ATUL WAD
676 Ridge Road
Highland Park, IL 60035
Tel: 847-831-4151
EFax: 504-285-9711
Cell Phone: 847-846-9473
e-mail:atulwad@sbcglobal.net
Atul Wad has a Ph.D and M.S. from J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern
University, Evanston, IL. (Organizational Behavior and International Business, 1978) He also has a Bachelor
of Technology Degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT (Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, 1973).
PROFESSIONAL
Dr. Wad has over twenty five years of experience in sustainability, entrepreneurship, technology
management and innovation, and sustainable business strategy. He has taught courses and lectured on
technology management and strategy and international business. He specializes in the different aspects
of designing and implementing value added technology based ventures that build upon the competitive
resources and that produce social and environmental returns in addition to private. He has been involved
in starting or building such ventures in various sectors, advising corporations on sustainable business
strategies, developing support systems for technology based ventures (incubators), advising early stage
companies in technology strategy, management, marketing, and strategic alliance formation, assisting in
raising financing at various stages in the growth of these companies, providing policy analysis to
governmental and international agencies in the sustainability and technology areas, and conducting policy
research on the issues involved in new business development in emerging markets. He has also taught,
lectured and published in this field. Extensive experience with projects supported by development
agencies such as USAID.
EMPLOYMENT
Spring 2009
Winter 2009
Adjunct Professor, Northwestern University, Technological Institute (Principles of
Entrepreneurship)
Adjunct Professor, Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago
(Sustainable Innovation in Emerging markets)
2005-present
President and Founder, Sustainable Technology Ventures.
www.sustainabletechnologyventures.com.
2004- 2005
Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Consultant to the Ford
Motor Company Center for Corporate Governance.
1993- 2003
President, Tambourine Technologies Inc.
TTI was founded by Dr. Wad in 1993 and specializes in providing managerial, financial and
strategic advisory services to start-up and existing technology based enterprises in the areas
of technology development, innovation management, market intelligence and strategy,
business planning, financial and investment analysis and project implementation.
1994 -1997
Associate Director, Institute for International Entrepreneurship, Northwestern Univ.
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education
private firms and
the promotion of
Research Park IIE was established in November 1994 and focused on training and
in entrepreneurship. The Institute advised economic development agencies,
state and national governments in sustainable business development and
entrepreneurship.
10/86 - 5/94
Director, Technology Programs, Northwestern University, International Business
Development Program (IBD)
IBD is a university-based unit, financed by contracts and grants, that provides advisory
services in international trade and technology to firms in the U.S. and overseas. Responsible
for all technology related activities, services in technology assessment, technology sourcing
and intelligence, technology transfer and management, joint venture services, training
programs, and management of external technology consultants to IBD. Also responsible for
major U.S. and foreign government contracts and grants. design and development of
technology and business development "systems" in developing countries. Project leader for a
major technology and business development program for Mexico and a study of TechnoBusiness Incubators in Korea and programs for technology based business development in
Latin America. Was responsible for development of new projects and raising grant funds.
1986 - 1994
Associate Professor of Research, Northwestern University (Center for the
Interdisciplinary Study of Science and Technology), Evanston, IL.
Responsible for research program on science and technology policy and management,
technological capabilities and organizational performance in developing countries, technology
acquisition, search and intelligence, science and technology policy, technology delivery
mechanisms, and implications for developing countries of changes in the global technological
environment. Technological change and industrialization in developing countries and their
environmental implications. Promotion of technological capabilities and entrepreneurship.
1983 - 1986
Consultant/Scientific Affairs Officer, United Nations Center for Science and
Technology for Development, New York, New York,
Advisor to the Center for the design and implementation of the Advance Technology Alert
System (ATAS) and various projects related to the requests of the Intergovernmental
Committee of Science and Technology of the General Assembly; and the Advisory
Council on Science and Technology for Development.
1981 – 1982
Assistant Professor, J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Taught
Management of Technology, International Business, and related courses.
