UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The latest episode of Invent Penn State’s "Dare to Disrupt" podcast features Robert Chisena, co-founder and CTO of Amplitude Vascular Systems (AVS), a medical device company focused on safely and effectively treating severely calcified arterial disease.
Chisena shares his journey from growing up on Long Island in a family of physicians, to discovering his passion for research and entrepreneurship at Penn State, to co-founding an innovative medical device startup.
He also reflects on his formative experiences at Penn State, including joining the Schreyer Honors College, diving into biomedical engineering research, and participating in Invent Penn State’s first cohort of the Summer Founders Program. He then traces how his graduate work at the University of Michigan led to the co-founding of AVS and developing breakthrough intravascular lithotripsy technology, restoring blood flow to hardened arteries.
“Disruption means not doing what everyone else has done and truly understanding the problem, building that foundation, and then going to create your own new path that answers somebody’s problem,” Chisena said during the podcast interview.
Chisena graduated from the Penn State College of Engineering with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering with honors from the Penn State Schreyer Honors College. He went on to receive his doctorate in mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan.
Later in the episode, Penn State doctoral candidate Marzia Momin joins the conversation. Momin, a student in the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department, is working on a neuro-tech startup developing personalized, 3D-printed neural implants for neurological disorders, with applications in therapy and brain-computer interfaces.
Having recently participated in both the Invent Penn State NSF I-Corps regional short course and the NSF I-Corps National Teams program, Momin drew on her own entrepreneurial experience to ask Chisena about building the best startup team, raising funding as a research-based venture, and what advice he would give to his younger self.
Hear these answers and more on the latest episode of Dare to Disrupt. Students interested in being featured on the show can apply or be nominated.
About 'Dare to Disrupt'
"Dare to Disrupt" is a podcast from Invent Penn State about Penn State alumni who are innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders, and the stories behind their success. The podcast is hosted by alumnus Ryan Newman, a graduate of the Smeal College of Business and a Schreyer Scholar alumnus who is now a managing director at Goldman Sachs.
Past episodes include interviews with Garry Gilliam, David Rusenko and Jess Weiner. New episodes are released monthly. Subscribe on YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Invent Penn State is a commonwealth-wide initiative to spur economic development, job creation and student career success.
The "Dare to Disrupt" podcast is made possible by the support of the Penn State Smeal College of Business.