The Renewable Bioproducts Institute (RBI) has appointed Titiksha Fernandes as a Strategic Initiative Leader (SIL) to help shape the next phase of its research and engagement strategy.
SILs serve on RBI’s leadership team and play a strategic role in expanding interdisciplinary collaboration, strengthening Georgia Tech’s leadership in the bioeconomy, and catalyzing new research and education initiatives across campus.
Fernandes will lead RBI’s initiative to develop structured collaboration with the Scheller College of Business. Her effort will establish a strategic framework for exploring deeper RBI–Scheller engagement across research, education, and entrepreneurship.
Opportunities for Scheller College faculty, staff, students to contribute to this interdisciplinary collaboration include:
- Curriculum integration that brings business training to RBI fellows
- Pathways for business students to contribute to RBI research
- Industry engagement
- Joint entrepreneurship
- Initiatives that translate RBI discoveries into ventures
- Joint research projects that pair Scheller faculty expertise with RBI technical projects
“Scientific innovation alone doesn’t create impact,” said Fernandes. “We need the strategy, entrepreneurship, and systems thinking that allow discoveries to move from the lab into markets and communities. This initiative is about building those pathways intentionally.”
Fernandes currently serves as extension professional II for the Drawdown Georgia Business Compact, an initiative of the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Business. In this role, she advances initiatives in materials circularity and food and agriculture. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and is a Certified Circular Economy Manager, with experience designing sustainability and resource efficiency policy at national and state levels, including work on e-waste reform in India and circular economy implementation in the U.S.
RBI’s Strategic Initiative Leaders are appointed for renewable 12-month terms and are expected to foster new interdisciplinary collaborations that extend beyond their home units. Leaders participate in shaping research directions, reviewing fellowship proposals, developing workshops and symposia, and connecting faculty, students, industry, and national laboratories.
If you are interested in pursuing interdisciplinary collaboration with RBI, contact Titiksha Fernandes.