Director, Esposito Family Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (EFCIE)
BC Regional Innovation Chair in Canada-India Partnership Development, UFV
Associate Professor, Innovation & Entrepreneurship
School of Business
Abbotsford campus, K178
Phone: 604-557-4019
email JonJon Thomas is committed to growing the potential for innovation and entrepreneurship across UFV through interdisciplinary teaching and collaborative research opportunities for the university and the Fraser Valley communities. Jon has continued to build upon his already established scholarly activity with two recently published journal articles: the first article in the International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business examines the impact of regional innovation ecosystems on the commercialization activities of star scientists. The second article in the Journal of Cleaner Production analyzes market-entry strategies for electric vehicle start-ups in the automotive industry through a case study of Tesla Motors. He presented his research on star-scientist-entrepreneurs at the 2019 Technology Transfer Society Annual Conference at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto in September 2019. In April 2019, Jon’s Computer Information Systems student research collaborator, Jordan Evans, presented a co-authored paper, “Exploring Innovation in the Fraser Valley”, at the ISPIM Connects Ottawa Conference. Jon also presented his own research, “Endowing university spin-offs pre-formation: Entrepreneurial capabilities for scientist-entrepreneurs”, at this international peer-reviewed academic conference.
Jon Thomas says,
"Recent global trends indicate that jobs which involve a significant proportion of routine and repetitive tasks are being automated or replaced by artificial intelligence. As a result, students and the working population are seeking to develop higher-order skills that will prepare them for complex jobs best performed by humans. Management education offers an increasingly important pathway to develop these higher order skills such as the generation and management of innovative ideas in organizations.
At UFV, I would like to see the development of interdisciplinary programs and courses that provide students and learners with these higher-order skills needed for the rapidly changing workplace. Several such programs are at various stages of development at UFV. With vision and adequate resources, UFV can build on such interdisciplinary programs and strengthen its reputation as an innovative and entrepreneurial institution."
Dr. Jon Thomas is the Director of the Esposito Family Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (EFCIE) at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV). He also holds the BC Regional Innovation Chair in Canada-India Partnership Development at UFV and is an Associate Professor, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, at the UFV School of Business. In his role as the BC Regional Innovation Chair, he is engaged in building research partnerships between Canada and the world, with a major focus on India. He believes that high-impact teaching and research can be fostered through collaborations that transcend disciplinary and organizational boundaries.
Jon has provided innovation and entrepreneurship mentoring to students, post-doctoral fellows, scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs for nearly two decades. His innovation and entrepreneurship research has garnered several awards including the National Doctoral Fellowship (India) and the Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Fellowship (Canada). His interdisciplinary research has been published in leading academic journals like Nature Nanotechnology, Technovation, Journal of Engineering & Technology Management, Scientometrics, and the Journal of Cleaner Production, among others.
He is regularly invited to speak on innovation and entrepreneurship topics and is keenly interested in the pre-formation and early post-formation stages of venture emergence, particularly from university settings.
Courses recently taught at UFV:
Conference Presentations & Research Seminars
Publications
Conference Proceedings
Reports
I have a great appreciation for the professor who pushed me to get my CA designation. Isn’t it crazy how a little conversation can change your life so completely. Keith’s guidance alone has given me a lifetime of happiness and wealth. If I had gone to a larger university who knows if something like that would have ever happened. I am very proud of the route I took, but I wouldn’t have gotten there without my professors at UFV.