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Lynne Henkiel Retires from Georgia Tech

Lynne Henkiel has retired after 22 years of service to Georgia Tech. (PHOTO: Péralte C. Paul)

Lynne Henkiel, director of the Economic Development Lab in Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, has retired after 22 years of service.

“Lynne has been an integral part of why the Enterprise Innovation Institute has been so successful our economic development mission,” said David Bridges, vice president of the Enterprise Innovation Institute. “She has been an invaluable resource, friend, and mentor across our organization and a vital conduit in the application of research and education from Georgia Tech into our economic development programming and activities.”

As Georgia Tech’s globally recognized economic development arm, the Enterprise Innovation Institute is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive university-based program of tech startup entrepreneurship, ecosystem building and development, business services and consulting, international outreach, and student-focused engagement opportunities.

“Her commitment to serving Georgia, her tireless pursuit in bringing resources to our state and leveraging opportunities for greater economic impact embodies what we strive to do every day,” Bridges said. “She will be greatly missed, but she helped us build EI² into what it is today and positioned us to expand our mission and scope in Georgia and beyond.”

Under her leadership, the Economic Development Lab in 2022 worked in all 159 of Georgia’s counties and one country overseas, helped its clients secure more than $134 million in capital investments, created or saved 65 jobs, and train 1,002 economic development professionals in continuing education certifications.

“It has been a wonderful privilege to have served the state of Georgia and to help fulfill Georgia Tech’s promise of progress and service,” Henkiel said. “Being part of the Enterprise Innovation Institute, collaborating with my colleagues to create new opportunities to maximize potential in communities and organizations across the state and the world has been an honor.”

With Henkiel’s retirement, which took effect February 1, the Economic Development Lab, which assists governments, communities, foundations, and entrepreneurs, is being apportioned into two separate groups.

The Center for Economic Development Research (CEDR), which provides economic and fiscal impact and labor market analyses, strategic planning, and professional development, will now operate as a separate program. Alfie Meek, Ph.D., will continue to serve as its director. CEDR staff will continue to operate the Economic Development Research Program (EDRP) which offers affordable economic development and policy research to communities.

To address expanding demand from international organizations, governments, companies, and universities, as well as Georgia’s economic business environment the Enterprise Innovation Institute is creating a new program group — EI² Global.

That program will be led by Juli Golemi. It will include Innovation Ecosystems, which helps launch, operate, and sustain success entrepreneurship and innovation programs; the EDA University Center, which supports strategic building of innovation clusters and regional economic ecosystems across the southeastern U.S.; and Soft Landings, which helps foreign companies evaluate and assess their pathways into the U.S. market.

Prior to leading the Economic Development Lab, Henkiel was director of Innovation Ecosystems. She also was the primary awardee for the EDA University Center grant to Georgia Tech for the last two award periods. She also received the EDA Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) I6 award in 2014 among other funding grants focused on developing healthy entrepreneurial ecosystems.

During her tenure at Georgia Tech, she developed incubation health and community innovation assessment tools, and she was the driving force in the development of the Soft Landings program.

Henkiel’s career at Georgia Tech started with a focus on commercializing innovations from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the Stennis Space Center, and Marshall Space Flight Center.

In that role she worked with startup companies that licensed NASA technology, collaborated with entrepreneurs to help them overcome their early-stage pitfalls, and developed educational programming to bolster their success. In addition, she managed the dual-use industry partnerships for the Marshall Space Flight Center, which involved working with large and startup businesses.

Henkiel’s reach at Georgia Tech went beyond the Enterprise Innovation Institute as she created the U.S. Expansion Practicum course at Tech’s Scheller College of Business. That program partnered MBA students with successful business owners — Georgia Tech alumni among them — focused on U.S. business expansion.

A globally recognized ecosystem building expert, Henkiel has been called on to make presentations and write articles for groups and publications here in the United States and around the world.

Most recently, she led the Innovation and Technology Commercialization Professional course in China and Tunisia and efforts to expand the course for Spanish, French, and Arabic-speaking countries.

She is an active member of the Technology Association of Georgia’s International Society Board, and a board member of the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA).

Henkiel earned her master’s degree in the Management of Technology from the University of Miami, and had an extensive career in finance with IBM prior to joining Georgia Tech.

Georgia Tech Professor and Team Create Tool to Reduce Burn Risk in Surgeries

Jackson Medical co-founders, Kamil Makhnejia, chief operating officer (left), and CEO James Rains, a professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. (Photo: Péralte C. Paul)

Any surgical procedure comes with a degree of risk for patients. But there’s also stress for the surgical team who must adhere to strict protocols and procedures to ensure positive safe patient surgical outcomes.

Among the worries: accidentally burning a patient or operating room staff or setting fire to the surgical table draping. Although rare, burns can happen from the heat generated by fiber optic light cables that illuminate endoscopes and camera cables surgeons use during operations to see what’s happening internally.

