Dr. Venkat Allada, professor of engineering management and systems engineering, has been named executive director of the Innovation Ecosystem Design Initiative, a one-year project organized and launched by the Kummer College of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development at Missouri University of Science and Technology. Allada’s appointment took effect July 1.
Allada will work closely with Dr. James Sterling, dean of the Kummer College, Dr. Tim Faley, associate vice chancellor of innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialization, and Dr. Rachel Kohman, director of Kummer Student Programs to promote, monitor and guide entrepreneurial activities across S&T.
“This initiative is our first major step in developing a robust Rolla-centered regional innovation ecosystem,” says Dr. James Sterling, dean of the Kummer College. “The initiative will organize our approach to engaging with a variety of people interested in innovation and entrepreneurship, including our students, faculty and alumni, as well as business leaders, angel investors, venture capitalists and local and state agencies that are stakeholders in building a regional innovation ecosystem.”
Sterling anticipates that the initiative’s activities will include organizing an entrepreneurs-in-residence program and one-time and ongoing events, establishing a council of local and regional innovators and entrepreneurs and hosting visitors representing a diverse range of backgrounds and specialties. The outcomes of these activities will inform the strategy for creating the Rolla-based ecosystem.
“I’m excited to lead the Kummer College’s first named initiative,” says Allada. “Whether it’s manufacturing, bioscience, data science, AI or any number of other fields, our region is poised to become a place known for fostering the development of innovative products and services to a global marketplace increasingly driven by technology. This initiative signals S&T’s commitment to building and maintaining an open innovation ecosystem that will not only support but also inspire entrepreneurs and innovators across our region.”
Allada earned a Ph.D. in industrial engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He joined Missouri S&T in 1994. Allada’s teaching and research interests are in areas of STEM education, lean thinking, design automation and sustainable product design. He served as the inaugural Vice Provost for Graduate Studies from 2007 to 2017 at S&T. He is a recipient of the ASEE Outstanding New Faculty Award and SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer award, along with several Missouri S&T faculty excellence and outstanding teaching awards. He was the 2018-19 American Council of Education (ACE) Fellow at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
