Profile

Dr. A.R. Venkatachalam is a Professor of Information Systems and Chairperson of the Decision Sciences department in the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire. He received his bachelors degree with honors in mechanical engineering from the University of Madras, India, MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, and Ph.D. from the University of Alabama. He has also worked in the industry for five years as a Corporate Planning Manager.

Dr. Venkatachalam pioneered the design and development of a procurement, marketing, and communications network (PRO-Net, pro-net.sba.gov) for the U.S. Small Business Administration. Under his leadership, an Internet-based system was implemented in a four-month period for a budget of less than $150,000 and replaced multiple systems that had been under development in the federal government for a number of years, costing $10 million and yet unsuccessful. PRO-Net is now live with over 195,000 companies listed to permit federal, state, local, and private procurement officers to find and solicit proposals from small businesses interested in government, prime- and sub-contractor procurements.

For his leadership role in the creation of PRO-Net, Dr. Venkatachalam was honored by the United States Vice President at the White House on June 3, 1997, during the inauguration of Small Business Week.

From 1995 to 2002, Dr. Venkatachalam was the project leader for ACE-Net (Angel Capital Electronic Network), an Internet-based angel capital network that brings together entrepreneurs seeking equity capital and self-accredited investors, on a national basis. ACE-Net is currently the only national Internet-based system permitted by SEC and state regulators. The system is currently used by venture capital agencies in 45 states. In 2000, ACE-Net reached the $1 billion milestone in raising equity financing for entrepreneurs in the nation.

Dr. Venkatachalam was one of the leaders of a team that participated in a pilot study funded by Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) involving use of the Internet for transfer of defense technologies to the private industry. This pilot program (completed in 1998) successfully demonstrated a technology transfer process involving two defense laboratories and several private industries in two northeastern states.

in July 2003 the university of New Hampshire and National Infrastructure Institute's Center for Infrastructure Expertise launched a web-based library portal (www.ni2ciel.org), a project headed by Dr. Venkatachalam. The portal is a one-stop shop for all pertinent information related to the protection of built infrastructure and key assets (see video clip).

Since August 2005, Dr. Venkatachalam is leading a research team that is involved in the development of a pilot system for perfecting security interests in intellectual property rights. This project is funded by the United States Patent and Trademarks Office.

Dr. Venkatachalam has 45 publications in research journals and refereed conference proceedings. He has published in International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Journal of Information Science and Technology, International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, Technology in Society, Journal of Law and Technology, Journal of Business & Entrepreneurship, Strategic Information Systems, Journal of Forecasting, Information & Management, Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, Computers & Operations Research, International Journal of Expert Systems with Applications, Industrial Management, Simulation, and Journal of Global Information Management.

Dr. Venkatachalam is a frequent reviewer for a number of research journals and international conferences. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Information Technology Cases and Applications Research and serves on the editorial review boards of prestigious research journals in the information systems area including Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations and Journal of Organizational & End-User Computing. He is also a consultant to the industry in the areas of Electronic Commerce and intelligent information systems.

Recent Honors/Awards/Accomplishments:

Recognition by the Vice President of the United States at the White House on June 2, 1997, on the occasion of PRO-Net

inauguration.

Recognition by Senator Judd Gregg on April 2, 1999 on the occasion of ACE-Net Operational Phase inauguration.

Teaching Excellence Award, 1995, Whittemore School of Business and Economics, The University of New Hampshire.

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