James Rains, a professor in Georgia Tech’s Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, has developed a device to minimize that risk.

Rains is co-founder and CEO of Jackson Medical, an Atlanta-based medical device company that launched in 2016. Its flagship product, GloShield, is a flexible, ceramic fitted heat shield that covers the end of the light cable, which can get as hot as 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Whenever you want to look inside the body, you need to illuminate it. You need to provide a light source inside the body via a scope,” Rains said. The risk is present in the surgical field when equipment is assembled and disassembled, leading to a detached and exposed light cable.

GloShield is a flexible, ceramic fitted heat shield that covers the end of light cables used in surgical procedures. (Photo: Péralte C. Paul)

Current protocols call for someone on the surgical team to hold the cable or keep it from the patient’s skin or material can catch fire. But those protocols aren’t always strictly followed as Rains and his team found when observing bladder and abdominal surgeries in metro Atlanta.

The Jackson Medical team’s observations and understanding of those risks was further underscored through interviews with more than 1,000 clinicians and practitioners across the country.

The GloShield device is designed with a flexible neck connected to a cap that fits snugly over the end of the light cable. The polymer used to create the devices remains cool to the touch. The cap flips up to allow the cable to reconnect to the scope when necessary.

“Surgeries are complex, and there are so many decisions that need to be made and so many tasks that need to be addressed by the surgical team,” said Kamil Makhnejia, another co-founder and who serves as the company’s chief operating officer. “There’s charting and taking care of the patient to ensure there’s proper equipment and specimen handoffs among team members during the entirety of the surgical procedure.”

It takes less than six seconds for the heat generated by a light cable to melt through a surgical drape or burn a patient, Makhnejia said, explaining that the device has been used in more than 100,000 surgeries to date.

“It’s not a matter of if something is going to happen, but when,” Rains said, adding that even though the risks remain low, medical professionals want solutions that reduce as many of those risks as possible and establish peace of mind. “During a surgical procedure, while you’re trying to juggle so many different things — we want to provide a layer of safety so that clinicians can keep their focus on patient outcome.”

That is the right approach said Dr. Howard Herman, an Atlanta surgeon in otorhinolaryngology, a surgical subspeciality of the head and neck, who has used GloShield in his operations.

“There are a lot of risks in surgery, and you try to minimize those risks,” said Herman, who has been a practicing surgeon for 29 years. “The beauty of this solution is that it mitigates the risk. To me, it should become part of the standard of care.”

GloShield devices have flexible necks connected to caps that fit over the end of light cables surgical teams use. (Photo: Péralte C. Paul)

The Jackson Medical team developed and refined the GloShield prototype at the Global Center for Medical Innovation, a Georgia Tech affiliate, which helps startups in the medical device space through all stages of their lifecycle, ranging from prototype to commercialization.

Jackson Medical is also a portfolio company of the Center for MedTech Excellence. A program of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, the center supports and addresses the unique needs of early-stage medical device technologies.

“We often use the words disruption and innovation quite liberally, yet companies are far from both,” said Nakia Melecio, the Center for MedTech Excellence’s director. “When I think of the team at Jackson Medical, their technology is not only disruptive, but also a novel solution for most, if not all, surgeons to protect patients from burn injuries with a commonly used surgical tool.”

Partnership Launches Workforce for Tomorrow with Inaugural Cohort

ATLANTA — The Partnership for Inclusive Innovation (Partnership) is proud to announce the launch of the Workforce for Tomorrow Rotational Fellowship (WFT), a first-of-its-kind opportunity designed to mold fellows into the next wave of leaders within the state of Georgia.

It will serve as the flagship program of the Partnership’s workforce development pillar. WFT further supports the Partnership’s mission of driving growth and innovation forward while building connections between the public and private sectors.

The first cohort of Workforce for Tomorrow participants (from l-r) LaDerrius Williams, Phillip Abidoye, Sruthi Kumar, Iesha Baldwin, Isabelle Barnett, and Noah McQueen. (Photo: Péralte C. Paul)

“Workforce for Tomorrow presents an amazing opportunity for early career professionals to explore career paths and engage in a mission-driven initiative that benefits the public and private sectors,” said Clarence Anthony Jr., the Partnership’s Workforce Development manager. “I could not be prouder of and more impressed with the quality of fellows and employers who are a part of our inaugural launch.”

Fellows will complete two six-month rotations at two different organizations (one in the private sector and one in the public sector) within the same industry. Over the duration of WFT, fellows will receive full-time compensation and work experience. WFT fellows are also provided career development and exploration opportunities during the program, as well as mentorship from their site hosts and the Partnership’s Workforce Development team.

“This program is structured in a way that includes the participation of both private and public sectors and accommodates diverse people with a wide range of experiences and academic backgrounds,” said Phillip Abidoye, one of six individuals selected for the first cohort of WFT fellows. “WFT is unique and different from other programs that I have participated in.”

