Starting today, I will have a new affiliation. I accepted the offer of a chair professorship in technology and innovation management at RWTH Aachen University, a leading European institute of technology. I will work in RWTH’s technology and innovation management group, following Prof. Hans-Horst Schroeder who became emeritus at the end of last month.
RWTH’s school of business & economics, where my new office is placed, has a focus on value chain design and global supply chain management systems, fitting perfectly my interest in “interactive value creation” as a new form of industrial organization between firms and external entities, especially customers and users. And of course there is no better place to do research on new product design and leading-edge technologies as within an organization that produces some of Europe’s best engineers, computer scientists, and product developers.
Besides working at RWTH Aachen, I will keep an affiliation with MIT, supporting the MIT Smart Customization Group’s faculty at the MIT Design Lab.
The focus of my research and industry collaboration will remain in the areas of interactive value creation, open / user innovation, mass customization, user manufacturing, and other forms of customer-driven value creation. I will also expand my research on managing discontinuous (disruptive) innovation, a premier challenge for many companies that have perfected their systems to master incremental innovation, but often fail to discover, evaluate, and implement radical innovations disrupting their present business models and markets.
And I hope that despite my new responsibilities and all the interesting things happening at my new department, I still will find enough time to blog about MC and OI.
For my new contact data, please refer to the About section on the right.
And for all non-German readers: Where and what is Aachen and RWTH Aachen?
[From the university homepage]: RWTH Aachen University is the largest university of technology in Germany and one of the most renowned technical universities in Europe, with around 28,000 students, more than the half of which in engineering. Aachen's location in the heart of Europe and its proximity to the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg and the subsequent exposure to a variety of cultural heritages has placed RWTH Aachen in a unique position with regard to the reflection and promotion of international aspects and intensive interaction with other universities.
The RWTH was founded as a politechnical institute in 1870 with considerable support from local industry and was conferred the right to award doctoral degrees in 1899. Re-established after World War II as the Institute of Technology of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen) it soon obtained the status of a full university. Teaching and research are characterized by an international, innovative, and interdisciplinary approach and a close cooperation with industry.
The city of Aachen -- also known as Aken, Aquisgrana, or Aix-la-Chapelle -- is the westernmost town in Germany, located at the borders to Belgium and the Netherlands. Due to its location it is regarded as Germany’s most international town or "the Gateway to Europe". With a population of about 260.000 inhabitants, a booming high-tech industry and its renowned university, Aachen is a mid-sized town with a modern yet historic flair. Regio Aachen and part of the Dutch province of Limburg, the two Belgian provinces of Limburg and Liège and the German-speaking community of Belgium form the EUREGIO Maas-Rhine. The typical Euregio resident lives in Germany, works in the Netherlands and shops in Belgium or vice-versa. Aachen was founded more than 2000 years ago as part of the Roman empire. 1200 years ago, Emperor Charlemagne chose Aachen as his main residence and centre of power. Today, visitors can visit his shrine and remember the former splendour of Aachen’s imperial past. The Aachen Cathedral (Aachener Dom) is Germany’s oldest cultural heritage site, which draws tourists from all over the world.
Thanks for the nice words, Phil! I know Aachen quite well (I went to high school there) and like the local mentality and people (somehow different to Munich and Boston). But whenever you are around, stop by for a coffee (also all you other readers of this blog!).
Posted by: Frank Piller | March 03, 2007 at 05:18 PM
very good decision! For you but also for RWTH i suppose :)
enjoy living and working in aachen, its a small but marvelous town.
if any insider info is needed feel free to mail. i hope you'll take time for your blog anyway. Phil
Posted by: Phil | March 02, 2007 at 03:39 PM