Category Archives: Stewart Fellows

Sep 14 2017
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Community, Stewart Fellows

Startup Stories: A Summer Internship at Sandboxx

This past summer, Michael Khizgilov ’20 received a stipend to work at a startup through our Kathryn Stewart Fellowship Program. The Dingman Center asked him about his experience to give other students a preview of the benefits a startup internship has to offer.

MichaelKhizgilov

Tell us about Sandboxx. What is the company’s mission and core competencies?

SANDBOXX simplifies the military lifestyle. Its mission is to keep the military community connected—and it does that in a number of ways. It helps people send letters to their loved ones who are off the grid at boot camp. It also helps parents find great travel deals and helps active duty members stay connected with their community. This all centers around the free SANDBOXX app. SANDBOXX was founded by vets and is leveraging tech to improve the military community—to serve those who serve us.

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Tell us about your responsibilities over the summer at Sandboxx?

My responsibilities were focused on operations as well as marketing. I helped ensure that the operations process was running smoothly, with a focus on quality and efficiency. In addition, I was responsible for analyzing various stages of the operations process and finding ways to improve the quality and efficiency of the system, with great success. This type of thinking and focus on constant innovation is ingrained into the company culture, and I often find myself analyzing ways to improve my own daily workflow since completing the internship. On the marketing side, I was also responsible for writing blog posts and creating social media content. This process required me to truly understand Sandboxx’s mission and the expectations of its users. I feel that my marketing experience had a strong connection to the process of launching a startup as I had to emphasize with the end-user and understand their needs and pain-points. For example, in the case of Sandboxx’s Letters platform, I needed to fully understand the challenge that loving family and friends face in staying connected to their future service member during boot camp. As someone with limited prior exposure to the military, I had to truly immerse myself in the culture and history to effectively fulfill my role.

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Aug 31 2016
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startup, Stewart Fellows

Stewart Fellow Interns at an Innovative Healthcare Startup

This summer, several undergraduate students have been interning at startups through the Kathryn Stewart Fellowship program. Undergraduate Stewart fellows are awarded a $3,000 scholarship if they are able to secure a summer internship with venture capital or angel-funded startups and early stage companies. The Dingman Center interviewed each fellow about their experience.

Erich Meissner – LiftOff Health

Tell us about LiftOff Health. What is the company’s mission and core competencies?LiftoffHealth

LiftOff Health is accelerating healthcare innovation in all areas, whether it be HIPAA-compliant instant messaging services or a nanoscale glucose monitor. LiftOff Health has valued connections with the public sector as it is located right outside DC in Crystal City. Our most immense industry by GDP makeup, the healthcare industry, is also the most highly regulated. Things like FDA approvals for medical devices can easily take over a year, and for a startup, that timeline is dangerous. LiftOff Health leverages our proximity to over 200 foreign embassies and international organizations to expedite the process. Startups can find success abroad and monetize their product-to-market fit faster in other countries. We seek to help healthcare executives achieve 10x equity value for their businesses, a principle that mimics Peter Thiel’s first rule for creating a great business: Build Proprietary Technology That Is 10x Better.

Tell us about your responsibilities thus far at LiftOff Health?

LiftOff Health is putting on a series of healthcare hackathons at dozens of colleges and universities. Our lineup so far is global, with hackathons planned in Belarus, Venezuela and local schools like George Washington University and James Madison University. My responsibilities thus far have been around these hackathons. Participants need a place to upload their hacks, and although Devpost and Github are excellent solutions for demos, we want students to come together and popularize our LiftOff platform. I am currently working on the web functionality to host all these hackers. Also, just like with Bitcamp at UMD, we need to have hardware labs ready and enough 3D printers for the events. The most exciting part of this hackathon series is that it is healthcare focused; we will invite speakers to talk about the biggest challenges facing healthcare today. The industry accounts for almost 20% of US-GDP yet the World Health Organization ranks our healthcare as 37th overall in patient outcomes—it definitely needs some innovation.