Panelists presenting — Panelists discussed the components of successful workforce development at the Workforce for Development kickoff event. (From left) Kerel Fryar, Truist Bank; Cleveland, Ga. Mayor Josh Turner; Heather Maxfield, TAG-ED; Donna Ennis, Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute, and Ira Pearl, Cox Enterprises. (Photo: Péralte C. Paul)

The program is open to undergraduate and graduate degree holders with less than five years of professional experience. Fellowship applicants must currently reside in Georgia or have an interest in relocating to Georgia.

“I learned about the fellowship through one of my mentors,” said Iesha Baldwin, another of the fellows in the first cohort. “WFT is based in my home state of Georgia, so it is giving me the opportunity to return home and be closer to family.”

The first cohort of WFT fellows — Abidoye and Baldwin, along with Isabelle Barnett, Noah McQueen, and LaDerrius Williams — have been matched with employers in advanced manufacturing and logistics, sustainable energy, and information technology and sustainability. The inaugural class of fellows will work with the following employers (Abidoye’s placement is being finalized):

Iesha Baldwin – Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute and Freudenberg NOK
Isabelle Barnett – Georgia Tech Supply Chain & Logistics Institute and Freudenberg NOK
Sruthi Kumar – Cox Enterprises and Georgia Tech Strategic Energy Initiative
Noah McQueen – Microsoft and the Atlanta Beltline
LaDerrius Williams – Cox Enterprises

“I have never seen a fellowship that so clearly advocates for mentorship and advocacy for its employees,” Barnett said. “I am really excited to work with Georgia Tech and Freudenberg NOK – I truly can’t imagine a better partnership.”

The fellowship formally launched December 1, with a kickoff event at Microsoft Atlantic Yards in Atlanta. The event featured a keynote presentation from Georgia State Sen. John Albers as well as a panel discussion between public and private sector partners to discuss the role of workforce development and public-private partnerships in economic growth.

“We are so excited to welcome our fellows with this cohort,” said Michelle Guthrie, Cox Enterprises’ human resources leader. “We are very excited to bring new talent into our organization who can bring their own innovative perspectives to what we do every day.”

Georgia Tech to Launch Sustainability-Focused Technology Initiative at the Advanced Technology Development Center

Norfolk Southern commits $750,000 to the Institute to support development
of sustainability technology entrepreneurs and startups in Georgia

ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern Corp., one of the nation’s leading transportation companies, is making a significant commitment to Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) to create a new initiative for entrepreneurs in sustainability-focused technology.

Josh Raglin, Norfolk Southern’s chief sustainability officer.

The ATDC Sustainability Technology Program will formally launch in January 2023. Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern’s gift will provide the initial funding to support the current and future sustainability-related startups in ATDC’s portfolio.

The gift of $750,000 will support the initiative for three years. It is the eighth industry-focused vertical of its kind at ATDC, including two others announced earlier in 2022 — one in robotics and automation, the other in supply chain logistics.

“Norfolk Southern and Georgia Tech are teaming up to support forward-thinking innovation around sustainability. Together, some of the brightest minds in Georgia and the business community can continue to make sustainable progress for our nation’s supply chain and economy,” said Josh Raglin, chief sustainability officer for Norfolk Southern.

The sponsorship furthers the company’s strategic goal of integrating sustainability into daily operations while helping its customers achieve their sustainability goals. “Through our collaboration with ATDC and the incubator’s sustainability vertical, we will join with students and entrepreneurs in the business of a better planet as they transform their revolutionary ideas into actionable and successful business models,” Raglin said.

The gift will support one-on-one coaching via a dedicated ATDC startup catalyst who will manage the sustainability vertical and work to build the pipeline of innovators from across Georgia who are in this space and scaling disruptive technologies to bring to the marketplace.

The funds also will support a sustainability-focused curriculum and other resources specialized to those entrepreneurs’ needs as they go from ideation to commercialization.

“ATDC has a history of supporting startups with sustainable tech innovations including Suniva, Emergy, and Quest Renewables,” said John Avery, ATDC director.

ATDC’s startup portfolio already includes 12 companies in the sustainability space, but Avery said there is a wider opportunity for Georgia entrepreneurs.

With Norfolk Southern’s sustainability focus, Georgia Tech’s research innovations in that area through centers such as the Strategic Energy Institute, and ATDC’s ability to leverage those resources and its record in scaling successful technology companies, Avery said Georgia is primed to grow that sector.

The state is home to 34 companies on the Fortune 1000 list, many of which have set their own sustainability goals. Fifteen of those companies are headquartered in Atlanta, which ranks third in the country for the number of Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the city.

What’s more, sustainability innovations can have wider impact across a number of industries that are important to Georgia in addition to transportation and logistics, such as agriculture, and renewable energy, Avery said.

