News

Meet the 2023-2024 LaunchPad Team

A few new LaunchPad team members, Jacob Tilem, Kishan Rathor, Sai Bolla, and Brandon Gilbert.

Welcome to another exciting year of entrepreneurship and innovation brought to you by a dynamic new team at the Syracuse University Blackstone LaunchPad. Thanks to generous donor gifts to SU Libraries, this year’s student team includes roles as mentors, subject matter experts, outreach and engagement specialists, and ambassadors for diversity and inclusion. Meet the new 2023 – 2024 student team here.

This year’s team includes Global Fellows, Innovation Mentors, Innovators in Residence, Todd B. Rubin Diversity and Inclusion Scholars, a Hunter Brooks Watson Scholar, and a Hult Prize Campus Ambassador.

2023 – 2024 Innovation Mentors

Innovation Mentors serve as peer advisors to a portfolio of student startups, coaching them on strategy and venture development. They are funded through a generous gift from the Rubin Family Foundation. They include:

  • Andrew Kim, ’24, Whitman, Marketing Management and Finance
  • Natasha Lauren Brao ’23 G’24, Whitman, Marketing
  • Alan Malekar G’24 School of Information Studies, Information Systems
  • Sai Bolla G’24, School of Information Studies, Information Systems
  • Aiden Turner ’25, School of Architecture, Minoring in Real Estate at Whitman School of Management

2023 – 2024 LaunchPad Global Fellows

LaunchPad Global Fellows are subject matter experts in various disciplines such as engineering, software and data management, industrial and interaction design and product development, graphic design, web design, UX-UI, all forms of digital media and content development, as well as marketing, sales, and finance. They include:

  • Renee Kurie ’26, Maxwell, Economics and Arts and Sciences, Writing and Rhetoric
  • Christy Liu ’24, Maxwell, Policy Studies, and Newhouse; Advertising
  • Priscilla Cruz ’24, School of Information Studies, Information Technology, and Innovation, Design, and Start-ups.
  • Kishan Rathor G ’24, School of Information Studies, Data Science
  • Sarah Schreiber ’26, Maxwell, International Relations and Psychology

2023 – 2024 Blackstone LaunchPad Community Managers

The Blackstone LaunchPad is composed of students who are talented in the areas of finance, business analytics, and marketing. They are available to help student ventures and manage the backend operations of the LaunchPad and. They include:

  • Sam Schreiber ’25; Maxwell, Economics, and Whitman; Finance
  • Jacob Tilem ’25, Falk, Sport Management
  • Brandon Gilbert ’25, Falk, Sport Management
  • Di Wang G’24, Whitman, Business Analysis

2023 – 2024 Todd R. Rubin Diversity and Inclusion Scholars

Todd B. Rubin Diversity and Inclusion Scholars, funded through a generous gift from Todd B. Rubin ’04, Architecture, work to broaden diversity and inclusion outreach and programming, expand participation in entrepreneurship by underrepresented groups, and support the University’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. They include:

  • Ud Joseph, ’24, School of Information Studies, Information Security
  • Motolani Oladitan, ’24, College of Arts and Sciences, Psychology, and School of Information Studies; Innovation, Design and Startups.

2023 – 2024 Hunter Brooks Watson Scholar

Hunter Brooks Watson Scholars are supported through a generous gift from the Hunter Watson Memorial Fund. It is Inspired by Syracuse University’s Remembrance Scholar program and was established to honor the life and entrepreneurial spirit of Hunter Brooks Watson, a Syracuse University student who passed away after injuries suffered in a tragic 2016 distracted driving car accident. The Syracuse University Hunter Brooks Watson Scholar mentors students and builds a pipeline of innovative students who exemplify the “spirit of entrepreneurship.”  This year’s Scholar is:

  • Jack Rose ’23, Whitman, Business Administration

2023 – 2024 Syracuse University Hult Prize Campus Ambassadors

The Syracuse University Hult Prize Campus Ambassador helps organize the campus Hult Prize competition at Syracuse University. It is part of a global competition that is often referred to as the “Nobel Prize” of student impact entrepreneurship.

