FITCI | FITCI

June 8, 2021

Founder City: Sales Stories + Trends

Crafting Your Story with Chris Cocca of Strategic Sales Solutions Founder City is a free, multi-faceted resource created by The Frederick Innovative Technology Center, Inc. (FITCI) and Betamore for business leaders on their own path to growth and discovery. The virtual conference includes a pitch competition worth $25,000 in cash and service prizes, in addition to mentorship opportunities, networking, targeted learning and more. Everybody loves a good story. Even before Hollywood got involved, humankind reveled in a grand epic. You know the one, where the hero is brought low by overwhelming adversity before finding a guide and heeding the clarion call, persevering to ultimately emerge victorious. According to Chris Cocca,…

MEET OUR CLIENTS: Basma Elmogy, Founder of Boötes

“Beauty” is an allusive concept because it means different things to different people. Is it a flower blooming forth from hardscrabble conditions or a field of glittering stars across the deepest midnight sky? Is it a sunny smile from the one you love or a tender embrace from a friend? Maybe it is the glow of fresh, healthy skin that gazes back from your mirror. For FITCI member Basma Elmogy, it’s a little bit of all of that. Her company, Boötes, is dedicated to creating sustainable naturally derived skincare and cosmetic products that wrap users in luxury, but its origin is indelibly tied to abiding love for family and deep…

May 14, 2021

FOUNDER CITY: Building a High-Performance Culture

Andrew Freedman is a lifelong advocate for maximizing human potential and creating positive change, personally and professionally. As Managing Partner of SHIFT Consulting and an affiliate faculty member of the University of Baltimore with more than 25 years of business strategy experience, he knows a thing or two about the subject. He helps companies across diverse industries flourish through vibrant company cultures and a high-performance mindset. Freedman kicked off the Founder City’s online learning series with insights from his newest book; THRIVE, The Leader’s Guide to Building a High-Performance Culture. His advice cuts through power plays, focusing on the essential human component. Speaking with moderator Greg Cangialosi (Chairman of Betamore…

March 30, 2021

MEET OUR CLIENTS: Santhanalakshmi Shanmugam, President of Minnodi LLC

There is an old saying, “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Sometimes that means following a passion for helping others reach their dreams, too, and it’s the inspiration behind entrepreneur Santhanalakshmi Shanmugam’s labor of love, Minnodi, a Maryland-based IT/Pharma consulting and staffing agency. She says, “Entrepreneurs make a real contribution in the world. They are the ones who turn dreams into reality.” By applying her in-depth technology industry experience, including computer applications, graphic design and artificial intelligence (AI), to supporting other founders, creators and dreamers, Minnodi’s impact is magnified. That, she affirms, “makes all of our lives easier and more efficient.” “It’s really…

November 25, 2020

Meet Our Clients: Dr. Yimeng Wang, Founder and CEO of ReVacc

Yimeng Wang, Ph.D., has contributed to infectious disease research for more than 15 years with publications in top tier journals, such as Science and Cell. His publications reach the fields of influenza, HIV, RSV and Ebola. He also served as main inventor of U.S. provisional patent “Neutralizing Antibody Targeting the Marburg Virus Glycoprotein,” and has another patent related to Zika vaccine rational design in preparation. With the current COVID-19 pandemic, Yimeng decided to put years of experience in studying infectious diseases to work and start a business that might help dealing with this pandemic in a better way. Inspired by modern science of Reverse Vaccinology, ReVacc focuses on vaccine and…

July 7, 2020

The Edge Accelerator – Week 0

What a start to the annual Frederick Innovative Technology Center, Inc. Edge Accelerator Program! Although the sessions will be held predominantly on Zoom for most of this summer, engaging in collaborative breakout sessions with founders is still as insightful as before. As a previous participant and current intern, it’s been rather thought-provoking to listen to early-stage entrepreneurs as they crafted their first lean canvas. Here are some of my takeaways. Vitamins vs. Painkillers Jonathan Boehman was one of my favorite mentors during last year’s session, and I was excited to see him back again to give an overview of the lean canvas. Among all of the practical insights he gave,…

May 29, 2020

Meet Our Clients: VirIntel LLC

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected hundreds of thousands of people across the world. While we are taking important steps to slow the spread of the virus, there are many things that still need to be done in order to develop a vaccine. FITCI’s newest client, VirIntel, is performing very important research that will play a part in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic. Founded on April 3rd, 2020 by CEO Illya Mazo, COO Vladimir Litvak, and CTO Yuliy Litvak VirIntel is working to develop a “specific and affordable blood test for the detection and characterization of the immune response to COVID-19.” As such, their test will serve to detect and measure anti-SARS-CoV-2…

February 20, 2020

Meet Thomas Stein, Founder of Trivance Design, LLC

Tom Stein is a guy with lots of ideas who has always loved making things, and wanted to start his own business. Following the advice of a mentor to build on the idea with the most value, he founded Trivance Design, LLC which aims to improve human health by encouraging more students to pursue STEM careers. Trivance Design assembles open-source hardware and software into affordable science curricula, allowing students and faculty to 3D print living cells in their courses. While the courseware is proprietary, by offering open-source designs and packages built from off-the-shelf products, Tom hopes to make bioprinting accessible to students beyond elite, well-funded four-year universities, and make a…

February 13, 2020

Meet Our Clients: Sue Carr, President of CarrTech, LLC

“If you can come up with a solution to this problem, you’ll be a millionaire.” While attending pharmacy school, Sue Carr worked in a hospital as a pharmacy technician, becoming quickly frustrated by the cumbersome process that follows when health-care providers break open glass ampules to dispense medication. Inevitably, glass shards must be filtered out with a filter needle. Once filtered, the needle full of glass shards must be recapped, removed and discarded. A new needle then must be attached to the syringe to dispense the medication. This becomes more than an inconvenience during emergencies or other situations where the filter needle is not used properly. Pulmonary embolism is one…

November 26, 2019

Meet Our Clients: Jill Pecon-Slattery, President of Cornerstone Genomics LLC

As a kid, Dr. Jill Pecon-Slattery was in love with nature—frogs, butterflies, and all living things. A childhood spent outdoors exploring the natural world led, logically, to a career in science, although Jill’s path has had twists and turns. Initially, she wanted to be a marine field biologist; with a master’s degree in oceanography, Jill envisioned herself as the next Jacques Cousteau. She pivoted to human biomedicine and animal biology research, however, and over the course of her career, a significant insight emerged which ultimately spurred the creation of Cornerstone Genomics. Most researchers struggle with identifying which part of a DNA sequence is useful for their research problem. Her company…