Meet the People
Lehigh University's Technical Entrepreneurship master's program brings experienced entrepreneurs from numerous industries into the classroom to impart real-world insight and guidance in product and business development. The program's innovative faculty members are experts in the fields of entrepreneurial thinking and product design, teaching students how to create, build, and launch ideas from the ground up.
TE Faculty
Michael Lehman
Program Director; Professor of Practice
M.D., MBA, B.S.
- Experience as Director, PantherlabWorks, University of Pittsburgh; New Technologies Project Manager, Depuy International, a Johnson & Johnson Company; and Instructor, Penn State College of Medicine
- National presenter on experiential learning and entrepreneurship curriculum, including conferences for American Society for Engineering Education, Venture Well, and Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education
- TE focus: interdisciplinary innovation, new venture teams, financing the venture, creativity methods, growth strategy for technical companies
One finds Michael Lehman at the intersection of entrepreneurship, science, and higher education. Prior to joining the Lehigh faculty, Lehman developed and grew new entrepreneurship programs at the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence, part of the University of Pittsburgh's Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration. At Pitt, he served as director of PantherlabWorks, a consulting group designed to catalyze the commercialization of new technologies by supporting innovators and entrepreneurs from a variety of academic backgrounds and professional experiences. As director of student entrepreneurship, he created new academic courses and cross-campus programs to provide hands-on, experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students throughout the university. Earlier in his career, Lehman was founding director of the Juniata College Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. Lehman serves on the advisory board of several technical-based startups and is a regular presenter at national conferences, including VentureWell (formerly National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance). Lehman holds a B.S. from Juniata College, an M.D. from the Penn State College of Medicine, and an M.B.A. from the Leeds University Business School in England.
MORE: Faculty Profile | Email | LinkedIn
Patrick Clasen
Adjunct Lecturer
M.S. Materials Science & Engineering, B.S. Materials Science & Engineering
- Co-founder and CFO, EcoTech Marine
- President and VP of Engineering, Aperture, LLC (EcoTech Marine + Neptune Systems)
- Real Estate Investor
- Advisor and sponsor, Lehigh University engineering capstone projects since 2005
- TE focus: integrated product development, design for manufacturing, materials and manufacturing process selection, product commercialization, IP strategy, lean manufacturing, interdisciplinary team leadership
Patrick clasen is that rare faculty member who can trace the origins of a company directly back to the course he now teaches. In 2003, Clasen and two co-founders began developing a reef aquarium product line as part of Lehigh's IPD program - a project that became EcoTech Marine. Over nearly two decades, he helped grow EcoTech Marine from a student venture into a premium brand with $43M in annual revenue, 80-plus employees, 17 U.S. patents, and repeated Product of the Year recognition in its industry. Along the way, the company aquired a competitor, built 700 channel partnerships, and adopted lean manufacturing practices that drove 23% EBITDA margins.
Clasen's career has spanned the full arc of product development that TE 401 and TE 402 are designed to teach: concept through commercialization, engineering through finance, startup through scale. Before building a company, Clasen was a researcher. He earned his M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Lehigh, where he established a nanoparticle synthesis lab and co-authored peer-reviewed publications on nanomaterials in oncology. He left the Ph.D. program to pursue an entrepreneurial venture - a decision that informs how he thinks about the balance between technical depth and commmercial urgency.
Clasen has been advising Lehigh engineering capstone projects since 2005, supporting students in applied product development and industry engagement. He brings to the classroom not just frameworks and theory, but the scars, judgement calls, and pattern recognition that come from building and scaling a real product company.
Joshua Cohen
Adjunct Professor
J.D., B.S. Mechanical Engineering
- Shareholder and Director, RatnerPrestia; Design Group founder and Consumer Products Group lead
- President Emeritus and Board Chair, Greater Philadelphia Chapter, Product Development and Management Association
- TE focus: product differentiation, product development process, technology/design innovation, intellectual property strategy and risk management
Joshua Cohen, a shareholder of intellectual property law firm RatnerPrestia, has practiced intellectual property law since 1992, drawing from his engineering and legal background to help emerging companies and multi-national corporations protect and respect IP rights. Cohen executes strategies that protect product innovations in the U.S. and abroad by securing patent, trademark, trade dress, trade secret, and copyright rights. He also reduces the IP risks associated with new technology and design innovations. Cohen earned his Engineering degree from Lehigh University and his Law degree from Widener University, where he served as editor-in-chief of Widener’s Law Review. Cohen is president of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter of the Product Development and Management Association, an organization dedicated to promoting and managing product innovation, and he is an executive committee member of the Tokyo Intellectual Property American Inn of Court, a Tokyo-based organization chartered to promote excellence in professionalism, ethics, and civility in IP law. He lectures internationally about IP strategies and best practices.
