The Dartmouth Innovation & Technology Festival

May 2022. Hanover, NH, Dartmouth College

In May, Empire, working alongside the many teams at Dartmouth College, produced the historic opening and celebration of Dartmouth’s newly-transformed West End of campus with an unprecedented festival of ideas – the Dartmouth Innovation & Technology Festival – which highlighted the intersection of science, technology, business, engineering, energy, and entrepreneurship.

The multi-day festival welcomed over 1,000 attendees including Dartmouth alumni from around the world, students, faculty and senior leadership as well as members of the public to the newest district of Dartmouth’s storied campus. Guests toured the state-of the-art educational infrastructure and collaborative learning spaces of the new Class of 1982 Engineering and Computer Science Center, The Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society, the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship, and the DALI Lab, all now strategically neighboring the Thayer School of Engineering and the Tuck School of Business.

The festival featured various events and activities including the Magnuson Startup Competition Semi-finals and Finals, Academic Sessions, building tours, community cookouts & entertainment, food trucks, a light show and other interactive experiences and installations.

On the main evening, following the building dedication of the Class of 1982 Engineering and Computer Science Center, guests made their way to an elegant gala dinner in a clear roofed tent that celebrated Dartmouth’s Tradition of Innovation, its real-world impact and its visionary future - launching a new era of innovation and technology, underpinned by liberal arts scholarship and supercharged in part by the co-location of these new synergistic institutions.

The Gala dinner was hosted by Laurel Richie, Former Chair of the Dartmouth Board of Trustees and co-chair of The Call to Lead campaign for Dartmouth, and included remarks by Dartmouth President Philip J. Hanlon. Among the many high points of this evening were a presentation of the McGuire Prize for Social Impact to Prof. Jason McLellan, a researcher who’s work at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine was instrumental in the development of the MRNA Covid-19 vaccine. The Gala dinner concluded with presentations by several students sharing their visions for how their academic work will change the world and concluded with the guests joining a student celebration and DJ party that featured a spectacular light show that illuminated the entire West End that was co-created by Dartmouth student DJs and a world class lighting team.

Two days of special Academic Sessions included keynotes, panel discussions, fireside chats, and compelling conversations with technology, business and innovation leaders, mostly Dartmouth alumni, on topics ranging from artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, to wearable technology, electric vehicles and health care. Speakers included: John Burnett, Cofounder of Omniex (acquired by Gemini Trust Company), Christine Kim, Research Associate, Galaxy Digital, Akin Sawyerr , Managing Director, Feleman Limited. Matt Slaughter, Paul Danos Dean of the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Richard Barth MD, Geisel School of Medicine, Co-founder of Cairn Surgical Inc. Kaitlin Maier, Cofounder & CEO, Reia, Amogha Tadimety, Cofounder & CEO, Nanopath, Samantha Truex, CEO, Upstream Bio, Sherri Oberg, President and CEO, Particles for Humanity, Keith Dunleavy, Founder and CEO, Inovalon, Inc., Andrea Reisman Johnson, Cofounder and CEO Rally Reader, John Sargent, Founding Partner, BroadReach Group, Eugene Santos, Professor of Engineering, Dartmouth, Daniel Rockmore, William H. Neukom 1964 Distinguished Professor of Computational Science, Kevin Hand, Astrobiologist, NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, Colin Meyer, Assistant Professor of Engineering, Dartmouth, Laura Ray, Myron Tribus Professor of Engineering Innovation, Dartmouth, Tracy Wolstencroft, former partner Goldman Sachs, former CEO National Geographic, Justice Amoh, Cofounder, Clairways Smart Lung Monitoring, Jeff Bemowski, Cofounder, Clairways Smart Lung Monitoring, George Boateng, Cofounder and CEO, SuaCode.ai, David Kotz, Provost, the Pat and John Rosenwald Professor in the Department of Computer Science, and the Director of Emerging Technologies and Data Analytics in the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health, Maria Nyamukuru, PhD candidate, Annie McLane Kuster, United States Representative, Abby Hopper, President and CEO, Solar Energy Industries Association, Aly Jeddy, Senior Partner and Consultant, McKinsey & Company, and Dan Reicher, former US Assistant Secretary of Energy among others.

Keynote speakers included Dave Girouard, Founder and CEO, Upstart, Freeman A. Hrabowski III, President, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Kristen Morrow Johnson, Business Operations & Implementation Manager, Ford Pro Charging, Ford Motor Company, and Rob Portman, United States Senator, U.S. Senate who appeared live virtually.

Highlights of the One Dartmouth Start-Up Competition Finals presented by the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship included the final three start-up finalists presentations to a judges panel that included Errik Anderson, Ulysses Diversified Holdings, Caroline Hribar, COO, Bionic, Geoff Ralston, President, Y Combinator. Closing Remarks and Announcing of the One Dartmouth Start-Up Finalist Winners was by Jeff Crowe, Senior Managing Partner, Norwest Venture Partners

Empire worked with the Dartmouth advancement, marketing and communications, facilities and operations and leadership teams for months to design, refine and ultimately deliver the entire Dartmouth Technology & Innovation Festival.

Empire was thrilled to once again support Dartmouth College for this historical milestone and we are excited to support Dartmouth in the years ahead to revolutionize how we think, teach, learn, and lead.