On Monday, July 24, the Council for Innovation Promotion (C4IP) and the University of Maryland (UMD) hosted Congressman Glenn Ivey (D-MD), along with local entrepreneurs, engineers, venture capitalists, and intellectual property experts, for a roundtable discussion on ways Prince George’s County can further develop as an innovation hub and how Congress can support American entrepreneurship more generally.
The roundtable — which consisted of two panel discussions and was led by C4IP Co-Chair David Kappos and UMD Chief Innovation Officer and Associate Vice President for Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development Dr. Dean Chang — touched on vital topics such as the roles of the public and private sectors in supporting research and commercialization opportunities; how intellectual property protections support investment in high-tech sectors; and how American society embraces failure in a way that drives innovation forward.
Prior to the discussion, attendees toured UMD’s E.A. Fernandez IDEA (Innovate, Design and Engineer for America) Factory — which features lab spaces focused on robotics and autonomy, quantum technology, rotorcraft research, rapid prototyping, and a student-run business incubator — and saw presentations on ongoing research projects from undergraduate students.
Check out our press release and blog on the event, as well as the full transcript of the roundtable discussion.
You can find the event highlight reel, full recording, and additional photos below!
Check out our press release and blog on the event, as well as the full transcript of the roundtable discussion.
You can find the event highlight reel, full recording, and additional photos below!
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Distinguished Guests and Panelists
Congressman Glenn Ivey
- Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland’s 4th district
- Former State’s Attorney for Prince George’s County (2002-2011)
- Former Chief Majority Counsel to the Senate Banking Committee
David Kappos
- Co-Chair of the Council for Innovation Promotion
- Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office from 2009 to 2013
- Serves on the Boards of Directors of the Partnership for Public Service, the Center for Global Enterprise, and the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation, as well as on the Advisory Board for C-IP2
Dr. Dean Chang
- Chief Innovation Officer and Associate Vice President for Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development at the University of Maryland
- Former Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of the Gaming Business of Immersion Corporation
- 15 years of experience in Silicon Valley
Frank Cullen
- Executive Director of the Council for Innovation Promotion
- Former Vice President of U.S. Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
- Former Vice President of FCA Company
Bob Nye
- General Partner at JMI Equity, a growth investment firm focused on software companies
- A top venture capitalist in the mid-Atlantic region
- Serves as a Director of AlertMedia, Benevity, Higher Logic, Level Access, OnBoard, Ontic, and Raptor Technologies, as well as a member of the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association (MAVA) Board of Directors
David Iannucci
- President and CEO of the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation
- Former Secretary of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development
- Former Chief Legislative Officer under former Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer
Husein Sharaf
- Founder and CEO of Microsoft Gold Partner firm Cloudforce
- Chairman of the Prince George’s County Tech Council (PGCTC)
- Co-Chair of the IT Business Advisory Council for Employ Prince George’s
Charles Grody
- Founder and CEO of Hydraze
- The University of Maryland Do Good Challenge (2019) and Pitch Dingman Competition (2022) Winner
- Former Mechanical Engineer for ExxonMobil
Anaum Khan
- Co-Founder of Learn Prompting, a platform that teaches people how to use AI
- Engineering Fellow at Kleiner Perkins, a venture capital firm that specializes in investing in incubation, early-stage, and growth companies
- Rising senior studying Computer Science at the University of Maryland