holds BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from MIT and an MBA from Harvard.

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Irene Grzybowski is currently Director of External Engagements at MIT Sandbox focusing on the MASA Innovation Program in Botswana and the Explorer Innovation Program in Morocco, a natural next step after several years of mentoring student entrepreneurs through both MIT Sandbox and Explorer.

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Driven by a passion for working with startups and early-stage companies, and for empowering the next generation of young innovators to make a real difference in their communities, Irene brings to this work a career built on senior international leadership in financial services. She has held roles as Managing Director and Executive Director and Board Member at UniCredit Group's subsidiary, Bank Pekao Group in Warsaw, and served as CEO of the Group’s leasing companies. While at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development as Country Director, she managed an over €1.0 billion portfolio of corporate debt and equity investments and served as a Non-Executive Director for several major Polish companies. Throughout her career, Irene has served on the boards of various publicly listed and private companies in Poland, on the board of UniCredit Group's bank in Latvia, and as a Non-Executive Board Member of ExcellGene SA, a Swiss biopharmaceutical company. Prior to joining MIT, she served as a Director and Client Delivery Portfolio Manager at Fidelity Investments. Irene holds an MBA from George Washington University, an undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and pursued advanced studies at Harvard Business School in Infrastructure Finance and at EHESP through the Comparative Public Health Master’s Program, reflecting her enduring interest in healthcare innovation.

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Ninad Gujar is a researcher, entrepreneur and strategist committed to develop and deliver technology-enabled healthcare innovation.

As the Vice President of Samsung Healthcare, Dr. Gujar leads the development and execution of worldwide strategy, domestic and international registrations, quality management system and compliance activities. Dr. Gujar brings more than 18 years of experience leading teams with expertise in areas ranging from market research, product strategy, business development, regulatory affairs, quality assurance and reimbursement.

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Dr. Gujar has held key leadership positions at Fortune 500 companies working at the intersection of technology and healthcare with responsibility for activities supporting product adoption and value creation. He is also an active member of the entrepreneurship community, helping innovative startups at incubators / accelerators, universities and student projects as a mentor.

Ninad earned a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Pune, a Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington, an MBA from Babson College and received his Ph.D. degree from University of West London.

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Raghav, or "Rags" as he is commonly known, has been in founding and leadership capacities in venture-backed tech companies for over 20 years.

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He is currently COO at Humatics, a startup building the successor to GPS based in Kendall Square. Raghav got started in tech during the dotcom boom at Live365, a Web 1.0 Internet Radio platform, starting as chief of staff to the CEO and eventually becoming COO helping guide it to be the first profitable webcaster. He then moved to Boston and was part of the founding management team at Brightcove, the SaaS video platform, staying until its IPO in 2012. During this time, he moved to London to lead the Company's European expansion. After Brightcove, he joined Videoplaza, a Swedish video advertising platform, first as an independent Board member and then as CCO, helping lead the Company to a successful acquisition by Telstra, the Australian telco, and its Ooyala subsidiary. He stayed on for another two years as GM EMEA for Ooyala before deciding to move back to Boston with his family in the summer of 2017. Raghav enjoys advising and mentoring startups and is currently an advisor to or investor in Giant Otter, Permutive, Culture Machine, Pimoroni and Ayla Beauty.

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Marwan Hassoun is currently President of Intellectual Inspiration (formerly Green Semiconductor Inc.) an intellectual property and technology consulting firm helping organizations with their technology innovation and IP strategy.

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Marwan has over 28+ years of experience in all aspects of the semiconductor industry and has been involved in building and managing innovative Integrated Circuits products that include communications and processor and co-processor design large complex integrated System-on-Chip (SoCs) with high-speed analog, digital, memory and RF circuits. This includes academia, startups, acquisitions, large semiconductor companies, expert witness, intellectual property evaluation, IP strategy and innovation.

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Brad Harkavy is the President of Harkador Partners, an early-stage advisory and investment firm focused on energy, mobility, and smart building companies.

Previously, Brad served as Vice President of Product at Oracle Energy and Water, where he led the organization’s product and business strategy. He joined Oracle following the sale of LiveData Utilities, where he was President and managed the company’s acquisition.

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A frequent speaker on Distributed Energy Resource (DER) management, Brad has helped accelerate innovative technologies into successful products and services for more than 35 companies through his executive leadership, consulting, and board roles.

He actively mentors startups through Cleantech Open, TechStars, MassChallenge, and the MIT Clean Energy Prize programs.

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As the Director of Operations and Strategy for MIT Sandbox, Ira Hochman leads the design and implementation of the critical systems and processes that support Sandbox’s tactical and strategic goals. He collaborates with both internal and external stakeholders to extend Sandbox’s current systems and support the program’s growth, facilitates visioning of Sandbox’s future, and architects the organizational structures, systems and staff development needed to fulfill that vision.

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During his professional career, Yutaka Ishizaka has enjoyed a diversity of roles, often in cross cultural settings, including lawyer, business consultant and strategic business operations leader. Ish was the Chief Operating Officer of H3 Biomedicine, an oncology R&D company located in Cambridge Massachusetts.

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Ish was one of the original members of H3 building a team to advance the company from initial concept to productive drug development organization with three clinical candidates and thereafter positioning H3 for potential spinout to expand its investor base. Before H3, Ish was Vice President of Andover, MA Site Operations for the Japanese pharma company Eisai, guiding the Andover site’s growth, establishing the organization’s operational and legal functions and leading the development of a new $65 million research facility. Prior to joining Eisai, Ish was a principal at the consulting firm of Lampert & Associates, and practiced law at the law firms of Graham & James and O’Melveny & Myers. He received his J.D. from Columbia University Law School and earned a B.A. from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

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Jenny Jiang is an AI product leader, former founder, angel investor, and community builder working at the intersection of AI, healthcare, and emerging technology. She currently leads applied AI products at CVS Health, building and scaling AI-powered clinical decision support tools for complex healthcare workflows. Previously, Jenny founded a VR mental health startup supported by MIT Sandbox and Harvard Innovation Labs. She is also the co-founder of HarvardXR and a Berkeley SkyDeck advisor, supporting early-stage founders across AI, healthcare, and XR.

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Gautam Kapur is a Customer Strategy and Marketing Innovation Leader at Fidelity Investments. Prior to his current role he led Strategy and Business Development for Fidelity’s Personal Investing business.

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He also has 13+ years of management consulting experience at Deloitte where he was an Associate Partner / Senior Manager in their Strategy practice with a focus on the Financial Services and Retail industries. Gautam was instrumental in building Deloitte’s Customer Transformation practice in the US and U.K. and also has co-founded several new ventures (D.rive, Customer Echos) writhing Deloitte. Gautam holds a Masters in Supply Chain Management from MIT and a MBA from Cornell University.

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After receiving graduate degrees in political science and architecture, Curt Lamb entered the practice of architecture where he served for 10 years as founding principal of a mid-size design practice.

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In 1991 he left that practice to join the Boston Architectural College. At the BAC, he oversaw a wide variety of educational programs in architecture, interior design and landscape architecture. While at the BAC he developed an extensive continuing education program for design professionals and on-line degrees in architecture, sustainable design and historic preservation. Mr. Lamb continues to serve on the BAC faculty, directing Masters Theses projects in sustainable design and historic preservation.

