Alain WegmannAlain Wegmann joined EPFL in 1996. His interests are in techniques to better align business and IT. He developed, with his group and partners, the SEAM methods: SEAM for business (strategic thinking), SEAM for enterprise architecture (business/IT alignment) and SEAM for software (IT). The originality of SEAM is in the integration of generic systems thinking principles into discipline-specific methods. This integration has three benefits: (1) the possibility to relate the different disciplines (by having common systemic principles); (2) the capability to leverage on discipline-specific knowledge (by using the vocabulary and the heuristics of each discipline) and (3) to be more efficient in solving problems (by benefiting from the problem solving techniques developed in systems thinking). SEAM is currently applied in master courses and consulting. Consulting is done for start-ups developing their business and technology strategies and for large companies having service-oriented architecture projects.
Prior to joining EPFL, Alain Wegmann worked for 14 years with Logitech in software development/engineering management (Switzerland, Taiwan, US), manufacturing (Taiwan) and marketing (US). When he left Logitech, Alain Wegmann was engineering vice-president and marketing director for large accounts.
Kenneth YoungeKenneth is Associate Professor in Corporate Entrepreneurship and Chair of Technology and Innovation Strategy at EPFL. He is an applied economist and data scientist, using experimental economics and machine learning methods to examine the strategic importance of patent portfolios, knowledge spillovers, financial risk disclosure, computational law, and employee mobility. His work has been published in the top journals in economics and strategy, and he is the past winner of the Strategic Management Society’s Best Conference Paper Award, the Academy of Management’s BPS Outstanding Dissertation Award, and numerous teaching awards. Prior to returning to academia, Professor Younge worked for 14 years in industry as a Chief Technology Officer, President, and Director of Development. He has co-founded four firms over the course of his career and his research aims to combine theoretical economics with real-world impact.
