Speaking, Media, and Publications

Steve Rader has provided speaking services including over 100 keynote addresses, panel discussions (moderator and member), presentations, and talks for a number of events and organizations including The World Bank, Airbus, Mozilla and The Scottish Enterprise:

• Engineering and Construction Contracting (ECC) Mid-Year Conference, Panel on Problem Solving Techniques, Houston, TX April 2025.

• SXSW Panel: The Next Workforce: Embracing Freelancers in the Workplace, Austin, TX, March 2025.

• SpaceTalks 5.0, Future Markets, Oxfordshire, UK, February 2025

• Keynote for the YPO Aerospace Innovation Showcase, Houston, TX , January 2025

• "The Power of the Crowd" presentation to the Rally Innovation Conference 2024, Indianapolis, IN, August 2024.

• "Beyond Earth - Unleashing the Entrepreneurial Spirit in Space", Keynote address for Shell's DevCon 2024, September 2024.

• Chief Innovation Officer Panelist and Future of Work with AI breakout facilitatory for ACT-IAC Emerging Technology & Innovation Conference, Cambridge, MD, May 2024.

• "The Power of the Crowd" Keynote for the Warner Music Group's Topline Alumni Network, Virtual, May 2024

• "Disruptive Transformation of the Workforce" Keynote at the Virtual AI for HR Summit, May 2024

• "The Power of Open" Keynote and Problem Analysis Workshop, Staff Summit for the Educational Support Center, Region 12, Waco, TX, May 2024

• NASA Convergent Aeronautics Solutions (CAS)  Discovery Panel, Presenter, Virtual, May 2, 2024

• "NASA's Open Innovation Program" presentation to the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) Prizes Community of Practice, Virtual, April 17, 2024

• "The Power of the Crowd" Keynote to the Technology Collaboration Center's Wearable Workshop, Houston, TX, April 15, 2024

• "The Power of the Crowd" Keynote for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Quarterly AMD Innovation Incubator (I2) Meeting, Virtual, March 28, 2024

• "Crowdsourcing at NASA & How You Can Be Part of Our Mission" panel, South-by-Soutwest (SWSX) 2024, Austin, TX, March 2024.

• "Riding the Surge: Mastering Open Talent Economy Before It Reshapes Your World" Presentation, Future of Leadership Summit, Keynote, Virtual, March 7, 2024

• "The Future of Open" Keynote at Emerson Innovation Day at the Ion, Houston, TX, February 21, 2024

• "The Power of the Crowd" presentation to the NASA Alumni League, Virtual, February 1, 2024

• "Crowdsourcing and Enterprise Data Systems at NASA" presentation for Salesforce Webinar for Department of Energy, NASA, and National Science Foundation, Virtual, January 25, 2024

• "NASA's Open Innovation Program" presentation, Airbus, Toulouse, France, January 11-12, 2024

• "Open Innovation AI/ML/Data Science Challenges at NASA", The International Workshop on AI-Powered Space, presentation at the Ion in Houston, TX, November 12, 2023.

• "The Power of Open" Keynote address, 2023 Water Quality Technology Conference (WQTC), Dallas, TX, November 6, 2023

• "Living into a World of Rapid Change and Increasing Complexity", Keynote, UMC Clergy Gathering, Palestine TX, September 2023

• "Working Without Borders: The Promise and Peril of Online Gig Work" for The World Bank, panelist for report launch event, Virtual, September 6, 2023

• "Solving NASA's Problems by Harnessing the Power of the Crowd" webinar hosted by Ideascale, Virtual, June 21, 2023

• "Innovation Tips and Tricks" presentation at the NASA JSC Hackation, The Ion, Houston, TX, April 14, 2023

• "NASA's Open Innovation Program" presentation to the "Financial Innovation & Transformation (FIT) Innovation Speaker Series" hosted by the United States Department of the Treasury, Virtual, April 13, 2023