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MIT BS ’85, Computer Science (6-3).

Cliff is an original member and patent holder on the MIT AI Lab (CSAIL precursor) Connection Machine project. Began as a UROP student and was later hired as a Research Assistant by the Lab. Followed the project to its spin-out, Thinking Machines Corporation (1984). The Connection Machine was the first commercially successful massively parallel supercomputers (initially 64K processors), used for both AI research and large-scale scientific simulation. Key contributor to the system’s software and hardware architecture and implementation.

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Co-founder of Ab Initio Software LLC (1995). Ab Initio’s software is used by large organizations (major financial, telecom, health care insurance, manufacturing, and other companies worldwide) for mission-critical big-data and AI systems. Ab Initio has approximately 1,000 team members worldwide, including many MIT graduates.

At Ab Initio, helped architect and implement the initial product (the Co>Operating System), then transitioned to business and sales activities. Experience includes attracting and hiring amazing people, developing customer engagement strategies without traditional marketing, and leading complex sales, pricing, and contract negotiations with Fortune 100 companies. Most importantly, we got our customers to “love” us.

On campus multiple times per week at the Z Center pool.

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Dr. Rea Lavi is Lecturer and a Curriculum Designer with the New Engineering Education Transformation (NEET) undergraduate program in the School of Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA. In 2021, he received an award from the d’Arbeloff Fund for Excellence in Education to develop and teach a new undergraduate course at MIT School of Engineering, ‘22.s092 - Tackling Challenges in Climate and Sustainability with Ways of Thinking’. 

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Dr. Lavi received his Ph.D. in 2019 from the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel. His research interests in STEM higher education involve the fostering and assessment of systems thinking and creative thinking within the context of complex problem-solving. His doctoral research received several awards, including the Zeff Fellowship for Excelling First-year Ph.D. Students and the Miriam and Aaron Gutwirth Fellowship for Excelling Ph.D. Students. 

Rea’s method for structured creative problem-solving, SNAP Method®, is trademarked in both the US and UK. From 2009–2013, he was involved in the founding and initial funding rounds of a biotech startup, diagnostics.ai, and was employed as its Research Manager. Rea credits his tenure in diagnostics.ai as the most valuable learning experience of his career.

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Ross Leav is Vice President at Presidio-Ventures, Inc. the Silicon Valley/Boston based corporate VC arm of the Sumitomo Corporation of Japan.  As a strategic investor, Ross aims to identify unique startups with whom collaboration in any of the many global and diversified business fields of the parent company might offer win/win advantages for both.  With nearly 20 years’ experience at Presidio, Ross’ specific investment interests include IT, media and robotics, especially targeting startups whose ideas can contribute to the digital transformation strategy of Sumitomo. 

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Ross graduated Tufts University with honors and a BA in International Relations/Economics and concentration on Japanese.    After graduation, Ross moved to Wakayama Japan for two years, to serve as a Coordinator for International Relations under the Japanese National Ministry of Education (Monbusho).  Upon returning to the States, Ross joined the Center for Business Intelligence, a global research firm serving the international power generation and distribution industry.  In 1997 Ross entered the Sumitomo group, as head of the Boston office of Sumitronics, Inc., a Sumitomo subsidiary at the time, in charge of discovering and developing strategic business opportunities with US high-tech startups.  One year later, Sumitomo’s CVC was established and merged with Sumitronics to create what is known today as Presidio-Ventures, Inc.   Ross has a passion for discovering new technology to solve real world problems and for fostering understanding among people of differing cultures and views.  In his spare time, Ross enjoys practicing karate, skiing, disc golf and following current affairs.

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Jeff Meller has been a Sandbox mentor since inception of the program in 2016. His particular experience is in energy, infrastructure, and emerging markets. He was the founding CEO of a cleantech company which generated electricity by anaerobic digestion at wastewater treatment plants. On the investment side, he was portfolio manager for a US$ 300 million emerging markets fund. For many years he was an international finance lawyer, lived in India, and worked and invested in developing countries in Central Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. He has taught international infrastructure finance at Boston University School of Law. His current interests focus on agriculture and forestry and in particular silvopasture which lies at the intersection.

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Gianni Marostica is a dynamic and results-oriented executive with over 30 years of global leadership experience in P&L management, Business Development, execution, strategic partnerships, and commercial strategy within the travel and technology sectors. Gianni’s travel experience has been in the Airline, Hotelier and OTA sectors. He has led two software companies in both decision support, search, and mission critical software. Gianni worked at Google for 13.5 years, as the head of Global Business Development, responsible for all Travel and Local products including Flight Search, Hotel search, Things to do and Dining (restaurants and food ordering) Prior to Google, Gianni served as Chief Commercial Officer at ITA Software, a privately held startup in Cambridge, MA, offering pricing and shopping solutions to the industry. Gianni also served as President, Airline Passenger Solutions at Sabre Holdings Corp, providing mission critical and decision support software solutions to suppliers and intermediaries. He also served as the Managing Partner for Worldwide Consulting. His international assignments have been in Montreal, Paris, and Rome where he participated in or led the turnaround efforts for the privatization of three companies. He graduated with an MBA from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia in Montreal, Canada where he was born. Gianni currently serves on the board of several non-profits and is involved in mentoring.

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Most recently, at IBM Tim Meyer advised global clients on their Digital Transformation and Internet of Things (IoT) strategies, leveraging IBM’s assets in AI, Analytics, Cloud, Mobile and Security.

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He has a particular focus on Smart Cities, Intelligent Transportations Systems, Telecommunications and Industrial Systems. Tim’s career spans large technology companies Analog Devices and Ericsson as well as a series of startups. As CEO of Crisp Wireless, he pioneered mobile multimedia applications for Nokia, Motorola and AT&T. Tim has consulted for a variety of companies from small to large multinational on electric car charging, smart city networks, solar monitoring systems, wearables and cybersecurity. Tim held a variety of management roles at Ericsson, culminating in CTO of the Wireless Internet Solutions division. His notable achievement was developing the first wireless, push email system jointly with Research in Motion and RadioMail. This directly led to the development of Blackberry. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and the Cleantech Executive Program at New York University. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs, with a focus on the intersection of policy and technology.

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Phil Michaels is a Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur and finalist for ABC’s Shark Tank who’s spoken in 24 countries. After founding Tembo Education, Phil has also become a performance coach, coaching mostly CEOs from Harvard and MIT. But he also coaches the #1-ranked poker player in the world, the #1-ranked Arabic Pop Artist in Dubai, and the captain of the US Olympic culinary team. He’s also the host of the only podcast in the world that exclusively interviews entrepreneurs that made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

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As the Chief Technology Advisor at Airbus Ventures, Jonathan Miller stewards the firm's tech investment thesis globally. Growing up in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania, he performed applied research and development in robotics and telehealth on behalf of the US Government and then became a venture founder, advisor, and angel investor. As a contributor to the study and practice of lab-to-market commercialization and frontier tech work, he has collaborated with organizations including Alphabet X, NASA, Flex, and the U.S. Department of Defense. He hosts the Tough Tech Today podcast, teaches at MIT, and enjoys operating planes, Rovers, and drones.

