IDEA Week: Full Schedule

9:00am EDT

Become a Leader, Not a Casualty in the Digital Age. How Blockchain Will Transform Your Business.

Blockchain is expected have a profound impact on the digital economy. Innovators must choose if they will embrace this disruptive technology to transform or if they will simply use it to optimize mundane and potentially obsolete models. In this session, we will examine the shifting business landscape and effects of blockchain on current and future enterprise along with some key market observations.

Speakers

Mike J. Walker

Senior Director, Applied Innovation Team, Microsoft

Mike J. Walker has a diverse background in emerging technologies, innovation, business strategy, and enterprise architecture. He has provided high-impact and pragmatic advice to CEOs, CIOs, and CTOs of global Fortune 100 companies.At Microsoft, Walker leads blockchain strategy and... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 9:00am - 10:00am EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN, Blockchain Summit

10:15am EDT

Blockchain in Healthcare Panel

Blockchain is designed to be a principle-based regulation system that provides high safety standards, legal certainty, and a stable environment for transactions. It provides a fact-based, immutable, and transparent record, which makes it ideal for the healthcare environment. The panel of experts in this session will review the key solutions that blockchain can bring to the healthcare industry.

Moderators

Nate Miller

CEO, Consensus Networks

Prior to joining Consensus Networks, Nate served for over seven years in the U.S. Navy as a Submarine Warfare Officer. He is a 2011 graduate of the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor’s of Science in Systems Engineering. He attended the U.S. Navy’s nuclear power and submarine... Read More →

Speakers

Jose Arrieta

Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services

Silas Garrison

CEO, HealthSpace Data Systems, Ltd.

Mr. Garrison is a seasoned business and tech leader with nearly two decades experience providing software to state and local government agencies. He was co-founder to the first company that offered a native inspection app on the iPad to public and environmental health departments... Read More →

Sean Manion

Chief Scientific Officer, ConsenSys Health, United States

Sean Manion, PhD is a neuroscientist with two decades of federal brain research and leadership experience. He is the Chief Scientific Officer of ConsenSys Health, a start-up focused on the application of emerging technology (blockchain, decentralized machine learning, and privacy-preserving... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 10:15am - 11:15am EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN, Blockchain Summit

10:15am EDT

The Future of Cash in a Digital Economy

In an age of Bitcoin, Apple Pay, Credit Cards, PayPal, Venmo, and countless digital payments, how does cash fit in and what is its future? Join us for a history of cash - from its humble beginnings to its future in our society.

Today, retail, grocery, hospitality, and many other industries leverage back-office automation to stay competitive as e-commerce and peer-to-peer consistently disrupt more and more businesses. To survive, companies continue to adopt robotics and automation, which work to streamline the back office and, as a result, allocate more time toward customer-facing operations. This same back-office automation is being applied to physical cash.

By leveraging cash recycling, cloud-based reconciliation, and other automation, cash can now be digitized. This contemporary management of cash lets operators save millions of dollars in legacy cash management costs while allowing customers to pay in cash, which remains a wildly popular form of payment despite its traditional nature. Like other automated back-office functions, automated cash management enables increased customer focus by shifting labor from the back office to the front of the organization.

Please join us as we explore the modern-day migration of cash into the digital realm and how physical cash is evolving to coexist with crypto-currency.

Speakers

Mike Baldinger

Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Evention LLC, Evention

Mike Baldinger serves as managing partner & co-founder of Evention LLC, an early pioneer in automated back-office solutions in Chicago, IL. Originally established in 2004 as a technology consulting company, in 2006 Evention launched its first software application developed to automate... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 10:15am - 11:15am EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN, Blockchain Summit

11:30am EDT

Blockchain 101: From Cypherpunks to Enterprise Crypto

Blockchain is a transformative technology that is on the precipice of mass adoption. However, very few truly understand exactly what it is, how it came to be, and why it’s valuable. Join expert Jake Kuczeruk, Director of Partnerships at Dispatch (a next-gen protocol built for the management and analysis of data) for this session, where he will explain the nature of the relationship between cryptocurrencies and blockchain-based solutions, the basics of consensus mechanisms and different underlying protocols, and key terms and players in the overall ecosystem.

Speakers

Jake Kuczeruk

Director Of Partnerships, Dispatch Labs & The Bureau

Jake Kuczeruk is an San Francisco-based entrepreneur, advisor, and growth/partnerships specialist who serves in dual roles as the director of partnerships for both Dispatch (enterprise-focused blockchain protocol) and The Bureau (blockchain advisory, accelerator, and fund). Formerly... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN, Blockchain Summit

11:30am EDT

Blockchain in Industry Panel

Enterprise blockchain requires special consideration. Smart contracts code the logic of a business process (including pricing, discounting, bundles, frequency of transactions, dependencies, etc.) directly into the transaction. If the blockchain is public, it would enable competitors to track business activities and understand the business processes used in its operations.

This panel will discuss strategies to prevent the dissemination of intellectual property, including permissioned blockchains on trusted nodes and private transactions.

Moderators

Joel Neidig

CEO, SIMBA Chain

Joel Neidig is the CEO of SIMBA, a Blockchain as a Service platform. He has 14 years of experience integrating manufacturing technology and software development. In 2016, Neidig spoke at the White House by invitation of the National Economic Council in recognition of the progress... Read More →

Speakers

Scott Perkins

Senior Vice President, Quisitive Technology Solutions

Scotty Perkins is an operations, compliance and information technology leader with expertise in blockchain and the payments industry. With nearly 25 years’ experience, he has held senior positions in operations, compliance, IT, business development and procurement, andspecializes... Read More →

Rajat Rajbhandari

CEO and Co-Founder, dexFreight

Rajat Rajbhandari, PhD, is a CEO and co-founder of dexFreight, a startup building decentralized logistics platform for shippers and carriers to collaborate on blockchain and smart contracts. He is also leading a project at Port of Veracruz to build Latin America’s first blockchain-powered... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN, Blockchain Summit

12:30pm EDT

Haug Family Innovation Lecture Series: Irrational Ignorance at the Patent Office

Haug Family Innovation Lecture Series: Irrational Ignorance at the Patent Office

Presented by Barnes & Thornburg

There is widespread belief that the Patent Office issues too many bad patents that impose significant harms on society. At first glance, the solution to the patent quality crisis seems straightforward: give patent examiners more time to review applications so they grant patents only to those inventions that deserve them. Yet the answer to the harms of invalid patents may not be that easy. It is possible that the Patent Office is, as Mark Lemley famously wrote, “rationally ignorant.” Because so few patents are economically significant, perhaps it makes sense to rely upon litigation to make detailed validity determinations in those rare cases rather than increase the expenses associated with conducting a more thorough review of all patent applications. This Article conducts a cost-benefit analysis, employing new and rich sources of data along with sophisticated empirical techniques to form novel, empirically driven estimates of the relationships that Lemley was forced, given the dearth of empirical evidence at his time, to assume in his own analysis. Armed with these new estimates, this Article demonstrates that the savings in future litigation and prosecution expenses associated with giving examiners additional time per application more than outweigh the costs of increasing examiner time allocations. Thus, we conclude the opposite of Lemley: society would be better off investing more resources in the Agency to improve patent quality than relying upon ex-post litigation to weed out invalid patents. Given its current level of resources, the Patent Office is not being “rationally ignorant” but, instead, irrationally ignorant.

Speakers

Melissa Wasserman

Charles Tilford McCormick Professor of Law, University of Texas

Melissa Feeney Wasserman joined the University of Texas law faculty in 2016. Her research focuses on the institutional design of innovation policy, with a particular emphasis on patent law and administrative law. Her articles have been published or are forthcoming in both student... Read More →

Steve Yelderman

Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame

Professor Stephen Yelderman is a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame. He joined the faculty in 2013 and was promoted to full professor in 2018. Prior to joining the faculty of Notre Dame, Yelderman served as a Trial Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust... Read More →

Ed Haug

Managing Partner, Haug Partners LLP

Ed Haug is the managing partner of Haug Partners LLP and was a founding member of the firm in 1997. The firm has offices in New York City, Boston, and Washington D.C. and focuses on intellectual property, antitrust, FDA and commercial litigation among other complimentary practice... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 12:30pm - 1:45pm EDT
Notre Dame Law School 1100 Eck Hall of Law, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

LEARN

1:30pm EDT

Blockchain for Government Panel: Socially Meaningful Use Cases and Non-Disruptive Innovation

Blockchain applications in the public sector include overseas e-voting, digital identity data, property rights and land registry, municipal bonds and taxes, public financing, cross-border remittances, and more. This technology is about creating trust in multisector cross-border relationships, therefore, it must be friendly with policymakers and industry incumbents around the world.

