The Power of Partnerships
Our team is the connection between your ideas and UB
Here is where differences become our strengths, where scientific and technological adventures transform into profitable ventures, and where bettering the world becomes our life’s work. A successful team is about more than finding a group of people with the right mix of professional skills; it's about finding a team who is passionate about helping you succeed and then working together to do it.
FEATURED TEAM MEMBER
Rick Gardner
With more than two decades of experience in the public, private, nonprofit and startup sectors, Rick Gardner has been an innovator throughout his career. He holds 32 U.S. patents and has taken dozens of products to market.
Under Rick's leadership, the BEP team helps grow the infrastructure and support services needed to commercialize innovative research, increase industry-academic collaborations, identify expert talent, align industry expertise and advance the next generation of startups and technologies.
TOGETHER, LET'S BUILD SOMETHING IMPACTFUL
Shareefa Albanna
Startup Success Manager
Asal Barem
Finance and Operations Associate
Peter Burakowski
Senior Associate Director, Startup Ventures
Timothy Dee
Senior Associate Director, IP and Commercialization
Jeffrey Dunbar
Director, Technology Transfer
David du Plessis
Business Development Associate
Esther Eagan
Senior Associate Director, Contracts
Kirsten Fischer
Senior Digital & Graphic Design Specialist
Michelle Friedman
Licensing Manager
Michael Fowler
Commercialization Manager
Rick Gardner
Associate Vice President for Economic Development
Sara Goodman
Startup Program Manager
Kathryn Helfer
Senior Manager, Stakeholder Engagement
Smitha James
Senior Associate Director, Finance & Program Administration
Christopher Janson
Senior Business Development Manager
Antoinette Johnson
Finance & Operations Manager
Richard Kim
Director of Startup Ventures
Kimberly Kohl
Associate Director, Finance & Operations
Tracy Krawczyk-Schiedel
Director of Marketing Communications
Rebecca Larson
Commercialization Coordinator
Adrian Levesque
Industry Engagement and Visualization, Center for Computational Research
Jennifer Mandina
Manager, Contracts
Tom Matheny
Senior CRM Marketing Manager
Ryan McAnany
Contracts Manager
Thomas Murdock
Manager, Incubator Network
Norma Nowak
Executive Director, Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences
Matthew Pelkey
Program Director, Entrepreneurship Law Center
Diane Plinke
Finance and Operations Assistant
Eric Poniatowski
Program & Finance Manager
Alan Rae
Director, Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics
Sandra Small
Senior Manager of Science Education and Workforce Development
Maksim Sokolov
Contracts Manager
Jessica Szklany
Manager, Marketing Content and Writing
Sandra Talley
Startup Program Assistant
Deanna Thames
Senior Administrative Associate
David Thiemecke
Senior Startup Success Manager
Penny Turrell
Patent Paralegal & Compliance Specialist
Evan Witmer
Technology Assessment Specialist
Our Extended Team
We work with accomplished scientists, experts, entrepreneurs and businesspeople who help us move innovations to impact.
Product Development & Commercialization Executive, Medical Devices & Pharmaceuticals Industries, PQE Group