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Aug 17 2016
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startup, Stewart Fellows

Stewart Fellow Interns at a Medical Supply Startup

This summer, several undergraduate students have been interning at startups through the Kathryn Stewart Fellowship program. Undergraduate Stewart fellows are awarded a $3,000 scholarship if they are able to secure a summer internship with venture capital or angel-funded startups and early stage companies. The Dingman Center interviewed each fellow about their experience.

Emily Turner – Hybrent Inc.

Tell us about Hybrent Inc. What is the company’s mission and core competencies?Hybrent_Blue_Logo-tagline-1

Hybrent is a medical supply chain company.  The core competency of the company is to evolve the supply chain process to be more efficient and cost cutting.

Our mission is to develop technology that improves the clinical and operational efficiency of healthcare facilities. Hybrent products and services are dedicated to solving real problems in the healthcare supply chain by providing groundbreaking technology, business intelligence and visibility beyond the limits of current enterprise systems. We help procurement managers make better decisions when running their healthcare organizations.

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Aug 12 2016
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Fearless Founders, startup, Stewart Fellows

Stewart Fellow Spends the Summer Interning at Javazen

This summer, several undergraduate students have been interning at startups through the Kathryn Stewart Fellowship program. Undergraduate Stewart fellows are awarded a $3,000 scholarship if they are able to secure a summer internship with venture capital or angel-funded startups and early stage companies. The Dingman Center interviewed each fellow about their experience.

Matt Furda – JavazenCopy of Javazen logo

Tell us about Javazen. What is the company’s mission and core competencies?

Javazen is a blend of coffee, tea, and superfoods. You brew Javazen the same way you would brew normal coffee grounds. I like to say that Javazen is mindfulness in a cup. It is a tool to help you feel at your best, and by replacing your daily cup of coffee with Javazen you are being mindful and acknowledging that every little step counts. Javazen’s mission is simply to help people experience each moment with clarity, vitality, and passion.

1eTell us about your responsibilities thus far at Javazen

Javazen is run by a small group of incredibly hardworking individuals. Because there is a small team behind everything, I have gotten a glimpse into nearly every aspect of the business. I have helped with everything from demos, content creation, and social media marketing to manufacturing and building our office space. I have demoed Javazen at stores, trade shows, and yoga festivals and would continuously learn about the market first hand by connecting with new Javazen drinkers. I have helped with content writing for blog posts and our weekly “Wednesday Zensday” newsletter. Lately, I have had bags of Javazen with me at all times, and I am always looking for a cool spot to get a great picture to generate content little by little. I love building things so naturally I became the go to build-it guy for various Javazen projects including our warehouse office space, which is nearly completed. Part of the job for an intern is to learn as much as possible, and that is a major part of what I have focused my time on. During meetings I offer my perspective, ideas, and thoughts on new campaigns and strategies. This internship has really been the quintessential startup experience.

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Jun 07 2016
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Hisaoka Fellows, startup, Stewart Fellows

Meet Our 2016 Kathryn Stewart & Hisaoka Fellows

Though the Dingman Center is perhaps best known for its venture creation programs, we are also very passionate about giving students opportunities to give back to the existing innovation economy. A student who is able to experience the fast-paced, fluid environment of a startup inevitably cultivates a broad skillset and knowledge-base that further enriches their careers, whether as entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs. Though the potential outcomes of a startup internship are highly attractive, the reality is that many students hesitate when choosing a lower startup salary over a higher one offered by a corporate entity. The Kathryn Stewart Fellowship Program and Hisaoka Fellowship Program exist to provide students who are eager to spend their summer interning at a startup with a stipend to supplement their salaries.

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Kathryn Stewart Fellowship Program

Through a generous donation by Dingman Center Angel and Board of Advisors member Kathryn Stewart, this program awards a $3,000 scholarship to undergraduate students who are able to secure a summer internship with venture capital or angel-funded startups and early stage companies. Now in its second year, meet the 2016 Kathryn Stewart Fellows:

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