Entrepreneurship, The Role and Responsibilities of Academia

Abstract: Entrepreneurship is the spirit, infusion of which is essential for the life of any successful enterprise - be it in the field of business, individual lives or the lives of nations. America's discovery itself is a work of the entrepreneurial aspirations of Columbus. The American ascent to economic and world might is another testament to the criticality of entrepreneurship as an important ingredient of success. At the core of the American success story is the culture and spirit of entrepreneurship that we have built here. And, as we battle the recession, it is my belief that the ultimate answer lies in promoting and facilitating the entrepreneurs of this nation. We need to restore the original spirit of enterprise. Yet, the theory is easier said than done. The macro dynamics have changed and the fierce enterprising drive that was second nature to our forefathers evades us in the relative security and stability of today's environment. So how does one reincarnate and reinvigorate the entrepreneurial fire? It has been argued that people are born entrepreneurs. May be so, but as an entrepreneur and an academician, I believe that the characteristics and the necessary ingredients of an entrepreneur can be taught and enhanced in an academic setting. In this talk, I will talk about the importance and history of entrepreneurship, the basic characteristics of an entrepreneur, and how they can be enhanced for forming more effective leaderships. However, entrepreneurship is much more than demonstration of attributes. I will talk about effective entrepreneurship wherein focus is on results. And this is where academia plays a key role because it is through the structure of academics that entrepreneurship can find its way to effectiveness.

Bio: Dr. Sherwani is the President, Co-founder and CEO of Open-Silicon, a fabless system-on-chip (SoC) company based in Milpitas, California. His entrepreneurial spirit is evident in his founding of the EDA company CSTI, Inc. in 1989, a year after his PhD from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In 1999, he started Intel Microelectronics, an ASIC company funded by Intel. His latest venture is a chip development venture in China called Brite Semiconductors, of which he is the chairman. He also serves on the boards of several companies including Integration Associates, Silicon Design, and Pyxis. Prior to 1999, Dr. Sherwani worked for many years at Intel where he co-architected a design method used in various leading microprocessor. He has also worked as a consultant to major telecom, EDA, and computer companies. Starting his career as a professor at Western Michigan University, he concentrated his research on VLSI physical design automation and authored over 100 research papers and three books, including the widely used textbook on the topic.