“With Norfolk Southern at the forefront of sustainability innovation and its support of our dedicated sustainability vertical at ATDC, we are doubling down on one of the biggest opportunities for startups and innovators today and pursuing a very important corporate and societal goal,” he said. “We can become a hub for all of these sustainability entrepreneurs and their innovations and grow this ecosystem in Georgia by helping to launch viable companies across the state.”

About Norfolk Southern
Since 1827, Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) and its predecessor companies have safely moved the goods and materials that drive the U.S. economy. Today, it operates a customer-centric and operations-driven freight transportation network. Committed to furthering sustainability, Norfolk Southern helps its customers avoid 15 million tons of yearly carbon emissions by shipping via rail. Its dedicated team members deliver more than 7 million carloads annually, from agriculture to consumer goods, and is the largest rail shipper of auto products and metals in North America. Norfolk Southern also has the most extensive intermodal network in the eastern U.S., serving a majority of the country’s population and manufacturing base, with connections to every major container port on the Atlantic coast as well as the Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes. Learn more by visiting www.NorfolkSouthern.com.

About Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 44,000 students representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.

About the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC)
The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a program of the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, is the state’s technology startup incubator. Founded in 1980 by the Georgia General Assembly which funds it each year, ATDC’s mission is to work with entrepreneurs in Georgia to help them learn, launch, scale, and succeed in the creation of viable, disruptive technology companies. Since its founding, ATDC has grown to become the longest running and one of the most successful university-affiliated incubators in the United States, with its graduate startup companies raising $3 billion in investment financing and generating more than $12 billion in revenue in the state of Georgia. To learn more, visit atdc.org.

National Institutes of Health Awards MapHabit $2.9M SBIR Grant

ATLANTA — The National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health, awarded a $2.9 million Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Fast Track Phase II Grant to MapHabit, a health technology company that helps memory-impaired individuals and caregivers improve independent function.

The three-year, non-dilutive grant will provide funds for the research and development of a Caregiving Training Program (CTP), which will foster personalized education to family caregivers for optimal person-centered care strategies and train them on equally important self-care techniques, MapHabit said.

Co-founded in 2018 by Matt Golden and Stuart Zola, MapHabit is a member company in the Advanced Technology Development Center’s (ATDC) Signature portfolio of startups. Its interactive, habit-building, education and cognitive engagement platform uses an integrated, visual mapping system to improve the quality of life for individuals who need additional cognitive support.

Including this award, MapHabit has received $6.5 million in non-dilutive grants and raised an additional $2 million in external investor capital since its founding. The company said this most recent award will extend its cash runway into 2025.

The MapHabit technology provides users critical tools to better accomplish their daily life activities, while simultaneously providing oversight and peace of mind to the entire support circle, including care managers and providers.

Caregiving is commonly acknowledged as one of the most stressful, under-recognized, under-paid, and under-supported jobs. The new CTP will offer key innovative features to enhance the caregivers’ own quality of life and directly support them in their role, which in turn will result in reduced cost burdens to them in all types of home and community-based care settings, the company said.

“There are 53 million caregivers in the United States and most of us have been thrown into this role without pay, without education, and without a coach to help guide them on what could be next,” Golden, the company’s CEO, said. “Many of these are overextended sandwich caregivers, which are those who care for younger children and support their aging parents.”

While many resources exist for professional care staff, family caregivers have been left out of the discussion, Golden said. “This SBIR focuses on empowering those caregivers with tools to improve quality of life and independence for both the individual and the caregiver. That is very important to us.”

Some of the features of the new CTP include self-paced learning that starts with understanding the caregiver’s knowledge and skill level; interactive live coaching sessions; easy to use caregiver-centric dashboards to share information, and social networking capabilities to promote social support and community building. The technology also uses a gamification approach to enhance training engagement and a social network system to help caregivers better manage their stress.

“Self-care is crucial for the person supporting someone with a neurocognitive disease. They often do not care for themselves and become sick themselves, putting both parties at risk,” Golden said. “Many non-spouse caregivers work jobs and they typically need to reduce hours or leave the workforce entirely. Moreover, family caregivers take the burden on themselves and don’t ask for help, and this leads to burnout.”

SBIR and a sister effort, Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR), are highly competitive programs that encourage U.S. small businesses to engage in federal research and research and development with the potential for commercialization.

As part of its curriculum, ATDC’s SBIR/STTR Catalyst Connie Casteel helps its portfolio companies understand and secure federal funding through those programs. In 2021, ATDC startups received $17.4 million in SBIR/STTR grants. Year-to-date in 2022, ATDC companies have recorded $14 million in awards.

“The ATDC SBIR/STTR program has been critical to help us identify funding opportunities and provide us much needed scientific reviews ahead of complicated government submissions,” Golden said. “The help of Connie Casteel and (ATDC Senior Startup and Deep Tech Catalyst) Nakia Melecio over the three-year period has helped us polish our submissions and ensure proper messaging to the target government organization.”

