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VEI boosts veteran help with health tech accelerator launch

Marco Santana
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VEI boosts veteran help with health tech accelerator launch

Ret. U.S. Army Capt. Charles Masters spent much of his military service underwater as part of a dive team.

The experience taught him what it means to function as a team.

Now, these same skills are being deployed in a new arena: entrepreneurship.

Masters’ company AutoKet provides an AI-powered business-to-business marketplace for auto parts.

The company is one of hundreds to have benefited from working with the Veterans Entrepreneurship Initiative.

“It’s a scary place to have to admit that you don’t know what you are doing,” he said. “As veteran entrepreneurs, we are not very good at doing that. But once you do, you can find organizations like VEI that want to help.”

Masters knows firsthand.

“They were the glue that connected everything,” he said.

VEI: The glue for veteran entrepreneurship

As the Veterans Entrepreneurship Initiative has grown, its leaders continue to expand programs and services it provides.

The latest is the SPEAR Accelerator, an intensive, 3-month program created in partnership with Johns Hopkins University. The first cohort will will focus on health tech firms.

The application period opens in mid-August and a cohort will be announced in November. The accelerator starts in February with an expected end date of May.

“We knew veterans possess powerful skills instilled by military training,” said Ricardo Garcia, cofounder of the accelerator and the VEI. “Things like leadership, completing the mission, attention to detail and, most importantly, resilience and adaptability. These are skills we know successful entrepreneurs typically possess.”

Garcia and fellow veteran Rafael Caamaño, launched the VEI in 2013.

The idea for the program, which has since served more than 600 veteran entrepreneurs around the U.S., came to the duo following a reading of “Startup Nation,” a popular book considered a playbook, of sorts, for those creating ecosystems.

“From the start, VEI has been a passion project for Rafael and me,” Garcia said.

Veterans Florida support

A service launched by Garcia and Caamaño that offered business coaching for veterans eventually secured funding from the nonprofit Veterans Florida.

The idea for the program came after Garcia left the U.S. Air Force in 2012.

“I felt an incredible sense of purpose,” he said of his military time, which included a deployment to Afghanistan. “I knew I was part of a greater mission, something much bigger than myself.”

Once he transitioned out of the military, he found it challenging to rediscover that sense of purpose.

“VEI became my new mission,” he said. “A purpose much greater than myself.”

The VEI’s economic impact has grown beyond $100 million and has helped create more than 500 jobs.

An early success story

One of the program’s first success stories emerged in 2015.

It was then that Ret. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Kyle Evans first collided with the VEI.

Evans became a fan quickly while putting his company Redcon Solutions Group through UCF’s Business Incubation Program in 2014, one year after launching his company.

Evans’ firm provides private security detail for federal agencies working on public landscapes like during post-natural disaster situations.

He said VEI’s work has become a crucial resource.

“What they are doing is tremendous for the veteran community,” he said. “It allows them to see their true potential and build successful companies. They are moving the needle for veteran entrepreneurs.”

Evans said VEI’s offerings help veterans navigate what can be a complicated entrepreneurship landscape.

Add that to the veteran’s mindset and it makes a potent combination, said Evans, whose firm employs about 230 in 26 states across the U.S.

“Everybody in our line of work, you lose more than you win,” he said. “But you need to continue to get up and move forward.”

The mission continues

That’s what Masters says he also took from his military service.

“All that is required is that you keep going,” he said. “There will be times when you, say, run out of money but military veterans have a good feel for what that’s like. Whether they are deployed under fire, in an austere environment or underwater, it’s always having that mind to continue the mission.”

For Garcia, his mission continues.

“There is a continuous need to raise awareness and provide more resources to veteran entrepreneurs, particularly in underserved communities,” Garcia said. “We are focused on expanding our programs and partnerships to reach more veterans and provide them with the necessary tools and support to succeed in entrepreneurship.”

Veteran-owned firm brings AI into data collected from wearables

Marco Santana
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Veteran-owned firm brings AI into data collected from wearables

When Nathaniel Wade launched a cyber security and data analytics business, he had a good idea of exactly who he wanted on his team.

The U.S. Marine Corps veteran had spent a decade in active duty, serving multiple tours during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

So, he set out to build a team primarily of other veterans because he knew, at least to an extent, the work ethic they bring to a job.

