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Staff

  • W. Matthew Leevy, Ph.D.

    Director
    wleevy@nd.edu

    Matt is currently an Associate Professor of the Practice within the IDEA Center at the University of Notre Dame and serves as the Director of the Innovation Lab. This 5000 sqft space integrates talented industrial and graphic designers with world-class prototyping equipment to create products, build businesses, and launch dreams. Over his 15-year career at ND, Matt's lab has generated dozens of peer-reviewed manuscripts and been awarded utility six utility patents that have served as cornerstones for the creation of two successful small-business startups that are alive and well today: In Vivo Concepts LLC (1st Source Award, 2014, exiting December 2023), and Irish Woodworks LLC (exited December 2021).

    Matt is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (B.S. Bioengineering) and Washington University in Saint Louis (Ph.D. Biophysics), and he is also a retired Army Reserve Captain with 22 years of total service. Taken together, Matt operates a vibrant, collaborative, and entrepreneurial lab space, with broad experience in object design and fabrication, biomedical imaging technologies, and business creation.

  • Tony Van Avermaete

    Assistant Director
    avanaver@nd.edu

    Tony serves as the assistant director of the Innovation Lab, with lead roles in industrial design and physical prototyping. In his time at Notre Dame, Tony has co-authored six peer reviewed manuscripts, holds one U.S. Patent, and has designed over 1000 parts and products on behalf of Innovation Lab stakeholders. Tony has co-founded three companies, including In Vivo Concepts (2014), Laser2You (2019), and Irish Woodworks (2020).

  • Chris "Ocean" Owsianowski

    Prototyping Specialist
    cowsiano@nd.edu

    Chris Owsianowski is the Innovation Lab's prototyping specialist. In this role, Owsianowski creates prototypes of potential new products for the many clients of the Innovation Lab. He does this by utilizing the Lab's 3D printers and its comprehensive woodshop. Additionally, as a skilled carpenter, Owsianowski serves as the lab's woodshop manager. He also maintains the entire Innovation Lab and helps do the same for the Innovation Park building.

    Owsianowski's professional career began in 1983 when he joined the Coast Guard. While in the Coast Guard Owsianowski served as a third petty officer radar technician/navigator.

    In 2016, Owsianowski opened his own woodworking business, Third Coast Woodshop. His business focused on creating artisan wood products including high-quality frames, benches, and guitars.

    After the Innovation Lab had worked with Owsianowski on a number of projects they decided to hire him in 2020 as the lab's prototyping specialist and carpenter, the role he serves in today.

     

Emeritus Staff

  • Shreejan Shrestha

    Industrial and Graphic Designer

  • Anthony Esplin

    Lab Designer

  • Frank Quinn

    Administrative Assistant

  • Chandler Nuttal

    Special Projects Coordinator

  • Tyler Dann

    Undergraduate Lab Researcher

  • Gabriela Queiroz Miranda

    Lab Assistant

  • Joshua McClendon

    Lab Assistant

  • Gregg Fraley

    Innovation Scholar

  • Ryan Kiner

    Innovation Scholar

  • Emily Tyson

    Social Media Manager

  • Dorothy "Dot" Crumlish

    Project Engineer

  • Dayeel Dauphine

    Lab Assistant

  • Gannon Dow

    Intern

  • Tristan Freel

    Lab Assistant

  • Megumi Inoue

    Lab Assistant and Researcher

  • Elizabeth "Izzy" Kamayangi

    Lab Assistant

  • Logan Kocka

    Lab Assistant

  • Ryan Kreager

    Innovation Scholar

  • David Lyke

    Lab Assistant

  • Adrian Pacheco

    Graphic Designer

  • Anna Schroedel

    Social Media Manager

  • Lisa Slomka

    Graphic Designer