Board of Directors
Meet Your Board
Ann-Marie Scheidt
Chair
Ann-Marie is the Director of Economic Development and Research Professor of Technology and Society, Stony Brook University.
More on Ann-Marie
Stony Brook University.
Chair: Business Incubator Association of New York State, Long Island Innovation Hot Spot Steering Committee, Stony Brook Incubator Selection and Review Committee. Moving spirit behind creation of the Long Island Angel Network. Founder of Stony Brook Entrepreneurs Challenge, which has awarded more than $450,000 to 29 student start-up businesses half still in existence — as of 2017. Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency trustee, serving New York’s third largest town. Manager and Instructor, Stony Brook’s NSF I-Corps Site, since 2015.
Board of Directors: Long Island Angel Network, region’s only public organization of early-stage investors; Hauppauge Industrial Association (HIA-LI), representing the largest industrial park in the Northeast; Long Island Forum for Technology, trade association for high technology manufacturers and businesses; Long Island High Technology Incubator Inc., the region’s first new business incubator facility; and Community Development Corporation of Long Island (Vice Chair), the region’s largest affordable housing and community development not-for-profit. Past president of Women Economic Developers of Long Island.
Author/co-author of proposals that have brought more than $25M in federal and state economic development funding to Long Island. Invited speaker on technology-based economic development, International Association of Science Parks, International Economic Development Council, state and regional economic development and business organizations.
Education
AB magna cum laude, English and American literature, Brown University.
Elected to Phi Beta Kappa
MAT in the Teaching of English, Yale University
Ph.D., History of American Foreign Relations, Stony Brook University
Certified Lean LaunchPad Educator, National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance-Venturewell/Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley
Tom Schryver
Vice Chair
Tom is the Executive Director of Cornell’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement
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He is an experienced entrepreneur having served as a startup founder and senior finance executive of high-growth companies. Previously, he was Director of Finance for the Triad Foundation, where his responsibilities included investing the Foundation’s $250m portfolio to top-quartile returns. His board affiliations include the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park and Tompkins County Area Development, and as board vice-chair of the Business Incubator Association of New York State. Tom co-chairs the Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council’s Innovation Culture workgroup.
Tom has an AB and MBA from Cornell, where he was a recipient of the MBA program’s Albert J. Fried Fellowship for Leadership and Academic Excellence. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Mr. Riedlinger holds a BFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology and MBA, Finance and Accounting, from the University of Rochester.
Steven Kuyan
Treasurer
Steven is Managing Director of the Future Labs at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering that has graduated 74 early stage NYC startups.
More About Steve
The Future Labs are a network of programs supporting entrepreneurs in technology specific verticals such as; Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Data at the Data Future Lab; and Augmented/Virtual Reality, Video, Virtual Machines at the Digital Future Lab. The graduate portfolio includes industry leading startups like CB Insights, Clarifai, Geometric Intelligence, Tap Commerce among many others.
Steven is an adjunct professor of Entrepreneurship at NYU and supports entrepreneurship curriculum across the Engineering School, the InnoVention hardware prototyping competition, fellowship programs, entrepreneurship club, and entrepreneurship education programs such as the Veteran Entrepreneurship Training (VET) Program. Prior to the Future Labs, Steven founded and co-founded three ventures in mobile, B2B logistics and retail. Steven holds a bachelor’s and a master’s from the NYU Tandon School of Engineering.
El-Java Abdul-Qadir
Secretary
El-Java Abdul-Qadir -- Director - South Side Innovation Center at Syracuse University
More About El-Java
As an adjunct Professor of Practice in the Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises department, El-Java is also the director of the South Side Innovation Center (SSIC), a business incubator and small business service center in the City of Syracuse, which houses 30 resident clients in its’ 60,000 square foot facility and provides consulting services to another 350 unique small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs per year. In 2012, El-Java was a recipient of the Minority Small Business Champion of the Year Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration, given for his commitment to, and impact on entrepreneurship and his work at the SSIC.
In addition to teaching EEE 446, Minorities and Women in a Business, El-Java has been a key member of the EEE 467 Entrepreneurial Consulting course, as a guest lecturer and in supplying small businesses for the students to consult. He has co-published articles about inclusive Entrepreneurship consulting, Storytelling in Entrepreneurial Education, and New Venture Financing.
El-Java is also the owner and chief operator of Excel Martial Arts Training Center, LLC, a martial arts and fitness center established in Syracuse, NY since 2009.
Kimberly A. Kohl
Board of Directors
Kim is the Business Manager for University at Buffalo’s Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships.
More About Kim
Kim has managed the operations of the incubators since 2007; prior to that she was on staff at UB’s Technology Transfer office, part of UB STOR (Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach). Kim ensures the needs of the client companies are met. She participates in I-Corps Site sessions as a mentor, and meets regularly with client companies. She is active in UB’s START-UP NY activities.
Kim is on the board of advisors for her church in Lockport, and was a twenty-year volunteer for the Girl Scouts of WNY/ Buffalo and Erie County.
Matt Draper
Board of Directors
Matthew, the Executive Director of the Shipley Center for Innovation for since 2014 is the co-developer of the Clarkson Commercialization method.
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Mike Riedlinger
Board of Directors
Mike is Program Manager for Technology Commercialization at High Tech Rochester
More About Mike
He serves as a board member for DG Tech Investors, Inc. , the Business Incubator Association of New York State and the Industrial Advisory Board of the Cornell Center for Materials Research.