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As a Sandbox Alumni from 2017/2018, Gia Min has been involved in startups and projects that led up to startups in various verticals, including health tech and media/digital contents. She also has been active in various startup communities, accelerators and meetups as well. This ecosystem is something she is always excited about.

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Brian Morgan is an experienced technology executive and venture partner with a strong background in engineering leadership, supply chain architecture, and startup growth. He holds both a Master of Engineering in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from Cornell University.

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Throughout his career, Brian has built and scaled high-impact platforms, serving as Director of Engineering and Product at Wayfair, Venture Partner at Sidecut Ventures, and CTO at multiple tech ventures including Catalant Technologies and Only Sky. Having spent decades founding, building, and scaling software companies, he is passionate about advising early-stage teams—leveraging hard-won operational lessons to help founders navigate technical strategy, avoid critical pitfalls, and accelerate sustainable growth.

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Jonathan Morgan brings extensive experience across all stages of corporate growth, from ground-floor startups to fast-scaling ventures and established public companies. With a unique combination of strategic vision, product innovation, and operational leadership, he has consistently driven business success. Jonathan has a proven track record of solving customer challenges through product definition and development, transforming ideas into market-ready solutions with a clear product-market fit. His expertise includes crafting compelling value propositions, building strong brands, and ensuring effective market positioning.

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At Akamai Technologies, Jonathan served as General Manager of a division delivering cloud-based security solutions to Consumers, SMBs, Governments, Service Providers, and Enterprises. He led cross-functional teams across product, engineering, operations, and marketing, driving the success of Akamai's Infrastructure, Zero Trust, and DNS security solutions—key components of the company’s $1.5 billion Security Technology Group.

Before joining Akamai, Jonathan was at Cisco through its $3.3 billion acquisition of Starent Networks, a venture-funded startup. As Senior Director of Product Marketing at Starent, he led all external product marketing initiatives, helping position the company as a leader in the mobile packet core market. Prior to Starent, Jonathan was Vice President of Product Marketing for Tatara Systems, overseeing all aspects of product marketing and management. He also held leadership roles as Director of Product Management for Appian Communications and Senior Director of Product Marketing and Business Development at Fujitsu Network Communications.

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Seth Muriph is a private investor, philanthropist, and advisor. He has spent over three decades in a range of ventures across the financial, software development, and entertainment industries.

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He was involved with 2 Boston hedge funds, created 3 successful software enterprises, and started his career at McKinsey. He holds SM & SB degrees from MIT in Computer Science & Engineering, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, and a Financial Risk Manager (FRM) certification.

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John B. A. Okello, PhD, MBA, is a scientific portfolio and translational oncology leader at Break Through Cancer, with experience spanning cancer biology, clinical genomics, biotech strategy, venture formation, and multi-institutional research programs.

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He has advised early-stage ventures on scientific framing, market-entry strategy, de-risking, and translational development, and brings a research background that includes 25+ peer-reviewed scientific publications and co-inventorship on two published U.S. patent applications. He also co-founded Nurenyx, a venture that participated in MIT Sandbox and DHIVE, giving him firsthand perspective on the founder journey he now supports as a mentor.

John holds an MBA from MIT Sloan, an MMIE from Queen’s University, and a PhD in Molecular Genetics from Makerere University in collaboration with the University of Copenhagen. As an MIT Sandbox mentor, he is especially interested in helping student teams sharpen their scientific rationale, customer discovery, venture model, and path to funding and execution.

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Genevieve Paquette is a commercial leader with expertise in scaling digital health companies for over 15 years. She was a co-founder of two healthcare startups, was a board director, and led her last startup, Level Ex, to a successful exit in 2020. She has owned almost every business function within a company including strategy, product, sales, marketing, and investor relations. Her early career focused on launching products, building brands, and driving sales as a marketer for WebMD, Microsoft, Warner Brothers, Progressive Insurance, and other Fortune 500 and startup brands. In addition, she is a strategic advisor to multiple VC-backed, digital health companies.

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Anand is an entrepreneurial executive leader with global experience in new business development. He has a 35+ years of successful track record of leadership roles in the high-tech companies of various sizes, from early stage start-ups to public companies. He is a Principal of ScaleUp Advisors, a boutique consultancy, that helps clients develop and implement comprehensive partnership strategies and results-oriented partnership programs to scale up their businesses. Anand is also a passionate Mentor for entrepreneurs in various Accelerators and mentoring programs, including MIT Venture Mentoring Service, MIT Enterprise Forum, Entrepreneurship for All (EforAll), Greentown Labs and MassChallenge.

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Anand has deep experience in the areas of strategic planning, strategic business development, partner ecosystem development, channel partnerships, technology alliances and go-to-market strategy. He has broad background across High-Tech domains of Software-as-a-Service, Internet services, cloud networking, cyber security and telecom networks, working with partners and customers across North America, Europe and Asia.

Anand holds a master's degree in business management from MIT Sloan School of Management, a master's degree in computer engineering from Boston University and a bachelor's degree in electronics engineering from BITS Pilani (India).

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Guillaume Poirier, PhD, bridges the gap between deep scientific evidence and commercial execution. Beginning his career as a research neuroscientist, he has evolved into a cross-functional leader in product development and executive advisory. His experience spans international academic research, roles in pioneering startups at the forefront of new segment creation, and global consulting for high-stakes decision-making.

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Guillaume leverages his expertise in commercial due diligence and the full innovation lifecycle to guide startups through R&D, product roadmapping, and regulatory navigation. By pinpointing evidence gaps and strengths, he helps organizations forge market access and bolster due diligence preparation for fundraising and exits. Whether considering biomarkers or digital approaches, assessment or treatment, he remains focused on harnessing technology to improve quality of life.

Previously, Guillaume served as an Instructor at UMass Medical School and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the ÉPFL in Switzerland. He earned his PhD in Neuroscience from Cardiff University, Wales, and a BSc from Concordia University in Montréal.

Areas of Expertise: Commercial Due Diligence, Innovation Strategy, and Cross-Functional Leadership.

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Nick Quiroz is a strategic finance leader with 20+ years driving enterprise transformation, capital efficiency, and P&L performance at Wayfair, Sensata, LogMeIn, and Perch.

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Expertise includes Go-TO-Market Strategy, OPEX optimizations, gross margin expansion, global team leadership, and advanced financial modeling and forecasting.

EMBA'18 graduate and multilingual executive (English/German/Spanish/Bulgarian) based in Westwood, MA, eager to mentor Sandbox teams on financial modeling, investor diligence, and scaling.

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Daniel Ramirez has spent the last 6 years in the healthcare space building, investing, and helping startups grow and partner with large organizations. He has worked in different regions of the world in industries like Banking, Petroleum, Insurance, Pharma and Consumer goods. He is currently based in Silicon Valley. Daniel enjoys problem solving and focus his efforts on helping people get closer to their vision.

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Roshan Ramlukan serves as a Global Client Service Partner and Technology Leader in EY's Life Sciences Sector, where he leads the firm’s most strategic relationships with global BioPharma companies. As a trusted advisor to C-suite executives, Roshan orchestrates EY's integrated service delivery across multiple practices, ensuring the firm delivers comprehensive solutions that address clients' most complex strategic challenges.