Join our panelists to learn more about ways frontier technologies like blockchain and emerging industries must work collaboratively with governments to thrive.

Moderators

Luke Kim

Chief Marketing Officer, Vite Labs

Luke Kim is a digital nomad from Seoul and Tokyo and chief marketing officer at Vite Labs. Kim is a former business development manager at City Innovate Foundation and SuperPublic CoLab at United Nations Plaza, head of U.S. relations at European Innovation Academy, director of strategic... Read More →

Speakers

Samantha Linnett

Innovation Design Lead, City of Syracuse - Mayor's Office

Samantha Linnett serves as the innovation design lead for the city of Syracuse's Office of Accountability, Performance, and Innovation, or Innovation Team (i-team). Linnett uses her communications and human-centered-design skills to perform community outreach and manage stakeholder... Read More →

Kenneth Clarke

Project Manager, Blockland Cleveland at JumpStart Inc.

Kenneth Clarke is the project manager for Blockland Cleveland, an audacious, all-hands-on-deck, full-blown community effort to build, support and promote the city of Cleveland as an innovative technology center using blockchain technology as the catalyst. Blockland’s goal is to... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN, Blockchain Summit

1:30pm EDT

How Blockchain has Redefined Entrepreneurship Panel

Join this session to learn everything you need to know about how to get a company started with blockchain. The panel will take a look at alternative approaches to entrepreneurship that blockchain enables, and traditional and non-traditional use cases will also be reviewed.

Avoid the pitfalls by learning from seasoned experts!

Moderators

Michael Ketigian

Poet & Technologist, inverse K

inverse K is the stage name of Michael Ketigian: a poet and technologist who explains and explores complex ideas through the art of verse. He would perform under his given name if it were more easily spelled and pronounced (it's keh-TEE-jee-an), but reality dictated otherwise. The... Read More →

Speakers

Jake Kuczeruk

Director Of Partnerships, Dispatch Labs & The Bureau

Matt McKibbin

Founder and Chief Decentralization Officer, DecentraNet

Matt McKibbin is the co-founder of Decentranet a purpose-driven advisory firm focusing on amplifying transformative technologies to positively affect the seven billion people on the planet. McKibbin has been a blockchain evangelist since 2013, when he coordinated the DC Blockchain... Read More →

Chelsea Rustrum

Co-founder and Founder, respectively, Blox7.com and Blockchain for Good

Chelsea Rustrum explores shared ownership and value distribution through the lens of the sharing economy and blockchain technology. She’s the author of It’s a Shareable Life, the founder of Blockchain for Good, a social and educational series, and the co-founder of Blox 7, a new... Read More →

Monika Proffitt

Founder, Rise Housing

Monika Proffitt is an international speaker, writer, and social entrepreneur. As an expert in the blockchain space and several-time founder, Proffitt has developed the business acumen over the last two decades to bring a high level of clarity, focus, and sustainability to every project... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN, Blockchain Summit

2:15pm EDT

Patents in Practice Panel

Presented by Barnes and Thornburg

Just because something can be patented doesn’t mean it should be or that the invention will create value. In this panel, you will hear from four experts with practical patent experience: a patent prosecution attorney, an in-house patent counsel, a patent valuation expert, and a patent investor. Learn key techniques to successfully commercialize intellectual property, common pitfalls, and how to focus research towards a solid intellectual property position able to protect your market and defends against the claims of others.

Moderators

Robert Hess

Managing Director, Business Design, Ocean Tomo

Robert M. Hess is a managing director, and one of the founding members of Ocean Tomo, the leading Intellectual Capital Merchant Banc® firm. The company provides financial products and services related to Intellectual Property expert testimony, valuation, investments, and transactions.Mr... Read More →

Speakers

Jeffrey A. Michael

Partner, Barnes & Thornburg

Jeffrey A. Michael is a partner in Barnes & Thornburg’s Grand Rapids, Michigan office, and a member of the Intellectual Property and Technology Departments, as well as the Nanotechnology Practice Group.Jeffrey serves corporate and individual clients by obtaining intellectual property... Read More →

Jodi Clifford

Director, Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic, The University of Notre Dame

Jodi Clifford is the founding director of Notre Dame Law School’s Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship Clinic, where she teaches and practices intellectual property law. Prior to joining the law school faculty in 2011, she was a patent attorney at Thompson Hine, LLP and is... Read More →

Michael Noonan

VP of Intellectual Property, Laird Technologies

Michael Noonan has been vice president and chief IP counsel at Laird since 2008. Laird is a 195-year-old technology company, founded as a shipbuilder in Liverpool, England in 1824, transforming into an electronics components and systems manufacturer today. Laird is a leading supplier... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 2:15pm - 3:15pm EDT
Notre Dame Law School 1100 Eck Hall of Law, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

LEARN, Panel

2:45pm EDT

Implementation - the Beginning of a New Blockchain Era and a Sign of Maturity

As we pass the 10-year anniversary of bitcoin white paper, we close an important “Proof of Concept” chapter in the book of the blockchain. Much has been learned during the past decade and understanding key aspects of this period allows us to be ready for the next chapter.

With these experiences in hand, we can step into a new era of “Implementation.” No matter the age or area of focus, opportunities are awaiting those who are driven by ingenuity, innovation, and creativity. Blockchain technology allows for the optimization of processes in all industries from finance to space exploration.

Early to blockchain, Irina S Litchfield is dedicated thought leader. She will be delivering this message to wide range of audience and empowering them to take steps toward applying blockchain to their industry.

Speakers

Irina Litchfield

Founder, BlockchainCubed

Irina S. Litchfield is the founder of Blockchain Cubed. She is an investor, author, and spokesperson for Blockchain Global Regulatory Infrastructure. She is community leader, correspondent and columnist. Early to the blockchain space, she also co-founded US-based Bitcoin Exchange... Read More →

Mohammed Irfan

Managing Partner and Head of Research, Bloccelerate

Sheikh Mohammed Irfan is a serial entrepreneur, author, inventor, and philanthropist. He is currently the Managing Partner and Head of Research at Bloccelerate VC, a global blockchain venture fund based in Seattle. His focus areas are in the fields of emerging technologies and its... Read More →

Zane Witherspoon

CTO, Dispatch Labs

Zane Witherspoon is an expert in distributed consensus architecture currently leading the development of the Dispatch protocol, a house project of the larger Bureau ecosystem. Formerly a network security specialist, Zane started investing and developing in blockchain back in 2016... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 2:45pm - 3:45pm EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN, Blockchain Summit

2:45pm EDT

Practical Blockchain

It’s easy to get lost in the jargon, technology, trends and controversy surrounding blockchain. Add regulatory issues governing cryptocurrency and it is more than challenging to assess how any of it can have practical application. Join this panel discussion and interactive workshop to gain an understanding of these new tools as applied in the real world. Executives will present a case study example addressing the similarities and differences between blockchain and cryptocurrency as well as the Initial Coin Offerings and Security Token Offerings.

Moderators

James Malackowski

Chairman & CEO, Ocean Tomo, LLC

James E. Malackowski is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Tomo, LLC, the Intellectual Capital Merchant BancTM firm providing industry leading financial products and services related to intellectual property including financial expert testimony, valuation, strategy... Read More →

Speakers

Joe Hirl

Patent agent

Joe Hirl worked as President in Jefferson Capital Resources Inc., at Zodiac acquisition of ILC, as President at TCOM Corp., as Buyout of Lighter-than Air Technology, as Senior Vice President at Westinghouse Electric Corp. and he worked at International Security SystemsCurrently he's... Read More →

Jim Falvey

General Counsel & Chief Regulatory Office, EMX

Jim Falvey is an attorney with a focus in commodities, derivatives, securities, fintech/regtech, and intellectual property (often associated with financial markets). Jim is general counsel of EverMarkets or “EMX,” a crypto derivatives exchange. He is also co-founder and general... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 2:45pm - 3:45pm EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN, Blockchain Summit

4:00pm EDT

Why Our Institutions Are Destined to Become Open-Sourced

This fireside chat explores upcoming changes in our world as a result of new blockchain technology applications and widespread adoption. Audience Q&A will follow a series of four short talks by our four speakers.

