Team

Prof. Dr. Jens Uwe Pätzmann studied Social and Business Communication at the Berlin University of the Arts and earned his doctorate at the Faculty of Communication Sciences at the Free University of Berlin. As Strategic Planning Director at Lintas he managed Unilever brands from Hamburg and London, and as International Planning Director at TBWA in Hamburg he was responsible for the brand management of Beiersdorf brands worldwide, here especially for NIVEA. Most recently, he was Editor-in-Chief and Business Manager of the German Club Bertelsmann catalogues. Since 2000, he has taught Marketing, Branding & Strategy at Neu-Ulm University and is Director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship. He is also involved in the Africa Institute at HNU.

Prof. Dr. Jens Kolb is Professor of Sustainability, Digitalisation and Technology Management at Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences, coordinator of studies with in-depth practice and joint studies, and head of the Digital Management and Technologies degree programme. He completed his doctorate at the Faculty of Computer Science at the University of Ulm and subsequently helped to establish a start-up as managing director.

Prof. Michael Hebel is Professor of Game Art and Design. Previously Professor of 3D Design and Game Development in Heidelberg. After studying interactive media at Augsburg University of Applied Sciences, he worked as a 3D operator at 3D Excite on photorealistic visualisations for the automotive industry. He then switched to the games industry and worked as a Lead 3D Artist at Ubisoft Blue Byte. He published numerous award-winning international games such as "Anno 1404", "Anno 1404-Venice", "Anno 2070", and "Might and Magic Heroes Online". His research area includes innovative teaching concepts in design didactics, as well as the formalisation of game teaching, game thinking and game didactics.

Prof. Dr. Klaus Lang is professor of Corporate Governance and Information Management, Dean of Studies at the scientific department of Information Management and Head of the Institute for Digital Transformation (IDT). His research focuses on digital business models, smart services and maturity models for the digitalisation of companies. Internationally in the field of entrepreneurship, Prof. Dr. Klaus Lang works intensively with universities and partners in Israel. Since 2016, Prof. Dr. Klaus Lang has been a member of the Innovation Advisory Board of the Swabian Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

Prof. Dr. Martin Marz teaches private commercial law at Neu-Ulm University with a focus on trademark and competition law. His research focuses include German and European trade mark law. In addition, he works in the areas of innovation and entrepreneurship. Since 2013, Professor Dr Marz has been a juror for the BayStartUP business plan competition.

Prof. Dr. Hans-Michael Ferdinand studied philosophy, mathematics, Catholic theology and international marketing at the University of Tübingen and Reutlingen University. He received his doctorate from the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Tübingen with a thesis on the relationship between morality and politics. After working in marketing in the IT industry and for a medium-sized pharmaceutical company, he has been advising mainly medium-sized companies on market research, marketing and brand management for 25 years. He has been a lecturer at HNU since 1999 and has been Professor of Marketing and Business Ethics since the winter semester 2013/14.

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Prof. Dr. Julia Künkele studied international business administration at the European Business School and earned her doctorate in controlling. At the University of Pittsburgh she completed an MBA with a focus on International Management and Strategy. She started as a management trainee at Robert Bosch GmbH in the automotive sector. Most recently, she was head of Controlling at Bosch Automotive Aftermarket in Tokyo, Japan. Since 2010, she has been teaching Intercultural Management and Controlling at Neu-Ulm University and is the Women's Representative of the scientific department of Business and Economics. She is also involved in the areas of internationalisation of the university, family-friendly university and start-up mentoring.

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Prof. Dr. Antje Wild studied International Management and Business Administration at ESB Reutlingen, Northeastern University and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich. She then completed her doctorate at the Institute for Market-Oriented Management at LMU Munich and worked in various start-up projects at Bosch and Bosch Rexroth. Antje Wild has been Professor of Entrepreneurship and Project Management at Neu-Ulm University since 2022. Her research areas include in particular Social Entrepreneurship and Social Impact.

Sarah Leible studied International Management in her Bachelor's degree at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences and at Buckinghamshire New University, UK. As part of her Bachelor's thesis at Beurer in Ulm, Germany, she developed a market entry strategy for a health-oriented smartwatch for seniors. Sarah Leible then lived in Brighton, UK, where she completed a Master of Science in Digital Marketing at the University of Brighton. From 2020 to 2022, Sarah Leible was the responsible product manager for several private brands of an international retail company. Since July 2022, she has been working at the Institute for Entrepreneurship, where she is primarily responsible for the "International Start-Up League" project. Additionally she is a research associate, exploring the topic 'Sustainable Entrepreneurship'. 

