Judges for Immerse-a-thon 2020

Ted Blackmon, Ph.D.

Ted Blackmon photo

 

Ted Blackmon is CEO of Construct-X and Founder of Jovian Ventures, a next-generation agile launchpad for
start-ups focused on Digital Transformation in the capital projects industry. As a visionary and serial
entrepreneur, Ted helped to pioneer the market for Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) in the early 2000
timeframe with the invention of the ConstructSim and OpSim platforms. Dr. Blackmon’s early career
achievements began as a member of the highly successful Mars Pathfinder Mission in 1997, where he
developed and operated the MarsMap software program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, planning and
monitoring the daily activities for the Sojourner rover in mission control using a combination of AI, VR and
Robotic Supervisory Control technologies.

 

 

 

 

Eli LaMothe, B.S, B.A.

Eli Lamothe photo

Eli Lamothe has a great deal of experience working in a fast paced environment to troubleshoot and solve issues that arise on the manufacturing floor.  He has been working at Amgen Rhode Island supporting the Process Engineering team since 2015. His main scope of work includes new product introductions, capital projects, and providing engineering support to Manufacturing operations. He Eli graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a BA in German.

 

 

 

 

Rand Morimoto, Ph.D., MBA

Rand Morimoto photo

Rand Morimoto, Ph.D., MBA: Dr Morimoto is a tech industry pioneer with his career spanning over four decades with the past 35-years as the founder and CEO of Convergent Computing, a San Francisco Bay Area and Singapore based technology and strategy consulting firm whose consultants serve some of the largest enterprises in the world.  Rand has written over 60 bestselling books on technology, business strategy, and regulatory compliance, and speaks at a conference or convention somewhere in the world every month.

Dr Morimoto served the Clinton, Bush, and Obama Administrations as Y2K, Cybersecurity, and Cyberterrorism advisor to the Whitehouse and developed federal and international standards on consumer and business security and cyber-protections.

Dr Morimoto furthers his interest in sciences and education being a Research Council Board member for the Institute of Human Origins at Arizona State University supporting his long time friend, Dr Donald Johanson who discovered “Lucy”, the missing link between man and ape, served on the Board for the Chabot Space and Science Center (a NASA affiliate) space sciences museum, member of the Governing Board and Regent for Saint Mary’s College, and member of the Advisory Board for the Institute of International Education (IIE) that administers the Fulbright Scholarships.

Dr Morimoto has served as competition Captain, Head Judge, Americas, EMEA, and Asia Regional Judge, and Worldwide Finalist Judge for the Imagine Cup Competition over the past 15-yrs, and has keynoted innovation workshops and conferences across 5 continents providing guidance and sharing best practices on entrepreneurship, acquiring venture capital funding, turning ideas to marketable innovations, and how to create and execute a winning presentation.

 Nick Napp, B.Sc.

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Nicholas has brought over 40 products to market across a wide range of consumer and enterprise markets. He is a systems thinker with broad skills in business development; product development; innovation & technology; and strategic marketing and partnerships. He is particularly focused on the integration of strategy, technology and corporate narrative to accelerate business growth.

His prior roles include leading multiple startups; Lead External Technology Scout, North America for Sony Ericsson; and Vice-President, Animation, Rainbow Studios (sold to THQ, inc.). He is also Chairman of the Board at FabNewport, a non-profit makerspace for middle school and older students.

 

 

 

 Annette Tonti, M.S., B.S.

Annette Tonti photo

 

Annette is the Managing Director of RIHub, located in the heart of Providence’s Innovation District, and has supported URI Launch Lab for the past three years as a mentor and pitch coach. As the founder of 3 high tech startups, she has raised over $30M from Venture and Angel investors, and was an early pioneer in the online advertising and mobile markets. She is passionate about connecting startups with university research and accelerator programs to grow the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Rhode Island.

 

 

 

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