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With over 25 years of experience serving as a strategic advisor to global companies, Roshan represents EY's thought leadership in business transformation, technology innovation, and strategic change leadership. He partners with CEOs, CFOs, and other senior executives to architect enterprise-wide transformations that fundamentally reshape how organizations operate, compete, and create value in the digital economy.

Roshan's client relationships are built on his ability to translate complex market dynamics into actionable strategic roadmaps that deliver measurable impact on revenue growth, operational excellence, and market positioning. His approach integrates EY's full spectrum of capabilities, from strategy and operations to technology and risk, creating holistic solutions that address the interconnected challenges facing today's global companies.

Beyond his client service excellence, Roshan brings a unique entrepreneurial perspective to EY's client relationships, being an advisor to several startups and having successfully built and exited technology ventures. This experience enables him to engage authentically with innovation-driven Life Sciences executives navigating digital disruption and helps position EY as a partner that understands both the strategic imperatives and execution realities of transforming large companies in rapidly evolving markets.

EY Leadership

Roshan has served in key firm leadership roles, including Global Analytics Leader for EY's Assurance business, where he architected global operating models and technology strategies that transformed how the firm serves clients. His previous leadership of EY's Americas Analytics practice established new standards for delivering data-driven insights and decision-making capabilities across the firm's client portfolio.

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Javier Segovia is an entrepreneur and builder of innovative digital experiences. He is a proven technology executive with expertise in leading lean startups, product management, business development, marketing strategy and high-performance product development & design teams.

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He is an advisor to entrepreneurs on venture fundraising, go-to-market & growth, and product & UX strategy. He is an entrepreneur in Residence at Harvard Business School, where he coaches student-entrepreneurs as they navigate the process of launching new ventures. He is a judge for HBS Alumni New Venture Competition and MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. He is also a lead mentor to TechStars, MassChallenge and HBS Rock Accelerator startups. He is driven to grow tech businesses to profitability by building great products, satisfying customers, and using lean startup methods for capital efficiency. Javier is passionate about developing great user experiences working closely with designers, developers, and customers.

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Sami Shalabi is a tech exec, ex-google news lead, 2x billion user product creator, startup founder (acquired by Google), and Angel Investor with 50+ patents.

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Dr. Nadia Shalaby is a serial technology entrepreneur, CEO, board director, and investor, passionate about bringing on societal, economic, and environmental impact via technological innovation.

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Nadia’s track record spans 20+ years growing and founding companies bringing deep expertise in academic research, concept generation, product market positioning, establishing operational infrastructure, strategic alliances, sales and marketing, IP strategy, and corporate governance. Besides serving on the board of tech startups, Dr. Shalaby was Founder & CEO of Arctic Sand, an energy-saving breakthrough semiconductor company, was VP Marketing and Sales for Cooper Perkins, and held various positions at BBN/Raytheon and Princeton University. Nadia holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Harvard University and an MBA from MIT Sloan. She is the recipient of multiple national grants and awards from NASA, NSF, US Department of Energy, DARPA, the Clean Tech Open, and the National Renewable Energy Lab, and the holder of 5 issued US patents.

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Redmond Sui is based in Boston and works with a team to invest in early-stage LATAM startups that are expanding into the US. He is passionate about innovation & entrepreneurship and he believes this is the key to a better, more collaborative future. He has a background in economics and finance and is experienced in working with international entrepreneurs in multicultural environments.

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Dr. Brendan Smith is the Co-Founder and CEO of SiTration, Inc., an advanced materials cleantech startup building durable filtration membranes for improved efficiency in industrial separations. He invented the technology during his PhD at MIT, and was supported by the Sandbox program for several years.

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Leslie Smith has over 3 decades of experience working with consumer facing brands such as Ralph Lauren, Reebok & Rue La La. Having held roles from CEO, CSO, President & SVP.

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Rathi is a 2X deep tech founder with my PhD in Chemical Engineering from MIT. My career has focused on inventing, building, productizing, and scaling commercially translational technologies that are hugely impactful. I am an operator and have touched every part of the business in my prior companies from R&D to product to operations to manufacturing to marketing.

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I co-invented the Droplette technology and built the first prototypes in a lab with my co-founder. We built and scaled it into venture-backed business spanning hardware, software, biotechnology, and consumer skin health which hit eight figures in revenue within 2 years of launch. It was named a Time Best Invention in 2022 and has received funding from the NIH and Department of Defense for medical applications.

Prior to Droplette, I co-founded Novopyxis, a peptide therapeutics company whose lead candidate became the first drug since 1994 to receive FDA orphan designation for pediatric cardiomyopathy and was later explored as a treatment for COVID-related cardiac and pulmonary damage.

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Aimee Su is a venture capital investor, founder-operator, and strategic advisor with more than 12 years of experience spanning investing, company building, and cross-border growth across the United States, China, Israel, South Korea, and Germany. As FLOWERPLUS’s founding angel investor, Executive Vice President, and Board Director, she helped build and scale the flower-subscription platform to more than 15 million subscribers, over $200 million in cumulative GMV, and a 300-person organization.

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She also brings the perspective of a next-generation family-enterprise leader, with board-level experience in governance and business transformation. Aimee has invested in and advised startups across consumer technology, AI, digital platforms, and supply-chain innovation. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree with an academic background spanning literature and finance, she earned her MBA as an MIT Sloan Fellow and a Finance Certificate from MIT Sloan. She has mentored early-stage founders since 2014.

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Matt Verminski currently advises and consults with startups bringing complex electromechanical systems enabled by software from early concept to reality. Previously, he built and led the Desktop Metal engineering team that invented and produced novel metal 3D printing solutions for prototyping thru production with $436M in backing from Kleiner Perkins, NEA, Lux Capital, GV, KDT, and others.

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Matt was part of the initial Kiva Systems team which was acquired in 2012 for $775M and is now Amazon Robotics. At Kiva, he shepherded multiple generations of autonomous robotic systems from concept to volume production. At Amazon Robotics, he started an advanced robotics team to expand uses of robots across fulfillment centers. Earlier, Matt co-founded and led systems engineering for Mimio and was an early team member at PowerAdvocate. He has an MIT MSEE and a Tufts BSECE. Matt’s broad system level approach to leading product design has resulted in 42 granted US patents to date with more pending.

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Maryan Tsar is a seasoned Technology Leader who aligns technology capabilities with business needs. He has over 15 years of experience building and scaling teams from scratch and leading complex programs and products in technology companies and startups. Professional experience in software engineering, quality assurance, and technical program management. Background in e-commerce, fintech, insurance, and edtech. Holds a BS in Applied Mathematics, an MS in Computer Science, and an MIT Sloan Executive MBA degree.

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Paul Weaver is the co-founder and CTO of Abstract, helping manufacturers understand the hidden problems at their factory using operational data.

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Previously Paul worked helped companies understand the global supply chain at Panjiva and help manufacture epoxy for the space shuttle at Lockheed Martin. Paul graduated from MIT class of 2012.

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After MIT, Ben Wells worked as an engineer at Polaroid and Manager at Teradyne. He was a founder of Reflection Technology, an early VR startup, and Wells Research and Development, a manufacturer of test equipment for the optics industry.