Verena Mattes studied industrial engineering at the Albstadt-Sigmaringen University of Applied Sciences with a semester abroad at the TTK University of Applied Sciences in Tallinn (Estonia). During this time, she also founded her first start-up. She wrote her Bachelor's thesis in the field of integrated management systems in an IT consulting and project management company in Munich. She then did her Master's degree in Kempten in the course "technical innovation and product management", where she developed a self-sterilising medical product and then wrote her Master's thesis at Kempten University of Applied Sciences on the economic perspective of the development of a stair-climbing wheelchair. Here she worked as a project manager. Since July 2022, she has been working as a research assistant at the Institute for Entrepreneurship and is responsible for the "International Start-Up League" project here.

Antonia Schulz has been a research assistant at the Institute for Entrepreneurship since November 2021 and conducts research in the field of digital entrepreneurship. She studied Information Management and Corporate Communication as well as International Enterprise Information Management at HNU and at the Oulu University of Applied Sciences. In her final thesis, she dealt with customer acceptance of digital services. Most recently, she worked in the Strategic Management Advisory department of an IT consultancy.

Martin Schwarz studied Business Administration and International Management at the University of Bayreuth and Steinbeis University. Since February 2020, he has been working as a research assistant for the Vice President of HNU in the area of entrepreneurship, transfer and start-ups. Among other things, he is responsible for the design of the university's start-up process (FOUNDERS AT HNU) as well as for the spatial design of start-up and transfer areas, especially in the form of a Founders Lab and Co-Working Spaces. Mr Schwarz conducts research in the field of entrepreneurship with a focus on corporate accelerators, meaningful work and entrepreneurial passion.

Carina Volk-Schor studied teaching and counselling at the University of Augsburg. During her studies, she also founded a start-up herself. In the process, she has already worked with well-known companies in the region and gained versatile experience and practical knowledge through her previous commercial training and many years of working in the area of classified advertising markets. Since September 2020, she has been working as a research assistant for innovative teaching and event offerings in start-up support as part of the Startup SÜD project at HNU.  She is responsible for designing events to raise awareness of entrepreneurship and innovative teaching concepts. Mrs Volk-Schor conducts research in the area of start-up didactics and entrepreneurship.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Bayer is Vice President of Internationalisation and Transfer at Neu-Ulm University and Professor of International Management and Leadership at the scientific department of Business and Economics. He also heads the Africa Institute at HNU. His areas of work and teaching include design thinking, innovation management, entrepreneurship, organisational development, leadership topics and project management. Before his appointment at the HNU in 2010, he worked for 20 years at various companies in the IT industry with international management responsibility.

Prof. Dr. Patrick Da-Cruz is Professor of Business Administration and Health Care Management at the scientific department of Health Care Management at Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences (HNU) as well as scientific director of the MBA programme Leadership and Management in Health Care. Before joining HNU, Mr Da-Cruz worked for renowned strategy consultancies in the pharmaceutical / healthcare sector as well as in management positions in companies in the healthcare industry in Germany and abroad.

Prof. Dr. Achim Dehnert is Dean of the scientific department of Information Management, advisor for Information Management Automotive and head of the MBA Digital Leadership and IT Management. His research focuses on IT management, business process management, the development of performance measurement systems, the adaptation of reference models and their implementation, and project management. As a human resources manager and management consultant, he has many years of international experience in optimising IT organisations and IT services. He is currently researching the optimisation of process flows for SMEs and mid-sized companies.

Dr. Tobias Engelhardt has been an entrepreneur and investor for over 25 years. Together with university friends, he founded ENGELHARDT KAUPP KIEFER & Co ("EKK & Co") in 2001. EKK & Co (opens in a new window) invests in technology-oriented, fast-growing companies with proven business models and actively accompanies them. Previously, Tobias Engelhardt worked for Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and for the Treuhandanstalt in Berlin. He was a founding shareholder and managing director of the investment company Peppermint Holding, Berlin (formerly Schröder & Partner).

Tobias Engelhardt invested in more than 100 companies during his career and was able to realize numerous successful exits. In 2015, he was able to sell his stake in Turtle Entertainment GmbH, Cologne, the world's leading marketer of eSports, to the Swedish media group MTG. Tobias Engelhardt has been a member of the Business Angel Region Stuttgart since 2013 and holds a lectureship for "Entrepreneurship" at Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences. In 2016, he was named Business Angel of the Year. In 2022 Tobias Engelhardt was awarded the honorary professorship by the HNU.

