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Karl Ulrich
CIBC Professor

Karl T. Ulrich is the CIBC Professor of Entrepreneurship and e-Commerce at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds an appointment as Professor of Mechanical Engineering. His research is focused on innovation, entrepreneurship, and product development. He is the co-author of Product Design and Development (4th Edition, McGraw-Hill, 2008), a textbook used by a quarter of a million students worldwide. His most recent book is Innovation Tournaments (Harvard Business Press, 2009). He is the winner of many teaching awards, including the Anvil Award, the Miller-Sherrerd Award, and the Excellence in Teaching Award at The Wharton School. At Penn, he co-founded the Weiss Tech House and the Integrated Product Design Program, two institutions fostering innovation in the university community. In addition to his academic work, Professor Ulrich has led dozens of innovation efforts for medical devices, tools, computer peripherals, food products, web-based services, and sporting goods. As a result of this work, he holds more than 20 patents. Professor Ulrich is a founder of Terrapass Inc. which the New York Times identified as one of the most noteworthy ideas of 2005, and he is a designer of the Xootr scooter, which Business Week recognized as one of the 50 coolest products of the 21st Century. Professor Ulrich holds bachelors, masters, and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT.

Current Research

Laura J. Kornish, Karl Ulrich 2009, Characterizing Opportunity Spaces in Innovation: Evidence from Large Samples of Ideas in Five Domains

Karan Girotra, Christian Terwiesch, Karl Ulrich 2009, Idea Generation and the Quality of the Best Idea

Karan Girotra, Christian Terwiesch, Karl Ulrich 2007, User Design of Customized Products

Karl Ulrich 2006, Most Requested Articles - Downloads

Karl Ulrich, Christian Terwiesch, Karan Girotra 2006, Valuing R&D Projects in a Portfolio: Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry

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In The News

Xootr Scooter - 50 Coolest Products of the 21st Century, Business Week, 07/29/2009, Karl Ulrich

Nightly Business Report - 30 Most Important Innovations of Past 30 Years, PBS, 02/16/2009, Karl Ulrich

Practicing What He Preaches, Wharton Alumni Magazine, 11/01/2008, Karl Ulrich

Nightly Business Report - Interview with Melissa Harmon on Innovation, PBS, 08/08/2008, Karl Ulrich

Harper's Index - Energy Saved by Bicycling - October 2006, Harper's, 10/01/2006, Karl Ulrich

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Knowledge@Wharton

Podcast - Innovation - Part 1, 11/03/2008, Karl Ulrich

Podcast - Innovation - Part 2, 11/03/2008, Karl Ulrich

Podcast - Innovation - Part 3, 11/03/2008, Karl Ulrich

Getting Credit for a Novel Approach to Auto Emissions, 03/23/2005, Karl Ulrich

Teaching Materials

My Course Materials
Click on the "My Course Materials" heading for many of my materials.

Epodia.org
Others materials are available from Epodia.org.

Companies Started in OPIM 651 - Problem Solving, Design, and System Improvement

Terrapass
(Wharton Alumni from OPIM651 2004: Tom Arnold and Adam Stein)

Smatchy
(Wharton Alumni from OPIM651 2005: Joel Wooten and Juneen Belknap)

Pixily
This is a venture founded by Prasad Thammineni, an alum of the course.

DOCAsap
Founded by OPIM 651 alumni Puneet Maheshwari and Vicente de Baca.

Lingzini
Actually came out of OPIM 654, the San Francisco web workshop held in January 2009. A power tool for naming and branding products, services, and organizations.

Honors And Awards

Excellence in Teaching Award - The Wharton School, 2007

Elective Teaching Award - Wharton Executive MBA Program, 2006

Distinguished Fellow - POMS College of Product Innovation and Technology Management, 2006

Anvil Award - The Wharton School, 2000

Projects

Karl Ulrich, Book Project - Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society

Christian Terwiesch, Karl Ulrich, Book Project - Innovation Tournaments: Creating and Selecting Exceptional Opportunities

Executive Education

Strategic R&D Management, Philadelphia Campus - The Wharton School and Fontainebleau, France - INSEAD

Competitive Marketing Strategy, Philadelphia Campus - The Wharton School

Managing Global Supply Chains: Products and Services, Philadelphia Campus - The Wharton School

Karl Ulrich
3730 Walnut Street
547 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
Philadelphia, PA19104
Phone: (215) 898-6727
ulrich@wharton.upenn.edu

Research Interests: Innovation, Product Design and Development, Environmental Issues

Last Modified November 11, 2009