Matt McKibben:
Innovation has driven society to invent technologies which enable previously centralized institutions to be open-sourced. Much like Martin Luther led to the open-sourcing of Holy Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation, we are now seeing a similar open-sourcing and forking of other historically centralized institutions such as banks and governments. This talk will explore this theme of open-sourcing modern institutions and the resulting impacts on the world.

Matt McGraw:
DLT isn’t a technology innovation, it’s a business model innovation. Businesses can now be closer to partners and consumers of goods and services – a permanent and open source joint venture. The obvious benefit is this is more sustainable, ethical even – but what does it mean for corporate governance?

Irina Litchfield:
Entering a new era in blockchain. Irina is co-founder of the US-based Bitcoin Exchange and built an online bank in Mexico, which specializes in micropayments. Litchfield is one of the first female founders in crypto industry.

Susan Oh:
Susan Oh is the founder of MKR, an AI-based system that measures and grades the trustworthiness of text and voice reports. Susan will share in her unique area of experience in this exciting and practical application of blockchain technology.

Speakers

Matt McKibbin

Founder and Chief Decentralization Officer, DecentraNet

Irina Litchfield

Founder, BlockchainCubed

Matt McGraw

CEO and serial entrepreneur, Dispatch Labs

Matt McGraw is a successful leader, CEO, and serial entrepreneur who takes pride in finding great talent; helping to uncover and activate a fun, positive culture and mission; and design high-performance, high-growth operations. McGraw has taken multiple companies from zero to $10... Read More →

Susan Oh

Founder and CEO, MKR AI

Susan Oh is a civic technologist in AI and blockchain integration towards scalable solutions for social good. She is the founder of MKR AI, which uses machine learning to measure and grade the trustworthiness of text and voice reports, and a governing member of the Non-governmental... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN, Blockchain Summit

6:30pm EDT

Innovation Awards With Lynn Tilton

Presented by RISE (Regional Innovation and Startup Education)

This session will begin with a fireside chat between Marian Hodges, vice president of corporate strategy and development at Data Realty, and Lynn Tilton, the founder and CEO of Patriarch Partners, a New York City-based company that has held ownership in and restructured more than 240 companies with combined revenues in excess of $100 billion and representing more than 700,000 jobs.

Tilton has appeared on CNBC, Fox Business and many other networks countless times and has been dubbed America's "Turnaround Queen" and the "Diva of Distressed" for turning around dozens of distressed companies.

In this session, Tilton will discuss what it took for her to succeed as a woman entrepreneur on male-dominated Wall Street, why she cares so much about "Main Street" America and the "forgotten" parts of this country, how making money and making the world a better place are not mutually exclusive concepts and her life story as a successful female businesswoman and entrepreneur.

Following Tilton's talk, IDEA Week will inaugurate its Innovation Awards series for entrepreneurs and inventors in the South Bend/Elkhart area at a ceremony on Monday, April 8 at 7 p.m. at the Morris Performing Arts Center in downtown South Bend, Indiana.

The following awards will be given out:
• Entrepreneur of the Year
• Young Entrepreneur of the Year
• Inventor of the Year
• South Bend/Elkhart’s Top 10 Inventors by Number of Patents Issued
• South Bend/Elkhart’s Top 10 Companies by Number of Patents Issued

Moderators

Marian Hodges

Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Development, Data Realty

Marian Hodges is vice president of corporate strategy and development at Data Realty. She is building an organizational operating system that creates a culture of engagement and increases the equity value of the company. With a career spanning 20+ years, Marian has worn many hats... Read More →

Speakers

Lynn Tilton

Founder and CEO, Patriarch Partners LLC

Lynn Tilton is the founder and CEO of Patriarch Partners LLC, a family office/private investment firm. Since 2000, through affiliated investment funds, Tilton has held ownership in and restructured more than 240 companies with combined revenues in excess of $100 billion, representing... Read More →

Monday April 8, 2019 6:30pm - 8:00pm EDT
Palais Royale 105 W Colfax Ave, South Bend, IN 46601, USA

LEARN

8:30am EDT

IoT and Your Enterprise: A Framework for Starting the Conversation

As your organization moves beyond the hype around the Internet of Things (IoT), and considers how to identify and plan for revenue growth and efficiency, it can be difficult to get the conversation off the ground – especially if the team becomes bedazzled or befuddled about the technical stuff.

Time and again, experiments for early-stage product development or improved efficiency make progress in areas the organization understands, but various parties come to an impasse on some important steps. For their own efforts, IDEX Corporation leverages a simple framework for IoT solutions that breaks them into easily understandable “building blocks”.

This session will describe this five-step framework and tell real-world stories on how IDEX has used this approach to target opportunities and get them off the ground.

Speakers

James P. MacLennan

Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, IDEX Corporation

James P. MacLennan (Jim) is senior vice president and chief information officer at IDEX Corporation, an applied solutions business that sells highly engineered products to customers in a variety of markets worldwide. MacLennan has responsibility for corporate IT service offerings... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 8:30am - 9:30am EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN

9:45am EDT

Corporate Innovation Panel

Presented by Bridge Bank

Corporate innovation is sometimes more theater than reality, resulting in bad investments and firing entire leadership teams. This panel will discuss various models, from classical entrepreneurship and joint ventures to the more cutting-edge Venture Builder and VC partnership models. Attendees of this session can expect to hear case studies and lessons learned about what works and what hasn't to help them determine which models or partnerships work best in their environment.

Moderators

John Henry

Director of Risk Assessment, University of Notre Dame

John Henry is the director of startups at the University of Notre Dame. In this role, Henry supports the University’s new IDEA Center and its commercialization and startup efforts. Henry’s professional experience spans a decade of launching startups and consulting for private... Read More →

Speakers

Jordan LaFramboise

Sage of Innovation, Quicken Loans

Jordan LaFramboise is a leader in innovation at Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, which is located in Detroit, Michigan.Mr. LaFramboise enables and facilitates innovation in technology. He’s focused on empowering team members to drive innovation. He creates... Read More →

Thomas Buccellato

Managing Director, GE Licensing & Technology Ventures

Thomas Buccellato is an alumnus of Notre Dame who graduated in 1994 with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.B.A. in Finance/Operations.Tom is a managing director at GE Licensing. Tom’s team works across all GE businesses to drive innovative business models, and monetize GE’s... Read More →

Mark Garland

Vice President, Commercialization, USG

Mark Garland is the vice president of commercialization at USG Corporation, where he is responsible for the prioritization, development and accelerated adoption of new products in the market. Garland leads a team that focuses on identifying early adopters and building successful targeting... Read More →

Matt Brady

Associate Partner, Innosight

As an associate partner at Innosight, Matt Brady collaborates with senior executives to create strategies that strengthen existing businesses, generate consumer insights, target mergers and acquisitions, and design new business models. He has led engagements with Fortune 500 clients... Read More →

Elliott Parker

Managing Director, Business Design, High Alpha

Elliott Parker is the managing director of business design for High Alpha, a venture studio where enterprise software companies are created and funded. Parker and his team are primarily responsible for designing, validating, and launching new startups, often with corporate partners... Read More →

Joel Neidig

CEO, SIMBA Chain

Tuesday April 9, 2019 9:45am - 10:45am EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN, Panel

9:45am EDT

Crawl, Walk, Run with Data

Presented by Aunalytics

Everyone knows the future is data-driven decisions, IoT is connecting everything, and customers are demanding little to no lead times with perfect transparency. Great, but how do you also build and ship product, keep your workforce engaged, and stay on top of the sales team to drive revenue?

In this session, the panel will discuss strategies to get started by avoiding big bangs, setting realistic goals, driving value at each milestone, and establishing a self-funding, continuous improvement feedback loop that will transform how you do business.

Speakers

Christopher Keslin

Partner, Lachesis, LLC

Christopher Keslin moved to his wife’s hometown, Granger, IN in 2011 with their twin daughters, and welcomed his son to the family in 2015. He studied Chemistry and Physics at Indiana University then began his career at Indiana University’s Center for Research on Learning and... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 9:45am - 10:45am EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN

11:00am EDT

IoT in Action: Real World Innovations

In this session, attendees will hear from and experience the Internet of Things (IoT) products of three startup companies in various stages of commercialization success. Each of the three companies will represent a different industry application: workplace safety, civic technology and healthcare.

