Insights from Interviews with 17 R&D Leaders
American business relies on innovation as a core driver of success. So, how do our most successful businesses manage innovation, and what is the role of national policy in enhancing private sector R&D?
For this study, we interviewed top R&D executives at some of the largest and most innovative companies in America. Their insights shed light on how to integrate research and development into a successful business model. They also reveal how government and business can work together to accelerate innovation and solve America’s energy challenges.
Acknowledgements
The American Energy Innovation Council gratefully acknowledges our interviewees, without whom this project would not have been possible:
William Banholzer, CTO, Dow Chemical Company
Paul Citron, VP of Technology Policy and Academic Relations, Medtronic (retired)
Fred Coppersmith, Director of R&D, Consolidated Edison
George Craford, Solid State Lighting Fellow, Philips
Paul Delaney, Emerging Technologies Assessments Program Manager for Design and Engineering Services, Southern California Edison
Scott Elrod, VP and Director of Hardware Systems Lab, PARC
Katharine Frase, VP of Industry Solutions and Emerging Business, IBM
Bryan Hannegan, VP of Environment and Renewable Energy, EPRI
Tom Kavassalis, VP of Strategy and Alliances, Xerox Innovation Group
Don Kopczynski, VP of Customer Solutions, Avista
J. Michael McQuade, Senior VP for Science and Technology, UTC
Craig Mundie, Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft
Raj Nair, Group VP of Global Product Development, Ford Motor Company
William Powers, VP of Research, Ford Motor Company (retired)
John Wall, CTO and VP, Cummins
David Whelan, VP & Chief Scientist, BDS, The Boeing Company
Ellen Williams, Chief Scientist, BP
Interviews were conducted by Maxine Savitz (Vice President of the National Academy of Engineering, member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and former general manager of technology partnerships at Honeywell) and Jeffrey Rissman (Policy Analyst, Energy Innovation: Policy and Technology LLC). The report was written by Jeffrey Rissman and Hallie Kennan (Research Assistant, Energy Innovation: Policy and Technology LLC).
Any views expressed by the interviewees are personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of the interviewees’ employers, former employers, or AEIC.