“There is an implicit trust going on there,” Wade said. “Everybody contributes and takes care of their responsibilities, understands the mission and requirements. You need a certain pedigree of individual.”

Nighthawk Cyber now employs a team of 15 mostly veterans for its work. The company recently celebrated the launch of an artificial intelligence-enabled product that leverages emerging technology for its clients.

The product, called DataRuck, provides analysis and insights into data collected by wearables and IOT-based figures.

Nighthawk launched in Virginia in 2021 but the timeline wasn’t ideal, Wade said.

A historic pandemic had affected most businesses.

However, the fact that Florida had less-restrictive policies in place encouraged the team to relocate during the pandemic.

In addition, the move opened the company up to the region’s military organizations.

The team quickly learned of UCF’s Business Incubation Program.

Nighthawk Cyber, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business, then became involved more closely following a formal move into the space two months ago.

“It has been a great relationship,” he said. Business partner “Seth was acutely aware of what the incubator offers beforehand. We wanted to get a little bit more visibility in the ecosystem and better proximity with our work.”

As Nighthawk has grown, the duo has regularly thought back to their military service. Seth was a cavalry scout officer for the U.S. Army from 2007 to 2014.

Nathaniel, meanwhile, served from 1998 to 2008.

The lessons learned there have transferred directly to entrepreneurship, Nathaniel Wade said.

“Every leadership trait and principle the military instilled in us is used daily,” he said. “We credit our military experience as the primary reason for our business success.”

Nighthawk Cyber counts the U.S. Army as one of its biggest customers.

It’s another example of the idea of giving back for Wade.

“Not every strategy will work nor will every goal be accomplished and certainly nothing comes easy,” he said. “However, you mustn’t focus on failures but celebrate small victories.”

Nighthawk Cyber exists in an ultra-competitive space.

The launch of a product that is reliant on artificial intelligence illustrates another value Wade takes seriously: being aware of changes in technology.

“Staying relevant and current is like breathing for us,” he said. “It’s the nature of this business. If you are not evolving, you’re dying. I don’t’ think [artificial intelligence] is anything new. Like every other tech, you adapt, incorporate and stay aware of it.”

Orlando mo-cap studio featured on reality TV zoo program

Marco Santana
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Orlando mo-cap studio featured on reality TV zoo program

Jeff Scheetz of Monkey Chow Animation Studios has become used to using his deep special effects chops to enhance all manner of creatures.

After all, the Orlando-based effects wizard has credits in out-of-this-world productions like Babylon 5 and Star Trek Voyager. In fact, his shots were part of Babylon 5’s opening credit scenes.

But in late February, the producers of the Roku TV series Reptile Royalty called on him to use some SFX magic on a different kind of creature. Or, should we say, three creatures.

Sheetz and his company placed tracking balls – the kind used in major video games and animated features for motion capture –  on a rhino iguana named Beckham, a dwarf crocodile named J.J. and a Dumeril’s boa constrictor named Pebbles for the show.

“My office neighbors are used to seeing weird things happening here,” Scheetz said. “But snakes and alligators in the hallway top the list.”

The episode debuted on Roku TV last week.

In it, show hosts Jay and Juliette Brewer bring three animals into the studio.

The animals were each fitted with tracking devices and special cameras that track their movements.

Reptile Royalty spent part of its second season in Florida and finished the trip with an Orlando stop.

Ultimately, the crew put trackers on both Brewers and recorded a fun introduction video of them dancing and welcoming guests at Reptile Zoo, in Fountain Valley, Calif.

Scheetz has had a long history in Orlando as a visual effects specialist.

His business Monkey Chow Animation Studios launched in 2015 and added motion capture capabilities in 2021.

Scheetz along with his wife, Anne, created the DAVE School, an institution that specializes in digital animation and visual effects.

But even before that, he found his name in the credit scenes of iconic scifi hits like Babylon 5 and Star Trek.

Ever since launching Monkey Chow, he has been involved with some notable Orlando projects, including the video wall in the Toothsome Chocolate Emporium at Universal Studios.

In addition, the company has done work for Sharknado 6 and HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones.

More is in the works, as well, including a Netflix movie, but Scheetz couldn’t say more because of non-disclosure agreements.

“This has been a great year for us,” he said.

Motion capture technology isn’t necessarily new, with base technologies dating back nearly a century.

But recent technological advances have made motion capture much more viable and affordable in projects.

