Diran Soumonni is an Associate Professor of Innovation Policy and Management at the Wits Business School. His teaching and research interests include comparative innovation systems, energy innovation, technopreneurship, nanotechnology innovation, and philosophical paradigms in scientific research. Inspired by Global South and Global African thinkers on sustainable industrialisation, his current research advances a more holistic and historically-grounded perspective on ‘endogenous innovation’. He earned a PhD in Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, where he focused on both innovation studies and energy policy.
Prior to embarking on his doctoral studies, Diran worked as a materials engineer in the research commercialisation of energy-efficient display and lighting technologies. He also holds a master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering (Georgia Institute of Technology), and undergraduate degrees in Physics and Mathematics (Tuskegee University, USA). He currently serves on the scientific committee of the International Network on Appropriate Technology (INAT). He is a longstanding member of the Global Network for the Economics of Learning, Innovation and Competence Building Systems (GLOBELICS), and of the African Network for the Economics of Learning, Innovation and Competence Building Systems (AFRICALICS).