WE HOPE YOU JOIN OUR STREAMING SESSIONS.

Portions of the 2021 Conrad Challenge Innovation Summit will be streamed live for our entire network to view. We encourage you to block off your calendars for these special events. Trust us you don’t want to miss them!

2021 CONRAD CHALLENGE INNOVATION SUMMIT - OPENING CEREMONY

WEDNESDAY APRIL 28th
12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m.

LEADERSHIP IN SCIENCE: BATTELLE & ITS RESPONSE TO THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC

WEDNESDAY APRIL 28th
3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

SPEAKERS:

Sanj Pia, Vice President and General Manager, Health Business Unit

Sanjeeth (Sanj) Pai is the Vice President and General Manager, Health Business Unit. He joined Battelle in April 2019 bringing a record of successfully developing and implementing turnaround and growth strategies for Fortune 500 healthcare businesses.

Prior to joining Battelle, Sanj served as the North American General Manager at Concordia International where he was responsible for all U.S. commercial operations. He successfully implemented an improvement strategy by transforming the U.S. business model from a non-sustainable, price-driven model to an operational pharma business model.

Prior to Concordia, Sanj held leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Cardinal Health, where his accomplishments included development and implementation of successful data management and solutions strategies for physician offices and pharmaceutical manufacturer customers, the turnaround of Cardinal’s Generic Acute Pharmaceutical Distribution business, and continuous improvement of operational processes resulting in high customer service satisfaction.

Sanj began his career working in medical device and pharmaceutical operations and research & development. He has held various leadership roles at Shasun, Actavis, Baxter Healthcare, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Abbott Laboratories.

Sanj holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from New York University’s Stern School of Business, a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University and a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

AGRICULTURE TRANSFORMATION

Thursday April 29th | 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m

SPEAKERS:

Candida Nakhumwa, Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, Country Director, Malawi

As the Country Director for Malawi, Dr. Candida Nakhumwa manages the Agricultural Transformation Initiative activities in the country. She works closely with smallholder farmer organizations and agricultural cooperatives to identify and develop structured value chains that will promote transformation and inclusive growth for Malawian farmers.

Dr. Nakhumwa has extensive experience in agricultural marketing and agribusiness, and has collaborated with government and key stakeholders to establish agriculture, trade, and finance policies. She has spent most of her career working on the development of farmers and farming organizations in Malawi, including managing contract farming initiatives, value chain financing for farmers, and connections to input and output markets. Most recently, Dr. Nakhumwa served as Director of Research, Policy, and Partnerships at the Farmers Union of Malawi, where she coordinated research, policy engagement, and strategic partnerships; evaluation and communication; knowledge systems; and institutional planning to support the organization’s mission and purpose.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Nakhumwa worked for the National Smallholder Farmers Association as a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Communications Manager. Additionally, she was an Economist for the International Fertilizer Development Centre in Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital. Dr. Nakhumwa has conducted extensive research and consulting work in the areas of smallholder market access for farmers, agricultural water management, Malawi’s legume and dairy industry, and horticultural development.

Dr. Nakhumwa holds a PhD in agricultural economics from the University of Greenwich, UK. She also earned her MS and BS degrees in Agricultural Economics and Agriculture, respectively, from the University of Malawi, Bunda College of Agriculture.

Nancy Conrad, Founder and Chairman, Conrad Foundation

A former teacher, Nancy has become a recognized leader in transformative education and named one of the top 100 leaders in STEM education, serving as a featured speaker at national and international conferences. Her presentations include TED, MIT, and, the Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She also presented at the Global Diversity Leadership Conference at Harvard University and the National Modeling and Simulation Coalition conference in Washington, D.C. Nancy has also testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology detailing how the Conrad Foundation exemplifies the use of partnership to improve STEM education. She is the wife of late astronaut Pete Conrad, who during the Apollo 12 mission became the third man to walk on the Moon.

INNOVATION DRIVES NEW SPACE

FRIDAY APRIL 30th | 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

SPEAKERS:

Joe Rothenberg, Independent consultant in the aerospace sector, Treasurer of Conrad Foundation

Joe has over 56 years of space systems and operations experience including the last 19 years in the commercial “new” space industry, 18 years at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and 19 years in the government aerospace business. He is currently an independent consultant and since February of 2018 leads the Technical Advisory Group for MethaneSAT LLC.  He retired from Google in 2016 where he was director of engineering and operations for Skybox Imaging/Terra Bella. From 2009 through joining Google at their acquisition of Skybox in August of 2014, he was an independent consultant. During that time his clients included the Swedish Space Corporation and Skybox Imaging. From 2002 to 2009, Dr. Rothenberg has served as a member of the Board of Directors and President of Universal Space Network Inc., He retired from NASA in 2001. He held positions as Associate Administrator for Space Flight at NASA, Director of the Goddard Space Flight Center, and Associate Director of the Flight Projects Directorate and responsible for the Hubble Space Telescope 1st Servicing Mission. He has received numerous NASA national and international awards, and was inducted into the Aviation Week and Space Technology Hall of Fame.  Dr. Rothenberg has a B.S. in engineering and physics from CW Post College, an M.S. in engineering management, has several honorary Ph.Ds.

