Innovation discussion (Great Hall, Sherfield Building)

The registration desk will be in building 21 (Sherfield Building) as marked on the campus map. http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/campusinfo/southkensington

The End of the Endless Frontier?  Innovation and Transition in the 21st Century

In 1945, Vannevar Bush, the US Director of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, published an  extremely influential report entitled "Science The Endless Frontier" which set out the necessity of, and a framework for, government funding of science in America.  His model which included direct government funding of research, and the transfer of that research to the government through industry, set the pattern of funding that is still used in the US, UK and EU, as well as most of the rest of the world to today.  However, as the speed of technological change has increased, the nature of military need is changing, industry has grown multi-national and the pursuit of science has become more interdisciplinary, questions have been raised as to whether this model needs to be revisited for the needs of 21st Century.  This panel, comprised of representatives of government, industry and academia, will discuss the issues of science, technological innovation and transition of technology in today's world.

Panelists

Jim Hendler, Tetherless World Senior Constellation Chair, Rensselaer polytechnic Institute (moderator)

Mark Wegman, Head of Computer Science, IBM Research

John Parmentola, Director for Research and Laboratory Management, US Army

David Gann, Chair in Technology and Innovation Management, Imperial College London

Nigel Chew, Deputy Director Defence Technology and Innovation Centre, MOD

Panelists Biographies  

Professor James Hendler

Jim Hendler is the Tetherless World Senior Constellation Chair at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he directs the "Future of Information" Project and has appointments in the Department of Computer Science and the Cognitive Science Dept. He also serves as the Associate Director of the Web Science Research Initiative headquartered at MIT. Hendler has authored about 200 technical papers in the areas of artificial intelligence, Semantic Web, agent-based computing and high performance processing. One of the inventors of the was awarded a US Air Force Exceptional Civilian Service Medal in 2002, and is a member of the World Wide Web Consortium's Semantic Web Coordination Group. He is the Editor in Chief of IEEE Intelligent Systems and is the first computer scientist to serve on the Board of Reviewing Editors for Science.   

Dr Nigel Chew

Nigel Chew joined the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment at Malvern, UK in 1978. He worked initially on analysis of defects in electronic and opto-electronic devices and later on epitaxial growth and device fabrication in the emerging field of High Temperature Superconductivity. He has presented his work at major international conferences and has authored or co-authored over 100 research publications. In 1997 Nigel joined MOD Central Staffs in London to take up the post of Research Customer for Electronic Device Technology. He later became Customer for Infra-red and Visible Technology and then Head of MOD’s Corporate Research Programme. In 2003 Nigel transferred to Shrivenham as Technical Director of the new Research Acquisition Organisation and is now Deputy Director and High Innovation Team Leader at the Defence Technology and Innovation Centre, Shrivenham. He was a member of the core team that produced the MOD Defence Technology Strategy  

Dr. John A. Parmentola, Director for Research and Laboratory Management, U.S. Army

