**Please note time change - interview will be from 6:30 - 7:30 instead of 7:00 - 8:00** James E. Spencer, Jr. currently serves as the Executive Director of the Rensselaer Technology Park, Real Estate and New Venture Development for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he directs the activities of the Rensselaer Technology Park and the Institute’s distributed business incubation program, the Emerging Venture’s Ecosystem (EVE). In this dual role, through the Rensselaer Innovation Hub (RPiHUB.org), James leverages 25+ years of experience as a serial entrepreneur, inventor, business consultant, real estate investor and corporate executive to foster the next generation of technology-driven economic development initiatives at Rensselaer.  James also currently serves as the Chairman of Rensselaer’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Council. James has authored one US patent and led the technical team at his pre-seed and venture capital backed startups for an additional five US patents. He has a proven track record of developing and commercializing industrial automation technology; and has worked in business incubation and university technology commercialization since the sale of his $7.1M VC-backed robotics & automation tech venture in 2003. James is also a National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) certified Incubator Manager, and formally consulted with small business owners and entrepreneurs as a “bricks and mortar” incubator Site Manager, Entrepreneur in Residence, and SBDC Area Director & Certified Business Analyst (CBA). James holds a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Brown University. "Innovation is the engine that drives the change that moves the world forward, forever fueling our desire to continually improve the quality of life for ourselves, our families, our community and future generations."