05/80 - 06/80
Visiting Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
07/79 - 08/79
Visiting Fellow, University of Sussex, Brighton, Sussex , Institute for Development
Studies and Science Policy Research Unit.
01/79 - 06/79
Research Fellow, International Peace Research Association,
HIGHLIGHTS
1. Established Sustainable Technology Ventures (STV) as a private corporation to promote the
adoption of sustainable innovations by corporations in developing and industrialized countries.
STV focuses on the design, development, financing and implementation of commercial ventures
based upon the principles of sustainability (social, environmental and commercial benefits) and
resource optimization, and involving the deployment of innovative technologies to address the
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challenges faced by developing countries. It also provides advisory services to operating and early
stage companies in sustainable business practices, the management of technology and
innovation,, corporate strategy, entrepreneurship and financing.
2. Led a substantial program of research on science, technology and sustainability in developing
countries at the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Science and Technology at Northwestern
University, including raising funds, winning grants and contracts, organizing workshops, seminars
and conferences and publication of research reports and papers. Taught MBA courses in
International Business, Management of Innovation
3. Developed the technology, trade and emerging markets consulting practice at Northwestern
University’s International Business Development Program and generated a substantial base of
private and public sector clients in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and Asia as well as
the U.S. Developed collaborative programs with universities and research institutes in several
countries. Led a team of researchers and consultants. Created several new practice areas
(business incubators, technology intelligence, competitive strategy, sustainable business, trade
promotion
4. Designed and implemented the first incubator for environmentally sound technology based
ventures in Mexico in the State of Yucatan and coordinated a state wide program on private
sector development and trade and investment promotion. Coordinated a team of private and
public sector personnel as well as academicians and researchers.
5. Advised and raised seed capital for several early stage ventures, including a Jamaican essential
oil producer that now has the largest export market share in the country, an aquaculture start-up
in Mexico and a natural fibers company with operations in Costa Rica.
6. Member of a three person team at the United Nations that developed the Advance Technology
Alert System (ATAS) – a mechanism to alert developing countries to the implications of
technological change in various sectors. ATAS is now a permanent program of the United
Nations.
7. Started Tambourine Technologies as a consulting firm specializing in providing services to
technology based and start-up ventures in emerging markets with clients in several countries.
In all cases, worked with interdisciplinary and international teams of professionals
PUBLICATIONS
Dr. Wad is the author of numerous articles, research reports, reviews and papers on technological
innovation, entrepreneurship, economic development, science and technology policy and international
business and the editor of “Science, Technology and Development” (Westview Press)
CONSULTING
(Excluding Private Clients)
United States Agency for International Development (USAID): United Nations Center for Science and
Technology for Development (UNCSTD): United Nations Financing System for Science and Technology
(UNFSSTD); United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); United Nations Fund for
Science and Technology for Development, (UNFSTD); United Nations University, (UNU) Tokyo
The World Bank; Scientific Research Council, Jamaica; Institute of Business, University of the West
Indies, Jamaica; Foundation for International Training, Canada; Sichuan Provincial Commission of
Science and Technology, People's Republic of China; Regional Center for Technology Transfer, United
Nations, Bangalore; Inter-Regional Coordination Committee of Development Associations (ICCDA)
United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Special Unit for Technical Cooperation Among
Developing Countries; International Development Research Center, (IDRC), Canada
International Peace Research Association, Food Policy Study Group; War on Want; National Science
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Foundation; Indian Council for Social Science Research (ICSSR); SRI International; IMCC, Washington
D.C.; IBTCI, Virginia; Abt Associates
PERSONAL
Married, two children
PAPERS, PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTS
“Sustainable Innovation in Emerging Markets: Case Study of Low Cost Nanofiber Point of Use
Water Filters”, Seminar at the Center for Nanotechnology and Society, University of California, Santa
Barbara, December 2008
“Project Design Considerations in Implementing Sustainable Ventures in Developing Countries”
Lecture to the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, November 2008
“Sustainability and Innovation in Emerging Markets: Implications for Corporate Strategy and
Project Design” Lecture at University of California, College of Engineering, Santa Barbara, April 2008.