  • Sarah Schreiber ’26, Maxwell, International Relations and Psychology

2023 – 2024 Innovators in Residence

The LaunchPad’s Innovators in Residence are talented entrepreneurs who are incubating in the LaunchPad while providing technical assistance and mentoring to LaunchPad student ventures. They are multi-talented subject matter experts who provide guidance for students who are building ventures from the ground up. They include:

  • Jack Adler ’23, Whitman, Business Administration
  • Karla Lellis ’25, College of Law, Doctor of Judicial Science (S.J.D)

Together, the LaunchPad team provides multi-disciplinary skill sets and expansive services to help all members of the Syracuse University community explore innovation, creativity, entrepreneurship, and building professional and personal skill sets to succeed.

“The Libraries are grateful to SU Libraries donors for continued support for Syracuse University’s innovation community and encouraging diversity and inclusion,” said David Seaman, Dean of Syracuse University Libraries and University Librarian. “The LaunchPad is an incubation environment for students from 134 countries around the world to grow and flourish. It provides experiential opportunities for innovative students and significantly compliments what they learn in a classroom, helping them understand how to become thoughtful and engaged citizens and change-makers.”

Office Hours with Business Librarian Steph McReynolds in the LaunchPad

Interested in business research databases for your business idea, project, or paper? Starting September 13, 2023, drop by the LaunchPad in Bird Library on Wednesdays from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm to meet with Librarian for Business, Management, and Entrepreneurship, Steph McReynolds. Students, staff, and faculty are welcome to stop by and ask questions or just say “Hello!” Drop-in office hours will be held September 8 throughout Spring 2024.

Karla Lellis offers data privacy office hours in the LaunchPad

The Syracuse University Blackstone LaunchPad is pleased to welcome Karla Lellis ’25, Doctor of Judicial Science (S.J.D) at the College of Law, as an Innovator-in-Residence. Karla will offer seven office hours on Fridays starting September 8 through December 1, 2023 at 1 p.m. in the LaunchPad in Bird Library.

Data Privacy Office Hours Schedule

  • September 8, 2023, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
  • September 22, 2023, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
  • October 6, 2023, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
  • October 20, 2023, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
  • October 27, 2023, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
  • November 17, 2023, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
  • December 1, 2023, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Karla has been an active member of the LaunchPad. Her office hours will provide startups with a foundational understanding of data protection principles, regulations, and best practices for small and medium-sized companies (SBS). in New York.

Karla Lellis is a Brazilian lawyer and professor specializing in Compliance, Data Privacy, and Cybersecurity, with a strong passion for technology. She is dedicated to assisting companies and individuals in implementing effective data protection measures to safeguard their privacy. Her Compliance and Technology Law expertise has guided organizations in meeting regulatory requirements and ensuring ethical practices. As a Data Privacy Advocate, she offers risk management advice on cybersecurity implications.

Her professional philosophy revolves around empowering individuals and organizations to embrace data protection as a fundamental right. As Innovator-in-Residence, she has developed the “DataSafe for Startups” workshop series to bridge the gap between data privacy regulations and emerging businesses, which is focused on equipping startups with the necessary tools to implement comprehensive privacy strategies. Learn more.

“DataSafe for Startups” Schedule

  • Data Protection Policies for Startups on September 25, 2023, from 2:00 p.m. Register here
  • Responding to Data Incidents in Small Business on October 2, 2023, from 2:00 p.m. Register here
  • Data Protection Policies for Startups on October 23, 2023, from 2:00 p.m. Register here
  • Responding to Data Incidents in Small Business on October 30, 2023, from 2:00 p.m. Register here

All students, staff, and faculty are welcome to stop by and ask questions or just say “Hello!”

Applications are now open for Ideas Fest

Do you have a business idea somewhere in your notebook? Have you plotted out a great idea with a friend, but find yourself stuck on what to do next? Syracuse University Blackstone LaunchPad Ideas Fest on Friday, September 15th at 12:00 p.m. in Bird Library could give you a chance to win up to $500 and support you in turning that idea into something bigger. Go to this link to apply before September 13, 2023.

