Luciano Kay is a Ph.D. candidate in Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA. His concentration is Economic Development and his primary research interests are technological innovation and innovation policy. Kay is also a research assistant with the Georgia Tech Program in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP). Kay’s doctoral dissertation investigates the means by which technology prizes induce innovation. His research focuses on cases of recent aerospace and defense technology prize competitions organized by private sponsors and governmental agencies. In particular, his research looks at motivations, R&D activities, and technology outputs of prizes and their relation with industry developments. Kay has received grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation and the IBM Center for the Business of Government to support his research on prizes. Extensive analysis of prize cases has given Kay significant knowledge of prize design, implementation, and evaluation based on empirical
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Kay’s research at STIP investigates nanotechnology scientific publication and patenting activities by universities, government laboratories, and companies in the U.S., Latin America, and worldwide. Kay’s current projects include the analysis of U.S. and global corporate research and commercialization networks and the assessment of the U.S. Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers (NSEC) program. His work at STIP also includes other research areas such as university-industry linkages with focus on SMEs, technology extension services to support industry, innovation and competitiveness in small open economies, and innovation in Georgia (USA) manufacturing enterprises. Kay received the William H. Read Award for Outstanding Public Policy Student 2008-2009 at Georgia Tech. His articles have been published in the Journal of Nanoparticle Research, the International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development (forthcoming), and the Journal of Technology Transfer (forthcoming). Kay also contributed a chapter to the book Nanotechnology and the Challenges of Equity, Equality and Development. Kay has a Licentiate degree in Organizational Administration from Universidad Nacional del Litoral and a Mechanical-Electrical Technician degree from Escuela Industrial Superior, both from Argentina.