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Yalu Wu is a Product Management leader with expertise in the automation, robotics, and supply chain space. Her experience spans customer discovery, market research, technical product management, data & analytics, program management, and business development. She has worked at Boston based tough tech startups as well as for Amazon, Nike, and Citgroup. Yalu is a graduate of the MIT Leaders for Global Operations program with a MBA and a MS in Civil Engineering. She also completed her undergraduate at MIT in Economics and Management Science.

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Kevin is responsible for Google strategic partnerships with the world's top travel companies and airlines. He is a mentor in Google for Startup Accelerator. Before moving to the business side, Kevin was engineering manager/TLM at Google and built an airline reservation system. Before Google, Kevin worked for startups at various stages and founded his own startup.

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PK Shiu is a hands-on technologist working primarily in FinTech and EdTech. He has worked internationally in Asia, UK, Europe and US. His experience includes building startups in CTO roles and working as an entrepreneur exploring new product and technology in large enterprises. PK currently leads technology in a product innovation division of eMoney Advisor.

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Todd Williamson received a B.S. in Applied Mathematics (Computer Science) and Physics, and a PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. After working at startups in medical devices and machine perception, he moved to ITA Software, where he was the technical lead for the world’s leading airfare pricing and shopping system, still used by the world’s largest airlines, including American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines. After ITA was acquired by Google, he went on to lead the development of the world’s fastest and most comprehensive flight search product, Google Flights. He was responsible for bootstrapping Google’s travel sustainability efforts, including the prominent display and ranking of flight options according to their CO2 emissions, and the development of a widely-accepted open source model for aviation emissions. Most recently he worked on acquiring data from suppliers in order to prominently display more sustainable rail and bus options within Google search.

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Specialties: Technical Leadership | Programming Languages | System Performance | Software Development | Algorithms | Artificial Intelligence | Optimization | Embedded Systems | Machine Learning | Agile Methodologies | Scalability

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With more than 30 years of experience in business development, training, and consulting, Robin founded InternWorks (formerly InternBoston), an internship program for high school and college students that provides custom-tailored internships that are integrated with a robust career-readiness curriculum. Currently, Robin directs all internship programs, student engagement, employer partner outreach efforts, and curriculum development. 

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Andri is a growth VC investor with over twelve years of experience investing in and operating world-class technology companies. Andri spent seven years solving complex business problems (go-to-market design, demand forecasting, pricing) and leading data-driven strategies for high-growth companies in Canada (SSENSE, Bombardier Aerospace, Energir), followed by five years and counting investing in growth stage series C, D, and E opportunities across the spectrum of Cloud Software, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, and Frontier Technology. Andri is currently in the Sloan Fellows MBA program at MIT.

Expertise: Go-to-market, Demand Forecasting, Pricing.

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Enrique founded and led startups, advised sellers and buyers in M&A transactions, and spearheaded industrial collaborations and spin-offs in academia. As Founding Member of Expert Collective Cooperative (http://expertcollective.org), Enrique advises academics in creating spinning out companies for positive socio-economic and environmental impact. Whenever ventures form, Enrique works with founders to develop viable strategies and ensure proper funding. Recently, he has been instrumental in helping clients build relationships with key customers, recruit top talent as well as secure over $25 million in equity investments. Enrique is affiliated with the MIT LinQ program for biomedical innovation where he supports the formation of new businesses. He earned a M.B.A. from Babson College (USA) and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Universidad Simón Bolívar (Venezuela).

Expertise: business strategy, business development, financial management, financial modeling, technology management, deal-making

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CTO/CPO that took Archibus/SpaceIQ from startup, to international competitor, to industry consolidator, and finally to a successful exit with "rule of 40" growth.

Expertise: startups, growth stage, sell- and buy-side M&A, product management, program management, engineering management, international business, software, SaaS, AI

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Punit Shah brings over 15 years of entrepreneurial expertise across marketing, product development, and growth strategy. He has worked extensively in scaling businesses and developing innovative digital technologies. His experience spans across B2B and B2C industries, where he has crafted go-to-market strategies, managed multi-million dollar marketing budgets, and led cross-functional teams through agile and OKR-driven frameworks.

Punit currently holds leadership roles at Allsmith, a growth agency, where he oversees product and marketing growth strategies for both B2C and B2B organizations. At 110 Labs, he supports companies in product development, branding, and go-to-market strategies. Punit’s mentorship focuses on helping startups navigate challenges in product development, customer acquisition, and market positioning, guiding them toward sustainable growth and scalability. He is also active in mentoring startups through programs like MassChallenge, School16, EforAll and VentureForum.

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3X AI Entrepreneur, operator, SaaS executive, raised millions in venture money with multiple successful exits. Expertise in solving complex business problems, product discovery, team & culture and PMF scale up, with expertise on optimizing customer behaviour & Identity across channels. Domain - Fintech, B2B, Consumer, eCommerce & Auto

Angel Investor in 50+ startups with focus on AI, Neurotech, Robotics & Climatech.

MBA from Sloan, MIT100K, Legatum Alumni & Guest Faculty.

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Expertise: PLUG (Product Led Growth), GTM (Go to Market), Product & Platform Management, Fund Raising, and Network Effects

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Engineer with a track record of startups in health, currently heading a Danish Telehealth Company. At The HabLab we help senior citizens with chronic condition follow treatment and establish new self-caring routines by combining IoMT solutions and behavioral science principles.

Expertise: Digital health/ Telehealth/ IOT

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Jonathan Bronson, PhD is a Managing Partner at J2 Ventures. Prior to founding J2, Jon was a Director of Acquisitions & Finance in the private equity group of D. E. Shaw, a New York based asset manager with over $50 billion in assets under management. Jon was the Chief Operating Officer of Betterpath, Inc., a startup focused on helping patients visualize their medical records (restructured to become Backpack Health, which was later acquired). His responsibilities included hiring and managing the software, product and operations teams, and working closely with the CEO on fundraising and investor pitches. Jon began his career at the Boston Consulting Group, serving as a Project Leader responsible for overseeing consulting teams working with Fortune 500 executives. Jon holds a PhD from the chemistry department of Columbia University, where he was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. Jon was formerly an EMT in New York City where he met his current business partner, Alexander Harstrick.

Expertise: Venture Capital, Government Contracting, SBIR, Deep Tech

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Jennifer K Brown is back to ceramics after decades in the corporate world. After studies at Goldsmiths College, University of London, she was (briefly) a production potter. Short stints as a weaver and a textile designer were followed by employment as a financial reporter, Deputy Director at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and various senior executive marketing, business development, and communications positions at Fidelity Investments, Partners In Health, and Middlebury College (from which she had previously earned a BA and MA).

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Proven strategist and partnerships executive with over fifteen years of experience [primarily] in consumer banking, specializing in strategy, monetization, and creating multi-dimensional, complex commercial alliances that are truly mutually beneficial to all parties, counting many of the largest retail financial services institutions and data providers in the country as clients and/or partners.

Expertise: Partnerships & Strategic Alliances (B2B2C), Commercialization, Monetization, Business Development, Strategy, Org Structure and Dynamics, Strategic Investments

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Ling is an expert in intellectual property, with over 13 years of experience in patent portfolio building and licensing. She currently serves as a strategic advisor to several fast-growing startups with cutting-edge machine learning, cybersecurity, and blockchain technologies. Prior to practicing law, Ling was a postdoctoral researcher at MIT CSAIL, where she co-developed an attribute-based encryption scheme for fine-grained access control in databases, multicast communications, and other data sharing applications. Her PhD research focused on modeling and verification of randomized embedded system algorithms using techniques such as theorem proving and model checking.

