Spotlight on Hannah Stadtlander
Tulane Innovation Institute Commercialization Intern
For Hannah Stadtlander, innovation has become a new lens through which she sees her studies and future career. A South Florida native and junior at Tulane’s Freeman School of Business, Hannah is majoring in management while pursuing minors in accounting and design. Since February 2025, she has taken on the role of Commercialization Research Intern at the Tulane University Innovation Institute, where she works at the intersection of research, business, and new ideas.
This internship was designed to demonstrate to Tulane students how discoveries extend beyond the lab and reach the people who can benefit from them. For Hannah, that has meant stepping into unfamiliar fields, asking sharper questions, and building customer discovery models that uncover real needs and clarify how scientific innovations can create value for potential users. Each commercialization project begins with science, moves to market research, and concludes with a framework that highlights business opportunities.
Her work has provided her with a front-row seat to Tulane’s research pipeline, which now includes more than 150 technologies available for licensing. Hannah worked with Claiborne M. Christian, PhD, Executive Director of Commercialization at the Innovation Institute, to help Shusheng Wang, PhD, from the School of Science and Engineering, explore potential partners for degenerative eye disease treatments by conducting customer discovery interviews. In collaboration with William Wimley, PhD, from the School of Medicine, they examined end-user perspectives for antimicrobial peptides that enhance blood transfusion safety. Additionally, working with Scott Grayson, PhD, from the School of Science and Engineering, they shifted their focus to clean energy by consulting with engineers to gain an understanding of the realities of using electric vehicle batteries.
Each project has pushed Hannah beyond her comfort zone. “I think the best insights are the ones you can’t find on Google,” she says. “Conversations with field experts and with potential users provide a valuable lesson in developing business relationships.”
That kind of growth is precisely the point, says Christian, “This internship gives students like Hannah the chance to see how research and technology at Tulane University can move from the lab to industry partnerships through the customer discovery process. Talking to people outside of academia, in the private and public sectors, is always an important step in technology development.”
Looking ahead, Hannah is interested in pursuing a career in product management or strategy. The skills she’s building—market analysis, stakeholder engagement, customer discovery, and translating complex science into usable frameworks — are preparing her for that path. Now studying abroad in Copenhagen, she continues her work with the Innovation Institute, adding an international layer to her perspective.
For Hannah, the internship has highlighted how universities can serve as catalysts for innovation and how asking the right questions can reveal new opportunities. Her experience aligns with the Tulane Innovation Institute’s goal to empower anyone to learn how to shape ideas that can make a difference in the world.
Interview and story by Ellie Mitchell, Tulane Innovation Institute, Marketing Intern