John Parmentola has built a career as a pioneer, entrepreneur and innovator. His extensive background in science and technology spans three decades of fundamental research, technology development and acquisition, and manufacturing technology. He has broad experience in the private sector, academia and has held many positions in the Federal government and Defense Community. Born in the Bronx, New York, Dr. Parmentola received his BS degree in Physics cum laude from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1971 and his PhD in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1977. He currently serves as Director for Research and Laboratory Management for the US Army, directing laboratory management policy for all Army laboratories, research, development and engineering centers—including the Army’s Basic and Applied Research programs spanning 12 basic research disciplines and 14 technology areas at the Army Research Laboratory, Army Research Institute, Army Corps of Engineers, and Simulation and Training Technology Center. He also oversees Environmental Quality technology, Manufacturing Technology, Small Business Innovative Research, and Army High Performance Computing programs—with a combined annual budget of roughly $750M. His responsibility encompasses policy for personnel systems, laboratory infrastructure, laboratory security, and Base Realignment and Closure. Before coming to the Army, Dr. Parmentola was Science and Technology Advisor to the Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Energy, where he provided technical, budgetary, and programmatic advice to DOE leaders for more than $7B in science and technology investments—including Defense, Non-proliferation, Science, Fossil Energy, Energy Efficiency, Nuclear Energy and Environmental programs. Prior to joining the US Department of Energy, he was co-founder of the Advanced Systems and Concepts Office of the newly formed Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), where he led a diverse group of 20 scientists and engineers in addressing major national challenges concerning the threat of weapons of mass destruction. Dr. Parmentola has been Principal Scientist at the MITRE Corporation, where he worked in applying advanced technology in the areas of arms control verification, strategic offense/defense integration, and strategic command, control, and communications associated with the $1.8B Cheyenne Mountain Upgrade Program. Earlier in his career, he was Executive Director for the Panel on Public Affairs of the American Physical Society, a postdoctoral fellow with the Program of Science and Technology for International Security at MIT, conducting pioneering research on directed energy technology, and a postdoctoral fellow with the Laboratory for Nuclear Science of MIT, where he made fundamental research contributions to nuclear physics. In the field of science, technology, and public policy, he was a Fellow at the Roosevelt Center for American Policy Studies and a Research Fellow at the Center for Science and International Affairs with the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Dr. Parmentola is also co-founder of a successful publishing company, Travel Media Corporation, where he has served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Technology Officer for over 15 years. Travel Media Corporation (TMC) specializes in cross-selling premier hotel properties for leading hotel chains throughout the Caribbean, Latin America and Hawaii through the production and distribution of in-room magazines. TMC also publishes a Spanish version of Departures Magazine for American Express Gold Card members in Latin America. TMC’s clients have included Marriott, American Express, Hyatt, Hilton, Westin, Radisson, Ramada, Air Aruba Airlines, Copa Airlines of Panama, Destination Hotels and Resorts and Insignia. Dr. Parmentola was Air Intelligence Agency nominee for the R. V. Jones Central Intelligence Agency Award and recipient of the Outstanding Civilian Service Award for his many contributions to the US Army. He is a recipient of the Alfred Raymond Prize, Sigma XI Research Award, was an Andrew Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has presented and published over 150 speeches, papers, and articles in science and technology policy and is the author of an authoritative book on space defense.  

Dr Mark Wegman 

Dr. Mark Wegman joined IBM in 1975, where he is currently Head of Computer Science, IBM Research with world wide responsibilities in IBM’s eight research laboratories.  He is an IBM Fellow, which is IBM’s highest technical honor. Dr. Wegman is recognized for his significant contributions to computer algorithms and compiler optimization that have deeply influenced many areas of computer science and practice.  This work was recognized by the Special Interest Group On Programming Languages in 2006 with it’s Programming Languages Achievement Award. Dr. Wegman is the author of  over 30 publications in the field of Computer Science.   Dr. Wegman received his doctorate in Computer Science from the University of California at Berkeley.  

Professor David Gann CEng FICE FRSA

·         Head, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Imperial College Business School

·         Director, Digital Economy Centre, Imperial College London

·         Group Innovation Executive, Laing O’Rourke plc

·         Chairman, Think Play Do Group ltd 

Professor, Innovation and Technology Management, the Business School and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London.  The Times ranks Imperial College in the top 5 universities worldwide. David is responsible for a large portfolio of research, with leading firms in design, manufacturing, engineering, construction, IT and healthcare, including IBM, Atkins, Arup, GSK, BT, QinetiQ and BP. He has built an international team, ranked #1 in Europe by the Financial Times. David is a chartered civil engineer with a PhD in industrial economics. He previously held the Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Innovative Manufacturing (Sussex). He is a member of the Royal Society’s Taskgroup on ‘Science and Innovation in Services’, and the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Taskgroup on ‘IT and Competitiveness’. David has wide ranging experience working with firms, starting new businesses and advising on government policy. He co-founded the Think Play Do Group, an Imperial College spin-out specialising in innovation strategy and management. He is responsible for innovation strategy at Laing O’Rourke plc, the UK’s largest privately owned construction and civil engineering group, successfully completing Heathrow’s £4.3bn Terminal 5 on time and on budget: LOR jointly manages the 2012 Olympic development programme and is building the $20bn Al Raha in Abu Dhabi. He was innovation adviser to Computer Science Corporation, adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister’s Construction Taskforce. He has been a member of eleven Department of Trade and Industry science and technology expert missions to assess new technology in Europe, Japan and the US.  

He is author of many academic papers and with Mark Dodgson and Ammon Salter he has recently published: 

Think Play Do – technology, innovation and organization Oxford University Press, 2005 

Management of Technological Innovation: Strategy and Practice Oxford University Press, 2008