For Sarfraz Mian, a Distinguished Professor of Marketing and Management, the past year has shown a drive to keep moving since earning one of the highest professor ranks in the SUNY system.
The 2023-24 span has seen him make keynote speeches at multiple conferences, consult internationally, serve as co-editor of professional journals, publish scholarly articles and more.
A world-renowned expert in business incubation and entrepreneurship, Mian’s ongoing contributions include co-editing two key journals in the field for the past couple of years – the International Small Business Journal and the Small Business Economics Journal.
Mian also gave keynote speeches or presentations at several conferences around the world, including:
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Centre for Entrepreneurship 2024 Global Webinar with “The State-of-the-Art and Emerging Trends in Business & Technology Incubation and Acceleration Practices.” He delivered this invited webinar presentation to the organization’s SMEs (small-to-medium-sized enterprises), Regions & Cities event in Paris in January.
The IEEE-Honet 20th International Conference (2023) on Smart Communities: Improving Quality of Life Using AI, Robotics and IoT at Florida Atlantic University in December. For the invited keynote, Mian discussed “The Emerging Role of Smart Technology Incubation Programs for Developing Sustainable Innovation Ecosystems/Communities.”
GIFT University’s 2023 “Building an Entrepreneurial University: The Key Elements and Strategic Challenges.” Mian was a featured speaker at the National Entrepreneurship Faculty Development Workshop in Gujranwala, Pakistan in August.
CREET International Conference in 2023, “The Role of Modern Incubation & Acceleration Mechanisms in Developing Regional Innovation Hubs: Emerging Global Evidence.” Mian served as keynote speaker at the First International Conference of Research in Entrepreneurship, Education and Technology (CREET) in Ottawa.
VINNOVA, the Swedish Government Innovation Agency (2023), invited keynote speaker in the Swedish Incubator and Science Parks (SISP) 2023 Seminar to launch his handbook. This followed Mian’s participation in the VINNOVA-funded expert survey on Sweden-USA Comparisons in Incubation and Acceleration Policy and Programs, November and December.
Additional professional conferences and presentations include:
The Academy of Management 2024 Annual Conference, in Chicago, with a professional development workshop titled "Intrapreneurial Universities - Wishful Thinking or Worldwide Reality?"
The U.S. Association of Small Business & Entrepreneurship (USASBE) 2024 Annual Conference in Birmingham, Alabama, in January, presenting “Assessing the Role of Incubation & Acceleration Programs for Developing Sustainable Innovation Ecosystems/Communities.”
Participating by invitation in Upstate NY Innovation Day 2024, in the CNY Biotech Accelerator, Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, in January.
Participation in Innovation Night Syracuse 2023, featuring the Genius NY Pitch Finals by CenterState CEO in Syracuse, in October.
Refereed journal publications include:
Co-authoring (with Guerrero, M., Fayolle, A., Chiara Di Guardo, Lamine, W.) “Re-Viewing Entrepreneurial Universities: Theory Building Opportunities and Strategic Challenges” in Small Business Economics journal, Springer Science & Business Media, in press (2024)
Co-authoring (with Klofsten, M., Kanda, W., Bienkowska1, D., Boken, N., Lamine, W.) “Start-ups within entrepreneurial ecosystems: Transition towards circular economy” in the International Journal of Small Business, Volume 42, issue 4, Sage Publishers (2024)
Co-authoring (with Klofsten, M., Germain, E, Lofsten, H) “Science parks as key players in entrepreneurial ecosystems” in R&D Management, 53(4):603-619, Wiley Publishers (2023)
In addition, Mian serves as an expert consultant for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s Entrepreneurship, SME and Tourism Division in Paris. In this role, Mian was selected to provide policy advice on start-up and scale-up SME support programs through national and regional incubation and acceleration systems. Member countries including Portugal and Ireland, and others have sought assistance as well.