Expertise: Intellectual property, patent, licensing

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Currently a Sloan Fellow MBA student at MIT, Luyang (Eric) has extensive international experience in entrepreneurial technology strategy and turning idea from lab into mass production. Prior to MIT he was Technical Advisor to CTO and Senior Director of System Engineering at Horizon Robotics, an unicorn AI startup working on building autonomous driving AI platform. He was also co-founder of two technology startups and worked in venture capital. Luyang holds B.Eng and M.Esc from University of Electronics Science and Technology of China and University of Western Ontario in Canada. He sits on the technical committee of Artificial Intelligence and Road Vehicle at International Standard Organization.

Expertise: Technology Strategy, Autonomous Machine, Semiconductor

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An accomplished executive with a PhD in chemistry and extensive drug discovery and technology development experience having built and led high-performing teams in R&D within large and midsize pharmaceutical companies as well as biotech. A proven track record of de-risking disruptive technologies leveraging external innovation models as well as leading successful cross-functional drug discovery teams. Reputation as a change agent who has constantly pushed the edge in terms of organizational and cultural transformation of the organization. Member of R&D Senior Leadership Teams, Scientific Review and Joint Steering Committees, Advisory and Discovery Portfolio & Prioritization Boards.

Expertise: Product Innovation | Global Research Networks | Drug Discovery | Novel R&D Business Models | Scientific and Strategic Leadership | New Technologies | Empowers Others | Budget Accountability | Cross-Functional Collaboration | Team Leadership | Visionary

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Paul Blackborow has been involved in successful startups, is experienced in mergers and acquisitions both from the selling and buying side, mentors new ventures in the Boston area, and acts as an occasional angel investor. He is the former CEO & Co-Chairman of Energetiq Technology, Inc., a company he cofounded in 2004 and now a subsidiary of Hamamatsu Photonics of Japan.

Expertise: Semiconductor manufacturing, Photonics, hardware development and manufacturing, product & business management, startups, M&A.

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Robert started his career on an interest rate derivates desk before co-founding a real estate fund and has most recently joined SBXi as the Director of Operations. SBXi is a fund that invest 10K-1M into startups with MIT graduates on their founding teams.

Expertise: Fixed Income, Early Stage Venture, Growth,

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Founder and former CEO of a beauty-tech startup delivering AI-based, personalized skincare formulation based on each individual’s profile. Raised three fundings and 12 R&D government grants. Prior to startup, worked at multi-billion dollar publicly listed companies in providing post M&A strategy and integration planning. Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Management Accountant (CPA).

Expertise: eCommerce, Product Development, Fundraising, PR, IR, Commercialization, Finance, Operations

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Deepti Karan Pandey is a seasoned technology and business strategy leader with extensive experience in driving digital transformation across industries. She holds an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a Sloan Fellow, a Master’s in Software Systems from BITS Pilani, and a Bachelor’s in Computer Science from MDU. Currently serving as Associate Vice President at Mphasis Corporation, Deepti specializes in leveraging emerging technologies such as AI, machine learning, and data analytics to fuel business growth and innovation.

Outside of her professional commitments, Deepti serves as a mentor for startups through the MIT Sandbox Innovation Program, where she guides them through their entrepreneurial journeys. Her passion for nurturing emerging talent extends to mentoring aspiring professionals and sharing her insights through speaking engagements and thought leadership activities within the tech community. In her free time, Deepti finds fulfillment in exploring the latest trends in technology, further enriching her expertise and contributing to the advancement of the field.

Expertise: Data, Tech, AI

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Founded, built, and sold several technology startups. Background in banking software, fintech, and online media. Professional experience in software engineering, sales, business development, and corporate leadership. MBA in finance and international business. Currently with MIT Corporate Relations.

Expertise: fintech, online media, software, contracts, bootstrapping, funding

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Michael Lebowitz is a recently retired Computer Science professional with an academic background in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. He received his BS from MIT, PhD from Yale, and then was on the faculty at Columbia University for 7 years. He then transitioned to financial services with time spent at Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, AIG and most recently WorldQuant.

Ecpertise: Computer Science; Artificial Intelligence; Machine Learning; Data Science; Organization Design; Corporate Management; Staff Development; Recruiting

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Ernie Sabine is a retired executive who has led several high-tech companies through the IPO process. His career began at MIT where he served as Director, Digital Computation at the MIT’s Instrumentation Laboratory and Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Boston University. Ernie serves as a Mentor with MIT’s Venture Mentoring Service, is an I-Corps Instructor, and has served as Industry Mentor in the National I-Corps program.

Expertise: Leadership, financial modeling, project planning, hardware and software design

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Jay is a technology executive and investor with more than 25 years’ experience building businesses and bringing innovative technology products to market. As President of Powerhouse Dynamics, Jay has responsibility and oversight for the company and its business including strategy, sales, marketing, R&D, operations, finance, human resources, and other administrative matters. Before joining Powerhouse Dynamics, Jay was actively involved in numerous technology companies, both through his consulting firm and as Vice President of Operations for Wakonda Technologies, a Boston-area materials innovation firm. Prior to Wakonda, Jay was a General Partner at the Massachusetts Green Energy Fund (MGEF), a venture capital fund focused on making early-stage investments in climate technology companies. Jay also held various leadership positions in business development and product management for Teradyne, Incorporated. Jay holds an MBA and MS in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he was a Fellow in the Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) program. He earned his BS in mechanical engineering from Yale University.

Expertise: Internet of things, Climate tech, Energy, Food service technology, Leadership, Strategy, Business development, Sales, Product management, SaaS, Start-ups, Entrepreneurship

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Frederik Friis-Hansen is Head of Gubra US, a biotech company. With experience in international expansion, IPO, acquisition strategy, finance, and sales. Previously, he co-founded NGeneR, a Danish health tech startup, worked at Novozymes, and have a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business and technology Copenhagen Business School.

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Jean Bonney has been an information technology executive, and research executive for more than forty years with experience in research, software design and development, marketing, consulting, and training.

As a Program Officer in the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Small Business Innovations Research program she was responsible for the area of Information-based Technologies. Prior to joining NSF, Ms. Bonney was a member of the Concord Consulting Group, an organization that focuses on developing business strategies for new technologies. During 14 years at Digital Equipment Corporation she was a research director and also held management positions in marketing. Before joining Digital in 1984, Ms. Bonney was a director of Information Systems at MIT. Her career is rounded out by experience in research and systems design work at Bell Telephhhone Laboratories and Rutgers University.

Ms. Bonney has a BA and an MS in mathematics and certificates from the Bell Laboratories Graduate Study Program and Executive Management Program at the University of California, Berkeley. She did advanced graduate work in computer science at Rutgers University. She has held numerous national leadership positions in the Association for Computing Machinery(ACM), has been a member of the Educom Consulting Group and the Keybanks Corporate Technology Board. She was Digital’s representative to the Industrial Research Institute (IRI) and a member of the IRI Board of Directors and a member of council of the National Academy of Science Government University Industry Research Roundtable (GUIRR).

