The Accidental Entrepreneur From MIT – 10 Feb

This talk describes an academician’s reluctant entry into entrepreneurship, first with the founding of Brontes Technologies (founded in 2003 and sold to 3M in 2006), and, second, Lantos Technologies, (venture funded in September 2010). Meet Dr. Douglas Hart, MIT Professor of Mechanical Engineering. The unique difficulties faced by academics embarking on entrepreneurship will be discussed along with the motivation and rewards for taking on this challenge.

The role of universities is traditionally that of education and basic research: acting as a repository for knowledge and disseminating information through seminars, conferences, and journal papers. However, there is growing interest in entrepreneurship as a central part of the academic paradigm. The unique freedom afforded academics provides an environment where innovation thrives. Unfortunately, most of these innovations are lost as the chasm separating academia and the commercial world is vast. Entrepreneurship provides a highly effective means of bridging this chasm allowing innovations to be pushed from the laboratory into the marketplace where they can help fuel the economy while solving societal problems in areas such as energy, health, communications, and the environment.

About The Speaker

Dr. Hart is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and a principal investigator in the Hatsopoulos Microfluids Laboratory (HML) at MIT. An inventor, cofounder, and former board member of Brontes Technologies, Inc., a MIT Deshpande Center spinout acquired by 3M in 2006, and Lantos Technologies, a recent MIT Deshpande Center spinout founded in September 2010. Dr. Hart has a long history of successful commercial inventions from within and outside academia. He is an advisor for numerous companies and professional organizations and he has received a number of awards for his research and teaching including the Robert T. Knapp Award for his work in the area of flow diagnostics, the Keenan Award for Innovation in Education, and the Junior Bose Award for Excellence in Teaching. His current interests include instrumentation, image processing, and optical diagnostics relating to health and the environment.

Event Details

When: Thursday 10th February 2011
Time: 7:00pm – 8:00pm
Where; NTU@One-North, Auitorium 302, 11 Slim Barracks Rise, Singapore 138664

Register here.