Dennis Abremski appointed as Executive Director of the Institute for the Global Entrepreneur at UC San Diego

Dennis Abremski

San Diego, CA, December 13, 2016 -- The UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering is pleased to announce the appointment of Dennis Abremski as the Executive Director of The Institute for the Global Entrepreneur (IGE). The Institute is a collaboration between the Jacobs School of Engineering and Rady School of Management, dedicated to training global technology leaders and translating university discoveries to market.

Abremski comes to UC San Diego most recently from SoCal EED, where he was the Vice President. SoCal EED is a non-profit organization focused on advancing early stage biomedical and personal health-related companies through accelerator and incubator programs.  A founder and startup veteran, Abremski earned a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland and has built a career by balancing his business and technology expertise, having held executive positions in technology, international sales, business development, and operations, primarily in the wireless communications and electronics devices industries.

Abremski began his career as an engineer with the Department of Defense (DOD), which led to startup opportunities in the growing consumer WiFi market, and eventually to Qualcomm, where he collaborated with wireless carriers and industry partners to launch nationwide data services.   He then became a founder and startup executive, focusing on wireless technologies in markets ranging from consumer to enterprise, to Software as a Service (SAAS) and healthcare.Over the past three years, Abremski has been an active mentor in the National Science Foundation sponsored Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program at the Jacobs School’s von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center, a key program within the Institute for the Global Entrepreneur.  The von Liebig center has become renowned for engaging experienced business advisors who have successfully mentored faculty, students, and post graduate scholars who want to see their inventions commercialized for the public good.

Abremski will be working closely with the faculty and leadership from both the Jacobs School and Rady School to continue the development of leadership and entrepreneurial education and training programs, in collaboration with other campus entrepreneurial programs, to prepare students to become change makers, entrepreneurs, and business leaders who drive innovation.

According to Abremski, what excites him the most about IGE is “the enormous potential for advancing research to market at UC San Diego”. 

“It’s fitting to have Entrepreneur in the title of our institute, because entrepreneurial teams bring ideas to life.  We educate and empower our teams to bring their ideas to market.,” said Abremski.

In addition, Abremski will be driving efforts to introduce new business and technology accelerator initiatives with regional industry partners to significantly increase the commercialization rate of engineering and technology innovations. This presents a unique opportunity to contribute to economic development with the creation of new companies and trained professionals.

Abremski can be reached at dabremski@eng.ucsd.edu.

For more information on the Institute for the Global Entrepreneur, please visit http://jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/ige