Improving Innovation Outcomes in Asset-Intensive Industries: A Discussion Forum Featuring MIT Prof. Alex Slocum

The pace of technological change only seems to get faster and faster, and new innovations are changing the competitive contours of almost every industry at a breakneck pace.

Above and beyond the changes unfolding throughout the rest of the marketplace, however, managers and executives in asset-intensive organisations—a category that typically includes industries like mining, energy, and railways—have long understood that their sectors often face many additional innovation-related challenges that others do not. Jointly hosted by QUT’s Centre for Future Enterprise and the Asset Institute, this discussion forum will bring together academics, industry practitioners, and government policymakers to discuss the current challenges facing would-be innovators in these industries. Specific topics to be explored will include:

• Featured guest Prof. Alex Slocum from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) discussing some of his recent work on innovations within the asset-intensive domain, and shedding light on his team’s different approach to delivering breakthrough concepts.
• Identifying and exploring some of the innovation-related trends that will be most relevant to asset-intensive organisations in 2024 and beyond.
• Fresh perspectives on how to build a more innovative organisation in the asset-intensive domain.

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Prof. Alexander Slocum is the Walter M. May and A. Hazel May Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, a MacVicar Faculty Teaching Fellow, a Fellow of the ASME, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.   He has 180+ patents and has helped develop 11 products that have received R&D 100 awards for “one of the one hundred best new technical products of the year”.  He pioneered the deterministic design of kinematic couplings (www.kinematic couplings.org) including the standard for all semiconductor wafer transport carriers (SEMI E57-1296) and is looking to do the same for rapid swap large vehicle batteries.  Alex has helped start several successful precision manufacturing equipment companies and has a passion for working with industry to solve real problems and identify fundamental research topics.  In 2013 he served in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President of the USA as Assistant Director for Advanced Manufacturing.  Alex’s current focus is renewable energy systems and operations including dust control for mining operations, adsorption mining from pumped seawater storage hydropower systems, and deep seabed mining.

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Prof. Robert K. Perrons is a Professor of Technology Management and Strategy at QUT. Prior to joining QUT, Rob worked in a wide variety of roles and locations around the world for Shell International’s Exploration & Production division, and served as the Executive Coordinator of Global Research & Development in the company’s headquarters in the Netherlands. Rob currently serves as a board member on several clean energy technology startups around the world, advises the Australian Government as a member of its Expert Network on matters related to innovation and emerging technologies in the energy and resource sectors, and is a member of the United Nations Expert Group for Energy and Resources. He is a researcher at QUT’s Centre for Future Enterprise.

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Prof. Kevin C. Desouza is a Professor of Business, Technology and Strategy in the School of Management at the QUT Business School. He is also a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in the Governance Studies Program at the Brookings Institution. He has published more than 130 articles in journals across a range of disciplines including information systems, information science, public administration, political science, technology management, and urban affairs. A number of outlets have featured his work including Sloan Management Review, Stanford Social Innovation Research, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Businessweek, Wired, Slate.com, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, NPR, and PBS. Kevin is also a researcher at QUT’s Centre for Future Enterprise.

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Monday, 26 August 2024 | 9:30 am - 1:00 pm

A light morning tea and lunch will be provided, so please let us know if you have any dietary requirements. 

There is no cost for this event. 

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Download the event flyer