“The Pyramid and the Pie; Corporate Involvement in Sustainable Development” Op Ed for
www.sustainablebusiness.com, November 2004
"La Politique de la Science et de la Technologie", in La Quete Incertaine, Jean-Jacques Salomon,
Franciso Sagasti and Celine Sachs-Jeantet, editors, United Nations University Press, 1994. Also as,
Science and Technology Policy in Developing Countries; A Review and Emerging Trends"
Sourcebook on Science and Technology for Development, Francisco Sagasti and Jean-Jacques Salomon
(editors), 1994
Science, Technology and Development, (Editor) Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, in cooperation
with Third World Foundation, London, October 1988.
" Technology Cooperation for Sustainable Development", Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD), Paris, October 1991.
"International Collaboration for Environmentally Sustainable Industrial Development" UNIDO,
Vienna, June 1991. Background paper for the International Conference on Environmentally Sustainable
Industrial Development, Copenhagen, October 1991.
"Science and Technology for the Least Developed Countries", Monograph . Center for Science and
Technology, United Nations, New York, December 1991. Presented at the U.N. Advisory Committee on
Science and Technology Panel Meeting, Ocho Rios, Jamaica, December 1991.
"The Role of Software in Improving the Competitiveness of Developing Country Firms", Prepared
for UNIDO, Vienna, November 1991
"U.S. Cooperation with the Third World"; Guest Editorial, New York Times; Sunday, September 27,
1981
"The Globalization of Japanese Manufacturing", National Academy of Sciences, October 1988
"The Optimization of Returns on Technological Assets" presented to the NSF Conference on
Intellectual Property Rights, Washington D.C., May, 1989. Published in Intellectual Property Rights in
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Science, Technology and Economic Performance, Carole Ganz Brown and William Rushing, Westview
Press, Boulder, Colorado, 1989
ATAS Bulletin, Bulletin of the Advance Technology Alert System of the United Nations Center for Science
and Technology for Development, New York, Consulting Editor of volumes 1, 2 and 3 Tissue Culture
Technology and Development, (1984), Microelectronics Based Automation and Development, (1985) and
Information Technologies and Development, (1986)
Proceedings of the International Workshop on Advance Technology Alert Systems, jointly
sponsored by the German International Development Foundation (DSE) and the Center for Science and
Technology for Development, United Nations, West Berlin, December 1985, (Consulting Editor), CSTD,
United Nations, New York, (Published May 1988 as ATAS Bulletin by UNCSTD).
"Issues in the Development of R & D Management Capacities", in Handbook of Technology
Management, D.F. Kocauglu, Editor, John Wiley, 1988, (with M. Anandakrishnan).
"R & D Management in Developing Countries", in Management of R & D and Engineering, D. F.
Kocaglu, ed. Elsevier- North Holland, (with Michael Radnor and Aqueil Ahmad).
"Science, Technology and Industrialization in Africa," Third World Quarterly, London, April 1984
"Microelectronics: Implications and Strategies for the Third World"; Third World Quarterly, October
1982, Vol. 4 No. 4, Abridged versions published in Lund Letter on Technology and Culture, No. 5,
December 1982, as "Implications of Microelectronics for the Third World" and as, "Microelectronics: No
Panacea for the Third World", in Asia 2000 (Hong Kong), March/April 1983.
University-Industry Linkages and Economic Development, presented at the VI Symposium on
University-Industry Linkages, University of Yucatan, Merida, Mexico, December 1997.
Keynote Lecture, University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston, Jamaica, Department of Natural
Sciences, Annual Conference, January 1997.
Keynote lecture, Scientific Research Council, Jamaica Annual Conference, November 1995
Lecture Series on Entrepreneurship and Technology Based ventures, Institute of Business, University of
the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica, June 1996
"Observations on Entrepreneurship and Technology Based Business Development in Mexico",
1995. (In Spanish, "La Cultura Emprendedora en Mexico".