Georgia-AIM Hosts Kick-Off Meeting

Georgia Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing (Georgia-AIM) recently held its initial kick-off meeting in October 2022.

Over a two-day period, more than 100 participants from across the state came to Atlanta to brainstorm, collaborate, and share best practices as the group launched its effort in earnest following its winning of a $65 million award from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) in September.

Led by the Georgia Institute of Technology and a coalition of private and public partners across the state, Georgia-AIM seeks to reimagine job opportunities and wage growth in economically distressed and underserved rural parts of Georgia by melding artificial intelligence (AI) with manufacturing, an all-too-important segment of the state’s economy. Manufacturing’s economic impact to the state exceeds $60 billion a year and it employs more than 400,000, Georgia Department of Economic Development figures show.

The goal is to develop new opportunities through outreach programs designed to create a transformational Georgia workforce that will embrace artificial intelligence not be mystified or afraid of it, said Donna Ennis, director of Diversity Engagement and Program Development in Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute and also director of its Georgia MBDA Business Center. Ennis is leading the effort along with Aaron Stebner, associate professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Materials Science and Engineering, and Thomas R. Kurfess, executive director of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute.

A large part of the the Georgia-AIM effort, which is also focused on serving historically underrepresented and underserved groups, is getting people to understand artificial intelligence goes beyond robots and that it’s not about taking jobs away, but leveraging this ever-evolving technology to create the jobs of the future, Ennis said.

AI is already an integral part of daily life from smart homes and cars to cities and mobile devices, she said.

“We want to demystify what it is,” she said. “We want to be able to show you that there is a place for you in the artificial intelligence world, particularly as it relates to the manufacturing.”

Kick-off event attendees were able to network and get more in-depth presentations regarding the various projects under the Georgia-AIM umbrella. The projects include building automation solutions tailored for rural manufacturers, industry pilot trials, workforce training for AI manufacturing technologies, prototyping labs and studios, curriculum development for K-12 students, and an virtual reality training innovation lab.

In addition to Georgia Tech, the coalition of 12 public-private partners includes:

· Georgia Department of Community Affairs

· Georgia Cyber Center

· Houston County Development Authority

· KITTLabs

· Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs

· Robins Air Force Base 21^st Century Partnership

· Spelman College

· Southwest Georgia Regional Commission

· Technologists of Color

· Technology Association of Georgia Education Collaborative

· Technical College System of Georgia

· University of Georgia

The Advanced Technology Development Center Announces its Startup Graduating Class of 2022

Thirteen graduating companies comprise one of the incubator’s largest and most diverse graduating class of founders

ATLANTA — The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), Georgia’s technology incubator, announced today 13 startups will graduate from the program’s top-tier Signature portfolio.

The 2022 class marks some significant milestones for ATDC, a program of the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Enterprise Innovation Institute. The 13 startups constitute one of the most diverse and largest graduating class in ATDC’s 42-year history.

Eight of the companies have diverse founders or co-founders, including four women.

The ATDC Class of 2022 also brings the total number of graduating startups to more than 210 companies. Collectively, the ATDC Class of 2022 has raised more than $216.7 million in capital from investors since January 2021.

“This is an outstanding and spectacular class of graduates,” said Chris Nedza, ATDC’s lead entrepreneur in residence. “This group of founders are gamechangers and disruptors in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, insurance, energy, ecommerce, artificial intelligence, and information security. We are extremely proud of the ATDC Class of 2022 and all their achievements.”

One of the graduating companies, Apptega, founded by Armistead Whitney, works to address challenges that companies of all sizes face in implementing effective cybersecurity.

Being part of the ATDC experience helped the company navigate the challenges all startups face as well as scale successfully, he said.

“Starting a company from scratch is long, exciting, painful, and rewarding all at once. ATDC delivers the support, infrastructure, and guidance critical to our success,” Whitney said. “Sharing issues with other CEOs, receiving advice from the entrepreneurs in residence, getting connected to capital, and participating in programs at Georgia Tech gave us a huge competitive advantage not only to survive, but to thrive.”

Similarly, OncoLens, a leading data and clinical decision support hub that supports the multi-disciplinary discussion of cancer cases by experts and care teams, credits ATDC with its growth trajectory.

In the past four years, the company, co-founded by Anju Mathew and Dr. Lijo Simpson, has expanded to serve nearly 200 clients, including international customers.

“The favorite part of our ATDC experience has been the guidance received from ATDC catalysts and mentors,” Mathew, the company’s CEO, said. “The ability to engage with other startups and learn from each other is so key for early founders. And Aubrey Lenyard (ATDC Community Engagement Manager), is of course, just the best.”

The ATDC Class of 2021 will be honored October 27 in a special ceremony being held on the Georgia Tech campus.

