Research clusters

• Organisations in Transition
• Sustainability & Circular Economy

Research interests

• Innovation in High-tech Industries
• Systems of Innovation in Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (Nanotechnology, Heath-care, Hydrogen Energy, Cancer Immunotherapies)
• Tech Mining and Bibliometric Methods
• R&D Collaborations and Technology Competencies
• Technology and Manufacturing Readiness Assessment

Professor Islam has an established research record in the areas of innovation and technology management. His research interests include innovation in high-tech industries, systems of innovation in emerging technologies, organisational capabilities and collaborative innovations. Recent research has examined the technological innovation systems including all those structural elements (institutions, actors, collaborations and networks) that directly influence the development and diffusion of a specific technology, its strengths and weaknesses as well as its dynamics. The research includes understanding of the technology’s (e.g. nanotechnology, cancer immunotherapies) research paths and commercialization prospects. In the recent years, he has developed new concepts and research methods related to technology and/or manufacturing readiness assessment that will be of practical benefit to industries including the manufacturing sector.

His research work focuses on the following themes:

• Innovation System for Emerging Technologies: The study seeks to understand the development and diffusion of micro and nano-scale technologies (MNTs) into the manufacturing sector and to find the gap of linkages among actors. The research also sets out to explore the components and structure of the emerging biomedical and clinical innovation system building around cancer immunotherapies. The innovation systems framework guides this research, and directs the study to look at the changing role of knowledge and technology transfer in adapting to the emerging potentially altered (radical) manufacturing landscape.
• Understanding the Organisational Capabilities and Challenges: To some extent MNTs could be seen as a means by which firms can strive to ensure economic sustainability and competitiveness in the decade ahead. This research examines the organisational capabilities and challenges face by firms to deploy MNTs and the role of government in structuring the business environment firms participate in fabricating structures at the nano-scale; products using nano-particles or more complex systems such as lab-on chips devices.
• Mechanism of the Emerging Technology Adoption: Using patent database and tech mining software, this research carries out automating mining and clustering of technology terms occurring in patent descriptors. The use of specialist computer software helps to statistically and textually analyses patents, mapping and clustering of key technologies, visualising collaborative linkages among firms. The aim is to formulate the mechanism of technology knowledge creation, collaborations, and its deployment to industry sectors.

The prospective PhD students are welcomed to apply in any areas of innovation, technology and big data management.

Research projects

2016-2017

• The University of Exeter Business School Cluster Funding (Organisations in Transition) – Evolution of cancer immunotherapies in the health-care innovation systems

£5,000; Prof N. Islam (PI), A. Robinson (Co-PI)

• The University of Exeter Business School Cluster Funding (Sustainability and Circular Economy) – Modelling for Discontinuous Innovation and Its Impact on Social Change

£5,000; Prof N. Islam (Co-PI), N. Mustafee (PI), J. Jia (Co-PI)

• The University of Exeter Business School Cluster Funding (Organisations in Transition) – Comparative study of the impact of changing trends in customer buying behaviour on the content monetization strategies of digital publishers in U.K. and India, £3,500; Prof N. Islam (PI), B. Russell (Co-PI)

2014-2015

• University of Abertay Dundee Research Funds – Grant to support a research collaboration with ITS New Delhi India and to present research papers to PICMET Annual Conference 2015 (Portland, OR, USA) and to BAASANA Annual Conference 2015 (Manhattan, NY, USA), £5,000

2011-2014

• Glyn Rowland’s Research Grants – Collaboration Structure in Nanotechnology Innovation System, £45,000; N. Islam (PS), N. Fuller-Love and S. Ozcan

2013-2016

• Yarmouk University Research Grants – Impact of Organisational Culture on Lean Manufacturing, JOD 88,910 (GBP conversion £79,170); N. Islam (PS), S. McGuire and L. Baqleh

2013

• British Council – Erasmus Grants for Staff Mobility – Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany, £2,500
• Aberystwyth University Learning and Teaching Fellowship (AULTF), £1,200; N. Islam (PI)

2011-2013

• Aberystwyth University Research Grants – Exploration of the UK industry takes up of nanotech and to encourage its use, £6,000; N. Islam (PI)

2009-2010

• EPSRC-funded Research Fellowship (SUPERGEN XIV Consortium UK project) – Socio-technical analysis and appraisal of hydrogen energy technologies, £35,000; N. Islam (Work Package on hydrogen energy innovation)

2008-2009

• EPSRC-funded Research Fellowship (CUIMRC project) – Technological forecasting: establishing a management decision support system to forecast the interchange ability, trajectory and limits of emerging and disruptive technologies, £50,000; N. Islam (Leader for Work Module 5)   

2002-2008

• Ministry of Education Japan Research Scholarship – Fluorous Nanoflow Systems and Nanotechnology Systems of Innovation, ¥126,000,000 (GBP conversion £680,000); N. Islam