"Achieving Competitive Advantage: A Model for Private Enterprise Development in Developing
Countries", Northwestern University March 1993
"Second Generation Incubation Systems for the Development of Technology Based Enterprises in
Mexico", Keynote Address to the First Annual Conference of the Mexican Association of Business
Incubators and Technology Parks (AMIEPAT), Guadalajara, March 1993.
"Achieving Competitive Advantage: The Role of Second Generation Incubation Systems for
Mexico", Presentation to the Mexican Academy of Engineers, Mexico City, February 1993.
"The Management of Technological Assets: A Management Model for the Optimization of Returns
on Corporate Technological Assets", 1990
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"Technological Capabilities and Organizational Performance in Developing Countries", Working
Paper. Technology Policy Project, U.S.A.I.D. 1990
"The Technology Gateway Organization: A Suggested Mechanism for the Delivery of Technology
Services to Developing Country Firms", Working Paper.Technology Policy Project, U.S.A.I.D., 1990
"New Directions for U.S. - Latin American Science and Technology Cooperation" (with C. Ailes, H.R.
Coward, S.J. Owens, D.M. Saccocio) ,National Science Foundation, May 1988.
"An Analysis of the Maquilladora Program in the State of Yucatan", report to the Government of the
State of Yucatan, November 1987.
"Emerging Issues in Interdisciplinary Studies in Science and Technology", Sigma XI, the Scientific
Society, May 1987 (as part of an NSF project).
"Issues in the Development of Technology Assessment Capacities in Developing Countries", and
"A Review of Institutional Approaches to Technology Assessment", both presented at West Berlin
workshop (see above).
"Implications of New Technologies for the Development Process in Developing Countries", Center
for Science and Technology for Development, United Nations, New York, 1986.
"Policy and Infrastructural Considerations with Respect to New Technologies and Caribbean
Development", Keynote lecture at CARICOM Seminar on Implications of New Technologies for
Caribbean Development, Port of Spain, May 1986.
"Implications of New Technologies for Development" and "Technology Forecasting and
Assessment for Development", presented to the International Law Institute Seminar on International
Technology Management, Washington D.C., November 1986.
"Transnational Corporations, Microelectronics Technology and the Third World: A Review of
Recent Literature", CTC Reporter, Center for Transnational Corporation, New York, Spring 1985.
"Towards an Advance Technology Alert System for Africa", presented at the OAU/ECA meeting on
New Technologies and African Development, Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast, October 1984, (with Aklilu
Lemma).
"Some Perspectives for Strengthening R & D Management in China and Other Developing
Countries", prepared for Beijing Conference on Science and Technology Policy (October 4 - 8, 1983),
September 1983 (with Michael Radnor and Aqueil Ahmad), Published in Proceedings of Conference,
United Nations Financing System for Science and Technology for Development, New York, 1985.
"Frontier Technologies for African Development", Proceedings of the Joint Meeting on International
Cooperation for African Development, Co-sponsored by the African Regional Center for Technology and
the United Nations Financing System for Science and Technology for Development, Dakar, December
1983.
"Perspectives on the Development of Manpower and Institutional Capabilities in Energy Policy and
Management for Developing Countries", prepared for the Economic Development Institute of the World
Bank, August 1983.
"Science and Technology in Africa: Priorities and Implications for International Cooperation";
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Monograph for the National Science Foundation, Division of International Programs; July 1983
"Microelectronics Applications for Traditional Technologies: Possibilities and Requirements"
(with Michael Radnor and Barbara Collins) and "Limitations and Opportunities for Developing Countries of
Emerging Microelectronics Technologies", in New Frontiers in Technology Application: Integrating
Emerging and Traditional Technologies, proceedings of the Ad Hoc Panel of the United Nations Advisory
Committee on Science and Technology for Development (UNACSTD), Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines,
December 1982, edited by Ernst von Weizsacker, M.S. Swaminathan and Aklilu Lemma, Tycooly
International, Dublin, Ireland, June 1983.
