Peter McAlindon, Ph.D.

I enjoy teaching at Crummer because of the faculty and student commitment to excellence and learning. It’s a rare and powerful balance. It permeates the classroom and is evident in the work students do

Peter McAlindon, Ph.D., is Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College. He also serves as a faculty advisor to Rollins students through the Entrepreneurial Scholar of Distinction (ESD) program, mentoring teams of students as they find commercial applications and develop paths to market for technologies developed by NASA. 

Dr. McAlindon is the founder and chief executive officer of Blue Orb Inc., a technology company that develops computer technology for persons with disabilities. Blue Orb Inc. created and now markets and sells the orbiTouch Keyless Keyboard. The orbiTouch is a patented computer keyboard and mouse that requires no finger or wrist motion to operate. It was developed for people who do not have the finger or hand dexterity to use a regular keyboard or mouse. It is used by people who have arm or hand prostheses or who have limited hand and finger use due to injury, arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, stroke, cerebral palsy and many other physical conditions. It is also being successfully used by people who are visually impaired, blind, have autism, or have traumatic brain injury. The orbiTouch has received numerous positive industry reviews, the prestigious daVinci award for design, and the top honor for accessible technology at the Consumer Electronics Show. Through Blue Orb, Dr. McAlindon has successfully secured three sequential rounds of funding from the National Science Foundation’s SBIR program and more than $5,000,000 in angel investor funding. Dr. McAlindon is in the process of completing a three-year National Science Foundation grant to help people with disabilities become entrepreneurs. Additionally, he is a co-founder of venVelo, Florida’s newest business accelerator and seed capital fund. 

Prior to forming Blue Orb Inc. Dr. McAlindon was chief executive officer for inTouch Computing, a web design company. Dr. McAlindon directed the organization’s vision, financial reporting and control functions, as well as its business development and strategy formulation, product development, and all operational and performance management functions. 

A native of Michigan, Dr. McAlindon graduated with honors from the University of Michigan, was nominated to the National Dean’s List, and is a member of several professional societies and associations.