“It has gotten really good lately as the world around it changes,” Scheetz said.

Still, the base component of a good mocap system and studio continues to be based on capturing real-world

Although Scheetz says it comes with its own challenges, especially when it comes to working with animals.

“Wiping up reptile urine was also a first for us,” he said.

Literally rocket science: Helicon thrives despite messaging challenges

Marco Santana
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Literally rocket science: Helicon thrives despite messaging challenges

The profile of Helicon Chemical Company has been tracking upward for quite some time now.

A recent $1.9 million tactical funding increase with the Air Force is just the latest win.

But despite a growing impact in the arena of rocket fuel technologies, Helicon continues to struggle in one key area: messaging, to the general public and potential investors alike.

“I’m not saying we have to dumb this down but it’s a very nuanced space,” said retired U.S. Navy Captain Wes Naylor, the company’s CEO. “We have to explain it to multiple constituencies so they can consume it, realize our value and that it’s appropriate to invest in it.”

For the most part, the company continues to impress the right people.

The recent contract win is a small part of the roughly $10 million in government funding it has won thus far, mostly to develop its technologies. The funding has included Phase 1 and 2 small business research contracts.

The company specializes in supplements that enhance existing products built by the Department of Defense and other industry partners.

“We don’t make the engines,” he said. “We take a legacy product and improve it substantially.”

The Air Force grant, for instance, was awarded to Helicon so that the company could push forward research that would enhance the performance and production of solid rocket propellant.

As the company has grown, it has benefited, as well, from a collaboration with UCF’s Business Incubation Program.

“The partnership has made some great folks at UCF available for us to leverage their skills and infrastructure,” Naylor said. “When you are a young startup, for instance, you don’t have a lot of money for labs or materials. Our ability to leverage those resources was key.”

“It has been critical to us discovering, growing and maturing our technology,” he said.

In fact, the initial work done by cofounder David Reid was done while he was a doctoral student at UCF.

The Air Force job has helped buoy Helicon, which has an eye now on expanding commercial and government use of its technologies and has grown to 16 employees, who work primarily in the science and laboratory arenas.

The relationship with the agency started rather innocently.

The company’s association with the U.S. Air Force started when the company won a pitch day in front of officials, which raised the company’s profile significantly.

“It’s the recognition that what you are doing is bringing value to the larger Department of Defense and that you are on the right track,” Naylor said of the grant wins.

Still, while they work on satisfying requirements for their Air Force agreements, the company has worked to simplify its messaging for one simple reason:

“Yeah, this actually is rocket science,” Naylor said.

Orlando entrepreneur creates Quest 3 version of health app

Marco Santana
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Orlando entrepreneur creates Quest 3 version of health app

Danny Tapia’s vision for his future includes a successful career in emerging technologies.

The resources he has found in Central Florida, including a huge hospital system, a supportive university incubation program and a handful of tech supporters, have given him a head start.

At just 21 years old, the Orlando native will host a reveal party Thursday for a mixed reality version of a locally built application that allows non-verbal patients to communicate with doctors, nurses and even relatives.

Once launched, the application would debut as a groundbreaking innovation with a promising future.

The Arthur App was first devised by a relative of an Orlando Health patient whose communication had broken down.

“We are trying to create new technology and bring it to the forefront, showcase the use cases in healthcare,” said Tapia, who recently launched his tech firm Tap 4 Technologies in Orlando. “This is a great way to do that, especially at the patient level.”

The Quest 3 application will crystallize an idea first shared at Orlando’s MetaCenter Global Week in October, further illustrating the importance of Central Florida in this story.

Add in encouraging advice and direction from local giants like UCF’s Business Incubator Program, tech firm 302 Interactive and Magic Leap, and you track a journey that leads to the big reveal Thursday.

The Arthur App is only the beginning for Tapia, who wants to apply his development skills to build for several industries under the Tap 4 Technologies moniker. The app is being built by Tapia and a team of Orlando native developers, 3D artists and XR enthusiasts.

“There are so many resources available,” Tapia said. 302 Interactive “has played a pivotal role. That’s where I started and they have been helping me connect with other organizations and businesses to help me accomplish my goal.”

The event will happen at UCF’s Executive Development Center on Pine Street downtown, starting at 4 p.m.

“This is an example of leveraging immersive technology to enhance the human experience through technology,” Tapia said.

