Associate Professor, Discipline of Oral Health Faculty of Dentistry University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Craiova

Dr. Dăguci is an associate professor in the discipline of Oral Health in the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Craiova, Romania. He has taught at the University since 2002 as lecturer and assistant professor before becoming an associate professor in 2009 working in both dental prosthetics and oral health. Additionally, he operates his own dental practice helping underserved residents of rural Dolj County receive dental care.

Dr. Dăguci’s academic work together with his hands-on experience as a dentist has encouraged him to pursue interests in new innovations in dentistry and broader areas of health and medicine. He has researched a number of different topics in dental health such as the morpho-functional integration of dental bridges with abutments with crown-root amputation and restoration prosthetic implant support.

Dr. Dăguci is also a graduate of the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Craiova. He also completed his specialization in general dentistry and his MD qualifications in Craiova. In 2010, Dr. Dăguci earned his PhD in Medical Sciences in Bucharest at the University Medical Faculty Carol Davila.

Bogdan C. Stanache is a global technology practitioner, entrepreneur and advocate for global economic development. Empowering Romanian and Central and Eastern European innovators is a priority to Stanache. He is working with the European Union to open a 5,000 square meter innovation center in Craiova, opening 2021, to serve as a regional epicenter to advance best practices in IT and help early stage enterprises enter global markets. Additionally, under his supervision, INNES is conducting economic development research and facilitating educational programs to engage people of all age groups in today’s digital economy.

He is also president of Webdilio Group, a leading implementer of software technology with offices in Romania, USA, UAE, India and Singapore.

Stanache started his first information technology company as a university student. He established Web Win Group Net Romania, known locally as Piatadesiteuri.ro, to provide customers in southeast Romania with quality software at competitive prices. He quickly became a regional force in providing an array of Web and IT services growing the company into a multinational player.

Throughout his career, Stanache has delivered cutting-edge tech solutions to numerous companies and government agencies around the world. Through engagements with financial services companies and utilities in Europe and Asia, he has become an early advocate for blockchain technology. Clients in all sectors turn to Bogdan to manage especially complex IT challenges for everything from the development of service platforms, advanced Web applications, mobile applications, e-Learning and e-Commerce.

Frank Pietrucha is co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of INNES Worldwide, a Washington, DC – based organization advancing tech innovation and global trade. A communicator by training, he has communicated on behalf of technology companies, government organizations and economic development interests worldwide. At INNES, Pietrucha’s responsibilities include building global relationships and directing curriculum development.

Pietrucha is author of the Washington Post bestseller Supercommunicator: Explaining The Complicated So Anyone Can Understand (Harper Collins, 2014). Many of the examples used in his book come from his experience.

For NASA, Pietrucha helped Silicon Valley engineers explain big ideas like cloud computing and cyber security to Washington, DC decision-makers. As a co-founder of the Creative and Innovative Economy Center at George Washington University, he developed educational and communications programs to drive awareness of intellectual property rights among delegates to the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva and to government and business leaders in emerging markets around the world. For the Institute for International Research, Frank produced a series to conferences on topics ranging from mining investment to technology infrastructure to consumer credit to boost economic development in Latin America.

Pietrucha shares his “Supercommunicator” philosophy with audiences around the world through workshops and keynote addresses. He encourages learners to embrace a modern mindset and twenty first century tools to make communications accessible to nontechnical audiences.

Pietrucha graduated from Cornell University with a degree in International Social Relations. He has also completed course work at Universidad Iberoamericano in Mexico City and the University of Bath, England. Pietrucha is also vice president of the Romanian-American Chamber of Commerce, Washington, DC chapter.

Dr. Gruionu is a researcher, inventor, entrepreneur, and technology development specialist. For the past eight years, he worked at the Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital, most recently as Assistant Professor of Surgery and Director of Innovation. Currently, he is developing a computer-assisted surgical navigation and medical robotics platform.

As CIO, Dr. Gruionu is responsible for managing new ideas from inception to commercialization. He helps INNES entrepreneurs identify market needs, develop new solutions, assess their patentability, file a patent, plan the R&D process, develop an investor deck and present it to investors.

Dr. Gruionu earned a MS Degree in Biomedical Sciences from The University of Missouri-Columbia, a Ph.D. Degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Arizona and has six years of post-doctoral studies in the Departments of Surgery at the Indiana University School of Medicine and the Radiation Oncology at Harvard Medical School. He has extensive R&D experience as a product specialist in the medical product industry at W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. where he supported seven medical products that are commercialized worldwide.

He advised and co-developed new medical products with over 60 doctors, scientists, and residents from Departments of Surgery, Radiation Oncology, and Emergency Medicine at MGH. He taught courses in medical device development based on MGH medical product to 200+ students from MGH, the Harvard School of Public Health, the Harvard Business School, Boston University, Suffolk University, and Deloitte Consulting.

