Dunbar P. Birnie, III
Professor & Corning/Saint Gobain/ Malcolm G. McLaren Chair Materials Science Engineering. dunbar.birnie@gmail.com, Phone: 848-445-5606
Dr. Birnie is the PI on the Rutgers I-Corps Site Grant and participated as an academic lead for a National I-Corps team. He received his BS and PhD degrees from MIT and is deeply involved in solar innovation at many levels. His class on “Solar Cell Design and Processing” integrates innovation and practical engineering knowledge to help students evaluate new solar technologies as daily class discussion topics. Prof. Birnie has been modeling and measuring how solar power overlaps with the emergence of electric transportation through his “Solar-2-Vehicle Project”. Through various NSF funding he has worked extensively on dye sensitized solar cells and improving the nanoporosity channels that are important for enhancing efficiency. Present device-level work is aimed at wide-band-gap thin-film semiconductors to pair with silicon for application in 1-sun tandem architecture modules. The Birnie group is also actively involved in entrepreneurship related to renewable energy research and actively working to translate in-the-lab discoveries to commercial success.
Lori B. Dars, MBA
Associate Director of Office of Economic Development, Founder and Chair of the Rutgers Entrepreneurship Coalition. Rutgers I-Corps Site Director
lori.dars@rutgers.edu Phone: 848-932-4481 Cell 732-642-9691
Lori Darsprovides
leadership and support for programs and resources that facilitate
collaborations between the University, industry, and government and is an
essential member of development team for Innovation Park at Rutgers. She
works with stakeholder groups and regional networks.to identify programs that
can build on current capabilities and resources to further develop
entrepreneurship programs throughout the University, local community, and
state. Last fall, she organized the first student Innovation and
Entrepreneurship Expo held on campus
Previously, she was a member of the Technology Commercialization Office as part
of the New Ventures & Entrepreneurship team, providing guidance to faculty,
staff and student entrepreneurs on funding programs and resources to encourage
start-up company activity at Rutgers; she was the university’s liaison for the
National NSF I-Corps and University City Center QED programs. Prior to joining
Rutgers, Lori worked in various industry positions in both corporate
communications and marketing, overseeing activities for a variety of products
and services. She holds a BA in Communications from the University of
Delaware and an M.B.A. from Rutgers University.