• "NASA's Open Innovation Program" presentation, Decarbonization Strategy Workshop by the Innovation Leadership for Large Organizations (ILO) at Greentown Labs, Houston, TX, March 2023

• "Living into a World of Rapid Change and Increasing Complexity", Keynote, Launch 3.0, Texas Methodist Foundation, Houston TX, March 2023

• "NASA's Open Innovation  Program" Presentation, SPACECOM Conference, Orlando, FL, February 22, 2023

• "The Power of the Crowd" Rice Space Frontiers Talk, Houston, TX, February 2, 2023

• Pumps & Pipes "Ion to Infinity" Summit, Panel & Presentation, The Ion, Houston, TX, December 5, 2022

• American Manufacturing Strategies Summit, Keynote, Houston, TX, October 11-12, 2022

• Port of Tyne, Maritime Innovation Week, Virtual Keynote Speaker, June 16, 2022

• EcoSystems 2030, Keynote Address, La Coruña, Spain, June 2-4, 2022

• Key Executive Leadership Program, Panel, American University, April 12, 2022

• The Art of the Possible, Speaker, WM for Tomorrow Lab Event, March 2, 2022

• Open Innovation and the Future of Work, Speaker, Institute for Innovation in Large Organizations, Houston, TX, January 28, 2022

• Open Innovation & the Future of Work, Keynote, Virtual Innovators Conference, Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), January 15, 2022

• Panelist for "Focus on Sustainability through Diversification" panel, AIAA Sci Tech Conference, San Diego, CA, January 5, 2022

• Concentra Bank, Keynote Address (virtual), December 15, 2021

• MDI Ventures Virtual Workshop, Indonesia, November 23, 2021

• Design Thinking 2021, Keynote Address, Austin, Texas, September 21-23, 2021.

• R&D Management Conference 2020, Keynote Address, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, July 7-8, 2021

• Shirley Ryan Ability Labs: Grand Rounds, Speaker, June 2021

• EcoSystems 2030, Opening Keynote Address, Granada, Spain, June 2021

• Life Happens Board, Speaker, May 12, 2021.

• Skill Summit 2021, Keynote address, Solid Professor, May 12, 2021

• The Association for Intelligent Information Management (AIIM) Conference, Speaker, April 27-29, 2021

• Democratizing Tech and Creativity Panel, ION, Houston, April 16, 2021

• Bottom Line User Forum, Keynote Address, March 18, 2021

• Hacking HR 2021 Global Online Conference, March 8-12, 2021

• Clustre Open Innovation Talk, March 10, 2021

• Harnessing the Power of the Crowd to Stay Relevant and Competitive in a Rapidly Changing World, Keynote for Amplify Australia, December 2020

• From Moon Shots to the Gig Economy; New Risks and New Opportunities, Keynote for LAMP Asia 2020 Conference, November 18, 2020

• HRFest Online 2020: The Future of Work, Keynote speaker, November 4, 2020

• Blockchain Expo North America Virtual, Inspirational Keynote Speaker, November 4, 2020

• Adapting to Thrive in Today's World of Relentless Change, ECOMMTalks, November 2, 2020

• Omdena Demo Day, Keynote, October 29, 2020

• Open innovation strategies in talent recruitment, Freelancer Business Conference, Interview, October 27, 2020

• Leadership Development Program Speaker/Panel at Zurich Insurance Group, Switzerland, October 26, 2020

• Innovation Leader's IMPACT 2020, Session speaker, October 20, 2020

• Open Assembly's Global Summit, "Finding the Right Partners" panel, Moderator, October 2020.

• CrowdsourcingWeek's Virtual Crowd 2.0 Summit: The Power of Us and Collective Consciousness, Speaker, September 17, 2020

• SIA CWS Summit - Technology and Innovation Track: Bring the Crowd to You - Accessing Contingent Talent in a World of Relentless Change, September 15, 2020

• Fintech Solutions Summit, Opening Keynote Address, Virtual, June 16, 2020 

• Panel moderator for "Handshake: Robotics and the Human Touch" virtual panel for Swissnex Boston, June 11, 2020.

