LSU Vice President of Research and Economic Development Robert Twilley says the university will not rush to replace former executive Andrew Maas, who is leaving LSU for the University of Texas.
Maas, who recently led the team that secured the largest grant ever awarded by the National Science Foundation for a sweeping project called Future Use of Energy in Louisiana, or FUEL, has been named an assistant vice president for technology transfer for the University of Texas at Austin.
He will lead the university’s research commercialization and innovation initiatives and oversee the protection and commercialization of UT’s intellectual property through an initiative called Discovery to Impact.
“I’m really happy for Andy. He’s done a superb job at LSU. I can understand why one of the top commercialization universities in the nation wants him there,” Twilley tells Daily Report. We will continue what he’s built. You know, commercializing research is an important part of our program. We’ve got big shoes to fill, but we’re going to aggressively go and search for someone to run our program and keep supporting our faculty.”
At LSU, Maas oversaw the Office of Innovation & Technology Commercialization, LSU Innovation Park and the Small Business Development Centers.
Maas was a significant force in securing the $160 million NSF grant for FUEL, which comprises more than 50 private and public partners including community and technical colleges, energy companies, state agencies and universities. Its primary focus is Louisiana’s energy transition and the decarbonization of the state’s industrial corridor.
LSU’s FUEL project is one of 10 in the U.S. LSU hired Mike Mazzola last summer as the executive director of the project and Twilley says Maas’ departure should not impact the project.
“That project is well on its way as we have all that leadership in place,” Twilley says. “It was the ingenuity, initiative and creativity of Andy that got it here and we’re going to want his successor to bring another one.”
Twilley says Maas’ responsibilities have been distributed across the staff. He expects a national search to begin in the spring and hopes to fill the position this summer.
“We would be ready to start the search around the first of April,” Twilley says. “By then, we’ll know better the priorities of the research plan for LSU. We’re taking a hard look at that with President [William] Tate. I want that to parallel his efforts to build out the research program at LSU.”
Take Our Poll
