Maker Meetup #7: Making with Nanotech, featuring GraphWear, Biorealize, Fermento

For the first Maker Meetup of 2017, we will be hearing from Makers who are going very small, to make big things happen. Each of the presenters is a winner of the 2016 Innovation Seed Grant Competition, sponsored by the Singh Center for Nanotechnology (https://www.nano.upenn.edu/).

Presenters will include Biorealize (http://www.biorealize.com/#microbial-design-studio), creators of the Microbial Design Studio (a modular machine that includes design, analysis and flow control software to automate all stages of microbial design). GraphWear (http://graphwear.co/), a company that is developing state of the art sweat sensors as an alternative to blood and urine diagnostic tests - perhaps, no more finger-pricks for diabetics! Fermento (http://fermento.squarespace.com/), an award-winning startup that uses innovative microfluidic fabrication technology to speed up fermentation, helping brewers make premium beer faster and at lower cost.

Brett Topche of Red & Blue Ventures (http://www.redandblue.vc/) will be moderating the evening’s conversation.

Sarah Meister, Manager of hardware and design at Indiegogo (https://www.indiegogo.com/) will meet with Maker entrepreneurs starting at 5pm, for one-on-one coaching sessions. Indiegogo is also providing financial support for this event.

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The program begins at 5:00 with a one hour, table-top Showcase of these and other great local Makers, including RollerJockey (http://www.rollerjockey.com/).

Presentations will start PROMPTLY at 6:30.

We will also be awarding door prizes, including a $200 Canary All-In-One Home Security System (https://canary.is/canary/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwhvbABRDOp4rahNjh-tMBEiQA0QgTGn_5jJYKDwrpLuWkxY0CLjPO4NfsYjwXTCBUGdkyoJYaAo2S8P8HAQ). The prize winners will be selected at random from among the list of those who RSVP for this Meetup. Of course, you must be present to actually win, though there is no charge to attend.

During the evening, attendees will be given the opportunity to 'shout-out' their networking interests and to opine on how to make Philadelphia a better place for Makers to prosper.

Our major sponsor is Arrow Electronics (https://www.arrow.com/en/products?wm_g_phyloc=9007272&wm_g_intloc=&gclid=CjwKEAjwudW9BRDcrd30kovf8GkSJAB3hTxFcJmWMGvq7IMP8-PPJdgM8ivf3d_BG1_faDW6gTSBEhoCtsHw_wcB&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=arrow+electronics&utm_campaign=us+-+brand+-+core) - underwriting the space and the food. Other regular sponsors include NextFab (http://www.nextfab.com/), Canary (https://canary.is/canary/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwhvbABRDOp4rahNjh-tMBEiQA0QgTGn_5jJYKDwrpLuWkxY0CLjPO4NfsYjwXTCBUGdkyoJYaAo2S8P8HAQ) and Duane Morris (http://www.duanemorris.com/), while the non-profit Merchants Fund (http://www.merchantsfund.org/) is generously donating its services to administer our finances.

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Antoine Galand is the Technology lead at GraphWear (http://graphwear.co/), a company that is developing state of the art sweat sensors as an alternative to blood and urine diagnostic tests. He graduated with a MS in Nanotechnology from University of Pennsylvania. Prior to that, he graduated with a Master’s degree in Science in Engineering, from France. He was the President of an entrepreneurship/consulting association in France that he successfully restructured, earning him the title of “Best President of a French Junior-Entreprise” at the end of his term. His mission is to eventually replace blood tests with a non-invasive and realtime sweat test.

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Orkan Telhan, Ph.D., Co-founder of Biorealize (http://www.biorealize.com), is an interdisciplinary designer whose investigations focus on the design of interrogative objects, interfaces, and media, engaging with critical issues in social, cultural, and environmental responsibility. Telhan is Assistant Professor of Fine Arts - Emerging Design Practices at University of Pennsylvania, School of Design. He holds a PhD in Design and Computation from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a focus on Synthetic Biology and Biological Design. He was part of the Sociable Media Group at the MIT Media Laboratory and the Mobile Experience Lab at the MIT Design Laboratory.

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Beer manufacturing has stayed the same for centuries and its most time-consuming step is fermentation. Standard industry fermentation is a significant supply chain bottleneck: inventory is tied up in giant vats for weeks, dearly costing the global beer market. Fermento (http://www.fermento.squarespace.com) is an award-winning startup that uses innovative microfluidic fabrication technology speed up fermentation, helping brewers make beer faster and cost-effective. Shashwata Narain is the company CEO. She received her MBA at Wharton and studied Applied Mathematics at Yale. She worked previously as a Product Developer at e-Logistics and as an Analyst at Goldman Sachs.

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The moderator of the evening's conversation will be Brett Topche. Brett co-founded Red & Blue Ventures (http://www.redandblue.vc/) and has nearly a decade and a half of venture capital and private equity experience. He has spent much of his career primarily focusing on investments in ecommerce, digital media, mobile applications, marketing technologies and B2B software. Prior to co-founding Red & Blue, he spent more than nine years at MentorTech Ventures. He represents Red & Blue on the Board of AptDeco and as an observer at Burrow. He has also served or observed on a number of other startup Boards, including Wanderfly (acquired by TripAdvisor), Cloudmine, PayPerks, Curalate, Quad Learning, SeniorHomes.com (acquired by Bankrate) and TicketLeap.