Prof. Dr. Niklas B. Homfeldt is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics. After studying business administration at the University of Trier and Trinity College Dublin, he completed his doctorate at the Institute of Auditing at Saarland University. He then moved to the auditing and consulting sector at PricewaterhouseCoopers Luxembourg S.a.r.l. and BDO AG auditing company in Düsseldorf. There, as an authorised signatory in the IFRS principles department, he primarily dealt with special issues of IFRS accounting and assisted companies in converting their accounting from HGB to IFRS. Since 2016, he has been a professor at Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences and teaches in particular the subjects of accounting, IFRS accounting and group accounting.

Andreas Torka has been Vice President Global Function Research, Development & Innovation/ Sustainability at the Wieland Group since 2019. His responsibilities include R&D, internal and external innovation as well as sustainability.

Wieland is a leading global supplier of semi-finished products made of copper and copper alloys. With a global network of production sites, service and trading companies, the company offers a broad product, technology and service portfolio. From prototype to series production, Wieland develops solutions for automotive, electronics, refrigeration and air conditioning technology and other industries. With high-performance copper materials, Wieland drives the success of its B2B customers in future fields such as electromobility, connectivity or urbanisation. High technical competence, customer-oriented thinking and sustainability determine the company's actions and have been the basis of its success since 1820.

Andreas Torka is a mechanical engineer, industrial mechanic and holds a master's degree in business administration. He has been with Wieland for a total of around 12 years and gained experience in Germany and abroad while working for a management consultancy - mainly in the areas of product development and product management.
Privately, the 37-year-old lives in Ulm with his family. He spends his free time playing music or enjoying nature. Besides taking care of 10 bee colonies, he gardens a lot and grows vegetables - always keeping an eye on his own CO2 footprint.
 

Dr Anna Abelmann is the Science Coordinator of the Scientific Coordination Office (WKS) Bavaria-Israel at the Bavarian Research Alliance in Munich and advises and supports cooperation projects of Bavarian and Israeli researchers both on a bilateral and international level (e.g. within the framework of the EU research framework programme HorizonEurope). Previously, she did her doctorate as a research assistant at the Ruhr University Bochum on the history of German political foundations in Israel and also worked in the field of security research.

Dr Sofia Asonitou is an Associate Professor at the Department of Business Administration, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece. Sofia Asonitou holds a PhD in Accounting Education from the Business School of Sheffield Hallam University, UK., an MBA from VUB – Solvay University in Brussels and a Master in Industrial Location and Development from VUB – Solvay University in Brussels. Her research interests include: accounting scholarship, professional skills development in higher education, sustainability issues in higher education, and gender equality. She has participated in many international conferences and her work is published in academic journals including Accounting Education, The International Journal of Management Education and International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education and others. She is member of the Committee of Gender Equality at the University of West Attica. She was responsible for students’ internships for many years and has been the Director for the Division of Accounting, Economics and Finance from September 2018-September 2021. Before joining the academia she worked in the industry in several financial and administrative positions.

Prof. Dr Harry Bauer is Professor of Product Management at Aalen University, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Optics & Mechatronics and study coordinator of the Master's degree programme Business Development - Product Management & Start-up Management (MBD) initiated in 2016. In addition to regular semester-long project collaborations with companies ranging from start-ups and SMEs to corporations, MBD also includes international excursions to Tel Aviv and Silicon Valley every semester. In addition, Prof. Bauer is in charge of the GuStL project, which is funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg to establish a start-up culture in studies and teaching at Aalen University, and the federal funding programme EXIST Potentiale, which aims to expand the regional innovation network in Ostwürttemberg.

Mattia Bedolla is a scientific collaborator at the Competence Centre for Management and Entrepreneurship of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI) in entrepreneurship and innovation area. He holds a Master of Science in Business Administration with major in innovation management from SUPSI. His main research interests include business model innovation, innovation, entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial skills.

Tal Berman is an international innovation expert with many years of experience. He is very familiar with the Israeli startup ecosystem and has led a number of startup projects with academic partners from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark and the US. - for clients such as Mercedes Benz, Pfizer, the City of Skopje and others. Tal Berman also set up a regional startup ecosystem in Israel. In addition, he developed and led several entrepreneurship programmes.

