Lehigh’s Research Translation AcceLUrator (RTA) brings together faculty and staff from all five colleges—Arts & Sciences, Business, Education, Health, and the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering & Applied Science—alongside university research offices, to move promising discoveries toward real-world impact.

Leadership
RTA is led by PI: John Coulter (Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics).
Co-PIs: Lee Kern (Education), Himanshu Jain (Engineering), Henry Odi (University Leadership/DEIA), and Dominic Packer (Arts & Sciences).

Our Team & Partners
The RTA team includes faculty and staff with expertise in research translation, entrepreneurial education and training, culture change, assessment, and commercialization. We work in close partnership with Lehigh’s Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) to connect teams with IP support, commercialization pathways, and industry engagement.

 

 

 

Roles at a Glance

  • Institutional Capacity Building: John Coulter (PI); co-lead: Anand Jagota
  • Recruitment and Retention: Henry Odi (co-PI); co-lead: Lesley Chow
  • Culture Change & Internal Ambassador Coordination: Dominic Packer (co-PI); co-lead: Hannah Dailey
  • Education & Training: Mike Lehman; co-lead: Andreea Kiss
  • Technology Transfer: Rick Smith, Nora Thomson
  • Internal Assessment: Minyi Dennis
  • Pathway Champions
    • Venture Creation: Neal Simon; co-champion: Mike Rinkunas
    • Translation into Existing Industry: Himanshu Jain (co-PI); co-champion: Kevin Major
    • Societal Impact: Lee Kern (co-PI); co-champion: Won Choi