The class includes:

Apptega: Makes it easy for businesses to build, manage, and report their cybersecurity programs while meeting regulatory requirements.
Buckle: Provides insurance to ride share drivers using new data, technology, and analytics.
Carbice: Produces multifunctional material solutions from Carbice® Nanotube Technology that set the standard for performance, reliability, and low-cost assembly within the world’s most important electronic, energy, and industrial products.
cove.tool: A web-based software platform for analyzing, drawing, engineering, and connecting data for building design and construction.
DataSeers: A big data platform for reconciliation, compliance, fraud, and analytics in the financial services sector.
Field Pros Direct: The industry’s first on-demand adjusters’ network.
Layr: InsureTech business that builds software to automate and digitize insurance brokerages’ smallbusiness departments.
Momnt: Helps merchants and merchant networks master the art of lending.
OncoLens: A healthcare technology company that enables the development of the best treatment plan for each cancer case.
SmartCommerce: Its technology platform enables one-click conversion from any digital impulse point, into any retailer cart.
Tonic: Anonymizes production data.
Voxie: Technology platform to connect with customers via text message, build real relationships, and turn those relationships into action.
Worthix: Customer survey platform built with artificial intelligence to help marketers pinpoint the “why behind the buy.”

It was important to Marty Young, Buckle’s co-founder, to be part of an incubator equally dedicated to finding technology companies focused on substantive impact for the better along with ensuring their overall success.

“As Buckle has grown its efforts to transform financial services offerings for an underserved audience of gig drivers, it has been a privilege to be surrounded by ATDC companies that are similarly focused on making a difference for their core target groups,” Young said. “In addition, Atlanta has been a center of gravity for Buckle since the first days of our formation, and it remains important to us to be active and connected in the communities where we live and operate.”

Companies in the ATDC Signature portfolio are those deemed most ready for long-term growth and success. ATDC Signature is a rigorous, metrics-driven, and milestones-based program for companies with transformative products.

To graduate from ATDC Signature, startups must meet several milestones, including annualized recurring revenue of at least $1 million, an identified scalable business model, and the ability to finance growth.

“ATDC has allowed Carbice to grow from an idea to a thriving leader in the thermal solutions market,” said Baratunde Cola, the company’s founder and professor in Georgia Tech’s George W. Woodruff’s School of Mechanical Engineering. “The best part of the company’s time at ATDCwas the ability to learn how to build and scale a manufacturing operation with the support of Georgia Tech and ATDC every step of the way.”

About the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC)
The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), a program of the Georgia Institute of Technology, is the state of Georgia’s technology startup incubator. Founded in 1980 by the Georgia General Assembly, which funds it each year, ATDC’s mission is to work with entrepreneurs in Georgia to help them learn, launch, scale, and succeed in the creation of viable, disruptive technology companies. Since its founding, ATDC has grown to become one of the longest running and most successful university-affiliated incubators in the United States, with its graduate startup companies raising $3 billion in investment financing and generating more than $12 billion in revenue in the state of Georgia. To learn more, visit atdc.org.

Debra Lam Appointed to U.S. Department of Commerce’s New Internet of Things Advisory Board

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Commerce has appointed Debra Lam, executive director of the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation, to its new Internet of Things Advisory Board (IoTAB), to advise the Internet of Things Federal Working Group. Lam joins 15 other experts on a board that includes a wide range of stakeholders outside of the federal government with expertise relating to the Internet of Things (IoT).

Debra Lam, executive director, Partnership for Inclusive Innovation

The appointments are the first for the recently established advisory board, which was created in accordance with the requirements of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, and in accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended.

The board will advise the federal working group on matters including the identification of any federal regulations, programs or policies that may inhibit or promote the development of IoT; situations in which IoT could deliver significant and scalable economic and societal benefits to the United States, including smart traffic and transit technologies, augmented logistics and supply chains, environmental monitoring, and health care; IoT opportunities and challenges for small businesses; and any IoT-related international opportunities for the U.S. Full details on the board’s activities are provided in a Federal Register notice.

The board consists of 16 members and represents a broad range of disciplines from across academia, industry and civil society. Board members will serve two-year appointments, and all meetings are open to the public.

Launched in 2020, the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation is a public-private organization that was created to lead coordinated, statewide efforts to position Georgia as the leader for innovation, opportunity, and shared economic success. With support from Georgia Tech and a host of private and public partners, including the State of Georgia, the Partnership’s focus pillars of community research, workforce development, student engagement, and economic opportunity are a powerful combination that provide technical and financial support to democratize innovation through collaboration. Among its offerings, and one of the reasons Lam is on the board is the Smart Cities and Inclusive Innovation program, which activates collaborations between researchers and municipalities to explore innovative uses of technology and data in pursuit of prosperity for all.