Prior to joining HTR, Riedlinger was a co-founder of Diffinity Genomics, Inc. which commercialized technology from the U of R Department of Chemistry for applications in the life science industry. Diffinity Genomics was sold to a multi-national organization and now functions as part of Chiral Technologies. Mr. Riedlinger also co-founded and served as president of NaturalNano, which went from start-up concept to a publicly-traded firm under his management. The company developed technologies based on naturally occurring materials with nanoscale attributes that were adapted for specialty cosmetics, polymers, and nanocomposite applications.
His consulting firm, Technology Sales and Licensing Services, has provided support to entrepreneurs and organizations throughout the Finger Lakes Region since 2002. Projects included market assessments for new technologies in sustainable energy and manufacturing practices, applications for new materials in medical devices and new market opportunity development for mid-sized businesses that faced declining revenues in existing markets.
Additional experience includes roles as managing director of VitalWork, an organizational development firm, and sales and marketing roles for computer software development services and consumer products at Metamor Software Solutions, Selectronics, and Microlytics.
Mr. Riedlinger holds a BFA from the Rochester Institute of Technology and MBA, Finance and Accounting, from the University of Rochester.
Kathi Durdon
Board of Directors
Kathi Durdon, MA, CCRP, is Director of Operations and Innovation Partnerships at the CNY Biotech Accelerator (CNYBAC)
More on Kathy
As Director of CNYBAC, Kathi promotes effective and transparent operational procedures for the 60,000 square foot specialized multi-use biotech facility, CNYBAC. The infrastructure supports innovation commercialization. Kathi develops biotech innovation-oriented programs, coordinates resources and promotes educational and investment opportunities for clients and the startup community. Kathi mentors medical device innovators relative to Good Clinical Practice regulations, FDA submission requirements and device classification as well as human factors usability testing. Kathi created the Medical Device Innovation Challenge supported by a five-year $625,000 Empire State Development NYS Certified Business Incubator grant. The grant also funds in part the Concept to Commercialization Boot Camp developed in partnership with High Tech Rochester and NYS Science+Technology Law Center.
Kathi volunteers as a GCP Instructor for the not-for-profit 15,000-member educational organization Society of Clinical Research Associates (SOCRA) and is founder and chair of the SOCRA NYS Chapter and SOCRA Annual Medical Device Conference, now in its 12th year. Kathi is also a member of the Business Incubator Association of NY (BIANYS) Board of Directors, a member of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) Human Factors Engineering Committee and has been nominated to the Volunteer Faculty at Upstate Medical University (appointment in process) and the MedTech Advisory Board.
Kathi holds Bachelor’s degrees in English and Anthropology and a Master’s degree in Business. Previously, Kathi was employed at Welch Allyn, a medical device manufacturer, as Manager of Clinical Affairs and as Director, Clinical Trials at SUNY Upstate Medical University. Kathi is married to Pete Durdon, has 3 wonderful daughters who live in the area and has 5 energetic grandchildren.
Esther Vargas
Board of Directors
Esther is Director of the Emerging Ventures Ecosystem (EVE) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
More About Esther
Polytechnic Institute (RPI), where she directs the creation, growth, and commercialization of
high-growth technologies and new ventures.
Esther’s diverse background includes 12 years in the pharmaceutical and hospitality industries,
and 12 years in the entrepreneurial domain as a founder and/or co-founder of four startup
ventures, among them Ideal Language LLC, an executive language instruction and cultural
training enterprise. Prior to joining RPI, she was Assistant Director of Research and
Commercialization at the University of Central Florida, where she managed an award-winning
business incubator for eight years. She previously worked at Indiana University’s School of
Education as Program Director of Aprenda Más (LearnMore), a statewide translation service for
schools, aimed at increasing parental involvement and college participation for Hispanic
families.
In her role as Director of Resource Development for the HOPE (Harnessing Optimism
and Potential through Education) Foundation in Bloomington, Indiana, Esther led the sales team
and co-led a national professional learning community of school leaders in organizational and
leadership development. Esther’s areas of expertise include strategy, commercialization,
business and resource development, systems and processes, and project management.
Ms. Vargas serves as Secretary of the Board for the International Business Innovation
Association (InBIA), and is also a board member of the Business Incubator Association of New
York State (BIANYS). She is certified as a Business Incubation Professional and as a Business
Accelerator Manager, and holds an MBA with a dual major in New Venture Development and
Marketing from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University-Bloomington, and a BBA in
Managerial Economics from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico. Esther is passionate
about helping entrepreneurs realize their dreams, and facilitating emerging high-impact
technology and service businesses to become profitable and scalable enterprises.
Officers
- Chair: Ann-Marie Scheidt
- Vice Chair: Tom Schryver
- Secretary: El-Java Williams Abdul-Qadir
- Treasurer: Steven Kuyan
Terms expiring 2018:
- Matthew Draper, Clarkson University Shipley Center incubator programs/North Country Business Incubator
- Kimberly Kohl, University at Buffalo STOR/Incubator Program
- Steven Kuyan, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering Incubator Programs
Terms expiring 2019:
- Michael Riedlinger (High Tech Rochester, Lennox Tech Enterprise Center & Rochester BioVenture Center)
- Tom Schryver (Rev: Ithaca Startup Works, Southern Tier Startup Alliance)
- Esther Vargas (RPI Emerging Ventures Ecosystem and Tech Park)
Terms expiring 2020:
- Ann-Marie Scheidt (Director of Economic Development and Research Professor of Technology and Society, Stony Brook University)
- El-Java Abdul-Qadir (South Side Innovation Center at Syracuse University)
- Kathi Durdon (Director of Operations and Innovation Partnerships at the CNY Biotech Accelerator)