Current Interests: Current interest centers on technology management, hi-technology entrepreneurship, university technology transfer, technology commercialization, business plan development for new university inventions, and entrepreneurship and startups based on university inventions. Independent inventor; one issued patent. Business Plans: One business plan for an Auburn University invention led to new business startup with nearly $3 million private capital in 2007; helped the resulting startup for more than a year as a Board member. Another business plan for Auburn university invention placed third in Alabama State Launched competition for most promising business plans and earned $25,000 prize for the startup in 2011. On contract, developed business plan/new market studies for new technologies of private companies. Publications: 1. Publications and presentations include topics covering university technology commercialization, patenting, manufacturing technology, competitive manufacturing, strategic manufacturing, Just-in-time manufacturing and related supply chain issues; 2. Edited The Encyclopedia of Production and Manufacturing Management, and books on competitive manufacturing and technology management. Industrial and other Experience: 1. Seven years industrial experience in manufacturing and production management; 2. Faculty advisor to "Auburn Student Inventors and Entrepreneurs Club" from inception in 2010; 3. Ran the Invention2Venture Challenge for students in fall 2010 in partnership with NCIIA-- student teams were challenged to start a business and produce profits in 72 hours--winning team awarded $1000. 4. Trained over 40 graduate students in university invention evaluation, patent search, and business plan preparation. Responsibilities: Currently, Director of the The Thomas Walter Center for Technology Management, Director of the Business-Engineering-Technology minor for undergraduate engineering and business students, and Professor of Operations management, Auburn University. BLOG: Revive Manufacturing in the USA http://www.revive-manufacturing.com/ BLOG: Innovation, Capital and Business http://www.innovation-capital-business.com/ For more information: http://www.eng.auburn.edu/center/twc/swamidass/
University technology transfer
University Startups as a Commercialization Alternative: Lessons from Three Contrasting University Case Studies, Thomas Walter Center Working Paper Series, Auburn University (2011)
A recent National Research Council report makes recommendations to research university administration to take proactive...
The case for actively seeking startup companies for “technology-push” inventions from universities: A research agenda, Stanford University Ventures Program's Round table on Entrepreneurship Education (REE) (2009)
Google Inc. began as a startup when all the large players in the industry turned...
Why University Inventions Rarely Produce Income? Bottlenecks in University Technology Transfer (with Venu Vulasa), The Journal of Technology Transfer (2009)
As intended, universities have gained ownership to an increased number of inventions from their labs...
A NON-CREDIT MODEL FOR REAL-LIFE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER EXPERIENCE FOR CROSS-DISCIPLINARY STUDENT TEAMS (with Brian Wright), Annual Conference of ASEE 2006 (2006)
This paper addresses several major issues of interest to ASEE’s Entrepreneurship Division. It covers (1)...
Economic and technological competitiveness
End the High-School Dropout Crisis: Tie Minimum Wage to Graduation, California Journal of Politics and Policy (2011)
Tying the minimum wage to a diploma until the age of 25 (or some other...
Patenting, independent inventor and the US patent office
Reforming the USPTO to comply with MPEP §707.07(j) to give a fair shake to pro se inventor-applicants, John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law (2010)
If pro se patent applicants are successful with their applications, they are likely to be...
Pedagogical Innovations
Empowering young inventors: an experimental course on IP and patent application drafting at Auburn University (with A.J. Gokcek), The Journal of Technology Transfer (2009)
A new one-credit course on IP and patent application drafting was offered at Auburn University...
Succeeding in a Cross-Disciplinary, international, Student Design-Team Project: Auburn University/University of Plymouth Experience (with Bob Bulfin, David Grieve, Chetan Sankar, and Venu Vulasa), Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference.& Exposition (2005)
Globalization has turned product design upside down. Members of a single design team in multinational...
Teaching entrepreneurship and business plans preparation to engineering and business students
PRODUCT CONCEPT TO COMPLETE BUSINESS PLAN IN THREE MONTHS IN AN UG COURSE FOR BUSINESS + ENGINEERING STUDENTS (with Nels Madsen, P.K. Raju, and Jackie DiPofi), Decision Sciences Institute National Conference (2010)
sophomores/juniors work in multi-disciplinary teams to conceive and select a technology-intensive product, develop a project...
The Effect of Auburn University’s Business-Engineering-Technology Program on the Predisposition towards Entrepreneurship in Business and Engineering Graduates (with Daniel Butler), NCIIA 9th Annual Meeting (2005)
The unique Business-Engineering-Technology (BET) minor at Auburn University trains business and engineering students in teamwork...
News
Auburn University team takes third place in 2011 Launchpad competition (2011)
"Launchpad helps motivate the Thomas Walter Center to prepare a sound business plan for a...
First Annual invention2venture (i2v) Apprentice Challenge Workshop (2010) (2010)
In a nutshell, a number of AU student teams, after an introduction from experts on...
Competitive manufacturing, supply chain, just-in-time production
Matching plant flexibility and supplier flexibility: Lessons from small suppliers of US manufacturing plants in India (with Balram Avittatur), Journal of Operations Management (2007)
This is a study about the flexibility of manufacturers and their small suppliers; a subject...
The effect of TPS in US manufacturing during 1981-1998: Inventory increased or decreased as a function of plant performance, International Journal of Production Research (2007)
More than 14 000 firm years of data (average number of firms per year times...
What top management thinks about the benefits of hard and soft manufacturing technologies (with Anand Nair), IEEE Transactions in Engineering Management (2004)
Each year, billions of dollars are spent by U.S. manufacturers to acquire hard and soft...
Modeling the adoption rates of manufacturing technology innovations by small US manufacturers: A longitudinal investigation Feb. 2003, pp. 351-366., Research Policy (2003)
This study provides conclusive evidence to support the view that small plants are slower than...
Innovations in Competitive Manufacturing (2002)
Competitive manufacturing in the US was made possible by the progress made in a number...