In addition to Lam, the newly appointed members include:

Benson M. Chan (Chair), Chief Operating Officer, Strategy of Things Inc.
Daniel W. Caprio Jr. (Vice Chair), Co-founder and Chair, The Providence Group
Michael J. Bergman, Vice President, Technology and Standards, Consumer Technology Association
Ranveer Chandra, Managing Director of Research for Industry and Chief Technology Officer of Agri-Food, Microsoft
Nicholas Emanuel, Product Manager, CropX
Steven E. Griffith, Senior Industry Director, National Electrical Manufacturers Association
Tom Katsioulas, Chair, Global Semiconductor Alliance
Kevin T. Kornegay, Professor and IoT Security Endowed Chair, Morgan State University
Ann Mehra, Adviser to Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University
Robby Moss, President and Principal Consultant, TGL Enterprises LLC
Nicole Raimundo, Chief Information Officer, Town of Cary, North Carolina
Maria Rerecich, Senior Director of Product Testing, Consumer Reports
Debbie A. Reynolds, Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Data Privacy Officer, Debbie Reynolds Consulting
Arman Shehabi, Staff Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Peter Tseronis, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Dots and Bridges LLC

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will provide administrative support to the advisory board, and information on board activities can be found on the NIST website.

Economic Development Administration Awards Georgia Tech $65 Million for AI Manufacturing Project

Largest grant ever awarded to a Georgia Tech-led coalition of partners to drive Build Back Better initiatives

ATLANTA — The Georgia Institute of Technology has been awarded a $65 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) to support a statewide initiative that combines artificial intelligence and manufacturing innovations with transformational workforce and outreach programs. The grant will increase job and wage opportunities in distressed and rural communities, as well as among historically underrepresented and underserved groups.

The Georgia Artificial Intelligence Manufacturing Technology Corridor (GA-AIM) effort is one of 21 winning projects the White House announced today under the Biden administration’s $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge. The award follows a $500,000 Phase 1 feasibility grant the project received in 2021.

“Georgia Tech is honored to lead this vision of collaborative innovation and economic development across all regions of our state,” said Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera. “This award underscores the Institute’s commitment to leverage our resources and expertise to address great challenges, serve our state and nation, and amplify our impact on the world.”

The selected awardees represent projects in 24 states with grant amounts ranging from $25 million to $65 million.

“As we invest and grow critical industries in the U.S., we want to create industry hubs in diverse communities across the country,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement. “These grants will provide critical and historic funding directly to community coalitions to invest in new infrastructure, research and development, and workforce development programs while creating good-paying jobs, supporting workers, and prioritizing equity.”

Members of the Georgia AIM team (from left) Georgia White, David Bridges, Donna Ennis, Burunda Prince, and Aaron Stebner listen as President Joe Biden discusses the funding award to Georgia Tech and its partners. (PHOTO: Peralte C. Paul)

The GA-AIM project is led by Aaron Stebner, associate professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Materials Science and Engineering; Donna Ennis, director of Diversity Engagement and Program Development in Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute and also director of its Georgia MBDA Business Center; and Thomas R. Kurfess, executive director of the Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute.

“The ability to integrate our discoveries and innovations here at the AI Manufacturing Pilot Facility with novel workforce programs and transformative outreach experiences is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something greater in ways that increase opportunity and prosperity for all Georgians,” Stebner said. “Through an equitable AI manufacturing innovation focus, the assembled coalition of partners and stakeholders across the state will build a more prosperous and resilient Georgia and set a nation-leading example.”

The AI Manufacturing Pilot Facility, which will allow for government and industry pilot trials, cybersecurity games, and workforce training for AI manufacturing technologies, is just one component of Georgia Tech’s support for the project.

Two of Georgia Tech’s commercialization programs — VentureLab and I-Corps South — will create a center for the commercialization of AI manufacturing technologies into local and regional startups through training built on the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps curriculum.

The Enterprise Innovation Institute, Georgia Tech’s economic development arm, will engage in focused outreach and technical assistance to small- and mid-sized manufacturers and minority business enterprises through its Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) and Georgia MBDA Business Center programs. Other Enterprise Innovation Institute programs include the Economic Development Lab, the Partnership for Inclusive Innovation, and ATDC, which will focus on outreach and engagement in distressed and underserved parts of the state, create workforce development programs, implementation strategies, and attract outside investment.

“The work that we will accomplish with our broad spectrum of partners in this new endeavor will leverage the latest technology in artificial intelligence to grow and strengthen our workforce ensuring that the growing manufacturing sector in Georgia has the skilled workforce that it requires for today’s as well as tomorrow’s needs,” Kurfess said. “At the same the high paying and secure jobs will be going to a very diverse population base from across the state, providing an equitable robust future for all citizens of Georgia.”

Georgia Tech’s Supply Chain & Logistics Institute will study the impact of automation technologies, build automation solutions tailored for rural manufacturers, and create programs that lower the barrier for rural manufacturers’ access to use the AI Manufacturing Pilot Facility.

Finally, Georgia Tech’s K-12 InVenture Prize and Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing programs will expand their emphasis to rural and underserved areas of the state by piloting a rural regional event with a region-specific prize. They will also create supplemental lessons centered on AI and data science that will be part of a K-12 InVenture Prize curriculum website.