More About Panelist's Companies

StrongArm Tech - StrongArm Tech's FUSE Risk Management Platform is a cloud-based IOT enabled software informed by an array of motion-interpreting sensors on a wearable device. With it organizations can monitor and assess workplace safety challenges and drive significant ROI by intervening with speed and accuracy.

Frost Control Systems (FCS) - Faced with sweeping environmental regulations on salt, municipalities rely on Frost Control System’s sensors to avoid loss of winter maintenance capabilities. FCS reinvented the wheel by rebuilding 15-year-old sensors, from the ground up, specifically for municipalities. Custom IOT electronics, edge computing, and patent-pending optical technology all work together to create an extremely cost-effective solution that eliminates the impact on the safety of drivers.

Speakers

Sean Petterson

CEO, StrongArm Tech

As the chief executive officer and founder of StrongArm Technologies, Sean Petterson is responsible for the vision and direction for the company – dedicated to bettering the future for Industrial Athletes™. Recently recognized on Forbes’ 30 under 30 list for Manufacturing and... Read More →

Chris Cali

Pit Road CEO, The IDEA Center

Christopher Cali is a "Double Domer" with degrees in science, business, and technology entrepreneurship. After receiving his master's from the University of Notre Dame, he began his career at Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington, DC, most recently serving as a chief of staff at the firm... Read More →

Brad Tener

Founder and CEO, Frost Control Systems, LLC

Brad Tener is the founder and CEO of Frost Control Systems. In his early teens, Tener spent six summers working in residential construction followed up by writing/selling computer scripts until 2 a.m. Tener left California to study civil engineering at the University of Notre Dame... Read More →

Matt Norcia

Chief Operating Officer, StrongArm Tech

As the chief operating officer of StrongArm Technologies, Matt Norcia is responsible forthe operations, growth, and strategic planning for the company. Norcia brings more than15 years of experience and leadership to StrongArm, driving relationship managementand partnership growth... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN, Panel

11:00am EDT

Reinventing and Retraining the Manufacturing Workforce Panel

Everyone has heard predictions about how advanced manufacturing technologies such as robotics, automation, and AI will replace humans. However, these dystopian reports fail to appreciate that instead of eliminating human labor, the new technologies will transform human labor, requiring manufacturers to focus on retraining and reskilling their labor force for future work, especially as the influx of technology changes the very nature of the work humans need to do.

Join this conversation with regional manufacturers and workforce training experts as they explore how regional manufacturers have radically improved the experience and average incomes of their employees through automation, and to delve into the workforce of the future and the training and development resources available in the region.

Moderators

Lisa Deck

Education Workforce Program Manager, Purdue University IN-MaC

Lisa is the Education Workforce Program Manager for Purdue Polytechnic's Indiana Next Generation Manufacturing Competitiveness Center (IN-MaC). As a program manager, Lisa works with employers, schools, students, and community stakeholders to scale-up and sustain critical programs around manufacturing and STEM related careers while maintaining an emphasi... Read More →

Speakers

Kate Lee

Executive Director of Education & Workforce, South Bend Regional Chamber

Kate Lee, Executive Director, Education & Workforce, for the South Bend Regional Chamber, leads the Chamber's efforts to build an inclusive industry-education ecosystem, working to establish and strengthen relationships between businesses, educators, students, and community organizations... Read More →

Kathy Crimmins

Director of Cultural Development, General Stamping & Metalworks

As director of cultural development, Kathy is charged with developing and maintaining the systems required to attract, train, and retain talented employees, and fostering an environment that is conducive to growth, opportunity, and elevated standards. She also directs the Health and... Read More →

Mark Melnick

Executive Director, Workforce Strategic Partnerships, Ivy Tech Community College

s executive director of workforce strategic partnerships, Mark serves as a key strategic advisor to the South Bend/Elkhart campus and community, regarding community relations and fulfilling workforce training needs, of both local and regional business and industry.Prior to his current... Read More →

Ranae Stewart

Associate Director - Statewide Outreach and Partnerships, Purdue University

Ranae is responsible for the development and management of Purdue MEP's partnerships, as well as all outreach efforts to engage and educate organizations throughout the state. She holds responsibility for overseeing the Center's workforce development initiatives, peer group and ExporTech... Read More →

MariClare Osborn

Director of Human Resources, Manufacturing Technology, Inc.

MariClare Osborn is the director of human resources for Manufacturing Technology, Inc. (MTI) with 12 years’ experience in Human Resources and an additional 9 years’ experience in traditional and non-traditional education. With a strong background in organizational change management... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 11:00am - 12:00pm EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN, Panel

1:30pm EDT

Digital Transformation Panel

Digital transformation is changing the way business gets done and, in some cases, creating entirely new classes of businesses. With digital transformation, companies are taking a step back and revisiting everything they do, from internal systems to customer interactions both online and in person. Digital transformation is the process of using digital technologies to create new — or modify existing — business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements. This reimagining of business in the digital age is digital transformation.

Moderators

Rich Carlton

Chief Revenue Officer, Aunalytics

Rich Carlton leads Aunalytics as the chief revenue officer after twenty-five plus years of leadership experience in data and technology-based businesses. Carlton works toward driving the overall organization to meet the mission of leading and partnering with clients toward digital... Read More →

Speakers

Corinne Kereszturi

Chief Operating Officer, AC3

Corinne Kereszturi leads AC3 as the chief operating officer after twenty-five years of leadership experience in healthcare businesses. She is passionate about improving the quality of healthcare and believes data can be leveraged to bring about a transformation in the way healthcare... Read More →

David Cieslak

Chief Data Scientist, Aunalytics

David Cieslak, Ph.D. is the chief data scientist at Aunalytics and was the first team member hired there. He leads the Data Solutions team which maintains primary day-to-day consulting and product development duties with all of Aunalytics' clients. Dave’s leadership helps clients... Read More →

Mike Buczowski

Partner, TechCXO

Mike has deep experience in creating and motivating high performing teams with Fortune 100 corporations, top agencies and as an entrepreneur. The result has been sales growth of 20%+ and ROI increase of more than 3x.I believe that marketing is experiencing massive disruption. Over... Read More →

Ken Greene

Senior Director of Market Development, Comcast Business

Ken Greene is senior director of market development for Comcast Business Services in the Greater Chicago Region. Mr. Greene leads regional teams involved in market development activities to extend Comcast service reach with property owners, managers and developers. His team is also... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN, Panel

1:30pm EDT

Innovation in Manufacturing Panel: Automation, Digitalization and Culture

Join a panel of innovation practitioners and leaders from a wide variety of manufacturers as they discuss how innovation is reshaping their operations. This session will explore how to identify unmet operations needs, approach to use to ideate and deploy innovative solutions, and how to establish a culture that embraces innovation.

Whether you are a manufacturer just beginning or looking to accelerate innovation in your organization, an investor desiring to learn about innovation and processes ripest for automation and investment, or a students or workforce participant interested in learning about how innovation is being deployed by our regional manufacturers, this session is for you.