For Tapia, getting involved in emerging technologies has been a goal for several years.

The more he became involved, the more he realized just how supportive the community has been for people who are building something new.

“There are so many people here who want you to win,” he said. “If I didn’t leverage that support, it would be a waste.”

Electronic Arts’ annual summer coding camp starts Friday

Marco Santana
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Electronic Arts’ annual summer coding camp starts Friday

The Orlando-based office of video game giant Electronic Arts will welcome 16 local high school students to a summer camp that will show them the ropes of the game development industry.

The “Get in the Game STEAM Camp” runs for about one week, with college-bound women and non-binary students expected to receive mentorship from Electronic Arts employees.

The technical skills used in video game development have applications across industry in today’s tech-driven environment.

The EA program includes mentorship, peer support, coding instruction and real-world applications of coding to the STEAM fields.

Company officials said this year’s camp, which is the fifth for the company, drew the most applications, with the pool representing 24 Central Florida high schools.

“We are proud to create an inclusive environment where women and non-binary students can take the first steps toward their dream of a career in video games, while also fostering a supportive community that empowers them to reach their full potential,” said Jocel Thornhill, director of operations and program management at EA Tiburon in a press release.

Participants also receive a rare behind-the-scenes look at EA’s world-class technology and tools, and receive coaching from the software engineers and artists credited on iconic games such as EA Sports’ Madden and College Football series.

The camp will close with a video game showcase spotlighting the games that students created with their peers during the week. 

The mix of high schools represented includes:

Oviedo High School, Lake Brantley High School (three students), Hagerty High School, Winter Springs High School, Trinity Preparatory School, Winter Park High School, Timber Creek High School, NeoCity Academy (three), Lyman High School, Harmony High School and Dr. Phillips High School.

From Madden to NCAA: Orlando producer back to 1st love at EA

Marco Santana
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From Madden to NCAA: Orlando producer back to 1st love at EA

It just wasn’t the same for Christian McLeod.

As much as he loved working as a producer for Electronic Arts’ legendary Madden football video game series, another game tugged at him even more.

McLeod had started his career with EA in Orlando in 2011, spending two years working on the company’s college football title before it was formally discontinued in September 2013.

So when the gaming giant announced the return of the title this year, McLeod raised his hand.

“It goes back to when I was a kid,” he said. “I was born and raised in green and white. Michigan State University. That was my life.”

Now, the Michigan State University alum serves as lead producer of the new title, EA Sports College Football 25, which debuts on all major platforms July 19.

“College football was always my love,” McLeod said.

Challenge of Tradition

One of the natural challenges of building such a big game comes in meeting expectations. College football fans will know if something about a school’s tradition is off, he said.

“At the end of the day, every team is somebody’s favorite team,” McLeod said. “So, Florida Atlantic University needs as much love and attention as our Florida State University fans do, as Texas fans do.”

Fortunately, McLeod said, “we’re college football sickos.”

The game includes 134 schools with each having unique touches to their stadiums and experience, including fight songs or hand signals that add to the pageantry.

For instance, expect an accurate representation of the atmosphere of UCF’s FBC Mortgage Stadium, nicknamed “The Bounce House.”

“We have immersed ourselves within the college football ecosystem,” he said. “We immersed our team in the atmosphere. It’s about feeling the pageantry and being on the field.”

Add in that this represents a resurrection of a beloved franchise 10 years later and the challenge grows.

“We needed to make sure this wasn’t just a simple, ‘check the box’ exercise,” McLeod said. “There’s a certain pageantry, a certain affiliation that everybody has in college that is so much different than in the pro game and we had to capture that, as well.”

Individual Stadium touches

At Centennial Bank Stadium, home of Arkansas State University football, for instance, fans like to take a look and share pictures of the waterfall that sits on both sides of the north end zone.

Scoring a touchdown as the Red Wolves in that stadium in the game will trigger a water show within the waterfall, as it does on many fall Saturdays.

That’s just one of literally hundreds of little touches that make each stadium unique and immersive, he said.

“You’re going to be able to discover all new traditions,” he said. “Pageantry like this is going to make people fans of college football. We lost an entire generation of people playing this game. We are going to have a new generation experiencing this for the first time.”

The advantage of Electronic Arts’ location in Florida certainly helped the process, as well.

The state has several powerhouse football programs, each of which welcomed the EA team to campus to capture footage, stadium details and other authentic aspects that will be part of the game.