Dr. Leandro Bitetti is interim head of the Master of Science in Business Administration with a focus on Innovation Management and lecturer at the Competence Centre for Management and Entrepreneurship at the University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI). He holds a PhD in Business Model Innovation from the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) in Lugano and a Master of Science in Management with specialisation in Organizational Behavior from the University of Lausanne. His main research interests include business model innovation from a cognitive perspective, entrepreneurship and pedagogical innovation. He has published this work in Creativity & Innovation Management, International Journal of Innovation Management and Journal of Business Models, among others. He is involved in regional and national entrepreneurship programmes as a coach, workshop facilitator and jury member and is the scientific and community coordinator of the International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM).

Eli Gimmon is a professor of entrepreneurship and strategy at Tel-Hai College in Israel. He received Ph.D. in entrepreneurship at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. In 2019 he was a guest researcher at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. His academic interests emerged from 22 years of field experience, including co-founding two American–Israeli IT companies and managing intrapreneurship at a leading Israeli international electronic corporation. He is a reviewer for several journals such as Research Policy, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice and Industrial Marketing Management.

Prof. Dr. Roman Grinblat, LL.M. has held the professorship for Social Work in the Social Management degree programme at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University Heidenheim (DHBW) since 2020, is a member of the expert pool in the innovation committee of the G-BA and a lecturer at various universities and colleges, including the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the University of Augsburg. After studying law and economics, he completed his doctorate in the field of statutory health insurance at the University of Augsburg. Parallel to his Dr. iur., he completed a Master's degree in LL.M.. After a research stay at Oxford University (UK), Prof. Dr. Grinblat worked for many years at various companies in the health and social sector as well as at the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy. His research focuses on the intersection of law, economics and digitalisation and includes, in particular, social and medical product law, health economics and innovative health management.

Dr Nurit Hashimshony-Yaffe is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Government and Society at the Academic College of Tel Aviv Yaffo, where she also serves as Head of the Department of Political Science. Nurit holds a PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she did her first steps in field research in Africa. Her research topics cover social initiatives as part of civil society organizations in Israel and Africa, sustainable development in marginalized areas (especially regarding SDG 7- Energy), African migration and new models for the higher education system. Her work was widely presented in international conferences and published in academic journals. Nurit participated in several European projects and is currently part of a worldwide research project dealing with COVID-19 effects in Drylands of Africa, Asia and the Middle East ( Coordinated by Bayreuth University).

Mira Hershkovitz is Director of Entrepreneurship and Industrial Relations at Tel-Hai Academic College. As the director of the Entrepreneurship Center, she supports young students and entrepreneurs in the initial development process of enterprises. She has established and lead an academic curriculum on entrepreneurship and produced events, conferences and Hackathons in collaboration with industry and various organizations. The career development center, which she founded a few years ago provides students with personal presentation tools, tips on integration in the workplace and career development.

Dr Vered Holzmann is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Economics and Management at the Academic College of Tel Aviv Yaffo, where she also serves as Director of Research, Development and Innovation. Vered Holzmann holds a PhD from the School of Management at Tel Aviv University. Her research topics include project management, strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship, and internationalisation in higher education. Her work has been presented at international conferences and published in academic journals including Project Management Journal, International Journal of Project Management, The Learning Organization and European Journal of Education.
Vered participated in several European projects and coordinated Tempus and Erasmus+ projects. She is a project manager (PMP, SCM) with experience in IT, engineering and construction on the one hand and in politics, marketing and higher education on the other. She has held various senior positions in several start-up companies and is currently a member of the PMI (Project Management Institute) Academic Insight Team. 

Dr. Hovav studied medicine at the Tel Aviv University in Israel, went on to study business administration at Babson College in Wellesley, MA, USA, and earned his PhD at the faculty of Public Health at the University of Haifa, Israel. In between his studies Dr. Hovav worked at a number of Israeli startup companies including OPLON (antimicrobial coating), MediDactic (Medical teaching), and Marpe Technologies (Skin cancer screening). Currently, Dr. Hovav teaches various classes to Bachelor and Master students in topics related to his background such as health, healthcare systems, management, decision making and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Antonios D. Kargas works as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Business Administration in the University of West Attica. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, as well as a master’s degree and a Ph.D. degree from the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications in the same University. His research interests include managerial issues related with international business, business management, technological implementation and digital transformation, as well as cost benefit analysis, technoeconomic analysis and applied economics issues. He has more than 35 publications in peer reviewed journals / conferences in the field and more than 190 citations, while he serves as reviewer and co-editor in several international editions. Since 2007 he has worked as a research associate in several universities such as the University of Athens – Hellenic Open University – University of Peloponnese, participating in more than 30 National and European funded projects. He holds significant experience as Economist / Financial Expert, responsible for conducting Cost – Benefit Analysis in several international projects. In 2009 he co-founded  “Win to Win, Business Consultants”, working in Business Consulting and Evaluating several investment projects, while in 2013 he co – founded “Content Management in Culture P.C.” (Comic), a private company activated in the field of IT services and serious games’ solutions.

