Focus On...
Denis Fred Simon
In any language, innovation and entrepreneurship are the rallying cries for business success. And Denis Fred Simon, the new dean of Rensselaer’s Lally School of Management and Technology, is as fluent in leading innovative change as he is in Mandarin Chinese.
High-tech business sustain-ability, however, is fueled by the effective management of innovation. “Innovation in a vacuum is worthless,” says Simon. “The great value, indeed the power of an idea, is when it can be effectively harnessed, brought to market, and can transform a sector of society.”
Simon’s vision is for graduates of Rensselaer’s Lally School to be leading the charge when the high-tech pendulum is once again on the upswing. He is positioning the Lally School’s sweet spot at the convergence of technological innovation, R&D management, and entrepreneurship.
He brings with him an illustrious track record of leveraging these same principles in his work in global business development, consulting, and in academia. Simon is one of a select number of experts with dual knowledge of business strategy and technology management, and Asian business systems and cultures. He is one of the world’s leading experts on China’s science and technology affairs.
And in his new role as dean, he will lead similar transformational change.
“I was attracted to Rensselaer’s Lally School because of its legacy of integrating technology and management,” he says. “The entrepreneurial mindset needed to advance business innovation and technology is encouraged and cultivated without walls here.”
Contrary to what technology pundits said in the post-dot-com era, there will be a resurgence in high-tech, but it will be Darwinian, says Simon. While the rules of traditional business are still valid, managing marketable innovation is quite a different animal. In order for the high-tech business to thrive it will be survival of the fittest, he says.
“The new engine of technological business is oiled quite differently than traditional business best practices,” says Simon. “Businesses will become less bureaucratic, more able to turn on a dime and adjust to the winds of the marketplace and the whims of the consumer.”
Rensselaer students will not only be learning these high-tech business best practices, they will be developing them. They will learn how to be management visionaries, how to create and market products and services people need, and how to harness technological tools for gain.
“When our students graduate, they won’t have just an MBA; they’ll have an ‘MBI’—a master’s in business innovation,” he says.
Transforming Rensselaer’s Lally School, he adds, is like a case study for a “start-up.”
“We have something of value here, and it is my job to let potential students, industry partners, and our alumni know that the Lally School has the firepower and heritage to become one of the leading techno-MBA programs in the world,” says Simon.
“We have world-class faculty who publish in the leading journals in management, we have an innovative curriculum that can provide students with the tools to assume leadership positions in organizations that value innovation and entrepreneurship, and we have an alumni network that is strongly committed to placing our graduates,” Simon adds. “My hope is that we are viewed as ‘the first choice’ for applicants interested in shaping and defining the technological future.”
Simon plans to bolster the school’s Ph.D. programs, strengthen entrepreneurship across the curriculum for all undergraduate students, and build a world-class MBA program.
“I want to focus on cultivating the creative passion in all of our students for the next technological revolution, for the return of high-tech,” he says.
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E. Fred Schubert, a pioneering semiconductor researcher and professor of electrical and computer engineering at Boston University, has been appointed Senior Constellation Professor of the Future Chips Constellation. The constellation (a group of distinguished senior and junior faculty) will specialize in technologies based on compound semiconductors that have brought the world well-known devices such as high-frequency transistors, light-emitting diodes, and lasers. The focus of this faculty constellation is on “leapfrog technology” that will usher in new advances in imaging, lighting, sensing, and communications. |
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Jane Van Ryan, principal of VanRyanBanks Inc. of Reston, Va., has been named assistant vice president for communications. Van Ryan will lead the Office of Communications (formerly the Office of Marketing and Media Relations), which includes media relations, marketing, presidential communications, and university events. Prior to founding her company, she served as vice president for public affairs at Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) in McLean, Va. A Fortune 500 company, SAIC is the world’s largest employee-owned research and engineering firm. Before joining SAIC, Van Ryan was assistant director of public relations for the American Petroleum Institute in Washington, D.C. |
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Samuel Heffner ’56, chairman of the Rensselaer Board of Trustees, has been named by Maryland Governor Parris Glendening to a five-year term on the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS) Board of Directors. The UMMS was created in 1984 when the state-owned university hospital became a private, not-for-profit organization. It has evolved into a six-hospital system with academic, community, and specialty service missions reaching every part of the state and beyond. The board includes state representatives, the chancellor for the University System of Maryland, physicians, community leaders, and business leaders. |
