At the core of everything Courtney Houtsma does is a deep commitment to creating meaningful impact: Improving people’s lives and empowering others to do the same. As an engineer, director, educator and mentor, she’s worked across industry, academia and the public sector to support early-stage innovators, strengthen local and regional innovation ecosystems, and advance equitable solutions in health technology. At Penn Health-Tech, she leads innovation programming including the Health Tech Accelerator, a university-wide initiative that provides advising and funding to help clinicians, engineers and scientists de-risk and translate their health technology ideas. Under her leadership, the accelerator has increased its funding levels and expanded commercialization resources for teams. Penn Health-Tech now provides up to $825,000 annually across its innovation programs.

That same spirit drives her work as a consultant for Lab2Market, a national NIH-funded commercialization training program. In this role, she guides faculty, clinicians and entrepreneurs across the country through the early and often uncertain phases of commercialization. Houtsma’s Drexel experiences as both an undergrad and a grad student helped to set her up for success, and she continues to give back to the University. As a founding member of the Drexel Biomed Alumni Network, she has spent nearly a decade cultivating a community of alumni who are excited to connect, support one another, and stay involved. She’s organized mentorship programs, networking events and career panels, working with faculty and staff to enrich the student experience. She serves on the review committee for the Biomed Finishing Fund, a scholarship that supports students facing financial barriers to completing their degree, and she teaches the introductory design sequence as an adjunct professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering. “These efforts are my way of paying forward the support I received as a student — and ensuring the next generation of Drexel biomeds can thrive,” she says.