The MIT Entrepreneurship Center fosters innovation by bringing students and faculty from different disciplines across campus together in pursuit of new technologies and high-tech ventures.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--William K. Aulet, senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and acting managing director of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center, has been appointed managing director at the Center. Aulet brings 25 years of experience in technology and business operations to the position as well as experience raising $100 million in institutional financing via private placements and public offerings. After starting his career at IBM, he ran two private companies, Cambridge Decision Dynamics and SensAble Technologies, before helping Viisage Technology achieve a dramatic turnaround as its chief financial officer.
“Aulet brings a wonderful combination of practical experience, enthusiastic and effective teaching and mentoring, and a host of new ambitious ideas to entrepreneurship at MIT. We welcome his continuation of leadership of our activities and programs.”
David Schmittlein, dean of MIT Sloan, said, “Entrepreneurship is an integral part of the culture and curriculum at MIT. It inspires new ideas, business models, and technologies that lead to innovation and economic growth. With his depth of experience and dedication to entrepreneurship, Bill Aulet will be a great asset to the Center as it continues to develop and support MIT’s many entrepreneurial programs and activities.”
The MIT Entrepreneurship Center fosters innovation by bringing students and faculty from different disciplines across campus together in pursuit of new technologies and high-tech ventures. The Center’s team educates and develops leaders by offering best-in-class educational courses and executive programs supported by MIT’s leading-edge technology and business research. It facilitates business and technology partnerships by combining academic research with practical experience and cultivates a network that unifies academic, government, and industry leaders around the vision of entrepreneurial success.
For the past several years, Aulet has served as an entrepreneur-in-residence at the Center, teaching and working with students and start-ups. With a strong interest in energy, he conceived, developed, and teaches a graduate class called “Energy Ventures” as well as “Special Opportunities in Energy Entrepreneurship: Natural Gas.” Aulet also created the MIT Energy Prize and serves as chairman of that competition.
His work has been recognized with numerous awards. Most recently, MIT was named the top university in the U.S. for Clean Energy Entrepreneurship & Commercialization (http://cleantech.com/news/5384/top-10-cleantech-universities-us). He also writes on the topic for Xconomy.com and consults for large and small companies in the field. Aulet has taught workshops for corporate, government, and nonprofit groups on innovation, entrepreneurship and corporate venture capital. In addition to serving on the Review Board for Entrepreneurship Grants for the U.S. Department of Energy, Aulet serves on the board of a number of private companies.
Aulet, who earned his undergraduate degree with honors in engineering from Harvard University, also holds a Master of Science degree from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, where he was a member of the MIT Sloan Fellows Program. A former professional basketball player, he lives in Belmont, Mass. with his wife and four sons.
MIT Sloan Professor Edward Roberts, founder and chair of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center, said, “Aulet brings a wonderful combination of practical experience, enthusiastic and effective teaching and mentoring, and a host of new ambitious ideas to entrepreneurship at MIT. We welcome his continuation of leadership of our activities and programs.”
About MIT Sloan School of Management
For over 50 years, the MIT Sloan School of Management, based in Cambridge, Mass., has been one of the world's leading academic sources of innovation in management theory and practice. With students from more than 60 countries, it develops effective, innovative, and principled leaders who advance the global economy.
For more information about the MIT Entrepreneurship Center: http://entrepreneurship.mit.edu/index.php