Energy Policy and Management in Developing Countries: Training Modules in Wood,
Hydropower, Transportation, Industry, Alcohol, Petroleum Exploration and Refineries, Operations
and Marketing, Economic Development Institute of the World Bank, Washington, D.C., June 1983 (with
Michael Radnor).
"The Management of Scientists and Engineers in Developing Countries: Notes on the Motivation
of Creativity and the Marketing of R & D", prepared for the World Bank Science and Technology Unit,
May 1982. Also published in the Proceedings of the UN Ad Hoc Panel Meeting on Human Resource
Development in Developing Countries, Kuwait, January 1983, by Westview Press, Colorado, 1984.
Assisting the U.S. Consumer Electronics Industry: Three Model Programs (with Michael Radnor and
Barbara Collins), Report to the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration,
February 1983.
"Managing for Automation in the 1980's" (with Michael Radnor and Barbara Collins); presented at the
EMTAS '83 Conference of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Phoenix, February 1983.
"Report on the Workshop on Science and Technology Training in Developing Countries with Special
Reference to Asia and the Pacific", (held in Singapore), Foundation for International Training for Third
World Countries, Don Mills, Canada, October 1982.
"Report of the Exploratory Mission to Consider the Feasibility of Establishing an Eastern and
Southern African Center for Technology Development and Diffusion", Foundation for International
Training for Third World Countries, Don Mills, Canada, June 1982, (with David C.K. Tay).
"Manufacturing Automation Decision Making: A Case Study of the Consumer Electronics
Industry" (with Michael Radnor and S. Nagarajan); presented at the TIMS/ORSA meeting; Detroit, May
1982.
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Proceedings of the South-East Asian Workshop on Energy Policy and Management; held in
Daedeok, South Korea, October 1980, World Bank Energy Department Paper No. 2. (Co-Edited with
Michael Radnor), September 1981. Also in same volume, "Organizational Issues in Energy Policy and
Management in Development".
Methodologies to Promote Technical Cooperation Among Developing Countries,
UNDP/TCDC/2/12/Annex 1, New York, June 1981, (with Michael Radnor, James Blackledge and Kenneth
Turk).
"Methodologies to Promote Cooperation Among Development Countries in Socio-economic
Research, Training and Information" (with Michael Radnor), UNDP/TCDC/2/12/Annex 1, New York,
June 1981.
"Technical Cooperation Among Development Countries and the North-South Dialogue: Myths and
Realities", presented to the Northwestern University Program of African Studies, April 1981.
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"Firm Postures and Capabilities; Implications for Innovation" (with Drew Weiss and Michael Radnor);
presented to the TIMS/ORSA Meeting, Colorado Springs, October 1980.
"Contextual Factors in Dairy Development in India"; Presented to the Workshop on Food Aid and the
Third World, organized by the Food Policy Study Group of the International Peace Research Association
(Zurich), held in Versailles, France, May 1980. Also published as "Fattori Contestuali per il Sviluppo della
Produzione del Latte in India", Agricoltura e Lotta di Classe, June/September 1980, Vol. 3, No. 10.
"Appropriate Technology and Formal R & D: Towards a Synthesis", presented at the Workshop on
Alternate Approaches to the Management of Research and Management, Bangalore, India, June 1980
(with Michael Radnor).
"The Role of Inter-Organizational Relations in the Innovation Process in Developing Countries",
Working Paper prepared for the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, June 1980.
"Bureaucratic Constraints to Agrarian Reform and Rural Development"; presented to the
International Peace Research Association, Rome, May 1979.
"The Political Economy of Technical Choice in the Third World"; presented to the International Peace
Research Association Seminar, Stockholm, August 1978.
"Contextual Approaches to Development and the Role of Technology in Developing Countries", in
Michael Radnor et al. (Editors); Policy Studies in Research, Development and Innovation; Report to the
National Institute for Education, Washington D.C., December 1977 (with Mary Ann Joseph, Durward
Hoffler and Michael Radnor).
"Dairy Development in India: Implications for International Agencies"; presented to the International
Coalition for Development Action Meeting, Regina, Saskatchewan, October 1977.
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