MORE: Email | Online Profile
Matthew Fuchs
Adjunct Lecturer
M. Eng. Technical Entrepreneurship, B.S., Mechanical Engineering (Aerospace minor)
- Co-founder and CTO, LehDrex, an engineering company focused on bringing hardware technology to the market
- TE focus: design-for-manufacturing, manufacturing ramp up, new product launch, business operations
Matthew Fuchs, a graduate of the Technical Entrepreneurship program in 2012 is a co-founder of LehDrex, an engineering company focused on bringing hardware technology to the market. Fuchs has developed aerial and ground based robotics, chromatographic and CO2 extraction systems, co-owned a machine shop and worked in plastics manufacturing. While working in industry he has launched two hardware based start ups, been involved with entrepreneurship programs amongst multiple universities and has coached other start ups throughout his career.
Adjunct Professor
J.D., MBA, B.S. Mechanical Engineering
- Registered Patent Attorney, Senior Counsel, Caesar Rivise, PC
- Experience as a practicing engineer and as a strategic planner in the Energy Industry
- TE focus: intellectual property development, protection, enforcement, and strategy, for inventors, startups, and companies
Maureen W. Rinkunas
Adjunct Lecturer
MBA, M.S. Chemical Engineering, B.S. Chemical Engineering
- Director, Insights Membership, Rock Health Advisory
- TE focus: corporate innovation, creativity, open innovation, lean startup, venture fundraising, design thinking
Maureen (Moe) Rinkunas has worked with hundreds of teams to bring ideas to market and enjoys guiding entrepreneurs through the chaos inherent in new markets and undefined opportunities. Most of her career has been focused on Health Tech and Deep Tech verticals, with a passion for bringing disruptive technologies into these markets.
At Rock Health, Moe leads Insights Membership, overseeing a team of Dedicated Advisors who partner with enterprise organizations to navigate the evolving health tech landscape. Acting as a translator between startups and large organizations, she helps leaders interpret emerging sgnales and turn innovation into actionable strategy.
Over more than 20 years, Moe has held roles at organizations including Redesign Health, DuPont, Corbion, Dreamit Ventures, and Accenture. Her experience spans healthcare, food ingredients, biochemicals, and green chemistry, with a focus on bridging early-stage innovation and enterprise execution. She is also an active Angel investor through the Chemical Angels Network and Portfolia.
In addition to teaching, Moe is an active startup mentor and entrpreneurship educator, supporting early-stage founders through programs such as NSF I-Corps, Springboard, and others. She is a proud Lehigh alumna, holding a B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering as well as an M.B.A. with highest honors.
Brian Slocum
Managing Director, Design Labs, Wilbur Powerhouse; Adjunct Lecturer
MFA (ABD) Design, B.A. English and Theatre Design
- Co-founder, Isosceles Design Studio, LLC
- TE Focus: iterative prototyping, 3D modeling and design, metal and plastic additive manufacturing
In addition to managing Lehigh University's Wilbur Powerhouse Prototyping Lab and Chandler-Ullmann Wood Shop, Brian Slocum teaches courses in prototyping and metalworking and advises Integrated Product Development teams. Returning to Lehigh (his alma mater '97) after completing the MFA Design program at North Carolina School of the Arts, Slocum has worked in both Lehigh's Theatre Department and Design Arts Program. In addition to his work at the university, Slocum co-founded Isosceles Design Studio, LLC, a design firm specializing in custom furniture and architectural and interior design.
Kelly Zona
Manager, Design Labs, Wilbur Powerhouse; Adjunct Lecturer
M. Arch., B.S. Architecture
- Lead in ramping up Lehigh’s Electronics Design Studio, a hub for circuit prototyping, testing and PCB (printed circuit board) fabrication
- TE Focus: Prototyping, CAD, digital fabrication, iterative design, electronics, programming, physical computing
Kelly is Manager of the Design Labs, Wilbur Powerhouse, at Lehigh University. She has spent the past decade working in makerspaces, teaching concepts in CAD/CAM, design and engineering, and electronics and programming. Previously she has worked in various roles centered around creative technology for organizations including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, US Special Operations Command, the Fab Foundation, Fab Academy, Fab Lab Baltimore, Fab Lab DC, the Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM, Johns Hopkins University, and Northeastern University. She holds a Master of Architecture from Cornell University, a Bachelor of Science with a concentration in architecture from SUNY Buffalo, and a Diploma in Digital Fabrication from Fab Academy.
Staff
Susan Kanarek
Graduate Coordinator
Susan attended Cedar Crest College, has more than 25 years’ experience in the Media & Publishing industries. She comes to Lehigh from The Morning Call, where she worked for over 13 years and most recently served as a Media Sales Planner. She also was employed at Rodale, Inc., on the Runner’s World Magazine staff, where she worked with the Race Sponsorship Program that included traveling to expos, races & marathons across the United States. Her diversified skills include client relations, research & data analysis, marketing, presentations & proposals, project management, media & event planning, digital knowledge and trade show experience.