Speakers

Philip Wiltshire

Technical Director, Lippert Components

Philip Wiltshire is Technical Director in Lippert Components for their Chassis Division. We are a leading supplier of components to the recreational vehicle and residential housing industries, as well as adjacent industries including bus, cargo and equestrian trailer, marine and heavy... Read More →

Dennis McRae

Consumer and Industrial Products Practice Leader, West Monroe Partners

Dennis McRae is a director in West Monroe Partners’ and leader of the firm’s Consumer & Industrial Products industry team. He has more than 25 years of experience working with diverse organizations in improve top-line growth, market share, and earnings.Dennis McRae is an accomplished... Read More →

Earl Miller

Director of Innovation and Engineering, Hiler Industries

Earl Miller is the director of innovation and engineering at Hiler Industries.When we are open to looking at the world thru a different lens, we might suddenly notice a matter more clearly, literally changing our view of a situation in a way that helps us solve a problem. Earl leans... Read More →

Dominick Saratore

President, C&S Machine

Dominick Saratore is the president of C&S Machine, a leading contract manufacturer of ultra-precision complex components. Dominick is responsible for driving the company’s strategic growth by leading passionate, innovative teams and implementing cutting-edge processes and technologies.C&S... Read More →

Matt Tyler

President/CEO, Vickers Engineering & Red Rabbit

While assuming the role of President/CEO of Red Rabbit Automation, Matt also serves as the CEO of Vickers Engineering. A contract Machining supplier to mature industries such as Automotive and Oil & Gas, Vickers Engineering has leveraged Red Rabbit’s automation expertise to become... Read More →

Tyler Sherman

Owner, Sherman Industries

Tyler Sherman is owner of Sherman Industries LLC. Sherman Industries helps our customers automate their manufacturing processes with industrial robots and Programmable Logic Controllers. In addiction, we provide full-service industrial automation repair, field service and tech-support... Read More →

Steven Paladino

Global Director, Innovation and Continuous Improvement for Baltimore Aircoil

Steve Paladino is the Global Director of Innovation and Continuous Improvement for Baltimore Aircoil Company, the global leader of factory assembled evaporative heat rejection and thermal storage equipment.In this role, he is leading the company’s global effort to harness the collective... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN, Panel

2:45pm EDT

Funding Innovations in Manufacturing Panel

Do you know your funding acronyms and the associated outcomes? A panel of experts will explore a variety of funding sources for innovation in your manufacturing operation, including bank loans, leasing, joint ventures, private equity, venture capital, TIF and IRF dollars, and Federal R&D funding such as SBIR|STTR awards, RIFs, and CRADAs.

If you are a manufacturing executive, investor, or an entrepreneur interested in funding innovation in existing manufacturing operations and new startups, this session will be worthwhile to you.

Speakers

Gavin Ferlic

Entrepreneur in Residence, Elevate Ventures

Gavin Ferlic is the entrepreneur in residence for Elevate Ventures in North Central Indiana. In this role, he works with High Potential Start-Up Companies and provides access to advisory resources and capital. Gavin received a BA from the University of Notre Dame and a JD/MBA... Read More →

Len Amat

Senior Vice President and Market President, Centier Bank

Leonardo Amat is senior vice president and market president of Centier Bank’s Michiana market, including bank activities in La Porte, Elkhart, Marshall and St. Joseph counties. He has over 25 years of experience in the banking industry, specializing in commercial lending, business... Read More →

Randy Emmons

Senior Manager, BDO USA

Randy is a senior manager with BDO’s R&D Tax Services Practice for the Central U.S. Region and is located in the Grand Rapids, Michigan office.For thirteen years Randy has worked full time in the area of U.S. federal and state R&D tax services. Randy has designed and implemented... Read More →

Jim Champer

Senior Manager, Kruggel Lawton CPAs

Jim Champer is a senior at Kruggel Lawton CPAs. He has over 20 years of public accounting experience, with a primary concentration in corporate, partnership, nonprofit, fiduciary, and individual taxation. His experience also includes service at the University of Notre Dame in the... Read More →

Kris Parmelee

President, Parmelee Consulting Group

After more than 20 years as a consultant, PCG, Inc. has developed long-term relationships with many of its clients. It’s not just about a single project; it’s about creating opportunities for meaningful engagement and growth—for both PCG, Inc. and the client.Kristen (Kris) Parmelee... Read More →

Ryan Bell

Small Business Market Manager, 1st Source Bank

Ryan Bell received both his Business Administration and his Masters of Business Administration degrees from Ball State University. Ryan began his career with Ford Motor Credit Company, the financial services arm of Ford Motor Company in Tampa, FL as a Dealer Credit Analyst before... Read More →

David Temeles

Attorney, SouthBank Legal: LaDue | Curran | Kuehn

Dave Temeles has been representing federal contractors and tech companies on a variety of legal and consulting matters for more than a quarter century. As president of Third Coast Federal, Temeles consults with companies on a range of issues around research and development funding... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 2:45pm - 3:45pm EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN, Panel

2:45pm EDT

What AI Can Do - and Can't

AI is making headlines and disrupting entire industries. But what IS artificial intelligence, and what is it good at? At her AI humor blog, AiWeirdness.com, Shane watches machine learning algorithms struggle to deal with the complexities of the human world. From AIs that struggle to invent plausible paint colors, to AIs that struggle to recognize which pictures don't actually contain giraffes or sheep, the funny failures of AI tell us a lot about their real-world shortcomings as well. Shane talks about the kinds of problems where AI will succeed, fail, or succeed at solving the wrong problem entirely.

Speakers

Janelle Shane

Research Scientist, Boulder Nonlinear Systems

Janelle Shane’s AI humor blog, AIweirdness.com, looks at the strange side of artificial intelligence. She has been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, WIRED, Popular Science, All Things Considered, and Slate. Her upcoming book You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 2:45pm - 3:45pm EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN

4:00pm EDT

The Spirituality of Manufacturing: How to Transform the Business of Making Things into a Soul-Satisfying Experience

Presented by Career Academy South Bend (CASB)

If we want a new generation (of all ages) to come to manufacturing, we need to show it’s not just about shipping product, but also about becoming creators, craftspeople, artists, shapers of a better world, builders of new society that values collaborative effort, respects our individual creative potential and protects the natural environment.

Digitalization, automation, the convergence of design and manufacturing, computer integrated manufacturing, cradle-to-grave product lifecycle management, etc, all are trends compatible with our “higher calling.” In fact, without a sense of this calling, the current renaissance in manufacturing will not live up to its full transformational power.

Join Mark Albert, the highly-respected editor emeritus of Modern Machine Shop Magazine as he delivers this message for shop owners, managers, shop floor personnel, and everyone else in manufacturing organizations.

Speakers

Mark Albert

Former Editorial Staff, Machine Shop Magazine

Mark Albert, recently retired after more than 39 years on the editorial staff of Modern Machine Shop magazine, is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati (BA, 1975) and Indiana University-Bloomington (MA, 1976). During his career with Modern Machine Shop, a technical trade journal... Read More →

Tuesday April 9, 2019 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Century Center 120 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., South Bend, IN 46601

LEARN

9:00am EDT

Startup Pitch Workshop

Do you have an idea but aren't sure how to pitch it? Do you dream about opening your own business but aren't sure what you need to do to get there? Do you just want to learn more about what it means to be an entrepreneur?

"Pitching" is a key skill of every successful entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs need to know how to communicate their ideas and business plans clearly to employers, customers and investors. There is a best way to pitch their business and there are also ways to make mistakes. In two hours, you can learn from real-life pitches and understand the components of a great pitch.

In this workshop, you will:

Learn critical pitch basics: what it is, why it is necessary, the elements of a successful pitch
Hear pitches for real-life business ventures in the mobility industry
Hear feedback on those pitches from our investor panel

Entrepreneur panel includes:

Larry Burns (GM, Waymo)
Gavin Ferlic (Elevate Ventures' Entrepreneur-in-Residence)
Amy Hill (Transpo CEO)
Patrick Jones (enFocus Program Director)
Amish Shah (Kem Krest CEO)

Moderators

Nicola Brown

Co-founder, Main Street Match

Nicola Brown co-founded Main Street Match, a FinTech startup that eases the lending process for small business, credit unions, local/regional banks, and microlenders by providing matching services. Nicola has over 15 years of hands-on experience building and growing companies from... Read More →

Speakers

Patrick Jones

Program Director, enFocus

Patrick Jones is the Program Director at enFocus, an organization that attracts talent to the South Bend-Elkhart region to spark innovation and entrepreneurship. In his role, he oversees recruiting and programming for the enFocus Fellowship and internship programs. While at enFocus... Read More →

Amish Shah

CEO, Kem Krest

For more than 20 years, Amish Shah has focused on making Northern Indiana a better place to live and work. Amish began his career at Kem Krest in 1996, and has been the CEO since 2008. Under his leadership, Kem Krest has grown to become a $500+ million company that services Fortune... Read More →

Amy Hill

General Manager and Chief Executive Officer, South Bend Public Transportation Corporation

Amy E. Hill, MPA is the General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of the South Bend Public Transportation Corporation (Transpo). She joined Transpo in April 2013 as the Director of Marketing and was named the Interim General Manager & CEO in December 2017. Following a national search... Read More →

Lawrence D. Burns

Business Advisor, Author and Speaker, Director of the Program on Sustainable Mobility, Columbia

Larry Burns, Ph.D., advises organizations on the future of mobility, logistics, manufacturing, energy and innovation. Dr. Burns served as General Motors corporate vice president of research & development and planning from 1998-2009. While at GM, Dr. Burns quadrupled the number of... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 9:00am - 11:00am EDT
Northern Indiana Event Center 21565 Executive Pkwy, Elkhart, IN 46514, USA

LEARN

9:00am EDT

Smart Mobility Expo

Presented by the Community Foundation of Elkhart County

In this hands-on experiential event, attendees will have the opportunity to interact with experiences such as the Lippert Smart Connected RV, Furrion's Limitless and Hercules RVs, and more. Learn about all the innovation in smart mobility that is happening in this region.

