Classrooms As Catalysts: Producing Supply Chain Innovation

A native of East Berne, New York, Nathan has had a dual career in business and military service. He is the author of Stukent's courseware, "Advanced Supply Chain: Strategic Concepts and Case Studies."

In business, Nathan began at McKinsey before cofounding Aulera, Inc., a venture-backed B2B SaaS firm acquired in 2022. He joined Blue Institute Labs as Director of the BLUE Excellerator and now consults for Hidden River Group, advising governments on innovation ecosystems and startups on supply chain and distribution strategies.

In the military, Nathan has served 20 years in the U.S. Navy across active duty and reserves aboard nuclear-powered fast attack submarines. He taught in the Navy Nuclear Propulsion Training Program and as an NROTC Instructor at MIT, and currently commands the Submarine Force Reserve Expeditionary Maintenance Unit in Groton, CT.

Nathan holds degrees from MIT, Old Dominion, Auburn, and The New School. He is happily married and a proud father!

Manuela Zoninsein is the CEO and Founder of Kadeya (https://kadeya.com/) , the world’s first closed-loop beverage vending system. Their network of smart bottling stations and reusable bottles eliminates the need for single-use beverage containers forever. Previously, she worked at Palantir Technologies in international business development focused on CPG, introducing the company to five new markets. As a serial climate entrepreneur, she has launched two businesses in the agritech space.