John Sculley, former CEO of Apple and Pepsi-Cola and currently entrepreneur and investor in high-tech startups, visited the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology (CAST) at UMBC on April 15 to learn more about the innovative work conducted by CAST researchers. Sculley met with Govind Rao, CAST director and professor of chemical, biochemical, and environmental engineering, as well as staff and students.

President Freeman Hrabowski and Karl V. Steiner, vice president for research, welcomed Sculley and his wife, Diane, to campus.

“It is an honor to share some of the exciting and path-breaking research underway at UMBC with an internationally recognized technology leader like John Sculley,” said Karl Steiner. “The world-class work that Govind Rao and his outstanding team at CAST are pursuing has the potential to change some well-established paradigms.”

Sculley was particularly interested in learning more about CAST’s “biologics on demand” program, part of the BioMOD program supported by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA). He also spoke with team members about a non-invasive respiration and glucose sensor project and a low-cost cardboard neonatal incubator for developing nations.