Who we are

The Upstate New York I-Corps Node combines the experience of the nation’s top university R&D region with the entrepreneurial knowledge of experienced mentors and faculty. Our teams work together to connect skilled researchers to valuable resources through national and regional I-Corps programming.

Leadership Team

PI: Lynden Archer, Dean, College of Engineering, Cornell University
Co-PI: Tom Schryver, Executive Director of the Center for Regional Economic Advancement (CREA) and visiting lecturer at the Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University
Mark Nelson, Dean of the Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University
Emmanuel Giannelis, Vice Provost for Research and Vice President for Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property, and Research Policy, Cornell University
Alice Li, Senior Director, Cornell Technology Licensing, Cornell University
Jacqueline Mozrall, Dean, Saunders College of Business, Rochester Institute of Technology
Ryne Raffaelle, Vice President for Research, Rochester Institute of Technology
Duncan Moore, Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship, University of Rochester

Node Operating Team

Tom Schryver, Node Executive Director, Cornell University
Shannon Ellis, Node Regional Director, Cornell University
Will Heptig, Node Project Associate, Cornell University
Lucy Harwood, Node Program Assistant, Cornell University
Caitlin Schickel, Cornell University
Annette Durnack, University of Rochester
Erin Sefca, University of Rochester
Anthony Testa, Rochester Institute of Technology
Evan Vershay, Rochester Institute of Technology

“When creating a culture for entrepreneurship, we need to focus on impact, not just the value of a potential product. We start by educating people about entrepreneurship and helping them understand that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel to make an impact. I’m excited about I-Corps, because it is a tool for accelerating the pace in which a new idea becomes an impactful product.”

-LYNDEN A. ARCHER, JOSEPH SILBERT DEAN OF ENGINEERING, CORNELL UNIVERSITY AND TECHNICAL LEAD/PI FOR I-CORPS TEAM 1843, POLI

National I-Corps Instructors

Fernando Gómez-Baquero
Director of Runway and Spinoffs at the Jacobs Technion– Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech

Andrea Ippolito
Instructor for eLab, Cornell’s student accelerator, and Engineering’s Commercialization Fellowship

Mike Riedlinger
Managing Director Tech Commercialization & Program Director, Hardware Scaleup

Ken Rother
Director of hardware accelerator programs at both Rev: Ithaca Start Up Works and Cornell University’s eLab student program

Tom Schryver
Executive Director, Center for Regional Economic Advancement at Cornell University

Deborah Streeter
Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University

National I-Corps Adjunct Instructors

Caroline Cannon
Founder of the Academic Venture Lab at Dartmouth College, Faculty Advisor for the Diversity Entrepreneurship Collaboration and the Tuck First Year Project

Olga Petrova
Technology Licensing Associate, Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Partnerships at Binghamton University

Marquita Qualls
Founder and Principal of Entropia Consulting and Doctor of Psychology in Chemistry from Purdue University

Gregory Ray
Program Lead, Entrepreneur in Residence for Rev: Ithaca Startup Works, and Faculty Member at the Johnson Graduate School of Management Cornell University

Stephen Sauer
Leadership and teams researcher, Entrepreneur in Residence for Rev: Ithaca Startup Works and senior lecturer of management and organizations at Cornell University.

Justin Smithline

Co-Founder & General Partner at Triple Impact Capital and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Cornell University

Brad Treat
Program Director of the Southern Tier Startup Alliance and visiting lecturer of management at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.

Carrie White
Executive Director of the WVU Launchlab Network and Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Chambers College of Business and Economics

Regional Course Instructors

Jerry Adamski
RIT

Jahan Ali
Weill Cornell

Jim Aloise
Columbia

Marian Armour-Gemmen
WVU

Scot Atkins
RIT

Brian Bauer
Cornell

Ed Bizari
Hobart & William Smith

Makini Byron
Linde

Julia Byrd
Columbia

Stacye Brim
STB Consulting

Kathryn Cartini
Chloe Capital

Martin Casstevens
Buffalo

Kathryn Cherny
Binghamton

Kerry Coffee
Weill Cornell

Nate Cook
Cornell

David Eilers
Syracuse

Tony Frontera
Binghamton

Alex Hagen
Cornell

Anne Jones
West Virginia

Tom Klein
RIT

Nakia Melecio, a Black man wearing glasses and wearing a gray suit jacket, red vest, black dress shirt, and gray and white printed tie

Nakia Melecio
Georgia Tech

Dave Miller
Rochester

Elisa Miller-Out
Cornell

Paul Petrovich
Pittsburgh

Erienne Olesh
WVU

Per Stromhaug
Binghamton

Anthony Testa
RIT

Greg Thomson
Cornell

Bob Waggoner
West Virginia

Beth Xie
Cornell

Curriculum Group

Chair: Deborah Streeter, Cornell University
Richard DeMartino, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Rochester Institute of Technology
Shannon Ellis, UNY Node Regional Director, Cornell University
Andrea Ippolito, Cornell University
David Miller, Warner School of Education, University of Rochester
Mike Riedlinger, NextCorps, University of Rochester
Ken Rother, Southern Tier Startup Alliance, Cornell University
Tom Schryver, Center for Regional Economic Advancement, Cornell University

Evaluation Group

Chair: Cynthia Callard, Warner School, University of Rochester

David Miller, Warner School, University of Rochester
Nahoko Kawakyu O’Connor, Associate Director of Program Evaluation, Warner School, University of Rochester
Marcella Maier Lambrecht, Consultant, Warner School, University of Rochester