Sebastian Fixson is Associate Dean of Academic Programs and Innovation at the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business, and Professor of Innovation & Design, at Babson College. As Associate Dean, he oversees the management of current graduate programs and is also responsible for the initiation and launch of new initiatives.
Dr. Fixson concentrates his work on helping people and organizations build innovation capabilities. In his research, he investigates how factors such as structure and governance of innovation processes, practices like design thinking, and the use of digital design tools affect the nature and outcome of innovation work.
Dr. Fixson teaches innovation, design, and operations management related courses and executive education programs at Babson College, USA, and Universities and Companies around the World. In addition to his teaching, Dr. Fixson has innovated on new ways of teaching innovation, including programs, spaces, and simulations. From 2014-2017, he served as the founding Faculty Director of Babson's Master of Science in Management in Entrepreneurial Leadership (MSEL) program. He also works with industrial clients and partners in industries ranging from health care, to manufacturing, and to software.
Dr. Fixson's writes for both academic and practitioner audiences, and his work has appeared in books and journals such as Concurrent Engineering, Creativity and Innovation Management, Design Management Review, European Management Review, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Informs Transactions on Education, International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Product Innovation Management, MIT Sloan Management Review, Research Policy, Research-Technology Management, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, as well as online outlets such as Harvard Business Review online. His latest book The Innovation Navigator, co-authored with Tucker Marion, provides guidance for executives on how to structure and organize innovation processes (published by University of Toronto Press in November 2018).
Dr. Fixson holds a Diplom-Ingenieur (MSc) degree in mechanical engineering from Technical University Karlsruhe, Germany, and a PhD in Technology, Management, and Policy from MIT.