 |
|
|
|
Technology - Innovation - Education
|
|
|
Innovation is the lifeblood of global progress... |
|
|
For the past 17 years I've had a unique vantage point at the Wharton School, as Managing Director of the Mack Center for Technological Innovation - the world leader in the study of best practices and strategies for managing technological innovation. I've been involved in supporting the Center's extensive research program, building our industry partner network, designing and presenting industry conferences, participating in cutting-edge research...and more. My activities include editing the Center's newsletter, website and conference reports, hosting an annual technology showcase, recruiting industry partners and often serving as a sounding board for emerging technologies and strategies.
Over the years, I've been privileged to develop a large personal network of innovation leaders and technology pioneers who I want to thank for their support, partnership and collaboration - this includes more than 2500 managers in my Wharton network and over 1,000 in my non-Wharton (LinkedIn) network. I believe that everyone in the field of innovation has a "personal ecosystem" of friends and colleagues and we all benefit from helping each other, whether it's giving sounding board advice on new products, helping each other's careers, facilitating collaborative projects, or participating in consulting, speaking, advisory groups or board memberships. One of my personal mantras is based on the belief that "no one can do anything of substance alone." Once you're in my network, you have a friend and colleague for life.
Championing Innovation - As a lifelong innovation champion and technology entrepreneur, I've devoted most of my life to surfing and studying the waves of creative destruction that we call emerging technologies, disruptive innovation and industry transformation. I've been a technology pioneer myself - best known for my role in the development of the first home computer. Today my interests range from bioscience and nanotechnology to aerospace and security solutions, to developing energy alternatives - In 2010 I earned a master's degree in environmental studies to round out my understanding of "green" technologies and solutions. I'm constantly researching radical innovations as they appear on the horizon (click here to see a few examples of Radical Innovations). My book-in-progress on Nanoinnovation is the first in a series of books I'm writing to help managers better understand what's "really happening" in high-impact emerging technologies. My Nanoinnovation book is designed to provide an entertaining, informative guide for managers across industries who want to know "what's really happening" in nanotechnology that could impact their industries and markets.
Translating Research into Commercial Solutions - Innovation is what humanity does to advance (and sustain) civilization. This is one reason why organizations need to find better ways to translate innovation into practice. In recent years, the field of translational research has emerged as a separate discipline, training scientists, engineers and business leaders how to more effectively translate research into practice. I'm an enthusiastic advocate of translationsl research, and in particular, translational medicine. Since its inception, I've served on the Commercialization Core committee/Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics (ITMAT) at the Perelman Medical School at the University of Pennsylvania. This past year, I was pleased to provide advice to the UPENN School of Engineering for a new leadership certificate program. I also spent a week last summer at the University of Leeds helping Ph.D. students from the European Union frame their dissertation topics, which are focused on practical applications.
Consulting Projects, Committees, Boards, etc. - If you'd like me to get involved in your initiative, serve on a board or advise your innovation project or company - my availability in 2012 is quite limited so please contact me well in advance.
(Note: The opinions expressed on this site are entirely my own and do not reflect the opinions of the Mack Center or Wharton) | | |
|
What's New!
I've been flattered and humbled by several requests this year to do interviews on my involvement in the development of the first home computers, and on innovation and where we are heading today. Most of these requests are coming European websites. In the past few months I've done interviews for websites in Austria, Italy, Germany and most recently, Poland - a photo of me from 1981 graces the cover of the Feb. 2012 issue of this Polish magazine (see photo). My bio was recently translated into Romanian which was really cool. In early April, my mentor Jack Tramiel, the founder of Commodore, died and I was privileged to know Steve Jobs. With the passing of these home computing pioneers, there is renewed interest in the home computer revolution, where I was privileged to play a role. In March I did a video interview for Joerg Droege at Scene World reminiscing about my experiences at Commodore in the 1980s. In April my comments were included in an article in Gamasutra.
Feb 24, 2012 - The 14th Annual Emerging Technologies Update Day at Wharton was entitled "The Future of Nanoinnovation." Mike Roco, the "godfather" of nanotechnology in the U.S., keynoted the event. Presentations included DNA analysis, using nanotech to extend biopharma patents, commercialization of graphene, the first carbon nanotube boat...and much more. In my opening remarks, I shared some insights from my book-in-progress (NanoInnovation: What Every Manager Needs to Know).
