Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1450266
PANELISTS Aaron Birt, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO, Solvus Global Dr. Birt is a leading expert in various fields of machine learning, materials, and manufacturing with a passion for using technology to develop solutions to critical problems faced around the globe. Today his energies are focused on building the Solvus team to tackle key challenges in the field of advanced manufacturing. Aaron's passion and commitment to driving technical solutions into real-world commercial applications is the underlying foundation of Solvus Global itself. With a focus on growing people and solving challenges, Aaron is devoted to making Solvus Global a place where top engineers, thinkers, and creatives can come together to fulfill their own ambitious goals. While completing his PhD at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Aaron formed two companies (Kinetic Batteries & EventTree) from which he learned a great deal about team building, business development, sales, and communication. Since that time Aaron has grown Solvus from the ground up through the Covid-19 pandemic to over $5M in revenue in 2020, more than 40 employees, and over 40k sq. ft. of manufacturing space. Aaron has been recognized as a member of Forbes 30 Under 30 (2018), Society of Manufacturing Engineers 30 Under 30 (2017), and Worcester Business Journal 40 Under 40 (2021). When he's not in the office or laboratory, Aaron can be found exploring our great globe with his talented wife, Sarah. David Fithian, President, Clark University Fithian, a 1987 graduate of Clark who earned two master's degrees and a doctoral degree from Yale University, came to Clark from the University of Chicago, where he served as executive vice president. Before joining Chicago in 2007, Fithian served for 12 years at Harvard, holding increasingly elevated responsibilities. As assistant dean of freshmen and, later, the Allston Burr Senior Tutor (resident dean) of Adams House, he oversaw the academic standing and personal well-being of more than 500 first-year and 400 upper-class students each year. As associate dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, he coordinated all aspects of faculty governance, including the monitoring and coordination of faculty- related policies, procedures, and legislation. A New York City/Westchester County native, Fithian graduated from Clark as a sociology and English major with a passion for art and architecture and earned his M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. degrees in sociology from Yale. His dissertation, "A Dark and Shining Stone: Symbol Contests and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial," received the Theron Rockwell Field Prize, the first time a social science dissertation received this distinguished literary award. He has lectured in the departments of sociology at Yale, the University of Connecticut, and Harvard, where he also taught seminars for the Committee on Degrees in Social Studies. Fithian and his husband, Michael Rodriguez, Ph.D., recently celebrated their 25th anniversary together and their 15th anniversary of legal marriage. They met in graduate school at Yale, where Michael received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. He completed his clinical and post- doctoral training at Harvard Medical School before serving as the Resident Dean of Adams House and teaching innovative and influential courses in the Department of Psychology at Harvard. He and Fithian raise and breed Friesian horses. ngrid.com Connect with us on We're investing and innovating for our communities energy future.