Richard Dino


UConn’s Innovation Quest Turns Students into Entrepreneurs

UConn Today – Just a year ago, Amelia Martin ’23 (CAHNR) was an undergraduate student with a great idea for creating an eco-friendly surfboard, but little idea how to bring it to the marketplace.

Today she is an entrepreneur and the owner of Mud Rat, a company creating organic surfboard cores from the mycelium of mushrooms. The material can replace Styrofoam, which produces toxic dust, and takes hundreds of years to decompose.

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Innovation Quest Crowns Three New Champions

UConn Today – From the time he was a young child, Laron Burrows always knew he would be an entrepreneur.

“In the third grade I sold baseball cards and trinkets,” said Burrows, a Ph.D. candidate in chemical engineering. “At age 12, I was developing a way to remove oil from seawater. I always thought science and engineering innovations provided great opportunities for entrepreneurship.”

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Grad Student Lexy Vecchio Wins IQ Challenge with Videogame that Mimics PTSD

Mary "Lexy" Vecchio and her startup Ursa Mayhem Media have won Innovation Quest 2022 with their video game, Here There Be Bears. (Contributed Photo)
Mary “Lexy” Vecchio and her startup Ursa Mayhem Media have won Innovation Quest 2022 with their video game, Here There Be Bears. (Contributed Photo)

At 11 years old, Mary “Lexy” Vecchio had a traumatic, life-changing ski accident.

She was skiing alone, without a helmet, and hadn’t told her family which trail she would be on. She had a terrible crash, and broke her hip. She was alone in the snow, stranded, frightened, and seriously injured. Her screams for help went unheard for a long time.Continue Reading


Innovation Quest Organizers Expect ‘Extraordinary Turnout’ for This Year’s Competition

UConn Today – The leaders of UConn’s highly successful Innovation Quest (iQ) competition said there are millions of varied ideas that could create prosperous startups.

But one irrevocable dynamic separates those who succeed from those who fail.

“The key to being successful is that you have to continually innovate,’’ says Rich Dino, director of the iQ program, who is also a serial entrepreneur and an associate professor emeritus. “Our entrepreneurs learn to ‘hear the footsteps behind them’ and accelerate the move forward by continued innovation.’’


Pandemic Won’t Disrupt Annual iQ Competition Because ‘Innovation is Relentless’

friendly woman taking order on phone at restaurant and writing on notepad during the day
(istockphoto.com)

When someone asked Professor Rich Dino if the School of Business’ Innovation Quest (iQ) entrepreneurial competition would be postponed this year due to the pandemic his quick reply was: Of course not!

“Innovation is relentless,” said Dino, program director. “No matter the economic environment, good or bad, entrepreneurship carries on.”Continue Reading


Seeing Green: iQ’s First-Place Finisher Innovates Lawn Care, Wins $15k

many people together having an idea symbolized by icons on cubes on wooden background
(istockphoto.com)

A lush green lawn may be the envy of every suburban neighborhood, but many homeowners find it too expensive to hire a lawn service, and too difficult to maintain it properly on their own.Continue Reading


Enthusiasm, Hard Work Keep Hockey’s El-Mir ’19 On Top

Karl El-Mir '19 follows an intense schedule on and off the ice - and it pays off.   (Courtesy UConn Athletics)
Karl El-Mir ’19 follows an intense schedule on and off the ice – and it pays off. (Courtesy UConn Athletics)

One of the most embarrassing things that has happened to Karl El-Mir, a senior in the School of Business and a forward on the UConn Men’s Hockey Team, is stepping on a hockey puck and taking a fall during warm-ups.Continue Reading


Alumni Help Taxi Industry Shift into Overdrive

Nadav Ullman '12 (BUS), the CEO, and Thomas Bachant '13 (ENG), co-founder and CTO of Dashride, outside their office on 5th Avenue in New York City. (Nathan Oldham/UConn Photo)
Nadav Ullman ’12 (BUS), the CEO, and Thomas Bachant ’13 (ENG), co-founder and CTO of Dashride, outside their office on 5th Avenue in New York City. (Nathan Oldham/UConn School of Business)

If you’ve taken a cab or a limo in any major city in the U.S. in the last few years, odds are good that a team of UConn alumni helped orchestrate your ride. Continue Reading


Innovation Quest (iQ) Sets Participation Record

From left, Kazem Kazerounian, dean of the School of Engineering; YouCOMM co-founder Daniel Yasoshima; Lucy Gilson, head of the Management Department; YouCOMM co-founder Tom Cotton; Provost Craig Kennedy; student Jeren Koh; UConn iQ founder Keith Fox '80 and iQ Director Professor Rich Dino pose for a photo after the announcement that YouCOMM won the grand prize. (Nicolle Anderson/UConn School of Business)
From left, Kazem Kazerounian, dean of the School of Engineering; YouCOMM co-founder Daniel Yasoshima; Lucy Gilson, head of the Management Department; YouCOMM co-founder Tom Cotton; Provost Craig Kennedy; student Jeren Koh; UConn iQ founder Keith Fox ’80 and iQ Director Professor Rich Dino pose for a photo after the announcement that YouCOMM won the grand prize. (Nicolle Anderson/UConn School of Business)

A new app that would allow hospital patients to easily communicate with nurses, and replace the old-fashioned “call bell,” is the top winner in this year’s Innovation Quest (iQ) competition. Continue Reading