The Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute this week named Dean Chang as the director of a University of Maryland program aimed at fostering entrepreneurship in technology fields.
Chang comes to MTECH Ventures from Silicon Valley-based Immersion Corporation, where he served as chief technology officer and vice president. In his 10 years at Immersion, Chang grew the business from a four-person operation to a $300 million publicly traded firm.
“He has experience in building a university-based startup into a successful industry leader and holds engineering and business degrees from highly regarded institutions,” Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute Director Herbert Rabin said. “Dr. Chang is well positioned to guide our technology entrepreneurship initiatives to meet the needs of 21st century entrepreneurs.”
Chang is expected to lead a number of programs designed to encourage technological entrepreneurship, including how to generate capital for startups and how to commercialize innovations made at universities.
“The types of innovations that spur new industries, create new jobs, and bring about major advances to society aren’t going to come from big companies,” Chang said. “They’re coming from universities, and there’s still so much potential on campuses that has yet to be unlocked.”
Chang has an undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master’s and doctorate from Stanford University.
He also has an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
