Dean Chang oversees all of the Mtech’s award-winning and nationally acclaimed venture creation programs at the University of Maryland (UM), including the TAP incubator, the VentureAccelerator program, the UM Technology Startup Boot Camp, the UM $75K Business Plan Competition, Entrepreneur Office Hours, Faculty Venture Fairs, and other related offerings at the University. A strong advocate of preparing students to compete in the 21st century by weaving technology, business, and entrepreneurship together, Dean teaches technology entrepreneurship courses to UM students as well as to some of the top high school students in the country and was a co-founding director of UM’s Executive Education Certificate in Innovation Management program.
Dean previously held the dual roles of Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Gaming Business at Immersion Corporation, a company he helped guide over ten years from a four-person, venture-backed, Silicon Valley startup born at Stanford University in a robotics lab to a publicly traded (NASDAQ: IMMR), world-leading licensor of haptics technology to companies like Sony, Microsoft, BMW, Samsung, LG, Nokia, Logitech, and Electronic Arts. Dean was part of the small development team that created the core haptic technology found in many of those company’s products and part of the executive road show team that successfully raised $51 million in an initial public stock offering. As general manager, Dean was responsible for strategic direction, sales and marketing, and operations of licensing Immersion’s vast patent portfolio to the video game industry. In two years, he grew gaming licensing royalties by 83% to all-time highs in revenue and net income, while also increasing the company’s profit margin.
As CTO, Dean served as Immersion’s principal technology strategist and expert, chartered with anticipating and evaluating new technology opportunities and trends and contributing to research and product development. He was responsible for key aspects of Immersion’s intellectual property strategy, including patenting, licensing, and enforcement. As principal spokesperson for company, he also established and conveyed the technology vision and corporate messaging to customers, partners, the investment community, and the press.
Dean holds over 30 U.S. and international patents in the field of haptics; speaks regularly at international technology startup and commercialization conferences; and has written freelance articles for BusinessWeek Online, Computer Magazine, and GameDAILY BIZ. He has been quoted or featured in articles in The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, PC Magazine, New Scientist, KCBS Radio, CNET Radio, The Discovery Channel, and many other news media organizations.
Dean was a Pi Tau Sigma graduate from MIT; he holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from MIT, as well as both an M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. He also holds an MBA with honors, and received the highest distinction of Palmer Scholar from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
