Baltimore Innovation Week 2017

Hadley VanRenterghem, originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, is a sophomore at Johns Hopkins University majoring in Biomedical Engineering.

Brad Hennessie is the CEO of NextStep Robotic Inc., a company whose portable robotic ankle exoskeleton is being developed as the first ever treatment option to reverse foot drop in stroke victims. Foot drop, which occurs in a wide range of neurological and orthopedic conditions, is recognized as the inability to lift the toe during normal walking. He has been working with the inventors of this technology for 8 years, managing multiple grants with Drs. Macko, Roy, and Forrester. He started with the team as a single study coordinator and quickly grew into a leadership role over the past few years, helping manage the day-to-day tasks and long term goals for the Maryland Exercise and Robotics Center of Excellence (MERCE). MERCE is a ~$7M/year research organization originally founded by Dr. Richard Macko that is part of the Baltimore VA Medical Center and the Department of Neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Brad’s conception of the business model and commercialization plan led to the team’s successful TEDCO MII Phase I/II submission and attracting their first external investor.

Since transitioning out of the robotics lab and starting full time with NextStep Robotics, he has directed an engineering team with Dr. Gil Blankenship at the Maryland Development Center to create the first prototype of the portable ankle robot.

Brad’s early development as a leader was shaped by his 8 years in the Maryland Army National Guard where he learned the importance of having confidence in the quality of a product by being a parachute rigger.

Darius Irani is a sophomore at Johns Hopkins, currently studying Computer Science and Applied Mathematics & Statistics. Originally from Upstate New York, Darius has found his home in Baltimore through involvement in his social start-up Project Charmify that does community development, educational programming, and vacant space activation in neighborhoods across Baltimore. Darius would like to combine his passion for social justice issues and technical interests and skills in STEM, by using Big Data and Machine Learning to have social impact in cities and influence social policy.

David W. Wise is the Director the Maryland Momentum Fund a new initiative of the University System of Maryland (USM) to provide late seed investment funding for promising technology ventures that come out of any of the twelve constituent institutions of the University System or its incubators. Mr. Wise has a business career spanning over thirty years including serving eight and half years as CEO of The Genetics & IVF Institute in Fairfax, Virginia an international women's healthcare company with operations in both the US and China of which the Inova Health System was the largest shareholder. In 2014 he decided to shift the focus of his career to helping develop the innovation economy in Maryland. Since 2014 he has been the Venture Advisor to the President of the Abell Foundation on its direct investment program. He is also an advisor to UM Ventures and the Sinai/LifeBridge Health Bioincubator. In addition, he is a member of the Betamore Advisory Board and of the Board of the Maryland Humanities Council and sits on the Bioscience Committee of the Greater Baltimore Committee. He has served as a business competition judge for Accelerate Baltimore, Beta City, and at both the Fischell School in College Park and their School of Medicine of the University of Maryland, among others.

In his position with the Momentum Fund Mr. Wise will be responsible for the review and due diligence and recommendations on investments by the Momentum Fund. In addition, he in conjunction with members of the UM Ventures team, will work with these early stage companies to provide business advice and counseling to help promote their success. Mr. Wise graduated with highest honors from the University of Dayton and received a graduate degree in international business from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Dan Rodricks is an award-winning columnist for the Baltimore Sun newspapers, and host of the Roughly Speaking podcast. He was previously the host of Midday, a daily talk show on WYPR FM 88.1, the NPR station in Baltimore, and the host of "Rodricks For Breakfast" on WMAR-TV, "The Dan Rodricks Show" on WBAL Radio , and a long-time contributor of features and commentary to WBAL-TV.

Our team project, "ABSP - Active Bed Sore Prevention," was a creative concept and prototype model to prevent bed sores through a sensor-based pad that may be placed on an existing patient bed. The idea was to detect the location and magnitude of pressure differences, then use a feedback mechanism to create an air pocket at the target site in order to alleviate the pressure. Our presentation included a consideration of the potential for a large public health impact across the world, as pressure ulcers currently result in a largely preventable mortality risk and incur a heavy economic burden.

Aaron is a radio and podcast producer at WYPR. His current project with Wendel Partrick is called Out of the Blocks. It is an immersive podcast that blends voices and sounds from the streets of Baltimore. A tapestry of stories hidden in plain sight, with an original musical score.

Moss Amer works at the Maryland Venture Fund, where he serves as a board observer for several portfolio companies, including Aledade, Fugue, and Harpoon Medical.

Prior to joining the Fund, Moss worked as a Senior Analyst at TCP Venture Capital, where he helped to build a 10-company portfolio with significant positive write-ups. Select investments include RedOwl Analytics (acquired by Forcepoint), WellDoc, and ZeroFOX.

Moss graduated magna cum laude from Brown University, where he studied entrepreneurship and technology management. He is a 2013 Venture for America fellow.