Mark DeGuzman

Mark DeGuzman is a Manager of New Ventures, supporting existing Rutgers startups and developing the pipeline of Rutgers researchers and inventors who have identified a commercialization pathway that involves the creation of a startup. He advises and coordinates next steps for research teams and startups and connects them to resources in the Rutgers ecosystem (funding, programmatic, mentorship, etc.) to support their success.

Mark also currently serves as the Coordinator for the Northeast I-Corps Hub, working towards connecting researchers to resources needed to bring their innovation out of the lab, and developing co-programming that supports post-I-Corps activities for success. He can help ELs with logistics of the cohort or want guidance on making Customer Discovery efforts more productive. 

For four years, Mark managed the Rutgers I-Corps Site Program, and was involved in all aspects of program including curriculum, recruiting, interviewing, training & mentoring teams, inviting speakers, financial management, program evaluation, and fostering program collaborations. His instructional focus is on Customer Discovery activities, experiential learning, & skills-based training.  

Mark served as Entrepreneurial Lead for a National I-Corps Teams Program under Dr. Murnick in the development of a Laser-based Radiocarbon Analyzer for Pharmaceutical & Environmental Monitoring applications. He is a patented inventor during his work on the technology from the Physics Dept. in Rutgers-Newark and is currently based in the Materials Science Engineering Department.

Mark’s I-Corps experience sparked his passion to support and develop the Innovation & Entrepreneurship (I&E) Ecosystem at Rutgers and the Northeast Region. He is currently working to expand the NSF-funded I-Corps Fellowship Program administered by Rutgers, to all Hub Partners and Hispanic/Minority Serving Institutions in the Northeast Region with a focus on Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion to help identify and support innovators that might not otherwise have access to innovation resources and funding.