The NH Tech Alliance and ARMI event highlights expanding the partner ecosystem on April 4

BioMed|Tech event to focus on ARMI progress with key executives as featured speakers

The New Hampshire Tech Alliance (Alliance), will hold its first BioMed|Tech event of the year on Thursday, April 4 focusing on the expanded partner ecosystem of the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI). The event will be from 4:30 to 7:30 pm, with registration and networking beginning at 4:30, and official programming starting at 5:30, at the DEKA Auditorium located at 400 Commercial Street in Manchester.

The event will highlight the significant progress ARMI has made since its summer 2017 launch and include remarks from some of the leaders at ARMI, including Dean Kamen and Dr. Thomas Bollenbach, as well as NH Commissioner of Business and Economic Affairs, Taylor Caswell. Efforts to make scalable tissues and organ manufacturing a reality, including ecosystem partnerships, the new Tissue Foundry & Incubator and economic and workforce development efforts, will be discussed.

“There has been a lot of excitement and energy about ARMI since its launch in 2017,” said Cindy Conde, co-chair of the BioMed|Tech initiative. “ARMI’s noble mission and aspirations to make tissue and organ manufacturing a reality has the potential of being a ‘quality of life’ game changer for patients in need around the world. Since our inaugural ARMI event last year, ARMI has continued to grow and innovate, and we look forward to offering this unique opportunity to explore how ARMI’s partner ecosystem plays a leading role in the nation’s vibrant and dynamic biotech community.”

The NH Tech Alliance has been a member of ARMI since late 2017 and is committed to helping the organization reach its goal of becoming the nation’s leading research center on regenerative tissue manufacturing.

“Advancement of New Hampshire’s life sciences industry is a priority focus for our department’s strategies, and we are building a stronger foundation in partnership with the new regenerative manufacturing industry that we fully intend to see flourish here for many decades to come,” said Taylor Caswell, commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs.

The April 4 event includes a lineup of esteemed speakers from ARMI as well as key players from ARMI’s partner ecosystem. It will include remarks from Dean Kamen, Taylor Caswell, Dr. Thomas Bollenbach, Dr. Hannah Strobeland Mike Decelle.

Dean Kamen, president, DEKA, acting executive director, ARMI|BioFabUSA
Dean Kamen is an inventor, entrepreneur and life-long advocate for science and technology. Kamen currently serves as acting executive director and chairman of the Board of Directors of ARMI. In this position, he guides ARMI in its mission of making practical the large-scale manufacturing of engineered tissues and tissue-related technologies, to benefit existing industries and grow new ones.

Kamen founded DEKA in 1982 to focus on medical innovations aimed at improving lives around the world. He has received many awards for his efforts, including the National Medal of Technology, which was presented to him in 2000 by then-President Clinton. He has also received the Lemelson-MIT Prize, has been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Kamen is known for founding FIRST®, a non-profit organization dedicated to motivating the next generation to understand, use and enjoy science and technology. Since its founding in 1989, FIRST® has served nearly 500,000 children between the ages of 6 and 18 in more than 85 countries around the world.

Taylor Caswell, commissioner, New Hampshire Division of Business and Economic Affairs
Taylor Caswell is the commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs, where he oversees the Divisions of Economic Development and Travel and Tourism Development. He has defined the narrative of New Hampshire as a place where people want to live and work and where companies can grow and thrive in the state’s unique tax and opportunity climate. Caswell’s experience includes structuring and funding renewable power-related startups, financial services and external affairs for a Fortune 500 natural gas utilities company, as well as serving as the executive director of the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority, as Northeast regional director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and as founder of the NH Clean Tech Council.

Dr. Thomas Bollenbach, chief technology officer, ARMI|BioFabUSA
Dr. Thomas Bollenbach is ARMI’s chief technology officer where he builds the mechanisms necessary to turn laboratory breakthroughs into manufactured products. Before joining ARMI, he was vice president of research and development at Harvard Apparatus Regenerative Technology where he was responsible for the development and execution of preclinical and product development programs for implantable airway and esophageal constructs containing living cells. Bollenbach has also served as associate director of Preclinical Research and Development at Organogenesis, Inc., where he implemented and completed efficacy and preclinical pharmacology and toxicology programs for living, bioengineered skin grafts.

Bollenbach earned his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Notre Dame and his BS in Biochemistry from the University of Waterloo, Canada.

Dr. Hannah Strobel, postdoctoral researcher, Advanced Solutions Life Sciences
Dr. Hannah Strobel is a postdoctoral researcher at Advanced Solutions Life Sciences where she focuses on tissue vascularization. Prior to working at Advanced Solutions Life Sciences, she completed an engineering internship with Pfizer. Strobel has also served as an IGERT fellow at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, as a visiting researcher at the National University of Ireland Galway and as an undergraduate researcher at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She earned her BS in Biomedical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, her Certificate of Graduate Business Study from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Mike Decelle, dean, University of New Hampshire Manchester
Mike Decelle is the dean of UNH Manchester, a multidisciplinary research college of the University of New Hampshire. He assumed leadership of the Manchester campus in February of 2016 following a 35-year career in the technology sector as an engineer, corporate executive and startup company CEO. He also serves as the chief workforce officer for the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute. Decelle has worked in the commercialization of early-stage advanced technologies in both large company environments as well as in small startups.

The April 4 event will include opportunities for networking, facility tours and food and beverages. Tickets are $15 for Alliance members, $25 for non-members and $10 for students. Registration for the event is available here or by calling 603.935.8951. Seating is limited, so individuals are encouraged to register in advance.