“We are excited to be a part of this collaborative effort to catalyze research and innovation in AI and manufacturing across the state of Georgia,” said Chaouki T. Abdallah, executive vice president for Research at Georgia Tech. “This project aligns with our goals to expand economic opportunity in our state’s underserved communities, and to serve as a collaborative hub for interdisciplinary research that advances technology and improves people’s lives.”

Georgia Tech is working with a coalition of statewide partners to create a foundation that supports existing business growth and new business ventures across the state especially in underserved communities and rural Georgia.

“All across the state of Georgia, our programs in the Enterprise Innovation Institute work hard to unlock potential and foster economic opportunity for all, particularly in underserved and marginalized communities,” said David Bridges, vice president of the Enterprise Innovation Institute, and co-author of the grant proposal with Stebner. “This project leverages what we and our partners each do best to help achieve our broader Georgia AIM goals.”

Tech’s partners include the:

“What’s really special about this effort is that it’s centered on a wholistic approach with innovation, not just one piece of AI or manufacturing,” Ennis said. “We’re working collectively statewide to transform and propel forward our industry, communities, and most importantly, our people.”

That collective approach is critical to GA-AIM’s success, said Houston County Development Authority Executive Director Angie Gheesling.

“The Development Authority and the 21^st Century Partnership lead the Middle Georgia Innovation Project, which includes 11 counties in the Middle Georgia region, a diverse landscape of communities from rural to urban,” she said. “This award further facilitates the continuation of several years of collaboration between local leadership, our universities, private industry, and Robins Air Force Base to position ourselves as a Software Center of Excellence. We are grateful to Georgia Tech for the opportunity to partner and contribute to the overall future success of GA-AIM.”

Burunda Prince, chief operating officer of the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs, echoed those sentiments, saying its reach is exponentially amplified through the GA-AIM partnership.

The Center will create a mobile, 5,000-square-foot LaunchPad AI Innovation Studio to provide prototyping and proof-of-concept development of physical products. Black entrepreneurs in rural and urban Georgia will have access to equipment, training, and mentoring, and LaunchPad AI will also be open to AI InVenture teams from Atlanta’s urban K-12 schools.

“As part of the Build Back Better grant, the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs will help Black businesses leverage the benefits of artificial intelligence to provide better data and insights that will build stronger companies and drive greater wealth generation,” Prince said. “What makes this opportunity unique is the cross collaboration of partners which will engage and empower communities across Georgia through access to technologies that often are inaccessible.”

Equally as important is the education component and the ability for it to be a bridge to new skills and opportunities for Georgia workers, said Technical College System of Georgia Commissioner Greg Dozier.

“The funding for the project will equip four TCSG colleges with state-of-the-art manufacturing studios that will showcase the clean, safe state of modern manufacturing,” Dozier said. “Automation in manufacturing creates a demand for more skilled jobs, giving TCSG the charge to strengthen the workforce pipeline by training Georgians in these exciting, new technologies. The Georgia AIM project provides the funding to meet these opportunities head on.”

About the U.S. Economic Development Administration
The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation’s regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA makes investments in economically distressed communities to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation, and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.

About the Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology, or Georgia Tech, is a top 10 public research university developing leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. The Institute offers business, computing, design, engineering, liberal arts, and sciences degrees. Its nearly 44,000 students representing 50 states and 149 countries, study at the main campus in Atlanta, at campuses in France and China, and through distance and online learning. As a leading technological university, Georgia Tech is an engine of economic development for Georgia, the Southeast, and the nation, conducting more than $1 billion in research annually for government, industry, and society.

Enterprise Innovation Institute VP Receives ‘World Best Leader’ Award from International Research Conference

David Bridges Awards — Angela Lee (left), a student at Lambert High School in Suwanee, and Georgia Tech student Sujin Cho (right) present David Bridges, Enterprise Innovation Institute vice president with the World Best Leader Award. (PHOTO: Peralte C. Paul)

David Bridges, vice president of Georgia Tech’s Enterprise Innovation Institute, was a featured speaker at the International Conference and Awards for the Earth Environment in South Korea.

The conference, held earlier this summer at the National Assembly Proceeding Hall, in Seoul, featured seminars and breakout sessions regarding policies focused on environmental protection on a global scale.

Bridges, who received the World Best Leader Award, discussed resilience and recovery in supply chain, cybersecurity, and advanced manufacturing trends and best practices for small and medium-sized businesses and startups.

In addition to Bridges’ award, a team of Georgia high school and university students, including Georgia Tech, were given the 2022 Top Class Representative Person Award for their efforts in leading environmental campaigns.

The conference aims to share economic, environmental, technological, and social startup innovations to encourage the sustainable development of ideas and technologies, ultimately supporting United Nation’s sustainable development goals.