In retirement she has been an active member of the Harvard Institute for Learning in Retirement. She led study groups on the environment and ecology, numbers, the Internet, and the science of sleep. She now coordinates a STEM forum that runs 3 or 4 sessions each semester. Ms. Bonney also consulted on pre-propoals for NSF after leaving the organization.

Expertise: Computer Science, Environment and Ecology

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Entrepreneur turned early stage deep tech venture capital investor. MIT BSME '93. I've worked in medical devices, Hollywood film production & development, and digital health social networks. Now investing at SkyRiver Ventures. #Girl dad.

Expertise: Deep tech, digital health, data & privacy, ALS, Entrepreneurship, VC

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Mr. Faber earned an MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mannheim, Germany, and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Business. He is a professor at Bentley University teaching Strategic Management.
Mr. Faber has held various executive leadership roles in both Europe and the United States, including serving as President and CEO of NetOptix Co., a publicly traded telecommunications and photonics firm acquired by Corning Inc. At Corning, he was Vice President and General Manager of the Photonics Components division.
Additionally, he has been a director at several technology companies and has served on the Board of Trustees for the Children’s Hospital Boston Trust, the advisory board for the College of Engineering at Boston University, the MIT Venture Mentoring Service, First Founders, and various not-for-profit organizations in the Boston area.

Expertise: Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Executive Leadership, Mentoring, Technology Investment, Organization Structure and Culture

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Retired Full Professor with more than 40 years experience in Aerospace Engineering. Has worked at the beginning of his career in two aerospace companies and then conducted research in that field for 20 years in the US and for 20 years in Italy. Taught hundreds of students in the Master's and Ph.D. study programs some of whom are now professors in the US, Italy and Spain. Has led a group of about 8 postdocs and young researchers in advanced aerospace projects funded by NASA and more recently by the European Innovation Council. Has some experience in the commercialization of research products and international patenting.

Expertise: Aerospace Engineering

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Denis Lussault is a global leader with over 20 years of experience in Product and Operations for high-growth technology startups in the warehouse automation and climate tech sectors. He has a proven track record in scaling organizations from Series A to IPO, driving product-market fit, spearheading product development, and implementing innovative business models.

With extensive expertise in managing full P&Ls and fostering data-driven leadership, Denis focuses on team collaboration and customer satisfaction to deliver impactful results. As the Chief Product Officer of Kadeya, he is revolutionizing beverage dispensing with IoT-driven solutions, including advanced vending machines that recycle, clean, and refill stainless steel bottles to promote sustainability. His career also includes transformative roles at Vecna Robotics and Balyo Robotics, where he led the development and deployment of cutting-edge robotic systems in logistics, healthcare, and industrial sectors.

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Dr. Mady is a physician scientist by training, a healthcare consultant and a serial entrepreneur. He currently serves as the CEO of his family apparel manufacturing business, Shaturna and the chairman of Mady Ventures. Prior to this role, he served as an Executive in Residence at 82VS (Alloy Therapeutics's Venture Studio) where he supported multiple biotech startups.

Dr. Mady completed his Executive MBA degree at MIT Sloan. He has over 17 years of experience in healthcare business, manufacturing, entrepreneurship, medical research, and technology management. He worked as the Senior Director of Business Development at an innovative diabetes management startup, Healthimation, and as a Senior Life Sciences Consultant at Navigant Consulting where he led numerous life sciences/healthcare projects in pharmaceutical, med-tech and biotech spaces. Dr. Mady earned his Medical Degree from Alexandria Medical School and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the Cardiovascular Research Center at Harvard Medical School/Mass General Hospital.

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MIT BS Computer Science, MBA Harvard Business School. Experience in consumer and industrial marketing management. Co-founded pharma/biotech and medical device consulting company focusing on market research, positioning, and pricing that was acquired by large CRO. Current focus on angel investing and mentoring startups.

Expertise: Business-to-business SAAS, medical devices, professional services.

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Multi time CEO in healthcare. Experience in both VC and PE backed companies. Experience in fundraising, scaling companies, customer acquisition. Have been a startup mentor for more than 5 years.

Expertise: Healthcare, customer acquisition, scaling operations, PE and VC backed companies and fundraising, mentoring startups

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Accomplished leader with extensive experience scaling product operations, developing high-performing teams, and
designing strategy deployment. Adept at optimizing processes, implementing scalable solutions, and building
effective operations from vision to execution. Known for a strategic mindset and a hands-on approach, delivering
operational excellence and enhancing cross-functional collaboration. Passionate about fostering a culture of
continuous improvement and innovation, growth and grit, and resilience to change.

Expertise: Product Discovery, Product/Market Fit, Agile, Software, Hardware, Process Optimation, Leadership, Change Management, Metrics and Measures

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Yung Fung is the Managing Director of Advanced Industrial Technology & Platforms (AITP) at Ford Motor Company, where he leads the transformation of global manufacturing. He unifies Ford’s Digital Manufacturing Systems, Manufacturing Technology Development Centers, TDM, and Innovation teams into a single P&L and execution engine — scaling what works, industrializing what’s next, and making it real on the plant floor.

At Ford, Yung is architecting software-defined manufacturing through FPS+, Ford’s agentic manufacturing OS, and driving the industrialization of AI, robotics, additive, and EV platforms. His mandate: turn breakthrough technologies into enterprise-scale platforms that accelerate deployment, improve productivity, and unlock commercialization.

Previously, he spent a decade at GE across multiple industries in global leadership roles across strategy, analytics, operations, and manufacturing, shaping execution in aerospace, energy, healthcare, transportation, defense, and industrial systems. An MIT Executive MBA and Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Yung brings a unique ability to turn complexity into clarity, strategy into systems, and ideas into results.

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James is an experienced engineering leader, technologist, and advisor with a strong technical background. He has built and led engineering, product development, and research teams at both startups and global technology companies.

Currently, James is the Chief Product and Engineering Officer Mobi.AI, a series-A startup focused on bringing AI optimization to the Travel and Transportation industries. Previously, he spent 12 years at Google leading the engineering team behind Google's travel products, including Google Flights, Hotels, Activities, and Destinations. Prior to that he led engineering at ITA Software, a Cambridge-based startup providing cutting edge flight search software to major airlines and travel companies (acquired by Google in 2011).

James started his career as a research computer scientist, evolving over time into management and executive leadership. Through this process he has come to really enjoy mentoring and advising people and teams earlier in their career journeys.

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Former COO – Atria Convergence Technologies (ACT Fibernet) | Transformation Strategist | Business Scaling Expert

Saurabh Mukherjee is a business transformation leader with 25 years of experience scaling companies across private equity-backed ventures and global corporations. As a founding management team member at ACT Fibernet, he helped build the company from the ground up into one of India’s largest consumer internet brands—achieving $300M+ revenue and unicorn valuation—by driving high-velocity growth, digital enablement, and a customer-centric culture. He is a leadership coach and advisor to firms across industries and is also a consultant with Stanford SEED to help founders and their teams to scale their ventures.

Saurabh’s leadership spans enterprise strategy, cross-functional execution, and digital operations. He has worked closely with boards and investors to enable value creation, resilience, and strategic pivots across fast-moving, competitive industries.

