Open Innovation: Motorola Veteran Renu Kulkarni Joins Georgia Tech to Head FutureMedia Initiative

ATLANTA--(Business Wire)--
With world-class university research, proven engineering and commercialization
expertise, a successful community of entrepreneurs - and leading digital media,
communications and entertainment industries - Georgia is poised to be a global
pioneer and innovator in shaping the future of social, digital and multimedia.

As head of Georgia Tech`s FutureMedia Initiative, Renu Kulkarni`s charter is to
help bring all these elements together in an open-innovation environment that
will make the state of Georgia both a leader in developing new media and a model
for how to bring new ideas to market.

"Mine is a collaborative role, one that will help all the players span the
innovation cycle from research to discovery to creation, commercialization and
scale-up," she said. "My job will be to connect universities, venture
capitalists, entrepreneurs and industry to create a rich and robust open
innovation ecosystem that builds on and leverages our world-class resources."

Most recently vice president for technology partnerships at communications giant
Motorola, Kulkarni has more than 20 years of experience in turning research and
development into new products, building strategic alliances for industry, and
developing new business.

Before becoming vice president, she also directed Motorola`s research and
development portfolio, managing a $150 million-per-year fund, a technology and
market trend analysis program, and research and development partnerships with
customers. She also served as Motorola`s senior director for corporate strategy
and held a variety of business consulting, marketing and technical management
positions for companies including Deloitte Consulting, BellSouth International,
Sprint and GTE Corp.

Kulkarni holds an M.B.A. from Emory University`s Goizuetta Business School and a
B.S. degree from Georgia Tech`s Stewart School of Industrial and Systems
Engineering. She is also a graduate of the Stuyvesant High School, the famed
mathematics and science magnet school in New York City.

At Georgia Tech, she reports to the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI),
Georgia Tech`s applied research organization, and to the Enterprise Innovation
Institute, which helps enterprises of all kinds become more competitive through
the application of science, technology and innovation. Together, the two
institutions span the innovation cycle from research and discovery to
commercialization and scale-up.

"With its more than seven decades of experience in integrating research results
to solve real-world problems, the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) can
play a key role in bringing resources together to ensure that Georgia takes
advantage of the opportunities in future media," said Stephen E. Cross, GTRI`s
director and a Georgia Tech vice president. "With her background in technology
collaborations, Renu Kulkarni is the ideal person to lead this initiative."

One of Kulkarni`s first assignments has been to lead development of the
FutureMedia conference (www.futuremediaga.com) to be held on October 15, an
event she expects will "start the conversation" about what Georgia needs to do
to capitalize on its strengths.

The broad-based event features Chris Klaus, founder and CEO of Kaneva, Krishna
Bharat, creator of Google News and Ron Clark, founder of The Ron Clark Academy.
It will also include speakers from the University of Georgia, the Savannah
College of Art and Design, Emory University and Georgia Tech - and
demonstrations from more than 60 startup companies and dozens of university
researchers.

Speakers from Georgia Tech will include: G.P. "Bud" Peterson, Georgia Tech`s
president; Elizabeth Mynatt, director of the Graphics, Visualization and
Usability (GVU) Center; and Janet Murray, Dean`s Recognition Professor in the
School of Literature, Communication and Culture (LCC) and director of LCC`s
Graduate Program in Digital Media. Stephen Fleming, vice provost of Georgia
Tech`s Enterprise Innovation Institute, will moderate a panel discussion on the
state of digital media.

Hosted by Georgia Tech, the event is sponsored by Turner Broadcasting. Partners
include the Creative Coast Alliance, Georgia Department of Economic Development,
Georgia Research Alliance, the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, Metro Atlanta
Chamber of Commerce, the MIT Enterprise Forum of Atlanta, the New Media
Institute at the University of Georgia, the Technology Association of Georgia,
the Technology Executives Roundtable, and Venture Atlanta 09.

Beyond the event, Kulkarni has been meeting with more than a dozen campus
leaders in digital media and with business organizations across the state that
have a strategic interest in future media.

What`s the ultimate goal of FutureMedia?

"We envision a physical and virtual place where all are invited to experiment,
discover, create, commercialize and shape the future of digital media," Kulkarni
said. "We want to create an open innovation ecosystem that will make Georgia a
global pioneer in this field and provide a model not only for what we do in
future digital media, but also in how we do it."

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Georgia Tech Research Institute & the Georgia Tech FutureMedia Initiative
Kirk J. Englehardt, Director of Communications, 404-407-7280
kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu

Copyright Business Wire 2009