“It is interesting that the paradigm now called ‘open innovation’ is often recognized as a recent phenomenon. Nerac’s experience in the Apollo space missions first revealed the benefits of such an approach in the 1960s and ’70s. Nerac began as an acknowledgement that NASA, even with massive government funding and JFK’s executive endorsement of the Apollo mission, needed outside ideas, technology, and advice.”
Vice President of Business Solutions Kevin Blackwell focuses on business research, new ventures, open innovation, and business development. He brings technical expertise in automotive, test and measurement, computer software, and marketing analytics.
Mr. Blackwell’s career began at General Motors Corp., where he helped design the first antilock brake system (ABS) for low-cost automobiles, setting the stage for standard ABS on all vehicles. He holds a patent on portions of the design, which Automotive magazine named its “Automotive Technology of the Year for 1992.”
He joined National Instruments Corporation in 1994, serving as a field sales executive before joining Bristol Technology Inc., a software company that his brothers co-founded. Bristol Technology grew from an attic office to a company with more than 120 employees and offices in the U.S., Holland, and India. The company earned a place on Inc. 500 list and a No. 1 ranking in Connecticut’s Fast 50.
While at Bristol, Mr. Blackwell founded a division, called Kenosia Corporation, which provides marketing analytics software to the consumer goods industries. The Kenosia division was sold in 2004, and Bristol itself was sold to Hewlett-Packard in February 2007.
Mr. Blackwell holds undergraduate degrees in computer science and electrical engineering as well as an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