Since 2009, Dr. Gruionu became an academic entrepreneur in collaboration with other scientists and clinicians from the Indiana University School of Medicine, NIH, Johns Hopkins University, the Catholic University of America, Georgetown University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School. He is founder and executive leader of three US medical product and innovation consulting startup companies.

He is the author of 30+ original peer publications and two book chapters on medical innovation (Springer Verlag) and has two awarded and three pending medical device patents. Over the years, Dr. Gruionu gave 50+ national and international invited oral and conference presentations and has earned $4.3 million in grant funding from 14 grants from the American Heart Association, National Institutes of Health, and European funding agencies.

Lucian Gheorghe Gruionu, Hab., PhD., Eng.,is Professor at the Faculty of Mechanics from the University of Craiova (UCV), one of the major Romanian universities. Prof. Gruionu’s research in the last 18 years focused on biomedical engineering, innovation in medicine, biomechanics and medical instrument and equipment development.

As CTO, Dr. Gruionu works with INNES entrepreneurs to evaluate feasibility of new technologies and guide the R&D process from the technical perspective. His experience covers technical solutions for different industries from medical to automotive.

Dr. Gruionu worked in medical robotics research and interventional radiology instrumentation at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore and Georgetown University, Washington USA for over 2 years and he had a medical device research collaboration with the Department of Surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

He was the director of an international biomedical research project in a consortium with SINTEF Research Institute and Norwegian University of Science and Technology from Norway and in present he received a second grant to continue this collaboration. He was director of 15 and participated in other 5 national and 4 international research grants, he set up two mechanical and biomedical engineering laboratories in Craiova, and is author and co-author on over 100 peer reviewed scientific publications and conference proceedings. He is co-founder and CEO of two medical and biomedical engineering R&D spin-off sponsored by the structural European and national funds. Dr. Gruionu received 2 national prizes for scientific research, has two international patents (USA, WPO), one national and 4 international patent applications under review.

Hellen Fissihaie is a professional woman passionate about the growth and potential of emerging markets. She is of Eritrean origins, born in Sudan during the war between Eritrea and Ethiopia in the early 1980s. Ms. Fissihaie has worked across the continent in a variety of capacities and currently owns and operates F3 Global LLC, a capacity building strategy firm based in Washington, D.C. with offices in Ghana and Ethiopia focused on health, agriculture, and entrepreneurship for private and public sector clients in the U.S., Africa, Middle East, and the Caribbean.

Ms. Fissihaie’s company, F3 Global is a forward thinking tech savvy strategy firm focusing on programs, partnerships and capacity building life cycles that create inclusive sustainable impact in emerging markets. Her firm adds value by 1) driving impact through technology and data collection, 2) understanding cultures and markets of engagement, 3) bridging gaps using diaspora and local capacity and 4) facilitating business enablement. F3 Global is a 100% woman owned and operated small minority business whose collective experience and networks across emerging markets bring a fresh perspective to find goal oriented solutions to diverse challenges.

After University, Ms. Fissihaie has worked for a variety of organizations that honed her keen sense of problem solving, designing and managing programs, developing relationships, and understanding market needs and gaps. During her time at DFW International Community Alliance in Dallas, Texas, she designed and piloted a program focused on new immigrant women who came from the Middle East, Africa, and East Asia. Successfully graduating its first class of 90 women and expanding components of the programs into Universities, local community colleges, and city funded programs. Soon after, she moved to South Africa (Mpumalanga region), as a Director for four local communities ensuring that design thinking and asset based development were taught, that communities learned to use their local resources and skills to solve community challenges through the creation of businesses and organizations. During this time, she lobbied and partnered with tribal, community, and government leaders to assure the success of the program and businesses that were created. As a diasporan, her experience living and working across Africa have inspired her to be innovative in her approach to business, mixing private sector efficiency with the impact driven public sector to solve today’s challenges, offering new products and services to the market while maintaining the ability to be profitable.

Today, she has invested her skills, resources, and future to delivering value additions across Africa and expanding into various emerging markets across the Caribbean, Oman, and Bulgaria. Her company has worked and continues to work on public and private sector projects in partnership with country specific stakeholders in Tanzania, South Africa, Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda, Senegal, Ghana, St. Maarten, Oman, Eritrea and Ethiopia. Her projects range from Public Private Partnership investment funds in Nigeria focused on youth solving the climate change challenge, to telecommunication technology focused on disrupting the way farmers access buyers across Africa to telemedicine projects in the Caribbean. Ms. Fissihaie continues to help drive diasporans into the continent to ensure that experts return to their homeland and bridges are built with other international actors and markets. Ms. Fissihaie is a connector helping drive American businesses into the African market and other emerging markets. Her firm has established offices in East and West Africa as well as Washington, D.C. working for a variety of clients and brokering relationships across continents.