Wednesday April 10, 2019 9:00am - 3:00pm EDT
Northern Indiana Event Center 21565 Executive Pkwy, Elkhart, IN 46514, USA

LEARN

10:00am EDT

NEW! IoT Today and Tomorrow

IoT is more than a tech-babble buzzword. From refrigerators and cars to toothbrushes and stoplights, connected products are in your home, in your workplace, and even right here in the city of South Bend. A panel of digital innovation leaders from Lippert Components and Salesforce will discuss real-world IoT applications and end with a Q&A on how each company is using connected products today.

Speakers

Jessica Hanyzewski

CRM solutions lead, Lippert Components

Jessica Hanyzewski is the customer relationship management (CRM) solutions lead at Lippert Components. She takes great pride in her ability to improve the customer and internal team member experience through the design and delivery of technology solutions. Before joining the LCI team... Read More →

Michael Rupchock

Director of Customer Experience Technology, Lippert Components

Michael Rupchock is the director of customer experience technology at Lippert Components.In his seven years at LCI, Michael has led the company's culture in a digital transformation. With a passion for taking complex systems and breaking them down to meet everyday challenges and opportunities... Read More →

Burke Maxwell

Principal Solution Engineer, Salesforce

Wednesday April 10, 2019 10:00am - 11:00am EDT
Northern Indiana Event Center 21565 Executive Pkwy, Elkhart, IN 46514, USA

LEARN

11:00am EDT

NEW! Navigating the Innovation Universe

Presented by SAP

Innovation is imperative for your organization to thrive in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous marketplace.

But adopting an innovative mindset often requires a total transformation of your culture. Yes, you have to challenge the status quo—but you must also develop a strong, sustainable, and scalable infrastructure for innovation that allows you to harness powerful ideas from everywhere and everyone.

Do you know where to start?

During this session you take a brief journey into the Innovation Universe where you will walk-away with a framework to consider how to engage innovation from everywhere and everyone within your organization and an experience with customer-driven problem-solving through a design thinking sprint.

Speakers

Dr. Nancy Tennant

Professor/Advisor/Speaker

Dr. Nancy Tennant, Chief Innovation Officer Emeritus for Whirlpool CorporationNancy is a professor, consultant, author, practitioner, speaker, and advisor on innovation. She guides people and organizations through the innovation universe and supports them as they learn to generate... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 11:00am - 12:30pm EDT
Northern Indiana Event Center 21565 Executive Pkwy, Elkhart, IN 46514, USA

LEARN

1:00pm EDT

The Age of "Automobility": How Driverless Vehicles Will Reshape Our World

Presented by Kem Krest

For more than a century, car companies have taken for granted that vehicles will be driven by people, powered by combustion engines, and owned primarily by individuals. These presumptions are being challenged by a stunning convergence of new technology and innovative business models.

Autonomous electric vehicles deployed in transportation services are ushering-in the age of automobility, which promises more people greater freedom in how they move around and how they live.

This presentation will review the seeds of the mobility revolution, assess the implications of the age of automobility, and highlight how to position for this inevitable transformation.

Speakers

Lawrence D. Burns

Business Advisor, Author and Speaker, Director of the Program on Sustainable Mobility, Columbia

Wednesday April 10, 2019 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Northern Indiana Event Center 21565 Executive Pkwy, Elkhart, IN 46514, USA

LEARN

2:15pm EDT

Future of Smart Mobility and How It Affects Us

In this panel moderated by Gary Sieber of WNDU, panelists Fredrick Cartwright of PRUV Mobility Ecosystem, Jitin Kain of the City of South Bend, Nate Chenenko of Carlisle & Co, and Ned Calder of Innosight will discuss how smart mobility will impact YOUR future of transportation. What will it look like in 20 years? Will you really own an autonomous vehicle? Will self-driving cars be the dominant form of ground transportation? All this and more will be covered in this session.

Moderators

Gary Sieber

Anchor, WNDU

Gary Sieber is VP of Sales at Welch Packaging Group, an adjunct professor of Television & Theatre at The University of Notre Dame, and a weekend weather co-anchor on WNDU-TV. A 1981 graduate of Notre Dame, Sieber became a reporter and eventually Director of News and Public Affairs... Read More →

Speakers

Jitin Kain

Deputy Director, City of South Bend

Jitin Kain is the deputy director of Public Works for the City of South Bend, providing oversight for departmental operations such as street maintenance, snow removal, refuse collection, water and wastewater functions as well as the design and construction of public buildings and... Read More →

Ned Calder

Partner, Innosight

Ned Calder joined Innosight in 2007 and is a Partner and Co-Head of Innosight’s Industrial & Technology Solutions practice. He leads Fortune 100 engagements in a range of industries, including high-tech, automotive, materials, manufacturing, aerospace and defense. He has worked... Read More →

Frederick M. Cartwright, Jr.

President, Pruv Mobility Ecosystem

Fred Cartwright was appointed president of Pruv Mobility Ecosystem, a test and data services company, in early 2018. Based in Indiana, Pruv Mobility Ecosystem is dedicated to the emergence of connected and autonomous vehicles. Before joining Pruv Mobility Ecosystem, Cartwright served... Read More →

Nate Chenenko

Director, Carlisle & Company

Nate Chenenko is a director at Carlisle & Company, a strategy and implementation firm exclusively focused on the motor-vehicle industry. He founded and currently leads Carlisle's growing mobility practice; their work focuses on the impact that mobility will have on the motor vehicle... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 2:15pm - 3:15pm EDT
Northern Indiana Event Center 21565 Executive Pkwy, Elkhart, IN 46514, USA

LEARN

3:30pm EDT

NEW! Auto Insurance in the Age of Autonomy

Presented by the Community Foundation of Elkhart County

What will vehicle insurance be like as we transition to autonomous and self-driving vehicles? If you're in an accident but your self-driving car is in control, who is liable? And, why don't governments allow self-driving cars on the road currently? Join Dan Peate, founder of Avinew, a startup that is making waves in the news for beginning to develop insurance for autonomous vehicles, as he explores these important questions and more.

Moderators

Joe Schneider

Managing Director & Co-Lead - Autonomous Vehicles and Insurance Initiative, KPMG

Joe Schneider is a managing director at KPMG Corporate Finance LLC, the wholly owned investment banking subsidiary of KPMG LLP. Based out of the Chicago office, Joe focuses on the insurance sector, advising P&C and life carriers as well as insurance services firms such as brokers... Read More →

Speakers

Dan Peate

Founder & CEO, Avinew

Dan Peate is the founder and general partner of Peate Ventures where he primarily invests in tech startups focused on insurance innovation. Dan has also founded two Insurtech companies. He is Founder and CEO of Avinew, which is focused on reinventing auto insurance for semi-autonomous... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 3:30pm - 4:30pm EDT
Northern Indiana Event Center 21565 Executive Pkwy, Elkhart, IN 46514, USA

LEARN

7:00pm EDT

The Future of Spirituality and Technology, a conversation with Wired magazine co-founder Kevin Kelly

Presented by PNC Bank

As technological advances have given rise to everything from social media to artificial intelligence, humanity has experienced unprecedented opportunity for connection and faces the prospect of radical disruption. The questions posed by these advances aren’t merely technical or economic; they’re deeply spiritual, too. What does the advance of technology mean for those who consider themselves spiritual? How do we live empathetically while being exposed through technology to seemingly limitless narratives of need, suffering, and injustice? Should our understanding of the uniqueness of a human person be revised as we begin to create devices which mimic our intelligence? How should we negotiate competing moral visions when programming morality into those devices? Do ancient faith traditions speak meaningfully to these modern questions? And how do these emerging technologies offer constructive help for our spiritual journeys? Join Kevin Kelly, the founding editor of WIRED magazine and an original thinker in the area of shaping the character and spiritual meaning of technology, as he addresses these questions and more. Jason Miller, lead pastor at South Bend City Church, will act as moderator.

