Dr. George Vekinis is a Director of Research at the National Research Centre "Demokritos" (NCSRD) in Greece. In the past, he served as the Director of the Education Office of NCSRD, the President of the Researchers' Association, the President of the Hellenic Society of Condensed Matter, and on numerous scientific committees of various conferences. Previously, he worked as a Chief Researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa and as an associate researcher at the Engineering Department of the University of Cambridge, UK. Currently, he teaches postgraduate courses in Innovation Management at the Technical University of Crete and in Advanced Materials at the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki. In the past, he was a visiting professor and speaker at many institutions in Europe, Asia, and the US, a senior consultant in Technology Transfer and Entrepreneurship for the European Commission, and a reviewer and impact assessor for many international research projects. He is the President of AIT SA and has mentored several start-up companies. He has published nearly 300 publications, reports, and conference presentations, two monographs on technology transfer and entrepreneurship, and a popular science book entitled "Physics in the Kitchen."

Part 1: The Long Road Ahead.- 1. An Invention Is Not An Innovation.- 2. Can Every Idea Be Transformed into an Innovation?.- 3. What Are The Driving Forces for Innovation?.- 4. Can Everybody Be an Innovator?.- 5. The Long, Hard Road Ahead.- 6. The Critical Milestones.- Part 2: Cloistered Creativity.- 7. The Birth of the Idea.- 8. How Do You Determine If a New Technology Has Value?- 9. Critical Milestone 1: Proof of Concept.- 10. Research and Development.- 11. Strategy for Protection and Freedom for Use.- 12. Critical Milestone 2: Validation of Technical Feasibility for Applications.- Part 3: Maturing in the Real World.- 13. Out Into the Real World: Scaling Up.- 14. Business Planning for New Entrepreneurs.- 15. Critical Milestone 3: The Industrial Prototype and Validation of Economic Viability.- 16. A Researcher's Strategy for Technology Transfer.- 17. Industrialisation.- 18. On to the Market!.- 19. What Can Go Wrong?.- Part 4: Case Studies in Technology Transfer.- 20. Case Study 1. Microwave Heating Process for Bulk Ceramics.- 21. Case Study 2. High-Hardness, High-Toughness, Nanostructured Coatings for Gears and Axles.- 22. Case Study 3. Advanced Energy Cells for Portable Power Tools and Other Devices.- 23. Case Study 4. Advanced Nanostructured Coatings for High-Precision Turning of Very Hard Materials.- 24. Case Study 5. Nanostructured Medical Preparation.- 25. Case Study 6. Specialist Cross Platform Interface Software.- 26. Case Study 7. Low Cost Inorganic Pigments.- 27. Case Study 8. Low Cost Contact Brushes For High Power Electric Motors.- Part 5: Glory Years, Natural Decline and Renewal.- 28. Glory Years.- 29. Natural Decline And Renewal.- 30. Closing Remarks.