The event will be a 60-second fast pitch fest designed for students who are just testing out first ideas and aren’t yet ready for prime-time business plan competitions.  You don’t need a business plan, or a pitch deck, or a polished pitch.  But you have to be “in it to win it.” 

The format is simple:  What is the problem or opportunity you are working on, and what is your idea?  Refreshments will be served, and fun prizes will be awarded for best idea and audience choice. Each entrant will win a free personal consultation on their idea with the Blackstone LaunchPad in Bird Library. 

Eligibility

  • Applicants must be current students (undergraduate or graduate-level) in the earliest stage of their entrepreneurial journey.
  • Applicants must be the founder or co-founder (i.e., the person with the original idea), and may apply individually or in teams of two.

With a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, the IdeasFest especially encourages students from underrepresented and under-resourced communities, from all majors offered on campus, and students who represent multiple genders and ethnicities.

The event is being organized by Innovation Mentor, Andrew Kim ’24 (Whitman).  For more info, e-mail:  akim24@syr.edu

Fall opportunities at the LaunchPad

four people standing together

We are looking forward to welcoming new and returning members to Syracuse University Blackstone LaunchPad, located on the first floor of Bird Library, this coming 2023 – 2024 academic year! This fall features a series of events with amazing guest speakers.

Syracuse University Blackstone LaunchPad offers collaborative space, mentorship, programing, and more, all of which is open to all Syracuse University students, alumni, and staff, with more details below.

Collaborative Space
Flexible and accessible space at Bird Library for ideation activities, co-working, team meetings, workshops, classes, training sessions and more.


Mentorship
Personalized coaching from an expansive and diverse network of peers, alumni and subject matter experts who can help you build personal and professional development skills, as well as shape your path to venture creation.


Programming
Technical assistance workshops, guest speakers, professional service providers, demonstration days, talent recruitment fairs, networking events, innovation challenges with leading companies, idea festivals, pitch competitions, innovation grant programs and more. View events calendar

Personnel Changes
Welcome Traci Geisler ’90, MBA/JD, the LaunchPad’s new director, who joined in March 2023. Traci has 25+ years of business and legal experience with expertise in assisting start-ups and entrepreneurs with venture development.

About Syracuse University Blackstone LaunchPad

The Blackstone LaunchPad connects Syracuse University’s resource-rich ecosystem with a global network. We provide technical assistance, programming and personalized mentoring within a supportive community for aspiring creators, inventors and entrepreneurs. The LaunchPad serves faculty, staff, students and recent alumni from every academic discipline interested in research and discovery, building innovation career pathways and learning principles of venture creation. The multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural program inspires and empowers future global innovation leaders who want to be trailblazers in an entrepreneurial world.

Take your innovation from the lab to the marketplace at NSF I-Corps Course

Registration is now open for the National Science Foundation I-Corps Innovation Course hosted by Syracuse University. Apply here

Join this free virtual course from September 18 through October 18, 2023, for STEM researchers and early-stage startups to learn how to commercialize research and develop entrepreneurial skills.

Three reasons to participate!

· Benefit from this no-cost virtual course taught by NSF certified instructors that combines self-directed activities, class meetings and personalized assistance that will help develop your roadmap.

· Learn tools and techniques to refine your market fit, validate the best path forward, and help you better understand your commercialization value through customer discovery.

· Position yourself for competitive government research grants, other commercialization funding programs and private investment by building a more compelling case for support.

Presented by Syracuse University as a partner in the Interior Northeast I-Corps Hub program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Innovation Network. Co-led by Syracuse University Libraries and CASE, with campus partners.

Open to faculty, postdoctoral, graduate and graduate students, as well as tech startups from the regional innovation ecosystem. Apply as a team of one to three with scientific research or a prototype.

Syracuse student students who have gone through similar programs include:

Shawn Gaetano ’20 , co-founder of Solace Vision working in NEXIS lab

Shawn Gaetano ’20 , co-founder of Solace Vision, developed research on extended reality software and hardware as an undergraduate student through the NEXIS Student Technology Lab and SOURCE. He then worked with the LaunchPad to help launch a venture that creates 3D technologies powered by AI and natural language. He went on to graduate from Techstars and is now growing his company in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he is passionate about helping underserved communities.  He continues to be a LaunchPad mentor.

