Published on: August 31, 2023

Neil Armstrong Distinguished Visiting Fellow: Marcus Weldon - 8/31

Neil Armstrong Distinguished Visiting Fellow: Marcus Weldon - 8/31

Event Date: August 31, 2023
Priority: No
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Marcus Weldon: Former President of Bell Labs, Corporate Chief Technology Officer, Nokie

Critical perspectives on Innovation: Inventing the future

Seminar: 10:00 a.m.
Location: MSEE 190 plus Zoom
 

This lecture will examine the most promising routes and methodologies to follow today, to both invent something new and then successfully implement a solution that should have real market impact. The common elements of each approach will be highlighted, as well as the differences, and under what circumstances each is the optimum choice. 

More about Marcus:

Marcus is currently working on his “next big thing” and helping small, medium, and large companies and institutes formulate their technical and innovation strategies for the next industrial revolution.
Until March 2021, Marcus Weldon was the Corporate Chief Technology Officer for Nokia and was responsible for coordinating the technical strategy and driving technological and architectural innovations into Nokia’s end-to-end networking systems and software portfolio. In addition, as President of Bell Labs, Marcus was responsible for defining and creating the next disruptive innovations and the pioneering research that will form the foundation of the future ICT industry. 
Marcus is considered one of the luminaries in the ICT industry in terms of the clarity, depth, and breadth of his vision.  He combines his vision with the power of Bell Labs, to create a unique innovation engine whose goal is to ‘invent the future’ of the networking and communications industry. 
Marcus holds a Ph.D. (Physical Chemistry) degree from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a Bachelor of Science (Computer Science and Chemistry) joint degree from King’s College in London, UK.  But more than these formal academic credentials, Marcus has a relentless curiosity that, coupled with a very analytical mind, drives him to continuously learn and understand any problem from a wide array of different angles, and in remarkable depth, across a diverse array of disciplines, including:
  • Wireless and wired networking technologies, protocols, and systems
  • Artificial Intelligence systems and methodologies
  • Novel computing systems (including quantum computing)
  • Cloud infrastructure and web systems and platforms
  • ‘Silicon’ device technologies and materials
  • Chemical and biochemical systems
  • New materials and sensing technologies and systems
  • Advanced machine and robotics technologies
  • Next-generation internet routing and transport networks and systems
  • Emerging industrial and enterprise systems
  • Cybersecurity technologies and end-to-end systems and networks
  • Advanced communications and AR/VR technologies and systems
Marcus has won numerous technical, scientific, and engineering society awards for his work and technical vision, and leadership throughout his career, but is arguably best known for his ability to distill complex, multi-dimensional problems into the essential ‘simple’ answer or solution that should be pursued.  For this reason, he is highly sought after as an advisor to governmental agencies and departments in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and around the world, as well as to industrial and enterprise CxOs, venture capitalists, and private equity funds, and the larger investment community.