Work with thought leaders and academic experts from Lehigh University

Bill Forster is an award-winning associate professor of innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategic management and an experienced leader. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and researches how expert entrepreneurs make decisions, act, and interact to create value and innovate. His research has been published in premier academic journals, including the Academy of Management Review (AMR), the Journal of Business Venturing (JBV), Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, and the Journal of Business Ethics. Bill served on the editorial review board of both AMR and JBV and is currently an Editor (Psychology and Entrepreneurship) for JBV. He teaches innovation, strategic management, entrepreneurial investing, and new venture development courses. <br> He has previously taught at the US Air Force Academy, Lehigh University, and Willamette University and is currently at Oregon State University. Before joining academia, Bill served twelve years as an Air Force officer, leading high technology development programs and consulting with the Air Force, DoD, and other federal agencies. This leadership experience and knowledge gained in academia allow him to consult on various topics, including innovation, leadership, and strategy. He consults on various topics, including innovation, leadership, and strategy. He has worked with various for and not-for-profit companies in Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Oregon.

Theoretical atomic and molecular physicist by training, with over ten years experience teaching at the undergraduate level. During that time, I expanded my experience by coding in several languages and branching out into astrophysics and physics education research.

Marketing, Consumer Behavior, Luxury Goods, Counterfeits, Branding, Emotions

Nitin P. Padture is the [Otis E. Randall University Professor](https://news.brown.edu/articles/2016/05/corporation) in the [School of Engineering](http://brown.edu/academics/engineering/) (Materials Science) at [Brown University](http://www.brown.edu/), and founding Director of the [Initiative for Sustainable Energy (ISE)](https://ise.brown.edu/). He received B.Tech. in Metallurgical Engineering from [Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay](http://www.iitb.ac.in/) (1985), M.S. in Ceramic Engineering from [Alfred University](http://www.alfred.edu/) (1987), and Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from [Lehigh University](http://www.lehigh.edu/) (1991). Padture was a postdoctoral fellow at the [National Institute of Standards and Technology](http://www.nist.gov/) (Gaithersburg, MD) for 3 years, before joining the [University of Connecticut](http://www.uconn.edu/) (UConn) faculty in January 1995 as Assistant Professor. He became Associate Professor in 1998 and Professor in 2003. Padture served as Interim Department Head at UConn for one year before moving to The [Ohio State University](http://www.osu.edu/) (OSU) in January 2005. At OSU he was College of Engineering Distinguished Professor, and also founding Director of the NSF-funded [Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC](http://www.cem.osu.edu/)). He moved to Brown University in January 2012, and most recently he served as Director of Brown's Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation for about eight years.  Padture's research interests are in advanced ceramics and nanomaterials, for applications ranging from solar photovoltaics to jet engines for renewable energy and energy efficiency. His research has been funded by NSF, DOE, ONR, AFOSR, ARO, DARPA, DOEdu, state governments, private foundations, and industry. Padture's teaching interests include: Introductory Materials Science & Engineering; Mechanical Behavior of Materials; and Introductory Composite Materials. Padture has authored or co-authored 300 publications, including 9 awarded patents, which have been cited about 42,000 times total ([Google Scholar](http://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=j3u9KgoAAAAJ); *h*-index 101). Padture has delivered 300 invited/ keynote/ plenary talks and seminars in the US and abroad. (Please see CV for complete lists.) A Fellow of the [American Ceramic Society](http://ceramics.org/), Padture has received that society's Roland B. Snow, Robert L. Coble, and Richard M. Fulrath awards. He is also a Fellow of the [American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)](https://www.aaas.org/) and the [Materials Research Society (MRS)](http://www.mrs.org/). Padture is the recipient of the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Award, and he received both the Distinguished Service Award and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from his *alma mater*, IIT-Bombay. Recently he was awarded the Brown University [Presidential Faculty Award](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WDbX1axt6U). Padture is Editor of the international journals *[Acta Materialia](https://www.journals.elsevier.com/acta-materialia)* and *[Scripta Materialia](https://www.journals.elsevier.com/Scripta-Materialia).*