Mikayla Diesch, Electrical Systems Engineer BCT and ALC Member

Mikayla works full time as a consulting hardware engineer, where she develops low level product designs for companies ranging from small scale startups to large corporations. She earned her undergraduate and master's degree from Cornell University in Electrical and Computer Engineering. During her time at Cornell she received the coveted Kessler Fellowship, a program for engineers with a keen interest in entrepreneurship. She has a passion for promoting the importance of STEM education, and has had the opportunity to attend the first annual White House Science Fair, and been a keynote speaker for the LEGO innovation in Learning Summit and the Texas Instruments T3 Conference. 

During her time with Conrad she developed a nutrition bar designed to fit the demanding needs of astronauts in space, along with her sister. The product later flew on STS-134 (Space Shuttle Endeavor). The two invented a patentable process to stabilize Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA), an Omega 3 long chain fatty acid for use in food products. Mikayla is currently working to introduce Solar Flare to the marketplace.

Nancy Conrad, Founder and Chairman, Conrad Foundation

A former teacher, Nancy has become a recognized leader in transformative education and named one of the top 100 leaders in STEM education, serving as a featured speaker at national and international conferences. Her presentations include TED, MIT, and, the Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She also presented at the Global Diversity Leadership Conference at Harvard University and the National Modeling and Simulation Coalition conference in Washington, D.C. Nancy has also testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology detailing how the Conrad Foundation exemplifies the use of partnership to improve STEM education. She is the wife of late astronaut Pete Conrad, who during the Apollo 12 mission became the third man to walk on the Moon.

Smaiyl Makyshov, Brown University Engineering Student and ALC Member

Originally from Almaty, Kazakhstan, Smaiyl is a Brown University Computer Science and Economics student and the 1st citizen of Kazakhstan to have ever graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy. He was a 2020 Finalist in the SMART Technologies Special Transforming Education through Technology category, which he entered with his startup Spokescience (spokescience.com) that connects researchers with social media influencers to reinvent the way science is communicated to the public. As a serial tech entrepreneur (with to-date experience of founding and leading 3 tech startups to success and recognition at international level), Smaiyl is deeply passionate in applying his knowledge and passion for computer science into solving global problems and building and leading tech startups through entrepreneurship. Smaiyl is also an avid number theory researcher, a commercial aviation and airline business geek, and a Track & Field athlete who enjoys organizing and attending social events and organizations, and connecting with people from all over the world.

SALTWATER, CLIMATE, AND SUSTAINING HUMANS

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

SPEAKERS:

Jason Heckathorn, CEO Forever Oceans Corporation

Jason Heckathorn is a high energy entrepreneur with a passion for starting and growing businesses. Jason founded the Mobile Fish Pens line of business at Lockheed Martin by reusing Lockheed Martin defense technologies for sustainable fish farming. After winning six commercial aquaculture contracts and a TIME Magazine Top 25 Inventions of the year award, Jason lead the spin-out of Mobile Fish Pens to become the Forever Oceans Corporation.

Serving in a number of different business development and business execution leadership roles across Lockheed Martin lines of business, Jason continuously demonstrated the ability to develop new customers and successfully run organizations. Jason won programs up to $463M and ran programs up to $88m per year. He also has experience fixing failing programs and creating motivating work environments for both small and large organizations.

Jason thrives in markets that require creative business strategies and is bold in undertaking new ventures. Prior to his time at Lockheed Martin, Jason launched innoport.com. He spends his personal time leading conservation trips and volunteering at his church. Jason holds three Ivy League degrees, has been an adviser to the KAUST Entrepreneurship Program, and has been a speaker at the Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture.

Brad Ack, Executive Director of Ocean Visions and Founder Ocean-Climate Trust

Brad is an environmental innovator whose work has spanned from the tropical forests of Latin America, high deserts of the American southwest, and the Pacific NW to work throughout the global ocean.  Brad has worked for both government and NGOs at senior levels, often in concert with the innovation sphere, designing and implementing innovative conservation and sustainability initiatives.

Brad currently serves as Executive Director and Chief Innovation Officer for Ocean Visions, a partnership of leading research and academic institutions and innovators, investors and practitioners of ocean restoration.  Brad also leads the recently-founded Ocean-Climate Alliance which centers attention on the ocean as a critical pathway to arrest climate disruption and in so doing, restore the ocean.

Ocean Visions and the Ocean Climate Alliance are working to build momentum for a new ocean-climate restoration and solutions agenda; to unlock new intellectual and financial investments in ocean-climate solutions; to source, develop and scale innovations that repair and restore critical components of the ocean-climate system. 

Previously Brad served as Senior Vice President, Oceans at WWF-US; Regional Director-Americas for the Marine Stewardship Council; and Executive Director of the Puget Sound Recovery Program in the State of Washington.  He directed conservation programs for the Grand Canyon Trust and started his career in Latin America working on sustainable development around protected areas. 

Dr. Alex Dehgan, CEO Conservation-X

lex Dehgan is the CEO & Co-founder of Conservation X Labs.  Conservation X Labs builds new technologies through its labs, and harnesses open innovation, to create new solutions to end the sixth mass extinction.  Alex previously served as the Chief Scientist of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), with rank of Assistant Administrator, and worked in multiple positions in the Office of the Secretary of State at the US Department of State.  Alex was also the founding country director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Afghanistan Program and helped create Afghanistan’s first national park.  Alex is the author of the book, The Snow Leopard Project, which describes the effort. 

2021 CONRAD CHALLENGE INNOVATION SUMMIT - CLOSING CEREMONY

FRIDAY APRIL 30th | 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.