“Going to (UCF’s) Space Game and bringing a bunch of people from the team to the space game, just experiencing that in person, was amazing,” he said. “Making this product in a hotbed of college football is a pretty amazing thing. It’s a dream come true every single day.”

A ‘dream job’

McLeod’s plans initially had nothing to do with video games. His goal was medical school.

But first he wanted to take some time off.

As he was writing for a community website, he backed into an opportunity at Electronic Arts. The rest, he says, is history.

“I had my dream job right out of school,” he said.

The saga of the college football video game is a tale of millions of dollars, powerhouse conferences and an industry giant reaching an impasse 11 years ago.

A franchise renewed

The title was discontinued in September of 2013 after a 20-year run as complications arose about using realistic representations of players in the game.

So, this year’s version release marks a certain kind of history in video games.

It is the first major release of a college sports game since the NCAA adopted so-called “name, image and likeness” rules in 2021 that govern how college athletes can earn money while in school.

That meant Electronic Arts had to negotiate with individual players to include them in the game.

As of March, according to EA, the company had reached out with offers of at least $600 and a copy of the game to players, with more than 11,000 NCAA players accepting the offers.

As offer letters were returned, developers started to include real names in the game.

“To see them in the game as they start to sign and be put in via the rosters, it was surreal,” McLeod said.

With that major obstacle out of the way, developers could look toward creating a realistic setting.

That meant targeting moments that would evolve as “can’t miss” within the game.

For instance, bowl games.

EA’s NCAA game, built primarily in Orlando, gets release date

Bowl games

“That’s the payoff moment,” McLeod said. “If I’m in a dynasty and I’m busting my rear to get into a bowl game, you better believe that if it’s the Pop Tart Bowl, it’s the Cure Bowl, there needs to be a giant payoff moment so we went pretty big there.”

McLeod wouldn’t reveal all the secrets but he did say the bowl games will have their own small touches that make you want to reach them.

“That’s a huge payoff moment for a user in their career loop, so we want to make sure to pay it off,” he said.

The process has been time-consuming, tedious, stressful, at times.

But, McLeod said, the effort to reignite a classic gaming franchise has been worth and has only just begun.

“It’s going to take us a few more years to just keep going deeper and deeper to where we want,” he said. “By then, there will be more new traditions out there, as well.”

With each version, it will also be important to stay informed on what players want, McLeod said.

“Players’ expectations have changed a ton in the last 10 years,” he said. “We want to make sure that we took the good parts … but then said, ‘Hey, 10 years later, what does a user want?’

Techonomy returning to Lake Nona for a second year

Marco Santana
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Techonomy returning to Lake Nona for a second year

A high-profile, long-running event that has attracted tech luminaries like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter and Square cofounder Jack Dorsey and last year brought entertainer Kerry Washington to Orlando will be back in Lake Nona for a second year.

Organizers behind Worth Magazine’s Techonomy conference announced this week that the three-day retreat will return Nov. 17-19. Guest speakers for this year’s conference have yet to be announced.

However, the event regularly hosts some of the more relevant and high-impact figures. The conference had been held in Silicon Valley up until last year, when the event shifted to Orlando.

“Techonomy 24: Leading with Intelligence” brings together top executives, technologists and thought leaders.

Relocated Silicon Valley tech event to bring big names to Lake Nona

“Lake Nona is proud to once again host Techonomy 24, an event that embodies our commitment to fostering innovation and technological advancement,” said Juan Santos, senior vice president of brand experience and innovation for Lake Nona, said in a press release. “This gathering of visionary leaders and thinkers aligns perfectly with our mission to create a community where technology, sustainability and human wellbeing intersect.”

“The AI revolution happened very slowly and then all at once,” said Dan Costa, Worth Media Group’s chief content officer, in the release. “CEOs, policymakers, and even the technologists building these tools are grappling with what it all means–that conversation continues at Techonomy 24.”

The guest lists for previous events have been deep.

Along with the aforementioned trio, politician Andrew Yang, longtime Google executive Marissa Mayer, former Walt Disney Studios Chairman and DreamWorks SKG Cofounder Jeffrey Katzenberg and Ford CEO Jim Farley have appeared.

This year’s program will revolve around how emerging technologies factor into industry while addressing other factors such as privacy and regulation.

