Guest Speakers

Wendy Kennedy is a seasoned technology industry executive, award winning professor, and author who has spent more than 20 years helping science and technology inventors bring their ideas from “lab to life”. Wendy’s methodology and book, So what? who cares? why you?™: The Inventor’s Commercialization Toolkit, have been adopted internationally by government research labs, innovation centers, university commercialization offices and private sector corporations.   Wendy’s career spans executive roles in several venture backed startup companies, two of which were acquired by Microsoft and Harman Kardon.   She is very familiar with campus entrepreneurship, having spent 12 years as a business school professor at Algonquin College in Canada.  It was during this time Wendy developed So what? who cares? why you?®, a methodology for communicating the business value proposition of scientific and technical innovations. In 1999, Wendy left academia to create her own venture through wendykennedy.com inc.  Today, So what? who cares? why you?® is at work globally by organizations including: Pennsylvania State University, The National Research Council of Canada, The University of Central Florida, Tech Fort Worth, The University of Canterbury (New Zealand), Purdue University, Springboard Atlantic, Mississippi State University, West Virginia University and others.

Wendy is a frequent speaker at commercialization and entrepreneurship forums including:  Pennsylvania State University, the Federal Laboratory Consortium, Springboard West Innovations, Innoventure2007 and Enterprise Ireland.

Wendy holds a Masters Degree in Business from Queen’s University and is a recipient of the Dr. Laurent Isabelle Award for innovation and excellence in education.  She lives in the heart of Canada’s innovation capital, Ottawa, Canada.  To learn more about Wendy, visit www.wendykennedy.com.

Ellen Dunnigan founded Accent On Business in 1998. Today, her company employs four professionals and specializes in public speaking and communication skills development for people in business. She has 20 years of experience with professional, amateur, celebrity and executive speakers in media, politics, business, sales and other industries. Ellen’s coaching in speaking skills gives business professionals greater confidence and credibility in the sales room, the boardroom, the conference hall, and the war room. Her advanced English programs give foreign nationals a better command of the language of business and much more confidence for promotions.

Ellen is known locally and nationally for her public speaking programs, Presenter’s Platform™ and Vocal Charisma™. She holds a master’s degree in speech-language pathology with specific training in voice, presentations, neurogenic communication, foreign-accent modification and executive communication coaching.

Ellen and her husband Patrick are native Buckeyes and have lived the past 15 years in Carmel, Indiana.  She is active in numerous civic and community groups including Rainmakers, the Indiana Ballet Company, NAWBO, and the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce.  Ellen has a passion for families dealing with Alzheimer’s and related dementias, and she has been instrumental in the development of more than 150 Alzheimer’s care centers; Joy’s House, an adult day care community in Broad Ripple; the Indianapolis Discovery Network for Dementia; and the American Speech-Language Hearing Association.

Gregory W. Deason,
Purdue Research Foundation

Greg Deason, Vice President and Executive Director - Purdue Research Park, leads the Purdue University-affiliated team that has transformed the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette into an engine for Indiana's economic development initiatives. As Vice President, Mr. Deason has overall responsibilities for Purdue Research Park programs and facilities as well as development activities related to a diverse portfolio of real estate. Within the Purdue Research Park, Mr. Deason has been instrumental in the creation of the Purdue Technology Centers Complex – the largest university-affiliated business incubator complex in the country.

The park in West Lafayette was founded in 1961 and was transformed during Mr. Deason’s tenure beginning in 1995.  During the past six years, Mr. Deason has led efforts to establish a research park network throughout the state of Indiana.  At present there are also locations in Merrillville (a Chicago suburb), New Albany (a Louisville suburb) and Indianapolis.  In total the Purdue Research Park network accounts for over 1,200 acres, 64 buildings, over 2M square feet of space and nearly 4,000 workers. In recent years the Purdue Research Park has received many awards. Included in these accolades are the Outstanding Science/Research Park by the Association of University Research Parks and Indiana's first Certified Technology Park. On two separate occasions companies in the park have been awarded prestigious "Graduate of the Year" honors by the National Business Incubation Association.

In addition, the Purdue Research Foundation, owner and manager of the Purdue Research Park, has received TechPoint's MIRA Award for outstanding professional service to high-tech firms. Most recently the park was honored with four international Excellence in Economic Development awards for Technology-based Economic Development; Entrepreneurship; Partnerships with Educational Institutions; and Regionalism and Cross-Border Collaboration by the International Economic Development Council. Mr. Deason has also served the Purdue Research Foundation as its Director of Research Park Development, Associate Director of Real Estate and Assistant Director of Real Estate. In those capacities, he was heavily involved in the Purdue Research Park and Purdue Technology Centers Complex as well as handling responsibilities for residential and commercial properties.

Mr. Deason is on the Board of Directors for the Association of University Research Parks where he is a past President.  He is also a member of the Purdue University Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Agriculture and was awarded the Distinguished Agricultural Alumni Award in 2010. Deason has earned an international reputation as a speaker and educator on research park operations and development, incubation of high-tech businesses and strategies for leveraging university assets to grow high-tech companies. Before joining the Purdue Research Foundation, Mr. Deason served his alma mater, Purdue University, in business administration and sponsored program management. He also has experience in banking.