Team
Elisabeth Megally
Advisor, Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment
Elisabeth holds an M.S. in Economics and an MBA from MIT. Prior to her MBA Elisabeth worked at the European Commission in the department of Trade, where she, among other things, analyzed the economic and legal eligibility of a non-EU country for the status of market economy.
Elisabeth is currently doing research on corporate governance in emerging economies. She is also volunteering with Harvard Business School non-profit organization The India School Fund focusing on breaking the cycle of poverty in rural Uttar Pradesh (India) by delivering high quality education. Elisabeth has been mentoring this year a team of MIT graduate students for the new D-Lab II ICT4Dev class, and is now leading the team to develop an innovative concept of a mobile platform for banking and microbusinesses for the rural poor in India and China. She defended the idea at the final round of the Stanford Social eChallenge competition.
Paul Suthapong
Program Manager, MIT Sloan
Paul or Pawin Suthapong is a first year MBA candidate at MIT Sloan School of management. Paul is actively engaging in many entrepreneurial activities and is also a part-time real estate investor. Before coming to school, Paul was a Lead Software Development Engineer/Test Microsoft Corporation leading testing efforts for Windows Embedded. Paul originally came from Thailand and after spending his first 18 years in Bangkok, he moved to U.S.A. to study at Purdue University in Indiana. Not until Summer of 2001 that he then moved to Seattle and joined Microsoft Corporation before later coming to MIT.
Rodrigo Ipince
Software Development Manager, MIT CSAIL
Rodrigo is a chill guy working towards BS degrees in Computer Science and Math at MIT. He’s 21 years old and just starting his senior year. After finishing his undergrad studies, he’ll stay at MIT for another year to complete an MEng in Computer Science. Rodrigo is from Caracas, Venezuela, and despite the many ways in which Chavez is destroying the country, he always wants to go back. He enjoys travelling, playing soccer, drinking beer (and rum, vodka, wine, among others), eating, playing drums, and dancing (latin stuff in particular). He’s also very involved in MIT groups, including the Venezuelan Students Association, Spanish House, EECS Honor Society (HKN), Model United Nations, and the Casino Rueda Salsa group.
Bikui Chen
Sustainability/Wildcard, MIT Sloan
Bikui Chen is a serial entrepreneur and seasoned venture investor. With over 10 years of experience in technology and media industries in both US and China, he has first-hand startup/investment experience in emerging market. In 1996, before Bikui finished his college, he started an internet application company, PowerInfo, which is now a leading Video-on-Demand and IPTV solution provider in China. Bikui received Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, and double majored in Physics and Electrical Engineering as an undergraduate in Tsinghua University.
Josh Kirchmer
Media Master, Emerson College
Josh Kirchmer is a perfectionist. He’s also nice, so don’t hesitate to talk to him!