Africa is not just what Ms. Fissihaie calls home but also her passion. She believes that it has the potential to self-sustain, become a profitable marketplace, and innovate around its problems. After studying degrees centered on world politics, anthropology, sociology, the history of the market and its engagement with the world; Ms. Fissihaie is serious about ensuring that Africa and its Diaspora in the U.S., Caribbean, Afro-Latino nations, etc. are no longer considered to be rising but embrace its role in the world as a major player. Recognizing limitations and key barriers, she understands that it will take building bridges, pipelines, and relationships locally, within the Diaspora, and internationally with other countries to help the continent reach its goal. She also believes that attention must be paid to inclusion of youth and women within the marketplace, as the data proves that they will soon populate these economies. Her specialization is in working across sectors, demographics, and all levels of power to ensure outcomes are measurable and successful.

Mr. Ravi Gupta is an innovation commercialization, Intellectual Property (IP), entrepreneurial finance, and private sector development strategist. As the founder of Tambourine Innovation Ventures (TIV) he led the company from a pioneering idea to an intellectual powerhouse firm playing a vital role in helping shape the contours of thinking and action on innovation led sustainable development through engagements with multilaterals such as UNIDO, OECD, Inter-American Development Bank, African Development Bank, the World Bank Group, as well as local and national governments, and the private sector.

Under his leadership, TIV has developed strategies and executed numerous programs and projects in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia-Pacific, on topics such as technology commercialization, IP strategy and monetization, venture capital/private equity, and innovation policy.

As the CEO Mr. Gupta overseas Vice Presidencies within TIV covering practice groups such as innovation advisory, venture acceleration, entrepreneurial finance, and policy research. He has authored numerous reports on topics of increasing relevance such as innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems, and emerging technologies (Fourth Industrial Revolution) such as blockchain, AI, IoT etc.

He is a member of Cornerstone Angels a Chicago based angel investment club, He served as mentor to several firms in emerging economies through the AAAS' (American Association of Advancement of Sciences) and US State Department's Global Entrepreneurship program. He also mentored inventors of US Department of Energy’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program helping bring disruptive inventions to market. He serves as an advisor to Chicago-based Center for HealthCare Innovation, and independent, non-profit research and educational institute that bring the best and brightest healthcare leaders from all over the world together to share their ideas and expertise on topics related to innovation in healthcare. His past experience includes working in tech transfer offices at US universities, founding and scaling firms, and technology consulting. Ravi earned his Master's degree in Economic Policy from University of Chicago. In addition, he has an MBA in Finance with doctoral level coursework in economics, and a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering.

Laszlo Horvath founded award winning global online search, advertising and media agency ActiveMedia (www.activemedia.com) in 1996. Prior to launching his business, he was tapped as a Strategic Consultant for America Online in 1995. His clients included the Greenhouse /AOL Studios, the AOL Finance and a wide range of interactive brands like the Motley Fool, iVillage and NetNoir. Laszlo placed the first advertising program on AOL’s largest content site.

In May 2013 Horvath has co-founded Silicon Valley Growth Partners and Crimson Growth Partners to capitalize on his digital marketing and business development capabilities for startups, incubators, small /midsize companies and International ventures.

In January 2014 Laszlo founded VirtualIncubator.us, assisting overseas companies entering the US marketplace.

Laszlo received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1995. He graduated from the Film Academy of Budapest in 1989, as a film and television director, including a study period at the BBC in London. Laszlo received his Bachelor of Arts degree in languages literature from the ELTE University of Budapest, Hungary. He is founding service provider for exportvirginia.com. He is a member of the Harvard Club of NY, DC and San Francisco and an Alumni Advisor and Fundraiser for HBS.

Horvath has been appointed to the Virginia - DC District Export Council of the US Department of Commerce in 2008 and the Industry Trade Advisory Council in 2009 by the US Secretary of Commerce. Laszlo is a sought after speaker at US and International conferences on online marketing, advertising, branding, Internet strategy and startups, including E-tourism, Internet Hungary, RTO, MEED Business Intelligence. He serves as a member of the Global Advisory Board of the CEO Clubs International (www.ceoclubs.org), the American Hungarian Executive Circle (www.americanhungarian.org), the US Angels Network www.usangelinvestors.com) and the E-Tourism summit (www.etourismsummit.com).

Goran Mladenovic is the founder of ITG Consulting (Inspiration, Transformation, Growth) which includes 10 start-ups and spin offs that raised 1,2+ M EUR under his mentorship. He is also Cluster Manager for NiCAT Cluster of Advanced Technologies an innovation center in southeast Serbia. NiCAT is a leading force for tech innovation in the Balkan region hosting 34 companies working under the guidance of four scientific research institutes and three economic development support institutions.