Saurabh did the Sloan Fellows MBA and the Visiting Fellow program. During his time at MIT, he was honored with the Global Perspective Award, served as Teaching Assistant in Advanced Strategy Management, and contributed to innovation projects with global partners.

Earlier in his career, At Procter & Gamble, Saurabh led go-to-market expansion into 3,000+ suburban towns and managed one of the fastest-growing regions in India. He was awarded the Asia-Pacific Go-to-Market Innovation Award for his pioneering work.

Saurabh is passionate about mentoring founders and leaders, shaping agile organizations, and scaling mission-driven ventures that thrive in uncertainty and create lasting impact.

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Santiago is a two-time founder and former AI researcher at MIT CSAIL. After exiting his second startup in 2023, he returned to academia and now teaches AI at Columbia University as an Associate Faculty member.
He also leads the Generative AI initiative at MAPFRE Insurance, where he scouts startups for potential partnerships and investments, and serves as a senior AI advisor to StoneTurn. Santiago is an NVIDIA Certified Instructor and University Ambassador, supporting academic AI programs with technical resources.
He remains deeply engaged with the startup ecosystem, mentoring entrepreneurs through accelerator programs at MIT, Yale, and Techstars.

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Grant specializes in helping VC- and PE-backed tech companies disrupt existing markets by building differentiated category positioning, repeatable pipeline engines, and high-impact go-to-market strategies.

He has served as Chief Marketing Officer at Ironscales (AI-powered cybersecurity), Domino Data Lab (enterprise AI/MLOps), CloudBolt (cloud management), and NetBrain (network automation). In these roles, he has led teams that consistently doubled or tripled revenue growth while aligning marketing, sales, and product into a shared revenue engine. Earlier in his career, Grant guided marketing at NaviNet through its $160M acquisition by NantHealth and contributed to NantHealth’s $1.7B IPO in 2016.

Grant began his career as a strategy consultant and holds three degrees from MIT. He is passionate about mentorship and helping teams improve by 1% every day. A lifelong violinist, he also serves on the board of Shelter Music Boston, which brings high-quality classical performances to sheltering environments across Greater Boston. He lives in Watertown with his wife and two teenagers.

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Ben Chostner has done pioneering work in outdoor robotics across the last 15 years. As the second employee of Blue River Technology he led product and business development for See & Spray, taking it from concept to global deployment. Today it is among the most widely used robotic products in commercial agriculture. Ben now advises a handful of robotics companies on product and business strategy, helping them learn key lessons early and delight customers along their product development journeys. He earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Illinois and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

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After 25 years in the healthcare industry as a product, corporate venture capital, and business development executive with Philips, Brian launched Trailhead Health Partners, a boutique consulting firm dedicated to supporting innovation-first founders and industry clients on a broad range of business development, commercial, and fundraising needs across the healthcare sector.

Brian received his computer science degree from Cornell and his MBA from MIT and previously served as a funding board member for MIT Sandbox from 2016 - 2020.

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Amy Molten is a physician innovator and health technology executive with expertise in clinical medicine, health tech innovation, strategy and leadership. She currently serves as Chief Medical Officer at Ladder Health, and formerly led clinical strategy for multiple AI-powered startups, translating clinical insights into responsible technology solutions.

She mentors early-stage health tech companies, contributes to formal efforts to advance safe, effective and equitable technology in healthcare, and serves on multiple healthcare and tech-forward nonprofit boards. As Clinical Assistant Professor at Tufts, she teaches the next generation while maintaining direct patient care - keeping innovation grounded in clinical reality.

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Malak studied Chemical Engineering at MIT and has spent her career as both an operator and an investor. She is currently at Lowercarbon Capital, where she invests in and supports founders building startups in supply chain, manufacturing, and industrial technologies, helping them navigate challenges from fundraising to hiring.

Previously, Malak joined Charm Industrial as its first business hire, leading supply chain and operations to grow the company and deliver carbon removal to customers including Stripe, Shopify, and Microsoft. Before that, she was a Senior Global Supply Manager at Apple, managing raw material supply chains across the U.S. and Asia and leading Apple’s launch of the first iPhone using 100% recycled gold. She began her career as a process engineer at Procter & Gamble, introducing new materials into products used by millions of households.

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Ilya Sinelnikov is a startup founder and product executive with 20+ years in mobility, robotics, cloud, IoT, and embedded systems. He has built and scaled products from concept to market, leading two startups and major initiatives at Superpedestrian and WiTricity.

At Superpedestrian, he grew a platform and fleet of electric scooters to 20M+ rides across 60 markets and $45M in revenue. At WiTricity, he commercialized wireless EV charging with a 99.4% success rate and directed multi-year P&L planning. He is now Principal Product & Project Lead at Modulate, building real-time conversation intelligence.

He mentors teams on product development and management: roadmapping, discovery, metrics, GTM, and org design. He serves as a mentor with MIT Sandbox and MassRobotics and holds an MS in Cybersecurity from Northeastern.

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Kristin is a seasoned entrepreneur and advisor with a robust history spanning medical device innovation, operations, R&D, and strategy. As co-founder and CEO of a medical device company, she led the team for eight years and previously drove advances at several leading medtech companies, contributing to major product platforms and transformative technologies.
Passionate about empowering the next generation, Kristin actively mentors founders through programs such as the National Science Foundation’s I-Corp Research to Market and Customer Discovery. She also currently serves in board and advisory roles across artificial intelligence, advanced materials, and medical device industries. An inventor with 79 medical device patents, Kristin is recognized for her creative, technical, and visionary leadership.

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Bill is a highly skilled and creative executive leader with global experience in all aspects of business strategy development and execution, partner identification and joint venture management, revenue growth strategies, and new technology go-to-market development, execution and target penetration. Bill has achieved along the way multiple industry High Technology Council-Product of the Year Awards, Frost & Sullivan Innovation, and Technology Supplier of the Year Awards across a broad spectrum of industries (including Semiconductor, BioPharm, Medical Device, Specialty Chemical and Food & Water) while delivering enhanced profits and market ownership.

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Abraham Gutman is a serial entrepreneur who has founded and scaled multiple companies, raised capital, and built positive, forward-looking cultures. His career spans AI, telecommunications, and life sciences, and as Founder and CEO of AG Mednet he has successfully delivered AI-driven solutions to the pharmaceutical industry while continuing to support impactful teams and innovation across sectors.

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Roberta Toporovski is a strategic biopharma executive with 18+ years of experience leading oncology and rare disease programs from R&D through global commercialization. She currently serves as Senior Director, Asset Operations Lead at Ipsen, and previously held leadership roles at Vor Biopharma, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Roberta brings deep expertise in portfolio strategy, cross-functional leadership, and translating science into patient impact. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking and yoga, which keep her energized and balanced.

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Ariella Cohain, PhD is Chief Technology Officer and co-founder at MultiOmic Health, an AI-driven drug discovery company developing precision medicines for metabolic diseases. She spent more than a decade in the Department of Genetics & Genomic Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she applied computational and systems biology to complex diseases, integrated multi-omic data, and published extensively in leading scientific journals. She also led a data science team at Thrive Earlier Detection, a start-up building a multi-cancer early-detection diagnostic that was acquired for over $2 billion. Dr. Cohain holds a BS in Biomedical Engineering and Applied Mathematics & Statistics from Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in Genomics from Mount Sinai.