National Science Foundation I-Corps Program
2018 - 2019 Teams
Actinic, LLC
On-demand curing of silicones for coatings and 3D printing
Team Members
Joe Fortenbaugh – Entrepreneur, Co-Founder, Actinic, LLC
Ben Lear – Academic Lead, Associate Professor, Penn State
Scott Johnson – Mentor, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Ben Franklin Technology Partners
BlinkInk
Developing a superior, low-pain tattooing process.
Team Members
Than Bonnett – Entrepreneur, Student, Penn State
Dr. Ozgur Cakmak – Academic Lead, Assistant Teaching Professor, Penn State
Cents
Enables students to manage and pay loans in one place.
Team Members
Michael Miller – Entrepreneur, Student, Penn State
Lee Erickson – Academic Lead, Chief Amplifier, Happy Valley LaunchBox
Shawn Clark – Mentor, Director, Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation
Foodlocus
Making it easy and convenient for food hubs to connect local producers with food service and institutional buyers in their area.
Team Members
Jennifer Valimont– Entrepreneur, CEO
Amit Sharma – Academic Lead, Professor, Penn State
Jim Pietropaolo – Mentor, Associate Director, Penn State Office of Entrepreneurship and Commercialization
Go2Gro
Groceries and more delivered to your door.
Team Members
Yash Parikh – Entrepreneur, Chief Executive Officer, Go2Gro
Amit Sharma – Academic Lead, Professor, Penn State
GradienT°
Developed a stability screening platform for formulation scientists to accelerate and improve the slow and qualitative predictions of biopharmaceutical drug shelf-life.
Team Members
Brad Rogers – Entrepreneur, PhD Candidate, Penn State
Paul Cremer – Academic Lead, Professor, Penn State
Dustin Ritter – Mentor, Technology Licensing Officer, Penn State
Kijenzi
Beginning with 3D printing healthcare products in Kenya, Kijenzi looks to use digital manufacturing to connect institutions in the public good to global supply chains so that they can serve billions.
Team Members
Ben Savonen– Entrepreneur, PhD Candidate, Penn State
John Gershenson – Academic Lead, Director, Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship, Penn State
Lyralux, Inc.
Developed Dim to Vivid™, a light source technology with a highly engineered variable spectrum that works by differentially adjusting varying LEDs, which emit different colors of light..
Team Members
Tony Esposito – Entrepreneur, Principal Scientist, Lyralux
Kevin Houser – Academic Lead, Professor, Oregon State University
Micheal Krames – Mentor, President, Arkesso LLC
Magnitude Instruments
Providing innovative solutions for high-sensitivity, low noise transient absorption spectroscopy. We specialize in nanosecond-to-millisecond transient absorption spectroscopy in the UV, visible, near-infrared, and mid-infrared spectral regions.
Team Members
Eric Kennehan – Entrepreneur, PhD Candidate, Penn State
John Asbury – Academic Lead, Associate Professor, Penn State
Scott Johnson – Mentor, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Ben Franklin Technology Partners
Manufacting LLC
Helps small- to medium-sized manufacturers reduce costs and simplify the creation of customer-mandated capability reports.
Team Members
Tamela Serensits – Entrepreneur, Founder, Manufacting LCC
Lisa Erickson – Academic Lead, Chief Amplifier, Happy Valley LaunchBox
Medulate
Developing a suite of medical simulators geared toward increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of medical education, a real-world challenge.
Team Members
Jason Moore – Entrepreneur, Associate Professor, Penn State
Scarlett Miller – Academic Lead, Associate Professor, Penn State
Neil Kline – Mentor- Chief Strategy Officer, Aleo BME
One-Click
A personal safety mobile application providing direct connections to campus emergency personnel from your mobile phone, reducing, by half, the time it takes for university emergency personnel to respond to an incident on campus.
Team Members
Matt Pettinato – Entrepreneur, Co-Founder, One-Click, LLC
Lee Erickson – Academic Lead, Chief Amplifier, Happy Valley LaunchBox
Erin Knoepfel – Mentor, Vice President of Strategic Integration, Mansbach Healthcare
Panaga
Applying laser scanning technology in the field of art application.
Team Members
Yi Yang – Entrepreneur, Assistant Professor, Penn State
Xuan Liu – Academic Lead, Assistant Professor, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Reflection Labs
Developing a smart-mirror for the salon industry.
Team Members
Vincent Trost – Entrepreneur, Co-Founder, Reflection Labs
Dr. Lee Ahern – Academic Lead, Associate Professor, Penn State
Lee Erickson – Mentor, Chief Amplifier, Happy Valley LaunchBox
Southern Safety Products, LCC
Southern Safety Closets deliver life-saving breathable air during a residential fire when escape is impossible with their easy to install filtration Smoke Shield System.
Team Members
Nicholas Welch – Entrepreneur, Founder, Southern Safety Products, LLC
Lee Erickson – Academic Lead, Chief Amplifier, Happy Valley LaunchBox
SPOT
Developing a web app that will increase engagement and completion rates of massively open online courses.
Team Members
Nicole Wang – Entrepreneur, PhD Candidate, Penn State
Dr. Martin Yeh – Academic Lead, Assistant Professor, Penn State
Sprockety
Provides resources and materials that teachers will use as part of their STEM curriculum.
Team Members
Danielle Pritz – Entrepreneur, Founder, Sprockety
Sadan Kulturel-Konak – Academic Lead, Professor, Penn State
Timothy Hillert – Mentor, Chief Executive Officer, BenXchange
Switched Nozzle Valve
A switched nozzle valve that achieves constant flow when the valve is on by using a converging-diverging nozzle.
Team Members
Chris Martin – Entrepreneur, Assistant Professor, Penn State
Todd Batzel – Academic Lead,Professor, Penn State
Traduki Technologies, LLC
A smartphone application allowing professional interpreters and translators to assist with the reduction of language barriers for doctors, lawyers, law enforcement, and the people they serve.
Team Members
RyanMorris, Olivia Massaro, Kosho Hoshitsuki – Entrepreneurs, Traduki Technologies, LLC
Dr. Sadab Kulturel-Konak – Academic Lead, Professor, Penn State
John Gatto – Mentor, Chief Executive Officer, JGO Services, LLC
Trimatis, LLC
Developing low-cost, environmentally responsible ways to 3D print.
Team Members
Tito Orjih – Entrepreneur, Founder, Trimatis, LLC
Dr. Marietta Scanlon – Academic Lead, Assistant Teaching Professor, Penn State
John Gatto – Mentor, Principal, JGO Services
Vytah-Fit LLC
A device that attaches to gym equipment and gives real-time feedback on performance indicators such as velocity, acceleration, and displacement of motion.
Team Members
Masen Suhadolnik – Entrepreneur, Student, Penn State
Sadan Kulturel-Konak – Academic Lead, Professor, Penn State
Chris Kaag – Mentor, Owner, Corps Fitness Crossfit Berks
Well Women Lifestyle
Team Members
Emily Branch – Entrepreneur, Founder, Well Women Lifestyle
Sadan Kulturel-Konak & Ada Leung – Academic Leads, Professor & Associate Professor, Penn State
Tim Hillert – Mentor, Chief Executive Officer, BenXchange