Dr. Christopher G. Brinton is the Faculty Director of Purdue HIVE and Elmore Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). His passion for entrepreneurship dates back to his graduate studies, when he co-founded Zoomi Inc., a company that has provided learning analytics to millions of users worldwide and holds US Patents in machine learning for education.

He is also known for his contributions to teaching both in and out of the classroom, including co-authoring the book The Power of Networks: 6 Principles That Connect our Lives, co-creating the interdisciplinary course HON 399: Principles of Networks at Purdue, and delivering three of the first Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in networking, which reached over 500,000 students worldwide. His teaching has won Purdue College of Engineering Faculty Excellence Awards in Undergraduate Education, Early Career Teaching, and Online Learning.

He directs the Intelligence and Optimization for Networks (ION) Lab, whose research sits at the intersection of machine learning, communications, and networking, specifically in fog and edge network intelligence, distributed machine learning, and AI/ML inspired wireless network optimization. His research has won five of the top US early career awards, from the National Science Foundation (CAREER), the Office of Naval Research (YIP), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (YFA and Director's Fellowship), and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (YIP). He is also a recipient of the IEEE Communication Society William Bennett Prize Best Paper Award, the Intel Rising Star Faculty Award, the Qualcomm Faculty Award, and a Purdue College of Engineering Faculty Excellence Award in Early Career Research.

Prior to joining Purdue, Dr. Brinton was the Associate Director of the EDGE Lab and a Lecturer of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University, where he also received his PhD (with honors) and MS degrees.

Jessica Jud is the Managing Director of Purdue HIVE, the College of Engineering's new hub for student founders who are actively building and growing their startups. Purdue HIVE runs on a simple idea: the best ventures happen when the right people end up in the same room. Jessica's job is to make sure that room exists, connecting student entrepreneurs to the resources, mentors, and introductions that turn an idea into a real, growing venture.

She earned her B.A. in Business Marketing from Western Washington University and spent 16 years at T-Mobile working across business operations, partnerships, and events, developing and launching new programs and initiatives along the way. Before joining Purdue HIVE, she was Director of Partnerships for The Data Mine, where she connected Purdue students and faculty with industry partners on real world projects. Different roles, same thread: bringing people together and finding ways to make those connections useful.

Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Jessica has called West Lafayette home for several years now. She is not a Purdue alumna, but between marrying into a Boilermaker family (her husband graduated from Purdue Industrial Engineering in 2003) and now working at Purdue herself, she figures that is about as official as it gets. Outside of Purdue HIVE, she is chasing a family goal of catching a Purdue basketball game at every Big Ten arena, cheering on her son at the baseball field, or planning the next family trip. Whether it is Purdue HIVE or the people in her own life, she is always looking for the next reason to bring people together.

Boiler Up!

Jeff Fisher grew up in Indianapolis and earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Purdue in 1980. He left for Silicon Valley shortly after graduation, arriving just as the semiconductor industry was taking off. After early roles in systems engineering and product marketing, he moved into sales and spent the next ten years building and leading sales teams in emerging semiconductor companies while earning an MBA from Santa Clara University. In 1994 he joined NVIDIA, a 20 person startup that had not yet shipped its first product, to build a worldwide sales organization.

Jeff built and ran the company's worldwide sales organization for more than a decade, then went on to lead the GPU business and the GeForce brand as NVIDIA grew from a small graphics startup into the world's leading visual and accelerated computing platform, and now the company powering the age of AI. He currently serves as a senior vice president at NVIDIA.

Jeff met his wife, Edie, at Purdue. Together they have kept a close relationship with the university, supporting scholarships in the College of Engineering, and they are the founding donors of Purdue HIVE. Jeff has served on the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Advisory Council and helped recruit West Coast students to campus. Purdue recognized him with the Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award in 2003 and the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award in 2009. Having spent his career in Silicon Valley watching young engineers turn startups into new industries, he is excited to help Purdue HIVE launch a new generation of Purdue entrepreneurs and founders.

Technology Executive | Entrepreneur | Board Director | Strategic Advisor

John Moser is a technology executive and entrepreneur with more than 33 years of experience helping organizations use technology to drive financial performance, operational efficiency, and growth. His career spans executive leadership, consulting, entrepreneurship, and private equity backed businesses, with deep expertise in finance transformation, enterprise systems, and value creation.

Most recently, John served as Managing Director of CFO Technology Services at Accordion, a global private equity focused consulting firm, where he advised senior executives and PE sponsors on enterprise technology strategy and large scale business transformation. Prior to Accordion, he founded ABACI, a leading NetSuite and Workday Adaptive Planning implementation partner, which grew into a nationally recognized consulting firm before its acquisition by Accordion in 2022. Earlier in his career, he held leadership and consulting roles at Accenture, The Hackett Group, and other global firms, advising Fortune 500, Global 2000, and private equity backed companies across a range of industries.

John brings a practical, operator's perspective, shaped by decades of guiding organizations through growth, transformation, acquisitions, and technology modernization, working directly alongside executive teams, investors, founders, and boards to turn strategy into measurable results. He is known for asking thoughtful questions, building consensus, and grounding guidance in real world operating experience.

Following his retirement from full time executive leadership in 2026, John serves selectively as a strategic advisor and mentor to leaders and teams navigating growth, change, and complex decision making.

John holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University.

Mickey is a serial entrepreneur with experience building and scaling technology companies in advanced manufacturing, mobility, embedded systems, and B2B software. Over the course of her career, she co-founded two technology companies, both of which were successfully acquired. She currently works as an Investment Strategist at Bounce Innovation Hub, where she helps founders prepare for investment and cultivates relationships with investors to accelerate access to capital.