Meir Kogman is a Senior Lecturer of Law and holds a Ph.D. in Law from the Faculty of Law, Tel-Aviv University. Meir’s main field of teaching, research and practice are Intellectual Property emphasizing in Start-Ups and enterprises life cycle. Meir has extensive hands-on experience in consulting entrepreneurs and Start-up companies, especially in the Hi-Tech industry. At the College of Management, besides teaching IP and Entrepreneurship law Meir accompanies students’ projects and initiatives, from creating and materializing the basic concept, through formulating founders’ agreements and establishing legal entities, to commercializing their IP assets.

Dr Lev leads the Start-Up MBA (opens in a new window) joint program of t-hub (opens in a new window), the Entrepreneurship Centre and the Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Management (opens in a new window) in the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology (opens in a new window). Dr Lev holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science, and master’s and doctoral degrees in business strategy and entrepreneurship (all from the Technion). Her professional expertise lies in the intersections between academia, technology, and business, and she has extensive experience in developing, implementing, and teaching entrepreneurship and business strategy. She was the CEO of Lev TurnAround, leading the company to develop operations promoting entrepreneurship in East Africa, mainly in Tanzania. Prior to that, she developed and managed Carmel, the economic company of the University of Haifa, for six years. She also has several years’ experience in the hi-tech startup industry and was a research fellow at the INSEAD business school in Fontainebleau, France. Her work and research focus on strategy and organizational learning, Entrepreneurship and especially academic entrepreneurship, the establishment of new companies based on technologies derived from university research. Dr Lev participates in international projects, including GLOBE 2020 (opens in a new window).

Yael Pedro (Ph.D.) is a multidisciplinary researcher both in the world of Design and the world of Management. She is a faculty member at the School of Industrial Engineering and Management and an active lecturer at the Department of Fashion Design. Along with these academic credentials, Yael leads Shankar's International Center.  Yael has multidisciplinary experience of over two decades in design, management, and teaching.  This unique background connects the world of industry and practice with the world of theoretical academic research. Yael teaches multidisciplinary design subjects, including design thinking, innovation, entrepreneurship, design processes, as well as supervising graduate students.  Yael also serves as a mentor in various activities in academia, industry, and in the private sector. In addition to these academic activities, Yael has a long record as a fashion designer, including leading Speedo Israel's design department and brand. She has also been a Speedo's Global Design Team member for several years.  The combination of the worlds in which Yael is active provides a natural extension to her academic degrees, which include a BFA from Bezalel, an M.Des degree in design management from the University of Cincinnati, and a Ph.D. in management, which she graduated with honors in Portugal (ISCTE, Lisbon) specializing in strategy and entrepreneurship. 

Michael Reichert is head of the StarterCenter at the Ulm Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The StarterCenter is the first point of contact for business founders. In its information afternoons, the StarterCenter offers a common thread with information on business plans, subsidies, formalities, insurance, taxes and financing. In individual consultations, the StarterCenter acts as a sparring partner, providing feedback on business ideas and preparing statements, for example, for the start-up grant from the employment agency. In addition, the StarterCenter promotes the start-up community with a platform:  www.startup-region.ulm.de. 

Albert Schmidt is the founder of the Ulm and Neu-Ulm start-up magazine Rocket Ulm (opens in a new window). As an entrepreneur himself, he has advised and supported startups in market development and customer acquisition for several years.