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Prabhat Hajela, professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering, has been named a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Hajela was named a fellow for his significant achievements in engineering research and education, and his active service in leadership roles in ASME and other professional societies. In addition, he was selected as a 2003 ASME Congressional Fellow. The latter fellowship will allow Hajela to spend a year in Washington, D.C., to work on science and technology issues as a special legislative assistant in either the Senate or the House. |
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David Duquette, professor and chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineer-ing, was appointed by President Bush to serve as a member of the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. As an expert in metallurgy and corrosion, Duquette will provide advice on the integrity of the nuclear waste container proposed for Yucca Mountain in Nevada, which Congress recently approved as a repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. |
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George Dvorak, the William Howard Hart Professor of Rational and Technical Mechanics at Rensselaer, was honored with the Daniel C. Drucker Medal by ASME International (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) for his research achievements in plasticity, material fracture and fatigue, and thermal-mechanics of heterogeneous materials. Dvorak is known internationally for his significant contributions to the micromechanics of composite materials and structures. |
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Michael Century, former McGill professor and art-and-technology consultant from Canada, has been named chair of the Department of Arts. Century has contributed in the field of arts and technology around the world as a professor, educational administrator, lecturer, and writer. He also has served as a program manager for the Canadian Centre for Information Technology Innovation, a federal research laboratory in Montreal. |
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Robert Palazzo, former professor of molecular biosciences at the University of Kansas, has been named professor and chair of the Depart-ment of Biology. In addition to his extensive background in teaching and research, Palazzo has experience working with several public service organizations including New York’s Wadsworth Center, the state laboratory dedicated to science in the pursuit of health. Palazzo’s appointment involves a cooperative arrangement between Rensselaer and the Wadsworth Center. He will conduct a portion of his research with Wadsworth scientists. |
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Selmer Bringsjord, director of the Rensselaer Artificial Intelligence and Reasoning Lab, has been named chair of the Department of Cognitive Science. Bringsjord, a Rensselaer faculty member in the same department for 14 years, is an expert in the logical-mathematical and philosophical foundations of artificial intelligence. Bringsjord performs research in cognitive robotics, gaming, and artificial intelligence. He is a consultant to gaming, multimedia, and e-learning companies. His most notable project is Brutus.1, a computer that can write short stories of up to 500 words based on the notions of betrayal, deception, and evil. |
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Michael Podowski, professor of mechanical, aerospace, and nuclear engineering, has been elected a fellow of the American Nuclear Society (ANS). The honor recognizes distinguished contributions in the field of nuclear science and engineering, and is the highest membership grade offered by the ANS. Podowski, who came to Rensselaer in 1980, has served as a consultant to the government and industry, and as a technical expert to the International Atomic Energy Agency. |
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Donald Siegel has been named chair of the Department of Economics. Siegel was professor of industrial economics at the University of Nottingham in England. His research interests are the economics of technological change, university technology transfer, productivity analysis, and corporate social responsibility. He is an adviser to a National Academy of Sciences Committee evaluating the Small Business Innovation Research Program across federal agencies. |
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Elizabeth Large, director of student services in humanities and social sciences, received the 2002 Pillars of Rensselaer Award, the highest honor Rensselaer gives to a staff member. The Pillars Award is presented annually to a staff member who understands the Institute’s mission and history, has been a role model for other employees, has showed concern for students and their welfare, has added to the human dimension of the school, and who has played an active role in his or her home community. Large was honored for her caring attitude toward students, her willingness to go “above and beyond,” and her volunteer roles in campus events including Commencement and Honors Convocation. |
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David Carson, professor emeritus of communication and literature, was honored at Colorado Springs by the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Falcon Heritage Forum for his public service to the nation. Carson came to Rensselaer in 1976 as director of graduate programs in technical communication. In 1994, he was recognized as Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the International Society of Technical Communication. Before joining Rensselaer, Carson served 20 years in the Air Force as fighter pilot, test pilot, combat commander, Air Force Academy professor, and educational administrator for academy-supported university programs throughout Europe. |
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Peter Morante has been named the new director of energy programs at the Lighting Research Center (LRC). Morante, formerly of Northeast Utilities in Connecticut, will lead the LRC in electric utility issues and policies, and their effect on lighting technology applications. He brings 33 years of experience in helping customers use energy efficiently. |
