Entrepreneurship & Innovation Symposium: Meet the Panelists

Dr. Angelique Johnson is CEO& Founder of MEMStim LLC, a company that produces implantable electronics to treat neurological disorders. With a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, a BS in Computer Engineering and a BA in Mathematics from University of Maryland, Baltimore County, her work on microfabricated electrode arrays has resulted in several national and international patents, acquired funding from the NSF and received Millions in prestigious & highly competitive SBIR awards from the NIH. Dr. Johnson’s expertise is sought out at the highest levels, including the US House of Representatives Small Business Committee. She has served as a speaker for the eighth district of the Federal Reserve, the Royal Academy of Science International Trust(RASIT); the International Chamber of Commerce; and the United Nations Assembly on Women and Girls in Science. She lends her leadership to the Standing Council, NSF Engineering Research Visioning Alliance; the KY Statewide EPSCOR Committee; the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering SBIR; the NSF National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI)External Advisory Board and Medtech Color. Combining her passion and her expertise in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship, Dr. Johnson founded Vissionaireum--an organization that promotes, trains, and equips under-served entrepreneurs to achieve their God given visions. She has been featured prominently in reputable media outlets including NBCUniversal; National Public Radio, in The Root news site; in the Louisville Insider, and in Business First Magazine.

Adel S. Elmaghraby is the Director of Industrial Research and Innovation, and Winnia Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at the Speed School of Engineering, and Research and Innovation Director for the University of Louisville Digital Transformation Center (USA). He has also held appointments at the Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He advised over 60 master’s and 30 doctoral graduates.His research contributions and consulting spans the areas of Intelligent Multimedia Systems, Artificial Intelligence, HPC, Cybersecurity, Visualization, and Simulation. His research applications include Smart Cities, Data Analytics, Medical Imaging, Bioinformatics, and Computer-Aided Diagnostics. He is a well-published author, public speaker, member of editorial boards, and technical reviewer. He was recognized for his achievements by several professional organizations including a Golden Core Charter Membership by the IEEE Computer Society at the 50th anniversary celebration.Adel S. Elmaghraby continued collaborations, mentoring, and scientific contributions have resulted in research funding, international collaboration, and published articles in many prestigious journals such as IEEE-TMI, Medical Physics, Journal of Neuroscience Methods, and Protein Engineering. He is Life Senior Member of IEEE, the former President and Lifetime Member of the Association of Egyptian American Scholars.

Richard Wilson, II is currently a Global Operations Specialist at Meta (formerly Facebook), and he is a Master of Engineering in Engineering Management candidate at the University of Louisville. Before starting at Meta, Richard was the co-founder of his first tech startup called Happnin, which was a location-based social media platform geared towards in-person events. He has completed programs with Harvard Business School and has several fellowship and externship experiences with The Takeoff Institute (inaugural class), Ripple Ventures, Paragon One (venture-backed startup), and the National Venture Capital Association. Additionally, he has obtained several internships/ co-ops in Industrial Engineering with UPS Supply Chain Solutions, UPS Airlines, and GE Appliances. Richard graduated from the University of Louisville in May 2021 with a BS in Industrial Engineering, where he received the Woodford R. Porter Scholarship (full-ride, merit-based scholarship), co-founded the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Council, worked as an Associate in the Office of Research and Innovation, and served on the executive boards for the National Society of Black Engineers and Speed School Student Council. He is originally from Louisville, KY.

Ricky Mason was born and raised in Louisville, KY. He earned his Bachelors in Electrical Engineering at the University of Kentucky. During his undergraduate career, he interned with NASA and the Department of Defense. He earned his Masters in Electrical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University while working for the CIA in Washington, DC. After a few years, he returned home to Kentucky where he is currently ABD with his PhD in Electrical Engineering at the University of Kentucky. After teaching and working as an electrical/software engineer in the College of Agriculture at UK, Mason moved back to Louisville to pursue his dreams as an entrepreneur. Currently he is the founder of several startups that include: BrainSTEM University, a STEM education company for AI and VR; Kentucky Agritech, a company that provides IOT, apps, and remote sensing technology for agriculture. In his spare time, Mason pursues his passions for futurism, hip-hop, and fitness. When he is not at home being a husband and father of two amazing boys (6 and 7), you can find Mason at Network and Chill, a monthly networking event co-founded by Mason and Chris Redd. Follow Mason on all social media @rickymason502 #keepmakingmoves

Natalia Bishop got her footing as a CEO when she founded Story, Louisville's first coworking space dedicated to growing the startup ecosystem in our city and bringing accessibility and equity into our startup community. Through this experience, she earned entrepreneurial stripes, learning lessons about scalability, fundraising, building a team, and an inspiring brand, but most importantly how to build community. Bishop pivoted to become a tech founder with Level Up, a marketplace edtech platform helping women gain skills to develop their careers. Bishop is the Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Louisville. She is originally from Colombia, but has called Louisville home for the last 20 years. Her passion projects include volunteering as a board member for Wild Accelerator for female founders, Actors Theater of Louisville, and working as a mentor for Amplify Louisville and Russell Tech Business Incubator. 

Mr. Metcalf is Associate Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Partnerships at the University of Louisville (UofL) and a Professor in the Brandeis School of Law, where he is the Director of the Entrepreneurship Law Clinic. He holds a joint appointment with the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council (LHCC), a nonprofit formed in 2017 to address national healthcare challenges and increase regional economic vibrancy by leveraging the unique strength of the healthcare and aging innovation sector. LHCC board members are the CEOs of 13 companies headquartered in Louisville, KY – representing over 450,000 employees and $120 billion in revenue. In addition to working with LHCC on entrepreneurship, corporate innovation, workforce, and economic development efforts, Mr. Metcalf and his team supported a record-breaking $201M in research and service awards to UofL in fiscal year 2021. He has been the principal investigator on more than $5M in awards and is a leader of the 2021 award from the Minority Business Development Administration (MBDA) to UofL for the Kentucky MBDA Advanced Manufacturing Center. This MBDA center is focused on creating an inclusive innovation ecosystem around the economic opportunities provided by additive manufacturing. It will leverage the leading expertise in additive manufacturing at the UofL to support minority business enterprises as they create scalable high tech manufacturing startups and jobs. Additionally, Mr. Metcalf has been co-founder of tech-backed ventures including the Louisville Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programs (LEAP). As a co-founder of LEAP, Mr. Metcalf built a collaboration to support innovation that leverages the region’s unique strengths. Mr. Metcalf has published in law journals on issues impacting higher education and has presented to numerous conferences. Mr. Metcalf holds a Juris Doctor degree and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, both from the University of Louisville.