Key publications | Publications by category | Publications by year

Editor, External Positions

• Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning
• Guest Editor, Technological Forecasting and Social Change
• Academic Editor, British Journal of Applied Science and Technology
• External Examiner for PhD, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Bradford, 2016-2017
• External Examiner for Suffolk Business School, University of Suffolk, 2016-2018
• Visiting Professor, North South University, Dhaka
• Board of Directors Member, The Business and Applied Sciences Academy of North America (USA)
• Editorial Board Member, International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Open Journal of Business and Management

Conference Leadership, Professional Affiliations

• Conference Chair, The Business and Applied Sciences Academy of North America (BAASANA) 2017 International Conference, University of Exeter, UK, 16-18 August, 2017
• Director and Chair of PhD Colloquium, Portland International Conference for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), USA
• Professional Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), UK
• Country Coordinator for UK and Member Board of Directors for The Business and Applied Sciences Academy of North America (BAASANA), USA
• Member of the Portland International Centre for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), USA
• Member of International Association of Management of Technology (IAMOT), USA
• Member of International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM), UK

Awards, Impact

• Received the ‘Award of Excellence’ for his distinctive contributions to the Business and Applied Sciences Academy of North America (BAASANA), 2016, Manhattan, NY, USA
• Winner of the ‘Brad Hosler Award for Outstanding Paper’, from PICMET Annual Conference 2015, Oregon, USA
• Awarded a certificate as Nominating Professor in recognition of outstanding PhD student mentoring, PICMET Annual Conference 2015, Oregon, USA
• Received the ‘Award of Excellence’ for valuable services as Member of the BAASANA Board of Directors, from the BAASANA 2015 Annual Conference, Manhattan, NY, USA
• Outstanding Teacher Award: Aberystwyth University Learning and Teaching Fellowship (Teaching Excellence Award) 2013
• Winner of the ‘Pratt & Whitney Canada Best Paper Award’, from The R&D Management Conference 2008, Ottawa, Canada
• Impact – United Nations Policy Analysis and Recommendations for ‘Nanotechnology in Water Treatment and Agricultural Productions

Committee/Panel Activities

• Panelist for ‘Meet the Editors’, PICMET'16 Conference, Sept. 4-8, 2016, Hawaii, USA.
• Conference Co-organiser, Doctoral Colloquium Chair for PICMET’16 Organising Committee
• Invited Session Chair for two sessions, ‘Emerging Tech 1’ and ‘Collaborations for Technology Management 3’, PICMET'16 Conference, Sept. 4-8, 2016, Hawaii, USA.
• Panelist for ‘Meet the Editors, PICMET'15 Conference, August 2-6, 2015, Portland, OR, USA.
• Invited Session Chair, ‘Emerging Technologies 2’, PICMET'15 Conference, August 2-6, 2015, Portland, OR, USA.
• Invited Chair and Coordinator for two sessions, ‘Collaborations for Technology Management 3 and 4’, PICMET'15 Conference, August 2-6, 2015, Portland, OR, USA.
• Invited Session Chair, ‘Impacts of Collaboration in Science, Technology and Innovation’, 3rd Global Tech Mining Conference, September 25-26, 2013, Atlanta, GA, USA.
• Invited Session Chair, ‘Patterns in Data’, 3rd Global Tech Mining Conference, September 25-26, 2013, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Invited Lectures

• Guest lecture on ‘Innovation Ecosystem in Emerging Technology’ delivered to The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA, August 10, 2015
• Invited lecture on ‘The Initiatives and Perceptions of Hydrogen Economy’ to an International Workshop on Energy Technologies (Emerging Technologies, Life Cycle and Supply Chain Assessment, Systematic Design, and Decision Making)  at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, JAPAN, October 6-8, 2014
• Invited keynote lecture on 'Strategic Innovation by Disruptions' at Innovation and Technology Management Africa, held in Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA, August 10-12, 2011
• Invited lecture on 'Nanotechnology R&D and Commercialization in Japan' at 2nd Manchester International Workshop on Nanotechnology, Society & Policy, Manchester Institute for Innovation Research, University of Manchester, UK, October 6-8, 2009
• Guest lecture on 'Nanotechnology Innovation in Asia: Nanotech Fusion Dynamism', at the Dept. of Engineering and Technology Management, National University of Singapore (NUS), SINGAPORE, July 26, 2007

Professor Islam has substantial experience of significant innovation in inclusive curriculum development and has engaged himself in launching a number of new innovation management and international supply chain management modules for undergraduate and postgraduate students including a new MSc programme. As a module leader he has taught a wide variety of courses across the range of teaching areas and levels, and has integrated his research into teaching of innovation management, operations management, and supply chain management.

Modules

2016/17

• BEM2007 - Operations Management
• BEM3019 - Strategic Operations Management
• BUS3001 - Dissertation