UConn’s School of Engineering has hired a Connecticut business leader to assist the University in forging relationships with technology-related companies in the state. Robin Ann Bienemann will work with the University’s leadership to develop and implement strategies to connect these companies with the resources at UConn.
Dean of engineering Mun Y. Choi says “Ms. Bienemann brings a wealth of entrepreneurial experience that will enrich the academic resources available to our faculty and student innovators. Through her informed guidance as a practitioner, she is richly equipped to invigorate and propel the innovation-to-commercialization process with pragmatism and concrete business experience. We are delighted to welcome her as our first entrepreneur-in-residence.”
Bienemann is chair and founder of Crimson Rook LLC, a Connecticut-based firm specializing in helping small and mid-size companies increase value through improved business processes and innovation. At age 24, she founded Ocean Industries, a quality control equipment manufacturer in Manchester, N.H. Her most recent corporate assignment was as senior vice president of operations with BlueArc Corp., a $30 million computer storage manufacturer in San Jose, Calif.
“UConn is one of this state’s great under-utilized resources,” Bienemann says. “It’s a natural source of expertise for companies that are trying to innovate.”
A complementary UConn effort involves a new initiative aimed at nurturing and accelerating the commercialization of innovations percolating in laboratories and offices across campus, dubbed Springboard. As part of Springboard, the University’s Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) recently hired Hadi Bozorgmanesh, a UConn engineering alumnus, entrepreneur, and the UConn R&D Corp.’s director of engineering and physical sciences, to provide assistance to faculty in bringing their technologies to market. Bozorgmanesh was formerly corporate vice president for Science Applications International Corp.
OTC also provides assistance to faculty in legal entity formation, liaison with industry, business incubation, forging collaborative opportunities on Small Business Innovation and Research grants and other funding, intellectual property management, and business development.
Bienemann will work closely with Bozorgmanesh and others within the OTC, aligning her efforts with the full range of OTC programs. Rita Zangari, interim director of OTC, says Bienemann’s expertise, coupled with Springboard and other OTC services, strengthens the continuum of services provided by the University to support faculty innovation and technology transfer.