Anastasios Sepetis, PhD., MA and BA, is an Assistant Professor in the field of “Sustainable Development and Social Protection Policies and Finance” in the Department of Business Administration at the University of West Attica and a Member of the Social Administration Research Laboratory (SARL) at the University of West Attica. He has undertaken research and teaching since 2003 in various Universities in Greece and abroad in the fields of Sustainable Development and Inclusion Development,Sustainable Finance, ESG, Circular Economy, Sustainable health Care and Sustainable Protection, Social innovation relating to International, European and comparative, management, finance, health care, social protection, social innovation, social economy and circular economy. He is member of the team of sustainable finance and green economy at the Ministry of the Economy, Greece. He served as President and CEO in different hospitals in Greece and as General Manager and Senior Consultant in big companies and organizations. He has also served as senior social policy consultant on behalf of national administrations and International Organizations, while he is a key expert in EU- and national projects. He holds a certification authority for Environmental and Social Risk Analysis (ESRA) after collaborating with the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative and IEMA Certifications for Environmental Management System (ISO 14001, EMAS). Moreover, he is an Auditor for ISO 9001:2008.

Prof. Shosh Shahrabani, Full Professor of Economics (D.Sc.), is a faculty member at the Economics and Management Department at the Max Stern Yezreel Valley College (YVC), Israel. Her research interests are behavioural economics, decision-making and health economics. Professor Shahrabani is an author or co-author of many scientific publications in prestigious international scientific journals and she has been involved in many national and international research projects. Prof. Shahrabani has been teaching for many years at the MBA programs at the Technion -Israel Institute of Technology, and at the University of Haifa. 

A partial list of offices and positions Prof. Shahrabani holds during her tenure at YVC include: Head of Research Authority, Chair of college academic council (Senate), and member of the Board of Governors. Prof. Shahrabani also serves in public offices including membership of the Advisory Council to the Israeli Ministry of Science Technology and Space (MOST) on women's advancement in science and technology and a member of the Advisory Council to the MOST on Gender and Health. She was also nominated as an academic representative to the advisory committee for the government Civil Service department. 

Dr Birgit Stelzer is currently Spin-off Manager at the University of Ulm and a member of staff at InnoSÜD and StartupSÜD in a managerial role. She has been passionate about the topic of innovation and entrepreneurship for more than a decade and drives the linking of technologies and business models in many roles: as a lecturer at various colleges and universities in Germany and abroad, as an innovation consultant and start-up coach with her own start-up experience and as a supervisory board member of an energy start-up. In terms of research, she has moved from process and methodological topics in innovation management, futurology to the assessment of market and technology potentials. The focus on the design of sustainable value creation systems is particularly close to her heart.

 Oliver Stipar is 47 years old and works at the Swabian Chamber of Industry and Commerce. As IHK regional manager, he is the contact person for companies, institutions and universities for the West Swabia region (Neu-Ulm & Günzburg). His tasks include establishing contacts between companies and universities, collaborating on joint projects and knowledge transfer.

Christopher Williams is a researcher in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship with a wide range of experience in human resource, business and innovation management in research and industry. He has lived in Germany for nearly two decades. In 2009, he received a Masters of Business Administration from Tiffin University in Ohio and in 2016 he completed his Masters in Education and Technology from the Learning Science Research Institution at the University of Nottingham. He was a research assistant and PhD student at the Institute of Psychology and Education, Department of Teaching- Learning Research at the University of Ulm for 3 years. Currently, he is a PhD student at Johannes Kepler University Linz in the field of Innovation Management. Christopher already has more than 10 years of experience in teaching and research in multidisciplinary and applied research.

Roei divides his time between the academic world as a faculty member and lecturer, and the business sector as a senior executive and entrepreneur.Roei gained his first position as a lecturer in 2005 and is currently a faculty member at the School of Industrial Engineering and Management, where he teaches courses in exact sciences with an emphasis on information systems and databases. He also oversees courses that bridge the worlds of academia and business.Over the years Roei has founded several technology and agricultural companies. In 2019 he was invited to give a TED talk regarding his life journey, as one of the owners of Canndoc, which started out as a private farm for producing medical cannabis over a decade ago, expanded its activities in Israel and abroad and became a global company with headquarters on three different continents. Canndoc underwent a merger with Intercure (a public pharmaceutical company) raised approximately 60 million shekels and during Roei's tenure as CEO, reached a value of over 1 billion shekels.

Mail to ISPIM

ISPIM - the International Society for Professional Innovation Management - is a community of members from research, industry, consulting and the public sector, all sharing a passion for innovation management - how to successfully create new products, processes and services from ideas to stimulate economic growth and well-being. Formed in Norway in 1983, ISPIM is the oldest, largest and most active truly global innovation network.