“I’m here to commercialize the minds of TUAS” – Evangelos Markopoulos to join the TUAS invited expert programme

Professor Evangelos Markopoulos was appointed as TUAS Fellow  in autumn 2019. Holding a BA on computer science, an MSc on computer science with concentration on AI, and a PhD on ICT project and investment management, the key areas of his expertise include, for example, process and project management, knowledge management and innovation and entrepreneurship.

Let’s find out what our new TUAS Fellow thinks of innovation, commercialization and Finland.

To Professor Markopoulos, who lives in London and works with UK universities in teaching and research, Finland is not a new destination. He has been visiting Finland regularly for the past ten years while developing the Company Democracy Model for Innovation, Competitiveness and Extroversion at Tampere University of Technology with Prof Hannu Vanharanta.

In 2015, Prof Markopoulos got to know Tero Reunanen, now Head of Education and Research at TUAS, and the two have been cooperating since then.

“Tero is a doer, a ‘why not’ person instead of a ‘why’,” Prof Markopoulos describes Tero Reunanen. “These are the kind of people I love to work with.”

And, according to Prof Markopoulos, TUAS has many brilliant minds to work with. “I feel that at TUAS, there is a culture and environment for growth.”

“Evangelos Markopoulos has his roots in entrepreneurship, and so do I,” says Tero Reunanen, whose initiative it was to appoint Prof Markopoulos as TUAS Fellow. “He has an entrepreneurial mindset and strong expertise in managing innovation projects. This collaboration is a great opportunity for us to enjoy his experience in commercializing the outcomes of innovation projects. This will be particularly beneficial for our RDI activities.”

The cooperation between TUAS and Prof Markopoulos is, currently, strongly linked to the TUAS research group of Futuristic Interactive Technologies , focusing on e.g. advanced and innovative VR applications for maritime industry. However, the goal is that as a Fellow, Prof Markopoulos will also contribute to how the results of innovation projects are commercialized.

“My prime target is to help commercialize internationally the intellectual capital at TUAS. To promote the idea of ‘Made in TUAS’, so to speak. I’m here to commercialize your minds,” Prof Markopoulos explains. “There is knowledge everywhere in Finland and you have a great brand name as a very innovative country with very disciplined and professional workforce and students.”

“The commercialization and internationalization of knowledge is my personal ambition. I believe that knowledge which is not effectively shared with markets and industries equals wasted energy and wasted effort.”

To achieve this goal, Prof Markopoulos will work on, for instance, developing business plans that can transform university projects into successful start-ups and companies.

In addition to working at business level, Prof Markopoulos will work with students. “I’ll help TUAS students participate in global entrepreneurial competitions by coaching and mentoring selected student groups. This way, talented students get to demonstrate their talent internationally.”

TUAS Fellows is a programme  aimed at invited experts at Turku University of Applied Sciences. The programme fosters and extends our collaboration network globally and brings added value to TUAS RDI activities.

The first invited experts started in the TUAS Fellow scheme in 2016. Each Fellow participates in the scheme for a period of five years, after which the membership may be renewed.

Text: Mirva Virtanen
Photo: Ada Avenius
In the photo from left to right: Prof Evangelos Markopoulos and Head of Education and Research Tero Reunanen.