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MSEM PROGRAM: FACULTY & STAFF
Pier A. Abetti
Dr. Pier Abetti was born in Florence, Italy in 1921 and came to the USA in 1946.
He obtained the degree of Doctor in Engineering from the University of Pisa,
Italy and his Master's and Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the
Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. In 1948 he joined the General
Electric Company as Advance Development Engineer in Power Transformers,
Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Dr. Abetti was employed at GE until 1981, except for
two years as Deputy General Manager of UNIVAC in Europe.
In 1952 Dr. Abetti developed electromagnetic models of power transformers and
then a method for the design of power transformers on digital computers, for
which he received the Coffin Award, GE's highest honor. In 1958 he became head
of the Extra-High Voltage Project, reaching 775 KV, the world's highest
transmission line voltage in 1960. In 1961 he became Manager of the Electrical
and Information Engineering Laboratories in Schenectady, NY. In 1965 he was
Manager-Large Computer Systems in Paris, France and later Manager of Data
Communications for General Electric's Computer business in Phoenix, Arizona. He
moved to Lynchburg, Virginia in 1971 where he became Manager of the Private
Telephone Systems Product Section.
From 1974 to 1979 he was Manager of General Electric's Europe Strategic Planning
Operation in Brussels, Belgium. In 1980, Dr. Abetti was named Consultant,
Research and Development for the Technical Systems and Materials Sector, with an
office at the Corporate Research and Development Center, Schenectady, New York.
In January 1982, Dr. Abetti became Professor of Management of Technology and
Entrepreneurship in the School of Management of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
(RPI), Troy, New York. In 1989, he became Director of Rensselaer's Center for
Entrepreneurship and New Technological Ventures. Dr. Abetti is currently
conducting research at RPI on the management of technological innovation, new
product development, and the factors of success for the 80 high-technology
companies in the RPI Incubator and Technology Park.
Dr. Abetti has written more than 100 technical and management papers in five
languages. He is listed in American Men of Science, Who's Who in America, Who's
Who in the East and in Who's Who in Technology today. He is a Fellow of the
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and a member of Research and
Development Council of the American Management Association.
His present interests are focused on the strategic management of technology and
R&D planning for high-tech corporations, the management for technological
innovation and entrepreneurship in large and small companies, and economic
development with high-tech Incubators and Technology Parks. He has worked on
development projects in the USA, Canada, Italy, France, Ireland, Mexico, Puerto
Rico, Poland, Ukraine, China, South Korea and Japan.
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