Brian Mullen

Brian Mullen applies positive pressure

With undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Brian has invented a vest that improves care for people with autism.

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Brian Mullen'04, '07, '09

Therapeutic Systems, LLC, Founder & CEO
UMass Video Profile Series Transcript :Brian Mullen

The entrepreneurial community is one of giving back. I've always felt that the research that I was doing in what has become my company is an act of service. I was looking for an initial graduate research project as an engineering graduate student. And we have locked beds at health-care facilities that restrain people. An occupational therapist at a local hospital was using weighted blankets to apply this pressure to help her patients calm down. And from that, we developed the pressure vest. It was really looking at both how to advance the research and can we provide somebody better tools to have that intervention with them whenever and wherever they need it. The great thing about being at UMass, everyone's door has always been open. When I was a senior, and I wanted to do independent study on start-ups and an entrepreneurial thing for a crazy idea I had, faculty and the business school said yeah, let's do that. And along the way, can you help revive the entrepreneurial club on campus? This is kind of how things work. You give back your time to the people who want to move forward down the path you did. When I started to launch the company, it wasn't just the faculty that were willing to say, "Yes, how can I help?" It was also the wider Amherst community. And when you have those experiences, how can you say no to the next person who says, "Hey, can you help me? I have an idea." I'm Brian Mullen. I'm founder and CEO of Therapeutic Systems. I stand for improving the quality of life and enhancing the quality of care for mental illness, and I stand for UMass.

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