• "Efforts to Harness the Power of the Crowd when Innovation Matters Most" Keynote at  the XXXI International Society of Professional Innovation Managers (ISPIM) Innovation Conference, June 8, 2020.

• The Intersection of Sustainability & Open Innovation webinar, panelist March 19, 2020

• HackingHR's Innovation and Future of Work Conference, "What is the Future of Work Anyway?" panel, Online, March 2020

• "The Future of Work: Closing the Skills Gap" panel at General Assembly's Houston launch in Houston TX, December 2019

• Panel moderator for "Passion Communities" panel at Topcoder's Innovation Summit, Houston TX, November 2019

• Hacking HR Reskilling & Upskilling: Getting the Global Workforce Ready for the Future of Work, Online Event Panel, November 12, 2019

• "Open Innovation: The Secret to Unlocking Cross Industry Innovation" keynote presentation to the Cross-Industry Innovation Summit, Houston TX, November 2019

• "Experience With The Crowd: Case Studies of Different Ways the Crowd Has Been Leveraged For Innovation" workshop for Impact 2019 Conference by Innovation Leader, San Francisco CA, October 2019

• "The Power of Open to Access the Innovations Needed to Make an Impact and Stay Competitive in a Changing World" Keynote Address to Innovate46 Conference by SACCNY at NASDAQ in New York City, October 2019

• GAMA International's Executive Leadership Cabinet meeting Keynote Address, Houston TX, October 2019

• "Emerging and Disruptive Technologies Track" Panelist at the 2019 Collaboration in the Gig Economy conference by Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA), San Diego CA, September 2019

• Open Innovation Workshop for the Scottish Enterprise Open Innovation Cohort, Glasgow Scotland, August 2019

• "Open Innovation", Presentation to BHP Innovation Workshop, Houston TX, March 2019

• Open Innovation Panel,  Houston Open Innovation Conference, Houston TX, March 2019

• "Open Innovation and Crowdsourcing Platform Contracts" Presentation to the Open-Assembly Collective, March 2019

• "Utilizing the Power of the Crowd! Part 2" Crowdsourcing Week - Live Online Panel, March 2019

• "Open Innovation Program" Presentation to the New York Space Alliance Startup Academy, March 2019

• "How to Utilize the Power of the Crowd!" Crowdsourcing Week - Live Online Panel, February 2019

• Opening Keynote, "Open Innovation, and the Future of Work," Startcon 2018 Conference, Sydney Australia, November, 2018

• Innovation in Large Organizations Panel, Cross-Industry Innovation Summit, Houston TX, November 2018

• "Crowdsourcing: Opening Up Innovation"  Crowdsourcing Week Global, Washington DC,October 2018.

• "Curated Crowds, and the Future of Work" Innovation Summit at Topcoder Open, Dallas TX, October 2018

• "Experiences with Open Innovation" Presentation and Panel to Anadarko Petrolium, Houston TX, September, 2018

• "Scaling Innovation" Workshop at the NESTA Innovation Growth Lab Policy and Practice Learning Lab, Harvard Business School, Boston MA, June 2018

• "Open Innovation" Presentations to the Texas Secretary of State, University Researchers, and Austin's Capital Factory, Austin TX, April 2018

• "Open by Design" Presentation to Mozilla Speaker Series, San Francisco CA, January, 2018

• "Open Innovation" Keynote and Panel for the Scottish Enterprise Open Innovation Cohort Management Review, Glasgow Scotland, November 2017

• "Crowd-Sourcing and Innovation" Presentation to Silicon Labs for their Tech Talk Series, Austin TX, October 2017

• "Open Innovation" Keynote presentation to Rocky Mountain Electric League (RMEL) conference, Tucson AZ, September 2017