Apply here for the National Science Foundation I-Corps Innovation Course hosted by Syracuse University.

FuzeHub now accepting applications for its 2023 Commercialization Competition

Applications are now open and closes August 10, 2023 (at 4 p.m. EST).  Apply on-line here:  https://fuzehub.com/commercialization-competition/.

As part of the Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund, FuzeHub will hold a New York State Commercialization Competition on October 16 and 17, 2023 in Saratoga Springs, NY, with an opportunity to win up to $150,000. This competition is intended to help small-to-medium size manufacturing and technology companies strengthen their “go-to-market” strategies as they move from new product/production method to marketplace.

FuzeHub is entering its seventh year hosting the Commercialization Competition, part of the Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund. The $450,000 Commercialization Competition will feature a pitch competition showcasing innovative early-stage companies, panel discussions and networking opportunities.

Last fall, LaunchPad teams Farm to Flame Energy, Inc., and Envision Biopolymers, LLC, took home top prizes in the 2022 FuzeHub Commercialization Competition with our assistance. SparkCharge and other LaunchPad companies have also won these grants in the previous competitions.

(SparkCharge Founder Josh Aviv ’15, G’17 pictured above, far left).

FuzeHub’s Commercialization Competition was developed to support pre-revenue businesses and to target to a specific phase in a company’s product development. Funds must be used to produce, or improve upon, a working prototype or beta phase to enable the applicant to pursue additional investment and customers, leading to the commercialization of their product concept.

The Jeff Lawrence Manufacturing Innovation Fund, consisting of $1 million annually for five years, supports a set of activities designed to promote technology development and commercialization across New York State, including Manufacturing Innovation Grants, a Commercialization Competition, challenges, strategic memberships, training programs, and other resources serving small and medium sized manufacturers and companies.

FuzeHub is administering this fund as part of its role as the Empire State Development (ESD)-designated statewide Manufacturing Extension Partnership center. For more information about the Jeff Lawrence Manufacturing Innovation Fund, visit https://fuzehub.com/manufacturing-innovation-fund/.

About Jeff Lawrence

During his more than 20 years at the Center for Economic Growth, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) affiliate in the Capital Region where he served as executive vice president, and MEP Center Director, Jeff Lawrence directed programs of direct assistance to manufacturers and technology companies to increase their competitiveness. He is remembered for being an invaluable and generous mentor to many in the area’s business community and a tireless advocate for manufacturing innovation throughout New York.

Join Entrepreneurial Mindset Bootcamp with the LaunchPad at the University of Texas at Austin, applications due by Friday, May 26

Join the Launchpad at the University of Texas at Austin for an Entrepreneurial Mindset Bootcamp (EMB). It’s a four-week virtual bootcamp (meets once a week) to help undergraduate and advanced students to learn an entrepreneurial approach to work and life.

This bootcamp is for both students wanting to start their own businesses and those wanting to cultivate entrepreneurial skills for the modern workforce. Check out this 3-min video to learn more!

This event is FREE and open to all undergraduate and advanced students at any school in the Blackstone LaunchPad network.

WHY PARTICIPATE?

  • Develop your confidence as an entrepreneurial leader
  • Learn tangible skills such as how to approach solving a business problem, pitching, prototyping, etc.
  • Find a community of like-minded students across the United States

WHO IS IT FOR?

  • Undergraduate or advanced student at any university within the Blackstone LaunchPad Network
  • Any major and background
  • Curious and open to learning about entrepreneurship skills
  • Open to collaborating with peers and participating in workshop exercises – this is not a lecture-based experience! 

DETAILS

  • Deadline to Apply: Friday, May 26th, 2023 at 11:55 PM ET
  • Program Dates (Thursdays): July 6, July 13, July 20, July 27
  • Program Time: 3:00 – 4:30 PM ET 
  • Program Location: Virtual 

Learn more here.

