AtmoSpark was cofounded in August 2016 by Tejus Mane and Aniket Khade in Beaumont, TX. AtmoSpark provides freshwater to those with limited access by using the ambient air as a water source.I cofounded AtmoSpark as part of an Innovative engineering class where we were asked to think outside the box to solve problems faced by society. We are currently in the prototype development stage and looking to get a manufacturable design for our first product. Our first product, Element, is a portable atmospheric water maker for cruising sailboats.As a founding member of AtmoSpark, I play many roles including Product development, Business Development, Customer discovery, Team Leader and Fundraiser.Through the Rice University Summer Accelerator OwlSpark and NSF I-Corps program, I have led the team through the customer discovery and development process where we have conducted over 200 customer interviews to understand our primary market and customer needs.

The student mentor for the technical innovation and entrepreneurship course acts as a guide to the teams in class on how to tackle challenges of using creativity to solve problems, how to convert that idea into a potential business, how to demonstrate and write a business plan and how to pitch their idea to potential investors in the future. I work with the teams on an individual basis to help get them out of their engineering mindset and start thinking about how to solve problems/create products that people want/need. I also help to groom potential leaders in the team on how to effectively lead their team, manage conflict and work through their fears of presenting in public.I assist the professor in teaching certain course material such as pitch storyboarding and storytelling techniques, as well as organize and facilitate the Gill Chair Business Plan Competition that is held at the end of each course. I give students support and continuous mentoring for those who are interested in pursuing entrepreneurship and their own ideas after the course has ended. The research learned from mentoring the course for a year now has resulted in a paper about the best pedagogy for teaching innovation and entrepreneurship to engineering and life science graduate students. This paper was presented at the American Computer Educators of Texas Annual Conference 2016. The paper is being prepared to be published in an academic journal.

As a commercialization associate for the CICE at Lamar University, I primarily work with the director in identifying and profiling the technology and project flows for Lamar University as well as pursuing and managing industrial research collaborations and commercialization activities. As a new organization on campus, we actively promote and foster a spirit of entrepreneurship on campus. We have a strong emphasis on student development and training to prepare graduates for rewarding careers by familiarizing them with entrepreneurial real-world projects. I have co-developed 3 new initiatives at the CICE to train students and faculty in elements of entrepreneurship, research commercialization, and lean startup methodology. We are currently piloting 7 selected technologies through the program and measuring the outcomes of the research after the program ends. Other major responsibilities include:• Working with faculty to identify potential technologies for the collaborations• Evaluating technologies for possible intellectual property protection• Participating in the development of commercialization strategies for technologies in the southeast Texas area• Helping CICE incubator clients develop their technology business plan & IP protection strategy

OwlSpark is a Rice University intensive summer accelerator program.As a summer founder in OwlSpark, we use methodologies of lean canvas and discipline entrepreneurship to see what value AtmoSpark brings to the customer. Throughout the summer, we completed over 100 interviews to determine the best beachhead market for our customer, what value our product brings and whether customers want to pay for our product. Responsibilities included:Conducting customer interviewingDetermine best beachhead market and follow marketsCalculate and determine market strategy for beachhead marketDevelop a minimum viable productCoordinate between business development and product developmentDevelop business strategy on how to create a product customers want for your segmentCreating a brand for the companyPitching and creating traction for Bayou Startup Showcase

The multi scale simulation lab under Dr. Tao Wei focuses on the study of interfacial phenomena for the purpose of developing functional materials and biotechnologies to tackle challenges in health, energy and environment.Thesis (under review): Understanding Tetracycline Structure’s Role In Promoting Anti-Inflammatory Response Using Atomistic Simulations, Docking Analysis and Creative Synthesis.My goal was to get a deeper understanding into interactions between tetracycline-derived compounds and MMP-9, a metalloenzyme involved in the process of extracellular matrix programming. The result of this study would help provide the scientific background to justify further use of these molecules as anti-inflammatory agents or develop new therapeutic strategies using alternative molecules to act as prophylactics for a range of intractable diseases and conditions. Using the framework of molecular dynamics simulations, docking studies and molecular mechanics, I validated and explored the catalytic zinc response to minocycline and tigecycline in MMP-9 active site.I determined the structure activity relationship in tetracycline to discover & design novel compounds for reducing the inflammation (in collaboration with Dr. David Cocke)I also actively reviewed the possible use of tetracycline derived compounds as an alternative in the treatment of inflammatory diseases and cancer (in collaboration with Dr. David Cocke)

My role as process engineering intern was to learn the role of the process engineer in the grand scheme of completing a front end engineering design (FEED) given by a client. I was part of an ongoing FEED study as well working on a previous company design studies to understand on how to translate client requirement into a final process design and P&ID.Accomplishments and skills learned:Designing multiple FEED study simulations in HYSYS for a natural gas processing plant with a feed of 1500 MM SCFDModeled upstream pipelines to determine flow characteristics and determine required pump pressuresPerformed equipment sizing for major equipment involved in FEED studyCompleted summer project requirements before deadline allowing time to learn CFD software such as OLGA and Pipesim