Experience

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Vice President of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development

  • Mar 2014 - Present

  Support the President of UL Lafayette and the community of faculty and staff in advancing the university's research program and it's global reputation as a modern research university. Provide strategic direction and oversight to more than 15 research and economic development centers at UL - including the nation's largest non-human primate research center, a National Science Foundation funded Center of ExcellenceIn Big Data, centers focusing on early childhood education, healthcare and Disater informatics, energy and coastal management, among several others. As VPR, my primary focus is to elevate UL Lafayette to a Tier I Research Institution in the US, and create an enabling environment at UL for faculty to strive to achieve this goal. Additionally, as leader of a major modern research university, I am focused on applying the intellectual assets of UL drive economic development in the state and the nation.As VP Research, I am responsible for the growth of the University Research Park and many of the research centers. In addition, I am responsible for building strong, supportive alliances with local, regional, state, and national business, governmental, and industrial leaders that will result in bringing funding, equipment, services and other resources to the University. Show less

• Interim Vice President for Research

  • Aug 2012 - Mar 2014

  I served as the Interim Vice President for Research at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette between August 2012 and April 2014In this role, I oversaw functions related to sponsored research, research and economic development centers, innovation management, economic development, and other associated activities. These include stimulating and supporting sponsored research, technology transfer and other economic development activities.

• Assistant VP for Research

  • Jun 2006 - Aug 2012

  As a researcher at UL Lafayette for the past 16 years, I have led the translation of my research into commercializable products and have transitioned research innovations into the marketplace through several licensing agreements. I have applied these skills in my role as the Assistant to the VP Research to foster a culture of innovation campus-wide. My duties and accomplishments include:Design and Implementation of Intellectual Property (IP) Policies: I worked on establishing policies for IP disclosure, protection, and commercialization. Through the development and implementation IP policies, I worked on creating a university culture that celebrates intellectual property development, technology transfer, and commercialization.Intellectual Property Protection, Technology Transfer and Commercialization: Serving as the Chair of the Intellectual Property Committee, I lead a team to review, evaluate, prioritize and protect intellectual property with significant commercial viability.Leading Technology Transfer by Example: During the past decade, I have lead efforts at CBIT to translate my team's research into applications for commercialization to public and private sector clients. Under my leadership, the Center has copyrighted fifteen of its software products of which ten have been commercialized within the public and the private sector.Fostering Entrepreneurship: Established the Louisiana Technology Incubator for Entrepreneurial Success (La TIES), with grant funding from the National Science Foundation. The La TIES project was nominated by the NSF Partnerships for Innovation Program as one of their outstanding investments in 2006 and recognized by the NSF Directorate of Engineering through inclusion in the prestigious and selective “NSF Highlights” publication for 2006. Show less



U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

• United States
• Government Administration
• 700 & Above Employee

• Chief Innovation Officer

  • Jun 2019 - Oct 2020

  Focused on enhancing the use of Data, Data Science and AI across the entire agency - and developing public-private partnerships - to foster innovation and improve health and human services to all Americans. Accomplish this goal by working with the Office of the Chief Technology Officer and other stakeholders. Focused on enhancing the use of Data, Data Science and AI across the entire agency - and developing public-private partnerships - to foster innovation and improve health and human services to all Americans. Accomplish this goal by working with the Office of the Chief Technology Officer and other stakeholders.



LUMCON

• Chairman, Executive Management Council

  • May 2013 - May 2018

  Developing a new model of Marine Center faculty alignments with research universities across the State. Developing a new model of Marine Center faculty alignments with research universities across the State.



Center for Business and Information Technologies

• Director

  • Aug 2001 - Jul 2012

  CBIT seeks to enhance technology-based economic development in Louisiana. In June 2007, the BoR staff noted that: “Staff is very impressed at the list of accomplishments of the Center. The need for such a Center, not only for the Lafayette region, but for the State, is unquestioned.” CBIT continues to work in a broad range of areas including improving economic development, technology-based economic development, workforce development, education, healthcare, entrepreneurship, homeland security, among others, with public and the private sector stakeholders to help deliver on its mission. Statewide Recognition for Economic Development: Instrumental in leading the center to be the recipient of the coveted “Governor’s 2003 Lantern Award” in the non-profit category, under Gov. Mike Foster’s administration. Technology-Based Economic Development Initiatives: Facilitated the university’s leadership role in the creation of statewide economic development initiatives such as the Louisiana Optical Networking Initiative (LONI), the LONI Institute, and LITE. Improving Healthcare: Recognizing the role of improved healthcare to the economic development of Louisiana, I led the development and deployment of several IT initiatives within the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. Homeland Security: During hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Center staff and graduate students worked around the clock over 63 days to develop software tools and applications that became critical for the State’s response to the mega-disasters, eventually leading to the birth of the NIMSAT Institute. Show less



NSF Center for Visual and Decision Informatics

• Lafayette, Louisiana Area

• Site Director

  • Mar 2012 - May 2012

  The nation's ONLY NSF Center of Excellence in visual and decision informatics solving Big Data problems. The first ever Industry Center of Excellence in Louisiana's history. The nation's ONLY NSF Center of Excellence in visual and decision informatics solving Big Data problems. The first ever Industry Center of Excellence in Louisiana's history.



National Incident Management Systems and Advanced Technologies

• Executive Director

  • Aug 2007 - May 2012

  The mission of the NIMSAT Institute is to enhance national resiliency to a full range of potential disasters by conducting research leading to innovative tools and applications that empower the homeland security and emergency management community through education, training, outreach and operational support. The Institute seeks to improve the emergency preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation activities for the most vulnerable of our assets - people, businesses and infrastructures that support our communities and our way of life. The NIMSAT Institute was established by UL Lafayette, with formal approval of the Louisiana Board of Regents, on October 25, 2007. NIMSAT was conceived based on the experiences of the Institute’s researchers during the devastations of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. NIMSAT Institute leverages the expertise of its local and national-scale partners in the public, private and academic arenas to pursue an all-hazards approach to homeland security and disaster lifecycle management. The Institute applies advanced supercomputing, visualization, GIS, and communications technologies to transform its research into models, what-if scenario simulations, decision support tools, and applications that enable informed decision making under uncertain, rapidly evolving and complex conditions caused by critical incidents. The Institute accomplishes its mission through research into public-private partnerships, establishing best-practice based linkages between the government and industry stakeholders at all levels and across all sectors. These collaborative linkages enable coordinated disaster preparedness and response, resource management and information sharing, analyses of critical infrastructure and supply chain vulnerabilities, and consequence modeling of hazards, in an overarching effort to minimize the loss of life and impact on economy. Show less



ACIM Center, University of Louisiana

• Research Scientist

  • Aug 1996 - Aug 2001

  Transitioned the center from a manufacturing technology center to a technology-based economic development center, consistent with the economic development plan of Louisiana Vision 2020 Transitioned the center from a manufacturing technology center to a technology-based economic development center, consistent with the economic development plan of Louisiana Vision 2020