JULIO MARIO OTTINO
Guggenheim Fellow
Former Dean of Engineering
Founding Co-director of Northwestern University's Institute on Complex Systems
Julio M. Ottino is an internationally recognized researcher, academic thought leader, author and artist, former dean of Engineering and Applied Science, and Professor of Management and Organizations at the Kellogg School of Management in Northwestern University.
Julio M. Ottino is an internationally recognized researcher and academic thought leader at Northwestern University, former dean of Engineering and Applied Science, author and artist, who is currently Distinguished McCormick Institute Professor of Engineering and Professor in Management and Organizations at the Kellogg School of Management.
Born in Argentina, Ottino grew up with twin interests in physical sciences and visual arts. He described science as “an island of stability in the sea of chaos that was Argentina in the late 1970s.” He was attracted by the cleanliness of the concepts which were in stark contrast to most of the things that surrounded student life during those days. Art provided a cathartic means of expression.
Ottino’s scientific interests, and most of the early attention he received, can be traced back to work in chaos theory and mixing, which he started exploring in the 1980s. Ottino’s seminal insights stemmed from a combination of scientific insight and visualization. Most recently he has been interested in the study of complex systems as well as the interplay of art, technology, and science.
An academic entrepreneur, Ottino founded initiatives in design, entrepreneurship, and energy and sustainability. He was the founding co-director of the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems. In 2008 he was listed in the “One Hundred Engineers of the Modern Era". He has been a Guggenheim Fellow and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2017, he was awarded the Bernard M. Gordon Prize, the National Academy of Engineering top prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education. He has been a senior advisor to Unilever, a member of the technical advisory board of Dow Chemical, and the science board of AkzoNobel.
The Nexus: Augmented Thinking for a Complex World, written with noted designer Bruce Mau, dealing with creativity and innovation and the intersections of art, technology, and science, and published by MIT press, was selected as category winner in Engineering and Technology for the 2023 PROSE Award from the Association of American Publishers.
Speech topics
thrive in the midst of complexity
An enriching discussion about innovative thinking, and the intersections between art, technology, and science, and how to navigate and thrive in the midst of complexity. When we augment our thinking spaces, we expand our potential for finding creative solutions. But to make creative solutions real through carefully orchestrated execution, we must understand the fabric of complexity that governs how every component of society and the world functions today.
Former dean of engineering and applied science, academic entrepreneur, artist, and author of The Nexus, Julio Mario Ottino cuts across several domains: art, technology, and science. He’ll shine a light on why misconceptions limit our understanding of them and how to extract the benefits of seeing them as joined up rather than disconnected. He advocates three points: (1) Understand how others think (2) See value in the difficulty of opposite viewpoints, and (3) Learn to see simplicity in complexity and complexity in simplicity.
MERGE DOMAINS and EXPAND CREATIVITY
Augment your thinking and expand creativity and innovation
Enriching discussions about creativity, intersections between art, technology, and science, and how to navigate and thrive in the midst of complexity, spark ideas about innovation, become a better leader, and see the world with a broader new lens.
Leading researcher in chaos and complexity, dean of engineering and applied science, academic entrepreneur, artist, and author of The Nexus.
For Julio Ottino, creativity cuts across domains; it can be seen in art, technology, and science. But misconceptions limit our understanding and extracting the benefits of seeing them as joined up rather than disconnected. He advocates three points: (1) If you want to augment your thinking spaces and generate more creative ideas, understand how others think (2) See value in the difficulty of facing opposite ideas and viewpoints, (3) Learn to see simplicity in complexity and complexity in simplicity and thrive in complexity.
Books
The Nexus: Augmented Thinking for a Complex World--The New Convergence of Art, Technology, and Science
Why today’s complex problems demand a radically new way of thinking—one in which art, technology, and science converge. Learn more at www.thenexusbook.com.