Plan to stick around after the interview for the chance to hang out with Kevin and your fellow IDEA week participants, featuring a cash bar and food trucks.

Moderators

Jason Miller

Lead Pastor, South Bend City Church

Jason Miller is the founder and lead pastor of South Bend City Church in northern Indiana, an eclectic Christian community that meets on the factory floor where Studebaker cars were once made. He’s known for a uniquely thoughtful and creative style of preaching that serves believers... Read More →

Speakers

Kevin Kelly

Senior Maverick, Wired Magazine

Kevin Kelly helped launch Wired magazine in 1993, and served as its executive editor for its first seven years. He is now senior maverick for Wired. In 1994 and 1997, during Kelly’s tenure, Wired won the National Magazine Award for General Excellence (the industry’s equivalent... Read More →

Wednesday April 10, 2019 7:00pm - 8:30pm EDT
South Bend City Church Studebaker 112 635 South Lafayette Boulevard Suite BB, South Bend, IN 46601, USA

LEARN

9:00am EDT

Kevin Kelly: The Inevitable

Presented by Aunalytics

Much of what will happen in the next 30 years is inevitable, driven by technological trends which are already in motion, says WIRED magazine founding editor Kevin Kelly. The coming technology will indeed transform our work and our lives – but not for the worse.

In this keynote presentation, Kelly examines 12 big technological forces that will shape our future. In an expansive talk that looks out over the next 30 years, he both describes these deep trends – flowing, screening, accessing, sharing, filtering, remixing, tracking and questioning – and demonstrates how they overlap and are codependent on one another. These larger forces will completely revolutionize the way we buy, work, learn and communicate with each other. Some of what is coming may seem scary, like cheap artificial intelligence, ubiquitous tracking or robots replacing humans. Other innovations seem more desirable, such as an on-demand economy and virtual reality in the home.

Kelly shows how these diverse disruptions in our lives in the near future can be understood as inevitable results of a few long-term trends. By understanding the larger inevitable trends, it’s easier for us to arrange our day to day relationships with technology in a way that brings forth maximum benefits. Embracing the inevitable is the best way we can remain on top of the coming wave of changes.

Speakers

Kevin Kelly

Senior Maverick, Wired Magazine

Thursday April 11, 2019 9:00am - 10:00am EDT
Mendoza College of Business 204 Mendoza College of Business, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

LEARN

10:15am EDT

Creating an Employee-Led Culture of Innovation

Presented by SAP

After years of top-down corporate innovation initiatives, companies are increasingly implementing employee-led innovation processes. Realizing that the frontline often has the most innovative ideas, companies around the world are exploring ways for their companies to have a staff-led culture of innovation. Doing this, however, is difficult. Learn from a panel of experts who have successfully gotten their employee-led innovation initiatives out of the starting gate and into practice. What impact did these employee-led innovations have? How can your organization do the same?

Speakers

Dr. Nancy Tennant

Professor/Advisor/Speaker

Thursday April 11, 2019 10:15am - 11:15am EDT
Mendoza College of Business 204 Mendoza College of Business, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

LEARN

10:15am EDT

Network Like A Champion Today

Entrepreneurs have to network like champions to succeed. Learn from successful entrepreneurs and their personal stories about overcoming adversity, persevering against the odds, and navigating the Notre Dame network and others to find success.

Speakers

Carolina Foresman

Chief of Data and Analytics, TAGit

Carolina Foresman is the chief of data and analytics at TAGit, the mobile app that TV viewers use to buy items from their favorite TV shows. TAGit is a tech platform where TV, entertainment, retail, and commerce converge to monetize media, ads, and product placement.Prior to joining... Read More →

Krystal Hardy Allen

CEO, K.Allen Consulting

Krystal Hardy Allen is the Founder & CEO of K. Allen Consulting™, a doctoral candidate at Columbia University (NYC), and a former elementary & middle school Principal. K. Allen Consulting is a national Pre-K education consulting firm that provides highly customized and transformative... Read More →

Ana Bermudez

CEO, TAGit

Ana Bermudez is the CEO of TAGit, the mobile app that TV viewers use to buy items from their favorite TV shows. TAGit is a tech platform where TV, entertainment, retail, and commerce converge to monetize media, ads, and product placement.TAGit is an award-winning tech company, with... Read More →

Thursday April 11, 2019 10:15am - 11:15am EDT
Stayer Center for Executive Education, Mendoza College of Business 300 Stayer Center, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

LEARN

11:30am EDT

Plan Bee: Solving the Nation’s Flower-Pollination Crisis Experience

Plan Bee is supporting the pollinator bees who are working to help produce our food. We have created an autonomous pollination device designed with precision in mind. This allows growers to have more control over their crop by providing the ability to work through the night, windy conditions and cold temperatures when bees cannot do their job. We are reinventing the pollination industry by providing the grower with the best possible start to their crop.

Moderators

Pat Derksen

Sales Manager, Visit South Bend Mishawaka

Pat Derksen is the sales manager for Visit South Bend Mishawaka. Originally from Noblesville, IN, he is a 2014 graduate of Holy Cross College where he earned a degree in elementary education. Soon after graduation, he realized he did not want to spend all day with the same 25 monsters... Read More →

Speakers

Anna Haldewang

Founder and CEO, Plan Bee

Anna Haldewang is the founder and CEO of Plan Bee. Inspired by the issues faced by bees and growers, Haldewang set out to develop an autonomous pollination device designed with precision in mind. This allows growers to have more control over their crop by providing the ability to... Read More →

Thursday April 11, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EDT
Stayer Center for Executive Education, Mendoza College of Business 300 Stayer Center, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

LEARN

11:30am EDT

Sports Tech Panel

Scott Molander will moderate this panel with Jack Swarbrick, University Vice President James E. Rohr Director of Athletics, Oliver Wells, Genius Sports NCAA Live Stats Lead, and more. Panelists will discuss the future of sports tech based on their unique experience in the field. Techstars Sports will present on a new sports accelerator, launching in Indianapolis in May, 2019.

Moderators

Scott Molander

Co-Founder, Lids Sports Group

Scott Molander is an experienced executive & board member with a demonstrated history of working in the sports and specialty retail industry. Co-founder of Lids Sports Group, growing company from one store in 1995 to over $900 million in sales in 2014. Scott’s passion is building... Read More →

Speakers

Oliver Wells

NCAA LiveStats Lead, Genius Sports

Oliver Wells leads the NCAA LiveStats program for Genius Sports, a leading global sports data company. This transformational initiative uses cutting-edge statistics technology platforms to modernize how live game statistics are captured, managed and distributed across collegiate sports... Read More →

Evan Wray

Co-Founder, Swyft Media

Evan Wray is the Cofounder of Swyft Media, a mobile advertising company specializing in deeply native ad units in some of the world’s most popular mobile messaging applications. At Swyft, Wray has pioneered the idea of delivering native branded content, such as branded emoji, directly... Read More →

Jack Swarbrick

Vice President, James E. Rohr Director of Athletics, University of Notre Dame

John B. “Jack” Swarbrick Jr., a University of Notre Dame graduate now in his 11th year in 2018-19 as vice president and director of athletics at his alma mater, has attached his signature to a variety of new initiatives during his tenure. One, the launching of Fighting Irish Media... Read More →

Lawrence Walter

Founding Partner, SportsUNITED

Lawrence Walter is an innovative technology thought leader. Laser focused on solving wicked hard sports business problems, Lawrence has deep technical experience as a software product owner. At SportsUNITED he focused on building VC and Startup Accelerator communities relationships... Read More →

Thursday April 11, 2019 11:30am - 12:30pm EDT
Mendoza College of Business 204 Mendoza College of Business, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

LEARN, Panel

1:30pm EDT

Health & Wellness Panel

In this panel, attendees will hear from experts in the major areas considered to be part of the larger "wellness" umbrella: health, nutrition, exercise, psychology, and spirituality. Companies from startups to mega corporations are coming to understand that programs that encourage their employees to embrace wellness often become productive, healthy, and happy employees.

