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Chriss Swaney
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For immediate release:
October 4, 2006

Carnegie Mellon's College of Engineering Hosts Corporate Panel About How Innovation Drives Growth

PITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University's Pradeep K. Khosla will lead a panel discussion about how corporate America is inculcating innovation into business models to drive growth from 11 a.m. to noon, Oct. 11 in the Singleton Room of the university's Roberts Hall of Engineering.

Panel participants include Andrew Towle, vice president of strategic planning at the H.J. Heinz Co.; Anuj Dhanda, chief information officer at PNC Bank; Lisa Roudabush, general manager of processed products for U.S. Steel Corp.; and Mark Harshman, director of research and technology at Siemens.

"Business leaders know that their companies must differentiate themselves with new products and services, and our panel is designed to hear what various industry sectors are doing when it comes to being innovative," said Khosla, the Philip and Marsha Dowd Professor of Engineering and dean of Carnegie Mellon's College of Engineering.

A recent report by the Conference Board said that two-thirds of the world's top executives plan to incorporate innovation into their business models to drive growth.

Innovation is also a strategic priority at Carnegie Mellon's College of Engineering, where a collaborative team will offer a new graduate degree program designed to train a new breed of innovation leaders. Beginning in January 2007, engineering and technical professionals can earn a one-year interdisciplinary master of science degree in Engineering and Technology Innovation Management (E&TIM). The program taps the expertise of professors and researchers in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy, the Tepper School of Business, and the Department of Social and Decision Sciences.

Khosla said the panel will discuss how organizations can systematize the innovation process and how they can make it work. Panel participants will also share methods and practices that translate innovation into shareholder wealth over time.

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