"Techonomics and the 21st Century Economy" presented by Dr. H. Lee Martin, Engineering Entrepreneurship, University of Tennessee

Technology is affecting every aspect of how we live, transact business, communicate, recreate and learn. Have you ever wondered what are the forces behind globalization, mass customization, just in time delivery, virtual companies, and perfect information? Would you like to have the ability to spot and capitalize on economic trends before they reach the masses? Do you realize that throughout history, military development of technology has been the leading indicator of future commercial applications? Techonomics explains the significant relationship between technology, economy and organizations providing you a worldview to understand and navigate our rapidly advancing world.

On April 13^th, successful entrepreneur and prolific inventor Dr. H. Lee Martin will share a technologist's marketplace insights gained from a 15-year journey from the garage to the public market. His journey has been marked with excellence not only in taking ideas from concept to marketplace but also in serving others, evidenced even by one of Martin’s earliest accolades, the University of Tennessee’s highest honor of Torchbearer. To this day, Martin continues to give light to others with measurable success. In addition to starting a company that went public on the NASDAQ exchange as iPIX in 1999, Martin is the holder of 21 US patents, author of Techonomics, and a mentor of many area entrepreneurs. Currently, he is developing an Engineering Entrepreneurship Program at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Martin’s insights will help your family business or entrepreneurial endeavors gain a competitive advantage.

Techonomics provides a theory for organizational evolution. Technological best practices tested by free-market competition determine successful organizations in a similar way to favorable mutations in a competitive natural environment select the fittest organisms. This techonomic mindset gives organizational leaders a platform to observe the rapid changes in our economy and provide insight into wise deployment of limited resources.

By early recognition of the key sources and drivers of technology trends, organizations are equipped to make better decisions. Techonomics examines four foundations of healthy organizations: energy, communication, computation, and community. A method of tracking market progress based on measuring both technology performance and economic cost provides a tool to consistently monitor advancement of any endeavor. Three contemporary trends based on electronic advancement, network expansion, and increasing productivity are forcefully driving organizations in the 21^st Century. Examples of successful companies utilizing emerging operational business models are Dell and WalMart.

Adam Smith’s laws of supply and demand are being challenged by a world productive capacity that can overproduce manufactured goods and create infinite supplies of information. Techonomics points to the dawning of the Virtual Age where continually increasing productivity creates more output with less labor and resources in the most effective organizations. 

Meet Our Speaker: Dr. H. Lee Martin

Dr. H. Lee Martin has earned a BSME from the University of Tennessee and was recipient of its highest student honor, the Torchbearer. He also received an MSME from Purdue University and a PhD from the University of Tennessee earned while employed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory as a development engineer. 

He has been awarded two R&D 100s for innovation in product developments and a NASA SBIR Technology of the Year Award. The National Society of Professional Engineers recognized him as the National Young Engineer in 1986.

Dr. Martin holds 21 US Patents. He has numerous publications in robotics, image processing and electric vehicle research. He edited the collection Teleoperated Robotics in Hazardous Environments for the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and has authored the book Techonomics (CRC Press, Taylor and Francis Group, 2007). 

He founded the company TeleRobotics International, Inc. in 1986, which went public on the NASDAQ exchange as iPIX in 1999. After leaving iPIX, he served as the initial executive director of the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation. He currently leads the engineering entrepreneurship efforts for the University of Tennessee College of Engineering. 

Martin’s research interests revolve around the word he coined: techonomics – the study of how technology innovation through the filter of business principles continuously changes organization and culture. For individuals to corporations, his extension of life balance principles from Luke 2:52 serves as the basis of his teaching and business development activities for regional technology firms.

Among his community involvement, Martin has served on Knox Area Rescue Ministries’ (KARM) Board of Directors for 9 years. He is a member of Two Rivers Evangelical Church where he currently leads the 8^th grade small group. He is married to Carla and they have three children: Nina, Ashleigh and Daniel.

Coffee, Light Breakfast, & TLC Served.