Mack Center/Wharton events: The Mack Center's next event will be the Spring industry partner converence on June 1, 2012; the conference is entitled "Learning from Failure in Innovation: Turning Setbacks into Advantages."
October 26 - Turning Inventions Into Ideas and Innovations was the title of my presentation to in-house inventors, lawyers and innovation managers at a large media company. It was an enormous pleasure to be invited to be the first speaker as part of their inventor development initiative. The world is changing and media giants will either be at risk or at the cutting edge, depending on their innovation strategy and ability to adapt.
In my presentation, I discussed Steve Jobs' contributions in the context of the "The Innovator's DNA" which is a great new book by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen and Clay Christensen. Jeff Dyer was nice enough to send me an advance copy to read. Great book - I highly recommend it! The key point is that innovators can be trained and groomed - they are not necessarily "born" - the DNA they're talking about is a zest for discovery and an insatiable curiosity that is essential to drive the future.
MY YEAR IN REVIEW - 2011
October 25 - I taught the first session in a new Leadership Certificate program at the Univ. of Pennsylvania Engineering School - my presentation focused on how to become a world class innovator.
Sept. 2011 - I presented a Wharton Exec. Ed. session to a group of 50 IDC business school students, on Opportunities in Emerging Technologies.
 June 2011- My week at the University of Leeds in the UK was intellectually stimulating and culturally refreshing. See more photos and insights HERE.
 June 2011 -Internal Venturing: Issues, Opportunities & Challenges - Mack Center at Wharton. I helped organize this interactive "focused theme" workshop (led by Paul Schoemaker), and facilitated one of the 3 breakout sessions (see photo), designed to capture insights/best practices for corporate venturing. This workshop is a pilot for future events, where our industry partners will be invited to propose topics.
May 2011- Webcast to Intel's Innovation Advocates Network - My topic was "The Ambidextrous Challenge."
May 2011 - Olympus Corp. Annual Management Meeting - "Sustainability and Enterprise Innovation." A poignant occasion, the last company appearance by retiring CEO Mark Gumz.
April 2011 - Scientist-philanthropist Fred Kavli gave me some great comments for my "Nano" book – Mr. Kavli was at Wharton to receive the Bower Award from the Ben Franklin Institute.
March 2011 - Attended the annual conference of the Wharton School's Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (IGEL) - a few reflections are included on the Insights Page.
Feb 2011 - Emerging Technologies Update Day, at Wharton - "Turning Science Fiction Into Science Reality."Hard to believe 2011 was the 13th year I hosted this event! I initiated this conference to give industry partners, faculty and students an "intraveneous injection" of radical innovations that can really change our industries and markets if they achieve commercial success. Speakers included Bobby Braun, NASA's chief technology officer, Michal Lipson, one of the world's top researchers on nano-optics including "invisibility cloaks" and Bill Christensen, from technovelgy.com.
Feb 2011 - Wharton Aerospace Conference
I led the innovation panel at the annual communities of practice event at Wharton - a few personal insights and takeaways are summarized on the INSIGHTS page.
The IEEE-1784 initiative to
develop standards for the use of nanomaterials in electronics has been merged with the IEC initiative and is now the Joint Project Team for IEC 62659 (IEEE1784) - I've been serving on the senior leadership of the IEEE committee and now serve on the joint committee. In October 2011 the draft was finalized for public review and comment.
| | | |
Innovation Insight-Building |
 As Managing Director of the Mack Center for Technological Innovation at the Wharton School, I serve as a bridge between our industry partners and faculty, and participate in planning a variety of research projects and conferences related to managing innovation, currently helping to plan workshops on big data and commercialization of gene therapy.
I enjoy teaching Wharton Executive Education sessions - I'm also doing a bit of consulting - time permitting - currently working with a large Japanese chemical company to fine-tune their promotional/positioning strategy, including some creative marketing projects.
In the coming year I'll be publishing the first in a series of books for managers that describe "what's really happening" in emerging technologies and innovations. If you're a manager in any industry, from consumer products to insurance, from banking to medicine - any industry - you need to know what's really happening in several key technologies so you can understand the basics and participate knowledgeably as a decision maker when these technologies are being discussed, funded, developed and commercialized. Whether you're a manager, student, teacher, or just someone who wants to know more about emerging technologies, I think you'll find some fascinating insights in this series.
