Michael Poisel is the Executive Director of PCI Ventures, Penn’s internal venture studio, which assists faculty researchers in the creation and building of companies around their innovative technologies. He and his team also provide incubation services at Penn’s incubator, The Pennovation Center. As part of these programs, he has participated in the founding of over 275 companies, which have gone on to raise over $900 million in funding. Prior to Penn, Michael made investments for NewSpring Capital, Apax Partners and GE Capital spanning more than ten years in private equity. He began his career in manufacturing operations for General Electric/Lockheed Martin and participated in the successful completion of several commercial and government satellite programs. Michael graduated with honors in Mechanical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, holds an M.S. in Systems Engineering from The Moore School of Engineering of the University of Pennsylvania, and has an M.B.A. in finance and entrepreneurial management from The Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania.