Sumita B. Mitra is a professor in the Institute for Advanced Discovery & Innovation and a Partner at Mitra Chemical Consulting LLC, an independent consulting firm she co-founded. Previously she worked for over 32 years at 3M Company as Corporate Scientist in the 3M Oral Care Division. She led the new materials/products research and development efforts of that business until her retirement. For over ten years she served as Industrial Director of the Minnesota Dental Research Center of Biomaterials and Biomechanics at the School of Dentistry, University of Minnesota. Dr. Mitra is the creator and inventor of many new materials technologies and the developer of several new product segments for the dental and orthodontic market. Her inventions have been translated into the commercialization of numerous novel and innovative products for oral care. Her expertise is also in the management of innovation and new product/technology commercialization processes. She is the recipient of 100 US patents and their corresponding OUS equivalents and has numerous publications (100+) in the areas of polymer science, nanocomposites and dental materials, including 12 chapters in 9 books. She is an internationally recognized lecturer on these topics and has given numerous presentations and courses in various universities and colleges in 45 countries. Dr. Mitra received her Ph.D. in Organic/Polymer Chemistry from University of Michigan followed by postdoctoral work at Case Western Reserve University in Macromolecular Science. She has received numerous honors and awards among which are: Induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, Election to the National Academy of Engineering, Recognition from the EPO Inventors Award, American Chemical Society Heroes of Chemistry Award, Peyton-Skinner Award for Innovation in Dental Materials and Hollenback Memorial Prize from the Academy of Operative Dentistry. She is a member of the Board of Minnesota Independent Schools and is guest lecturer at University of Minnesota, School of Dentistry. Her passion is in mentoring activities for STEM education at all levels.