Baltimore Innovation Week 2017

Sarah is Editor and writer for the Baltimore ravens. She is also the Host and creator of the Man in the Crowd podcast which takes an in-depth look at the Harbaugh family and their fascinating and often controversial ultra-competitive “fighter” approach to life. With over 25 interviews with family members, friends, co-workers and reporters conducted over the course of a year and woven into a story told over nine episodes, fans get a glimpse at what makes this family tick.

Jessica Reynolds is an international trade and investment specialist serving as Regional Manager for Europe at the Maryland Department of Commerce. Prior to joining Commerce, Mrs. Reynolds worked as a consultant for an economic development and planning firm, and as a Senior Manager and consultant in the international economic development field, working on US Government, World Bank, and other donor projects. She started her international career as an intern at the World Trade Center Institute in Baltimore. Mrs. Reynolds holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Bachelor’s Degree from Loyola University Maryland. She holds professional memberships in the International Economic Development Council and the Maryland Economic Development Association.

Stephen Auvil is the senior vice president for technology transfer and commercialization at the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO). In this role, he is responsible for overseeing TEDCO’s funding programs. He is also responsible for other programs that foster the transfer of technologies from universities and federal laboratories into the commercial sector. From 2008 - 2010, Mr. Auvil served as the assistant vice president for research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) where he assisted UMBC’s vice president for research in his effort to build and support UMBC’s research enterprise. He was also responsible for supporting UMBC’s economic development mission as it relates to research, technology transfer, and new venture creation. Mr. Auvil, who was one of the architects of UMBC’s ACTiVATE® and INNoVATE™ programs, served as a co-principal investigator on the National Science Foundation grants that supported these programs. From 2000 - 2008, Mr. Auvil served as the director of UMBC's Office of Technology Development (OTD). During his tenure, he oversaw significant growth in OTD’s active license agreements, intellectual property portfolio, and licensing revenues. He actively promoted UMBC’s research capabilities and helped to build ties with Maryland companies. Before arriving at UMBC, he worked as an assistant director in the Office of Technology Licensing at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine where he evaluated inventions and negotiated license agreements for a variety of technologies. He has successfully negotiated dozens of license agreements including many agreements involving equity and faculty initiated start-up companies. Prior to working at Johns Hopkins, Mr. Auvil worked for two small medical device companies where he had a variety of responsibilities ranging from rebuilding medical devices under GMP to setting-up and networking computerized accounting systems. He began his career as a laboratory technician studying ion channels in membranes. Mr. Auvil graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Engineering Science from Loyola College in Maryland, and went on to earn a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Baltimore and a Masters of Science in Biotechnology from the Johns Hopkins University.

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.

Dr. Jennifer Reynolds is an experienced and entrepreneurial executive with more than twenty years of experience growing companies in start - up/early stage biotechnology and high technology environments. She is currently overseeing the University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s 60+ company incubation/acceleration program in life sciences, cybersecurity and clean technology and has a deep passion and interest in advancing the commercialization of new technologies within diverse high-technology sectors. Previously, she served in a COO capacity at a molecular diagnostics platform company in MD, growing the company from the ground up. She has also served as a DNA Forensics Expert and Crime Laboratory Director at one of the nation’s most prestigious private forensics testing laboratories. Jennifer has a B.S. degree in Biology from Virginia Tech, a PhD in Human Genetics from the Medical College of Virginia (VCU), and an MBA degree from the Executive MBA program at Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland College Park.

Gabriel is a digital tech evangelist, community builder, and people connector. He is also the co-founder of AudioStaq, a publishing and monetization platform for podcasters. Gabriel is a contributor to Technically Baltimore and former Editor in Chief at BaltimoreGamer.com

Julia Spicer serves as the Executive Director for the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (MAVA) and fosters innovation and company building by bringing together private and public investment capital and high growth enterprises across stage and industry. As head of MAVA, Ms. Spicer presents industry thought-leaders and best practices in support of emerging as well as established companies. From helping the earliest of innovators secure seed capital to discussing the latest in market intelligence important to high growth enterprises, she supports the full life cycle of company growth and investment interests. Her corporate technology career, experience in private investment, and most notably, her early entrepreneurial roots as company founder provide a useful foundation for fostering the success of high growth technology companies, from start-up to exit. She joined MAVA from Columbia Capital, a private equity growth capital firm specializing in communications technology. Previously, she served as Corporate Vice President of Strategic Planning and Communications for GTE Corporation, with responsibilities for investor relations and both public policy and strategic positioning for the company’s $4B emerging technology businesses which included wireless, mobile, air-to-ground, satellite, and R&D operations. Ms. Spicer also served as President of the GTE Foundation, one of the top 20 corporate foundations in the United States, focusing principally on science and mathematics education and the arts. An industry leader, Spicer founded TechBUZZ which to date over a five year period has helped launch more than 330 early market-entry companies, which have collectively raised more than $700M in reported seed and follow-on investments. In 2008, she was instrumental in launching a first-ever Mid-Atlantic Bio initiative to further support the biotechnology industry and encourage collaboration among investors, industry, academia and companies from laboratory to exit. Spicer has served or is currently on the boards of the Network of Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), an international organization assisting disadvantaged children through chapters located in 33 countries; the University of Maryland’s Clark School of Engineering Board of Visitors; Summit Executive Resources; and Able Flight, a scholarship program providing assistance to individuals with disabilities by challenging them through flight training. Through a gubernatorial appointment, Ms. Spicer serves on the Commonwealth Health Research Board, which has the primary responsibility to make grants for human health research, especially for those efforts that have the potential of maximizing human health benefits for citizens of the Commonwealth. Ms. Spicer is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, where she was a Morehead-Cain Scholar.

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