Dr. Frank Vallese is currently Director of Strategic Partnerships for NYU Tandon School of Engineering. He was formerly Managing Director of NYU’s MD5 Launch program which sought to commercialize defense technologies developed at DoD research labs by incubating startup projects in NYU research labs with the goal of spinning off dual-use startup ventures. He has also performed program management for the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN). Previously, Frank was owner and CEO of Electrophysics Corp., a manufacturer of dual-use night vision imaging systems which was acquired by Sofradir SAS, a world-leading manufacturer of imaging sensors based in France. Frank remained as President of the US subsidiary for 6 years. Thereafter, he mentored early-stage startups participating in NY-area accelerators, including Urban-X, Techstars IoT, ERA, TechLaunch and FutureWorks. Frank holds a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from MIT.