Speakers

Patty Willaert

Executive Director, Community Impact, Beacon Health System

Patty Willaert is the executive director of community impact for Beacon Health System and aligns community health resources, goals, and outcomes across St. Joseph, Elkhart, and Marshall counties in northern Indiana. Beacon Community Impact acts as a change agent for improving the... Read More →

Nicole Fallowfield

a Principal and the Director of Wellbeing and EB Operations, Gibson

Nicole is a principal and the director of wellbeing and EB Operations at Gibson. She is responsible for providing thought leadership relative to wellbeing strategies, as well as managing the operations for Gibson’s client service teams. Nicole is also a member of Gibson’s Board... Read More →

Thursday April 11, 2019 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT
Stayer Center for Executive Education, Mendoza College of Business 300 Stayer Center, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

LEARN, Panel

1:30pm EDT

Startup Investors Panel

Hear from a panel of experienced venture capitalists (VCs) who specialize in pre-seed and seed funding for startups and bankers. In this session, you'll learn what they look for in startups and entrepreneurs.

Moderators

Dustin Mix

Co-founder, INVANTI

Dustin is the co-founder of INVANTI, a startup generator in South Bend, IN. He, along with his co-founder Maria Gibbs, integrate entrepreneurial talent and emerging cities to create new companies that expand opportunity in communities across the US. Dustin previously worked for the... Read More →

Speakers

Ryan Fenstermaker

Vice President, 1st Source Bank

Ryan Fenstermaker is a business banker with 1st Source Bank and holds an economics degree from DePauw University. Ryan has more than thirteen years of commercial lending experience. Since joining 1st Source in 2006, he has been recognized as a top Small Business Administration (SBA... Read More →

Nitin Pachisia

Founding Partner, Unshackled Ventures

Nitin Pachisia is a founding partner of Unshackled Ventures, the only early stage venture capital fund designed specifically for immigrant founded startups in the U.S. The fund leads investments at the earliest stages, often pre-product, working alongside founders from day 0. In addition... Read More →

Antonio Espinosa

Partner, SUI Capital

Antonio Espinosa is a Partner of SUI Capital, a private equity investment group with a portfolio comprised of nonconventional technologies such as biotech, life sciences, media, real estate and fintech. Antonio has invested over $2,000,000 in his portfolio of companies, and he has... Read More →

Sydney Thomas

Senior Associate, Precursor Ventures

Sydney Thomas is a senior associate at Precursor Ventures. She also serves on the board of Beyond Emancipation; NextGen VC; and Skydeck, the Berkeley accelerator program. Prior to joining Precursor, Thomas gained experience working in technology startups in business development... Read More →

Thursday April 11, 2019 1:30pm - 2:30pm EDT
Jordan Auditorium 204 Mendoza College of Business, Notre Dame, IN 46556

LEARN, Panel

2:45pm EDT

Building a $2 billion company. A conversation with KAYAK co-founder Paul English

Presented by PNC Bank

In 2013, Paul English sold his startup KAYAK to Priceline for $1.8 billion. He is now the CTO of Lola.com, a company devoted to employee business travel. Paul is also the subject of Tracy Kider's book, A Truck Full of Money.

In this fireside chat, attendees will learn how Paul approaches life and business, how he created a company worth almost $2 billion, and why providing education to areas with great need, alleviating extreme poverty, and eliminating homelessness are causes that he believes deeply in and that must be solved.

Speakers

Mitchell Kokko

Associate, Pitroad Fund, Pitroad Fund at the IDEA Center at the University of Notre Dame

Mitchell Kokko is an associate on the Pitroad Fund at the IDEA Center at the University of Notre Dame. He is responsible for managing relationships with industry and partner funds for the University of Notre Dame's Pitroad Fund. Kokko is an avid proponent for student entrepreneurship... Read More →

Paul English

Co-founder of Lola.com and KAYAK, Lola.com

Paul English is the CTO of Lola.com, the easiest way for businesses to manage their employee travel. Previously, he was CTO of KAYAK, a travel company he co-founded in 2004, took public in 2012, and sold to Priceline in 2013. English is also the founder of GetHuman, a service created... Read More →

Thursday April 11, 2019 2:45pm - 3:45pm EDT
Mendoza College of Business 204 Mendoza College of Business, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

LEARN

4:00pm EDT

Following Your Dreams Isn't Convenient. Why NOW is the Best Time to Become an Entrepreneur

Courtney Kingston is the founder of Kingston Family Vineyards in Casablanca Valley, Chile. She’s a graduate of Princeton University and she started her career as a consultant for Deloitte’s wine industry practice. There she began learning the ins and outs of the California wine business, and later as a student at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, she wrote the vineyard’s original business plan using the Chilean cattle ranch that her family had owned and operated since 1922.

After many discussions about the feasibility of converting the family farm into a vineyard, Courtney decided to take a leap of faith; in 1998, she became an entrepreneur and Kingston Family Vineyards became a reality. Today Courtney shares the story how it all began and what it’s really like to start and run your own vineyard.

Speakers

Courtney Kingston

Founder, Kingston Family Vineyards

Courtney Kingston is a co-founder of Kingston Family Vineyards in Casablanca Valley, Chile, along with her father Michael and brother Tim. A graduate of Princeton University, she started her career as a consultant for Deloitte’s wine industry practice. There, she began learning... Read More →

Thursday April 11, 2019 4:00pm - 5:00pm EDT
Mendoza College of Business 204 Mendoza College of Business, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

LEARN

7:00pm EDT

A Fun Evening With Bill Nye the Science Guy

Limited Capacity filling up

Presented by Lippert Components

Join us for a fun evening with comedian, author, and science educator Bill Nye the Science Guy. Once the host of the popular public broadcasting show “Bill Nye the Science Guy” and now CEO of the Planetary Society, Bill is a passionate advocate for science, research, and discovery.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR REGISTRANTS:

Registration DOES NOT GUARANTEE a specifically-reserved seat in your name within Leighton Concert Hall.
Seats will be distributed front to back starting ONE-HOUR prior to the start of the event (6:00 p.m.). Showing up close to the time of the event will likely mean you won't get in.

Speakers

Bill Nye

Science Educator

Bill Nye is an American science educator, engineer, comedian, television presenter, author, and inventor, with a mission to help foster a scientifically literate society and to help people everywhere understand and appreciate the science that makes our world work. Making science entertaining... Read More →

Thursday April 11, 2019 7:00pm - 8:00pm EDT
DeBartolo Performing Arts Center 100 Performing Arts Center, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

LEARN

8:00am EDT

Demo Day

Demo days are the culmination of months of hard work by startups that are refining their business plans, products and services through intense "accelerator-type" programs designed to progress them from idea to market. At this demo day, eight hand-picked startup companies from Notre Dame student, faculty and alumni and the South Bend - Elkhart community--our latest and greatest--will make polished pitches to a group of national investors all in hopes of getting them the investment they need to propel their business to the next level. These eight startups have been hard at work for months and will be ready to deliver the pitch of their lives!

Moderators

Bryan Ritchie

Associate Provost and Vice President for Innovation, University of Notre Dame

Bryan Ritchie, Ph.D., M.B.A. is vice president and associate provost for innovation at the University of Notre Dame. In this role, Ritchie leads the University’s new IDEA Center initiative and coordinates the university’s innovation, commercialization, and entrepreneurship programs... Read More →

Friday April 12, 2019 8:00am - 10:00am EDT
Innovation Park at Notre Dame 1400 E Angela Blvd, South Bend, IN 46617, USA

LEARN

10:40am EDT

Kickstarter: How Technology Disrupts Markets and Empowers Entrepreneurs

Limited Capacity filling up

Presented by Bridge Bank

Join Charles Adler, the co-founder of Kickstarter, the world's most popular crowdfunding site, as he discuses the story of Kickstarter, entrepreneurship and the bold, independent, creative movement his company inspired. Charles will also discuss why Kickstarter became a "Benefit Corporation," which are for-profit companies that are obligated to consider the impact of their decisions on society, not only shareholders.

Since its launch in 2009, 16 million people have financially backed a project on Kickstarter, $4.1 billion has been pledged, and 158,116 projects have been successfully funded."

Speakers

Charles Adler

Co-founder and former Head of Design at Kickstarter, Kickstarter

Charles Adler is a social entrepreneur, co-founder, and former head of design at Kickstarter, the ground-breaking crowd-funding website. As a leading entrepreneur and designer, his work ranges from systems design to interaction and communications design, interface design to information... Read More →

Friday April 12, 2019 10:40am - 12:00pm EDT
Mendoza College of Business 204 Mendoza College of Business, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA

LEARN