Mickey co-founded New Eagle, serving as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, where she helped grow the company into a leading provider of embedded software solutions prior to its acquisition. After successfully exiting New Eagle, Mickey joined a venture capital firm, where she leveraged her operating experience to source, evaluate, and support investments in high growth Series A and B technology companies.

A longtime supporter of innovation and entrepreneurship, Mickey serves as a Business Fellow for the Mitch Daniels School of Business at Purdue University and mentors founders through NSF I-Corps, Techstars, and the University of Michigan Desai Accelerator. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Miami University and an MBA from the University of Dayton.

Paul Stahura earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University in 1984 and an M.S. in 1987. He is currently a board member for Donuts, Inc., a domain name registry company. Previously, Stahura served as CEO of Donuts.

Stahura started his professional career working as an engineer for Cybotech, based out of the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette. After Cybotech, he founded eNom, which became the second most successful domain name registrar in the world. Stahura was CEO of eNom until he sold it to Demand Media, where he became the president and a board member. In 2009, Stahura left eNom and Demand Media and co-founded Donuts, where he was CEO until he stepped down in 2017.

He holds eight patents, is on the board of seven different companies, and is currently invested in 25 startups. The startup he is proudest of is iSpot.tv, a TV ad measurement and analytics company where he was the founding investor.

Stahura currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and three kids, all four of whom are either currently attending or have graduated from Purdue. His father was also an alumnus of Purdue (Northwest campus) back in the 1950s.

Richard Penington is an accomplished healthcare entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and corporate executive recognized for driving systemic industry advancement through technological innovation and disruptive business models.

Richard founded Summit Health, creating an innovative wellness and preventive care platform built around a Single-Station™ experience and powered by a proprietary IT system. That platform streamlined deployment and data handling for its 20,000 plus medical staff nationwide, enabling at scale health screenings, immunizations, and at home lab testing. In 2014, Quest Diagnostics acquired Summit Health, and Richard went on to lead the Health & Wellness division. He received the Ernst & Young Midwest Entrepreneur of the Year recognition that same year.

Today, Richard is the CEO of Penington Ventures, where he partners with innovative teams across healthcare and technology. His investments range from $250,000 to $5 million (averaging $1.5 million), with a commitment to helping founders build durable companies, grounded in strategy, technology, and measurable growth.

Before Summit Health, Richard held leadership roles at IBM, Accenture, and Apexon, where he developed a reputation for strategic vision and operational excellence. Richard earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. In 2016, he received Purdue's Outstanding Industrial Engineer Award.

I'm Andres, and I'm currently on my way to studying astrophysics at Purdue, pursuing my fascination with technology, the space industry, and understanding the structure of the Universe. I also have a deep love and understanding of art and music in all forms, and I want to contribute to the entertainment industry in some way as well. I've spent the last two years contributing to the growth of entrepreneurship and the startup world at Purdue, as I believe it's the most effective way to make sure an idea makes an impact. I'm excited to apply my creative experience and skills in marketing to telling Purdue HIVE's story as its social media specialist.

I am a senior studying Computer Science, and I am also in the Entrepreneurship Certificate program. I have spent a lot of time around entrepreneurs, and I love supporting people and helping them find the resources they need.

Building the Purdue HIVE website is what connected me to this community and to the people in it, and it is why I love Purdue HIVE. I get to listen to people talk about what they are building and the problems they are running into. Finding the right people at the right time is what makes Purdue HIVE such a strong community and such a valuable physical space.

Outside of that, I am interested in philosophy, human performance, and longevity. One of my purposes in life is to help others, and I find a lot of fulfillment in every chance I get to do it.

Hi everyone! I'm Giang, a junior in the Integrated Business and Engineering (IBE) program with a Statistics minor. My study sits at the intersection of finance and engineering, which is exactly why I've gravitated toward early stage investing. I'm currently serving as the Partner of Relationships at Venture Capital Club at Purdue (VCP). Hence, being able to see firsthand the value of a great supportive network in the venture world, I'm motivated to be the connective tissue between Purdue HIVE and the great clubs that are already building momentum across campus, making sure student builders have the network and resources to get real traction. Personally, I'm particularly drawn to fintech and the sports industry, but I'm always down to talk through any new ideas. Looking forward to working with you!

My passion lies in bridging the gap between behavioral science research and lasting community impact. Currently, I am leading an initiative that connects student musicians with meaningful performance opportunities for dementia patients in skilled nursing facilities. As the Operations Community Engagement Coordinator at Purdue HIVE, my goal is to cultivate a dynamic startup environment that supports every aspect of the entrepreneurial journey. I feel right at home surrounded by fellow student founders, and I am eager to help them achieve the progress they are striving for this year. Before transferring to Purdue as a junior, I played baseball at Wheaton College, an experience I often joke taught me more about entrepreneurship than any degree ever could.

Hi! I'm Sophia, a senior studying Artificial Intelligence with minors in Management and Entrepreneurship. I've spent a lot of my time at Purdue building alongside others, from starting my own venture and supporting student founders to leading a large engineering team as a project manager. Those experiences have shown me how much the right people and community can shape where an idea goes, which is why I'm so excited about Purdue HIVE! I hope to help create a space where founders can share ideas, find the right people, and build better things together. Outside of Purdue HIVE, I love traveling, hiking, drawing, and finding literally any excuse to meet someone new over coffee :)

My name is Ranya and I'm a sophomore in Chemical Biology and Biochemistry, and I'll be the Events and Marketing Coordinator here at Purdue HIVE. I've spent the last few semesters at buildpurdue, where I've focused on marketing and planning the events you see around campus. Scientifically, I'm super interested in genetics and wearable tech. Come talk to me if you have requests or suggestions for the Purdue HIVE community!