The invitation-only event can be accessed through a request at worth.com/TE24.

Orlando simulation legend Hank Okraski on early days of I/ITSEC

Marco Santana
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Orlando simulation legend Hank Okraski on early days of I/ITSEC

Hank Okraski has pretty much seen it all in Orlando’s simulation community.

After all, he’s been part of it since it was little more than a small part of the Baldwin Park Community.

He sat down with Orlando Tech News for an extensive and exhaustive look at his career.

In this first clip, we spoke about the origins of I/ITSEC, the largest defense technology in the world.

Incubator client pushes rapid prototyping as industry needs grow

Marco Santana
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Incubator client pushes rapid prototyping as industry needs grow

Jon Waldmann has always liked to tinker.

As a child, he fixed things around the house, building a familiarity with the tools of the trade. Into his teens, Waldmann became a de facto technician at a paintball business, modifying and repairing low-end weapons to save the company money.

So, when the coronavirus pandemic interrupted a job search, he pivoted and decided to build a business that revolved around building, tinkering and repair.

He built up a stable of high-powered, professional-grade metal stamping and fabrication presses. But he had one problem: finding customers who needed the work done.

“If you have the work to keep them moving, there is money to be made,” he said. “It’s just a challenge to get that recurring production work because of overseas competition.”

But Waldmann saw an opportunity.

A billion dollar business opportunity

So, he launched Waldmann Enterprises, a front-to-back manufacturing business that takes a project from design to production and specializes in prototyping.

Rapid prototyping has become a nearly $1 billion business and is expected to reach nearly $4 billion by 2032, according to a study by Canadian research firm Precedence Research.

CNC machining and fabrication has applications in several industries that thrive in Central Florida, such as defense, aerospace and automotive.

That technology sits right in Waldmann’s wheelhouse.

“I can literally print something out of my CAD software and have it by tomorrow morning,” said Waldmann, a graduate of Winter Springs High School in Seminole County with a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Central Florida.

As Waldmann’s business grew, evolved and went through some typical startup struggles, he started to add to his business’ capabilities.

Learning the business side at the incubator

That’s where the University of Central Florida’s Business Incubation Program came into the picture.

Waldmann first met the incubator through the director of its Eustis location, Wendy Taylor.

It wasn’t long before she determined that Waldmann Enterprises was a match for the program, with Taylor calling the company “a hidden gem.”

“He’s not a franchise,” she said. “He’s not a big corporation. It’s just him. They lean on us for the connections and the coaching. As a business owner, you generally don’t know what you’re getting into.”

Instead, she said, it’s usually a passion someone has that they need to learn how to turn into a business.

“He has a track record,” she said. “Whether self-taught or not, he went through the weeds of every level of business. That differentiates him.”

In March, incubator leaders decided Waldmann was far enough along to start working with.

“If someone is coming to us with a concept on a napkin, that’s a little too early for us.”

On the flip side, Waldmann’s network – and potential client base – grew quickly.

“They have opened my eyes to some of these industry clusters I was not aware of,” he said. “These tech clusters. That’s what I was hoping they would do.”

One example of Waldmann’s work is with Multicore Technologies, where he designed and built parts for their optic lab and adaptors for sensors.

“We needed very specific items for what we do that would hold up as we experimented with our technology and products,” said Jody Wilson, founder and CTO of Multicore Technologies in Winter Springs. “Our team has been very impressed with the designs and products Waldmann has delivered for us.”

Putting it all together

Before he launched the company, Waldmann spent a good bit of his career overseeing design and production of medical products with a company called Dot Decimal.

It was there that he started to see some unorthodox requests.

The requests – and his bosses – allowed him to essentially build a contract-based manufacturing business within a business.

When he moved on, he didn’t think he was headed into a career as an entrepreneur. Initially, he was just trying to ride out the COVID storm.

As the pandemic lengthened, however, he started to consider that he could turn his skills into a legitimate enterprise.

The final piece of the puzzle came in the form of the business incubation program, he said.

Waldmann admits that there have been times that he considered quitting and returning to full-time work in engineering. In fact, he said, he thought he would likely have been in a comfortable position right now had he done so.

But he still thinks there’s a higher ceiling through handling adversity.

“I see that upside, that potential,” he said. “I don’t want to give up because I’ve come so far. I’m going to make it work and that’s the kind of attitude I have had.”

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