Mladenovic is a trainer, coach, consultant, technology evangelist and inspirational speaker with seventeen years of experience in managerial and specialist positions in international corporations, NGOs and business associations.

In addition to his work at ITG Consulting and NiCAT, he is CEO of Bla Bla Commentz and an advisor to Car Sync. He has experience working with all target groups and is MBTI certified practitioner. His extensive non-formal education includes a wide knowledge of business issues but also community development and human rights. Mladenovic attends numerous international events and participates in international teams and cross cultural management knowledge. He graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Nis.

Jude C. Offiah brings extensive expertise in international development, community development, and economic and political empowerment to INNES. His work in the enhancement of governmental processes and knowledge of political systems is the result of serving as advisor to government officials and politicians in the United States and Africa.

A native-born Nigerian with US citizenship, Mr. Offiah has an exemplary record of success in working with Africa Nations and government while living in the U. S. He is internationally known for his extensive project management of contracts aimed at strengthening Africa’s political and democratic processes, working with thousands of legislators, national assembly members, ministers and commissioners in the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government

He presently serves as president of the American Institute for International Policy Makers and Public Administrators successfully implementing major international human resource training and technical assistance contracts and projects funded by the U. S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), U. S. Department of Education, African Nations / State Government. He provides technical assistance and match-making to public and private contractors doing businesses in the United Sates and oversees, developing and institutionalizing college curricula in other countries; and respond to public officials, foreign dignitaries, institutions and other organizations.

As program manager for the Mississippi Consortium for International Development, a collaboration of four universities in Mississippi, Mr. Offiah developed and implemented international development projects and exchange program concentrating specifically on projects in Luanda, Angola; and Abuja, Nigeria. Additionally, Mr. Offiah has engaged with programs in South Africa, Russia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua and Romania.

Michael P. Ryan (PhD, Michigan) teaches and conducts research at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, Walsh School of Foreign Service, and Center for Intercultural Education and Development regarding international business strategy, government and institutions, and emerging economies. He directs the MSB/SFS executive master of international business and policy social action projects and the Global Executive MBA and Executive MBA global capstone projects. He thereby organizes curriculum-integrative student projects focused on strategy, organization, and international institutions through international field research in many countries around the world. 

Dr. Ryan teaches Global Innovation Strategy, a popular SFS global business course cross-listed with the Business School that studies innovation at multiple levels of analysis, including entrepreneurs and start-ups, imitative and innovative firms, universities, social networks and public-private partnerships, metropolitan technology innovation clusters, national intellectual property and technology policies, and international trade agreements and diplomacy. He is completing a series of studies regarding innovation and development based on field research in Sao Paulo and Delhi, Mumbai, Beijing and Shanghai, and Amman and Kampala.

His articles have appeared in Asian Survey, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of World Intellectual Property, Journal of World Trade, World Development and the international law journals of American, Cardozo, Michigan, Northwestern, and Pennsylvania universities. He wrote two books in the 1990s, Knowledge Diplomacy: Global Competition and the Politics of Intellectual Property and Playing by the Rules: American Trade Power and Diplomacy in the Pacific.

He has lectured and conducted research in Algeria, Argentina, Barbados, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Germany, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Peru, the Palestinian Territories, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, and in Geneva. He served on the faculty of the Michigan Business School, was a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution and a guest lecturer at China University of Law and Political Science, and founded a center regarding emerging economy creative and innovative industries and institutions at the George Washington University Law School. He is a member of the Cosmos Club and manages his son’s U15 travel soccer team.

Mr. Szamosfalvi has specialized in emerging market structured and trade finance underwriting and risk mitigation with a focus on infrastructure, financial and energy sector projects using a Washington insider’s network.  He has created, and successfully manages trade finance platforms for under-banked, mid-market companies using a combination of innovative financial solutions and technology for asset based lending. 

Currently Szamosfalvi is a fund manager for the Geothermal Development Fund Latin America (www.gdflac.com), which is a $65million USD early-stage geothermal risk mitigation fund with the support of KfW and the EU.  Has previously provided fair market value analysis and led or advised on mergers and acquisition projects in the manufacturing, geospatial intelligence and biofuels industries in the US and abroad (Japan, Malaysia, among others). He has served as acting CFO for several portfolio companies.

A graduate of Brigham Young University (magna cum laude) with a double major in Economics and International Politics, Mr. Szamosfalvi has been an adjunct instructor at Georgetown University School of Business, including teaching MBA students from the University of Iceland School of Business.  He is CFA candidate, and a member the CFA Society New York. He contributed to several business publications, including Beard & Thomas' Trade Finance Handbook (Thomson 2006) and has provided presentations and has been on the panel for the CFA Association and the American Bar Association on the subject of project and trade finance.  Mr. Szamosfalvi has created and manages the Hungarian American Institute a foundation to improve business, political and cultural connections between Hungary and the USA.