White House Recognizes Mtech's David Barbe as Champion of Change

COLLEGE PARK, Md., Nov. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- David Barbe, director of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech), was named a "Champion of Change" in America by the White House, institute officials announce today.

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Barbe was recognized at a special event on November 3 in Washington, D.C., where the White House honored individuals and businesses as Champions of Change who "Make it in America."

These champions, according to the White House, are "being recognized for their work in helping to create high-quality jobs in the United States. These are the leaders this country needs, people who are working to build in America and create jobs in America."

Barbe is profiled on the White House website at www.whitehouse.gov/champions.

During the Nov. 3 event, Barbe participated in a Make it in America White House Roundtable that included U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development John Fernandez, U.S. Department of Transportation Deputy Secretary John Pocari, U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, Department of Energy Senior Advisor Gil Sperling, and NIST Director Patrick Gallagher, among others.

Barbe cited the critical role entrepreneurship plays in creating new jobs, as well as the resources U.S. universities possess to help companies create new products, which lead to new jobs and bolster the manufacturing base.

The broader White House Champions of Change initiative profiles Americans from all walks of life who are helping the country rise to the challenges of the 21st century and doing extraordinary things in their communities, working to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world.

Creating a Culture of Entrepreneurship and an Infrastructure to Support It

Barbe's recent accomplishments started in 2000, when he set out on a mission to build a culture of technology entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland and establish a permanent infrastructure to teach entrepreneurship, help faculty and students launch new ventures, and accelerate tech product development in Maryland companies. 

He gathered a team of visionaries, including Martha Connolly, director of the Maryland Industrial Partnerships program, Dean Chang, director of Mtech's venture programs, and James V. Green, Mtech's director of entrepreneurship education.

Together, they systematically assembled an entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem that is one of the most comprehensive of any university in the country.

In 2000, Mtech had five programs. The institute now has:

• 30 distinct initiatives to foster entrepreneurship and innovation at the university and in the region
• 25 entrepreneurship courses (compared to zero in 2000), with more than 1,000 enrolls annually, offered to students ranging from middle school, high school, undergraduate, graduate, and executives
• UMD's first Minor in Technology Entrepreneurship (launched fall 2011), open to students of all majors
• two living-learning entrepreneurship programs for undergraduates and a scholarship program for students transferring from Prince George's Community College
• two seed funds to support entrepreneurs
• a full lab-to market infrastructure to help tech entrepreneurs build companies, including:
  • entrepreneurship courses at all levels
  • a prototype lab for very early stage entrepreneurs
  • a venture accelerator with dedicated staff to help students and faculty launch new technology companies
  • an incubator (Maryland's first) for early stage ventures, with two companies, Martek Biosciences and Digene Corporation, both sold for more than $1 billion, and PAICE LLC, which developed the hybrid-electric drive technology that "drives" Toyota and Ford hybrid vehicles
  • Maryland's longest-running program for tech product development, conceived by Barbe in 1987, Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS), has helped Maryland companies to develop products generating more than $21.6 billion in revenues, added thousands of jobs to the region, and contributed to successful products such as Martek Biosciences' nutritional oils, Hughes Communications' HughesNet™, MedImmune's Synagis®, Black & Decker's Bullet® Speed Tip Masonry Drill Bit, and CSA Medical's Spray Cryotherapy System
  • UMD $75K Business Plan Competition, now in its eleventh year, with five multi-million ventures emerging from the competition and two Inc. 500 companies
  • UMD Technology Startup Boot Camp (the model for the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance's nationwide Invention2Ventures series), an intensive, one-day workshop on how to successfully launch tech companies, now in its eleventh year, attracting more than 500 entrepreneurs annually
  • free monthly open office hours for any entrepreneurs
  • Biotechnology Research and Education Program to support bio companies
  • Citrin Fellows Program, which supports master's and doctoral students pursuing research in the broad area of sustainability who also commit to concurrently building a company around their technologies
• An international incubator for companies outside of the U.S. that want to have a presence in Maryland and collaborate with the University of Maryland

The institute's programs have had a $25.7 billion impact on the economy and helped create or retain more than 5,700 jobs.

Barbe received B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from West Virginia University in 1962 and 1964, respectively. In 1969 he received a Ph.D. degree from The Johns Hopkins University in electrical engineering.

After positions at Westinghouse and the Naval Research Laboratory, he began a six-year tenure in the Office of the Secretary of the Navy, first as the assistant for electronics and physical sciences and later as director of submarine and ASW Systems. He joined the University of Maryland in 1985 as executive director of the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech) and professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Barbe was awarded the rank of Fellow of the IEEE in 1978 for his pioneering work on charge coupled device imagers, now used in digital cameras, camcorders, fax machines and numerous defense and medical applications. He has published and presented over 100 technical papers in the area of electronics and electro-optics and was an IEEE Electron Devices Society National Lecturer in 1988.

Barbe's achievements have been recognized with some of the top national awards, including the Olympus Lifetime of Educational Innovation Award in 2008, the American Society of Engineering Education Outstanding Entrepreneurship Educator Award in 2003, and Stanford's Price Foundation Innovative Educators Award in 2001.

About the Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute (Mtech)

The mission of Mtech is to educate the next generation of technology entrepreneurs, create successful technology ventures, and connect Maryland companies with university resources to help them succeed. Founded in 1983, Mtech has had a $25.7 billion impact on the Maryland economy and helped create or retain more than 5,700 jobs. Top-selling products such as MedImmune's Synagis®, which protects infants from a deadly respiratory disease, and Hughes Communications' HughesNet®, which brings satellite-based, high-speed Internet access to the world, were developed through or enhanced by our programs. Billion dollar companies such as Martek Biosciences and Digene Corporation graduated from our incubator.  Mtech offers three experiential learning programs and 30 entrepreneurship and innovation courses, served to 1,244 enrollees in 2010, at the pre-college, undergraduate, graduate and executive education levels. For more information about Mtech, please visit www.mtech.umd.edu.

SOURCE University of Maryland