Photo credit: LaunchPad at UT Facebook

Motolani Oladitan ‘24 named 2023-2024 Syracuse University Remembrance Scholar

Congratulations to Motolani Oladitan ’24 on being named one of 35 students selected as 2023-24 Syracuse University Remembrance Scholars.  The scholarships, now in their 34th year, were founded as a tribute to—and means of remembering—the students studying in London and Florence through Syracuse University who were killed in the Dec. 21, 1988, bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Those students were among the 270 people who perished in the bombing. The scholarships are a philanthropic gift through an endowment supported by gifts from alumni, friends, parents and corporations.

Significant support for the Remembrance Scholarships has been provided by Jean Thompson ’66 and Syracuse University Life Trustee Richard L. Thompson G’67 in memory of Jean Taylor Phelan Terry ’43 and John F. Phelan, Jean Thompson’s parents; by Board of Trustees Chairman Emeritus Steven Barnes ’82 and Deborah Barnes; by The Syracuse Association of Zeta Psi in memory of Alexander Lowenstein; and by the Fred L. Emerson Foundation.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Oladitan is an incoming senior majoring in psychology at the College of Arts and Sciences. She recently engaged the LaunchPad for her venture, Ta, a virtual marketplace connecting African beauty and wellness brands with the diaspora, making it easier for consumers to discover and purchase high-quality, authentic African products.

Oladitan first won the Afropreneurship Challenge, then Raymond von Dran iPrize, Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship award, and second place at the campus wide Panasci Business Plan Competition all this year as an undergraduate.

The original story appears here.

Congratulations to Alesandra Temerte ’23 on being named Syracuse University Scholar

Alesandra Temerte ’23 (College of Arts and Sciences) and Chancellor Kent Syverud at the University Scholar Reception on May, 10, 2023

Congratulations to Syracuse University Blackstone LaunchPad Global Fellow, Alesandra “Sasha” Temerte ’23 on being named one of 12 seniors selected as 2023 Syracuse University Scholars, the highest undergraduate honor that the University bestows.  The distinction honors academic achievement, independent research and creative work, intellectual growth and innovation.

Temerte is a double major in economics and writing and rhetoric studies, with minors in Spanish and strategic management. She is a Coronat Scholar, a 2022-23 Remembrance Scholar. 2022-23 Luise and Morton Kaish Fellow, Syracuse Abroad Global Ambassador, member of the Renée Crown Honors Program, and member several university honor societies.

She has been a compassionate and expert student peer mentor throughout her tenure at Syracuse University, working with other students on social impact enterprises. Her work as a peer mentor has been truly exceptional. She put her passion for creating good to work in the LaunchPad as the campus director for the Hult Prize, a global competition that is regarded as the Nobel Prize for student impact entrepreneurship.

In addition to this, Temerte is also an entrepreneur herself. She co-founded Pathway Prep alongside Mauricio Luna ’24. Pathway Prep empowers high school students from foreign countries and immigrant families to apply to U.S. universities through standardized test prep, English tutoring, essay advising, and college matching services.

She has been a powerful voice for multicultural and intersectional issues, as well as for environmental sustainability and social responsibility. She has an incredible passion for impact entrepreneurship as well as important issues around diversity, inclusion, and equity, as well as cultural literacy and competence.

“Sasha is multi-talented, with a maturity that enables her to work at a very advanced professional level. She is an excellent strategic thinker, capable of handling complex challenges that require multi-faceted critical thinking. She inspires, motivates, and teaches, while all the while also maintaining sense of humor and common sense. She excels at all she does, as evidenced by balancing her classroom work, her own entrepreneurial social enterprise, and a commitment to scholarship and service on campus and in the community,” says Linda Dickerson Hartsock, Founder of Syracuse Blackstone LaunchPad and Strategic Advisor at SU Libraries. “She is so deserving of this highest honor, and I look forward to how she will continue to make Syracuse proud as a successful alum and future leader who will be an innovator and change-maker wherever her life journey takes her.”

The other 2023 Syracuse University Scholars are: Chelsea Brown, Dara Drake, Kiersten Edwards, Grace Haas, Adam Klinger, Julianna Mercado, Ruchatneet Printup, Maggie Sardino, Savannah Stocker, Amreeta Verma, and Michaela Walsh. Read the full article here

Congratulations to all!