NanoInnovation: What Every
Manager Needs to Know
My first book is a guide for managers on nanoinnovation. It will be published in early 2013 by Wiley. I wrote this book to provide a realistic assessment of nanoinnovation including what science is working on, lessons from the first wave of nanotech ventures, the strategic implications of nanoscale science and technology, where nano meets bio, some predictions and possibilities, and more. This is the first in a series of books I'm writing to give managers across industries a deeper understanding of core concepts, critical issues and strategic possibilities in emerging areas of science and technology. For this book I interviewed more than 100 nano-insiders and conducted extensive research to identify the key technologies and trends that all of us need to know about.
Book Chapter: Applying the Marketing Matrix (5 P's) to Bionanotechnology
 My chapter includes an assessment of the marketing challenges facing bionanotechnology, using a framework called "SIVA(C)" that proposes a contemporary update to the traditional 5 P's of marketing known as the "marketing matrix."
If you're not familiar with this framework, SIVA updates and rearticulates the "4 P's" of Marketing (Product, Promotion, Price and Place) . This framework was developed by Chekitan Dev and Don Schultz. This consumer oriented version of the "P's" proposes that Product is now SOLUTION, Promotion is INFORMATION, Price is VALUE and Place is ACCESS. I added to the scholarship by expanding SIVA to SIVAC, proposing that the fifth P - People - should be COMMUNITY.
I'm surprised that SIVA(C) is not more widely acknowledged or utilized, since this framework updates the elements of traditional marketing to reflect how these factors have been impacted by digital marketing and the age of ubiquitous connectivity.
| |
| | |
About Me and My Family |
 My wife Nancy and Ienjoy traveling, scuba diving, fishing and bicycling. This is me with our dog Mudget, a white Pomeranian. When we were looking for a pet, Nan wanted a dog and I've always had cats so when she asked, "Can we have a dog?" I said, "As long as it looks like a cat." As you can see, we compromised on a "catdog". Mudget looks like a fox. She is affectionate, quirky and just as smart as she looks. | What do innovators do for fun? |
 Nan and I try to squeeze in at least one scuba diving trip each year, usually in the Yucatan. (Mentioning this gives me an excuse to show off one of my "shark hugging" photos). I also have photos "hugging" a moray eel and stingray. I've been diving since I was a grad student at UCLA, many eons ago. By the way, this is a nurse shark, pretty docile if you don't annoy them - this was the third shark I "hugged" that day but the photographer was never around when I had a shark, so I swam this one about 30 yards to get the picture. Also - yes, I know I'm not supposed to remove my regulator but it makes a better photo.
During our trip to southern California, I took a walk down memory lane and showed Nancy where I used to scuba dive, at a small beach that still survives, north of Malibu - that's where I learned to dive and enjoyed more than 60 dives, and never saw the same creatures or conditions twice!
We enjoy poking around the jungle, exploring exotic locations, ziplining, caving and taking wildlife photos.
This is us on top of Coba, the tallest pyramid in the Yucatan (above). We both speak conversational Spanish so that helps a bit.
This is a photo from this year's (Aug 2011) Yucatan trip - you can see more photos in the gallery here. I think this picture more than any other captures our quirky, curious, fun-loving personalities.
Future Travel: Our "dream trip" is to rent a car and drive through southern Italy, traveling the Amalfi Coast, viewing ancient art in Pompeii/Herculaneum, etc.
 
These are pictures from our 2010 trip to the Thousand Islands (St. Lawrence River, on the U.S./Canadian border) - these little fish are called "round gobies" - a non-native invasive species introduced to the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes in the 1990s, carried in the bilges of ships from other countries. In only two decades, gobies have invaded the lower Great Lakes. Round Gobies have been linked to the spread of a fish virus that has infected native fish species including muskies. During our boating/fishing trip we saw clusters of as many as 100 in the clear shallow waters.
Flying Squir rel: This flying squirrel visited our bird feeder every night for several weeks. This little character was remarkably tame and friendly. We didn't know flying squirrels live in Pennsylvania. Most people don't see them because they come out at night. Our bird feeder is also frequented by 35 species of birds, and a very well-mannered raccoon named "B.J."
| |
Copyright (c) 2011 by Michael S. Tomczyk. All rights reserved. | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
