Juan Felipe Vallejo is responsible for supporting the development of high impact and scalable startups based on USC intellectual property. He is also responsible for directing new programs that will help faculty and students get their innovations into society. Juan Felipe connects innovators from across the campus to each other as well as with the entrepreneurial and investment communities to transform ideas into successful ventures and innovations. He directs Ideas Empowered, the USC innovator mentorship and grant funding program which bridges the gap between basic research and the marketplace by supporting both the idea and the innovator through mentoring and coaching, connections to resources, and proof-of-concept funding of typically $50K-$150K for validation of technical feasibility through proof-of-concept experiments and prototype development.

An MBA graduate of the USC Marshall School of Business and a member of the National Honorary Business Society, Mr. Vallejo is also an electrical engineer who received his Masters Degree with honors from California State University at Northridge, as well as a Professional Certificate in International Trade from UCLA. Prior to joining the USC Stevens Center, Juan Felipe held posts as Project Manager at the USC Marshall School of Business Center for Technology Commercialization and as the Administrative Manager for the Pasadena Angels, a local group of leading private investors that provide long-term human and financial capital to help build successful companies. Juan Felipe also brings extensive experience as an applications engineer in the semiconductor testing and robotics industries.