The State of Technology Entrepreneurship in Higher Education
Presentation: Panel
Facilitators: Tom Byers,
Tony Mendes, Kenneth Vickers,
Philip Weilerstein
This panel of leaders in the field will discuss opportunities their organizations are creating to support technology entrepreneurship in institutions of higher education. They will focus particularly on:
- Research
- Funding
- Publication and dissemination opportunities
- Community building
- Development of best practices
- Resource sharing via the Internet
Tom Byers
Associate Professor, Management Science and Engineering
Stanford University
tbyers@stanford.edu
Tom Byers is an Associate Professor at Stanford University, where he teaches and conducts research in high-technology entrepreneurship. He is founding executive director of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP), which serves as the entrepreneurship center for the School of Engineering, and he leads its unique Mayfield Fellows Program. Byers is also co-director of the AEA/Stanford Executive Institute, a prestigious general management program for technology executives.
Tony Mendes
Manager, Kauffman Entrepreneur Internship Program Kauffman Center
for Entrepreneurial Leadership
tmendes@emkf.org
Before accepting the position of Manager (KEIP), Mendes was Manager of Training Consultation for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Previously, he was President of Mendes and Associates, a firm which provides executive consulting services to Fortune 500 companies. He was also a consultant for the Kansas City Royals Baseball Team and the American Italian Pasta Company. Mendes served as adjunct professor at Rutgers University, teaching a course in Modifying Health Behaviors. He was also a member of the faculty at New York’s Polytechnic University. Mendes’ book, Inspiring Commitment, How to Win Employee Loyalty in Chaotic Times, addresses the key elements of employee commitment and strategies for fostering high performance and productivity.
Kenneth Vickers
Research Professor, Physics
Director, Microelectronics-Photonics Graduate Program
University of Arkansas
vickers@uark.edu
Ken Vickers received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Physics from the University of Arkansas. During his ensuing twenty-year career as Process Engineer at Texas Instruments he worked in all aspects of integrated circuit (IC) fabrication process and equipment engineering. Vickers also chaired several world wide improvement teams and participated in product development activities that resulted in his authoring twenty-four patents. In 1998 he went to work at the University of Arkansas as a research professor in physics. His specific task was to create and implement an interdisciplinary science/engineering graduate program in advanced materials and devices, a program that would encourage creation of new high tech industry in Arkansas.