CORE TEAM
LUKAS SCHEURER
Lukas started his career in Industrial Design as the head of a small in house design team for a medical devices company, shortly after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2013 with a BFA in Industrial Design. He went on to launch a freelance design practice doing design work for a multitude of clients, growing his client list through word of mouth. Through work with a multitude of companies and individuals, Lukas has conceived, designed, and constructed dozens of products across fields as disparate as industrial sewing equipment, automated blood sample testing, watercraft, water bottles, and consumer electronics.
In 2014 and with $250,000 from Kickstarter and preorder backers, Lukas launched the Linkmount, a multi-use phone accessory and mounting system for consumer electronics. Lukas has had a hand in the development of many extremely popular products, from his work with the RocketBook team, to metal-working tooling for titanium implants, to bike lights and kitchen products.
In addition to working full time at Avant, Lukas also teaches a 3D modeling course in SolidWorks at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).
WILL VAHLE
Will began consulting work with his involvement in CastleOne Castings in 2010, where he helped to bring a once shuttered company back up to speed, producing pre-cast concrete architectural products, as well as terraforming products. Will went on to do undergraduate work at a range of schools, from Babson College to Harvard University, with a focus on Physics and Economics. Through consulting work and in-house R&D, Will has continued to grow a passion for Electrical Engineering and Product Design.
In addition to a focus on electronic devices, will has worked with several military contractors on a wide range of products, from IED/weapons detection to manufacturing techniques and industrial equipment for the assembly of high performance garments. Will has also taught and worked in autonomous robotics and the design and development of precision laboratory equipment.
DANIELIUS KRAMNIK
Danielius Kramnik joined us from MIT’s Research Laboratory for Electronics, where, after finishing his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering at MIT, he was working on avalanche photodiodes for single photon detection in cryogenic, high vacuum quantum computing applications.
Kramnik is highly proficient in the design of precision, innovative circuits, and has a knack for clever solutions to complex circuit design problems, helping to reduce cost, restrict failure modes, and get products to market quickly.
Having been building circuits and systems since a very young age, Kramnik has had time to cover a great deal of ground. He has worked as an intern at several companies, including Apple, SpaceX and FormLabs, and done work as a consultant for various consumer electronics manufacturers and military contractors.
SHAOHAN ZHOU
Shaohan is an entrepreneur originally from Hebei, China. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Drexel University with dual majors in Marketing and Legal Studies and a masters degree from New York University in Brand Management. Shaohan is a chapter leader at Ford Foundation and Golden Bridge’s non-profit organization, focusing on U.S. and China relations and bridge building among students and young innovators.
In 2010, Shaohan co-founded a for-profit international educational management & services company in Rhode Island, which has brought thousands of students to the United States for educational programs at prestigious schools across the US, especially Brown University and Rhode Island School of Design.
Working between Beijing and Providence, he now helps US companies connect with manufacturing and services partners in China, to build and manage ongoing relationships.
ADVISORS
Jake Epstein
Jake is an experienced engineer, entrepreneur and product manager who has led and launched several products in the social, mobile and video space. Passionate around building products which span the complete technology stack - from bits and bytes to manufacturing. Jake holds a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Purdue University.
Joe Lemay
Joe is an investor and management executive has helped companies like Nuance and Salesforce.com develop and sell large scale systems deployed for Fortune 500 companies and consumers. Joe holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Cornell University and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.