• "Open Innovation Toolkit" Presentation and Workshop for the Scottish Enterprise Open Innovation Cohort, Glasgow Scotland, June 2017

• Western Area Power Administration I2T Summit - Open Innovation Panel, Folsom CA, May 2017

• "Open Innovation Methods" Series of Presentations and Workshops for the Meteorological Service of Canada, Toronto/Montreal/Ottawa Canada, February 2017

• "Open Innovation" Presentation to the Cross-Industry Innovation Summit, Houston TX, September 2016

• "Crowd-Based Challenges as an Innovation Tool" Keynote presentation to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Public Safety Conference, San Diego CA, June 2016

• "Crowdsourcing" Keynote to the AIIM Southwest Meeting, Houston TX, March 2016

• "The Power of the Crowd" AIAA Houston Innovation Workshop, Houston TX, January 2016

• "Overcoming Organization Resistance to Crowdsourcing" Speaker at Crowdopolis 2015, San Francisco CA, Oct 2015

Steve Rader has lectured on open innovation and the future of work at various universities at both undergraduate and graduate school level including Harvard Business School, The Wharton School, Stanford University, Rice University, MIT, William & Mary University, Northeastern University, and the University of Houston. Additionally, Steve had provided professional development training commercially for organizations like MassChallenge, BBVA, HackingHR, and PMI.

• Coursera Course "Creativity: Approaches to Enhance Individual Organizational and Society's Creativity", Contributing lecturer (53:56), The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, February, 2025.

• Lecture on Open Innovation at University of Houston's Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture, Houston TX, January, 2025

• Foresight Institute Innovation Workshop for BBVA, Madrid, Spain, June 27-29, 2024

• Lecture on Open Innovation, Rice University, April 4, 2024

• Lecture on Open Innovation at University of Houston's Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture, Houston TX, February 21, 2024

• Lecture on Open Innovation, Rice University, February 1, 2024

• Lecture on Open Innovation, Harvard Business School, Virtual, September 2023

• "The Power of the Crowd" Lecture, Masters of Management Innovation & Enterpreneurship (MMIE) Bootcamp for Smith School of Business & Enineering and Applied Science, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada, August 26, 2023

• Lecture on Open Innovation for Masters Innovation Program at Northeastern University, August 7, 2023

• Innovation Lecture on "The Power of the "Open"", Kennesaw State University, Virtual, July 10, 2023

• Innovation Workshop for GarantiBBVA (virtual), Turkey, June 9, 2023

• Innovation Workshop for Executive Masters in Business Administration (EMBA) Americas program for Cornell University/Queens University, Virtual, May 31, 2023

• Innovation Workshop for GarantiBBVA (virtual), Turkey, May 26, 2023

• Innovation and Entrepreneurship Course for University of Texas, San Antonio's Executive MBA program, San Antonio TX, Spring 2023

• Presentation on Generative AI and Open Innovation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Innovation Lab, Boston, MA, May 17, 2023

• Foresight Institute Innovation Workshop for BBVA, Madrid, Spain, May 8-9, 2023

• Innovation Class Lecture, Rice University, Houston, TX, March 9, 2023

• Lecture on Open Innovation at University of Houston's Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture, Houston TX, January 2023

• Innovation Workshop for PMI, Lausanne, Switzerland, November 30, 2022

• Lecture on Open Innovation, Harvard Business School, Virtual, November 2022

• Presentation on Problem Solving Using Multiple Innovation Approaches, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Innovation Lab, Boston, MA, October 2022

• Innovation Workshop for GarantiBBVA (virtual), Turkey, October 21-27, 2022

• Lecture on Open Innovation for Masters Innovation Program at Northeastern University, July 27, 2022

• Innovation Workshop for Executive Masters in Business Administration (EMBA) Americas program for Cornell University/Queens University, Virtual, July 10, 2022

• Foresight Institute Innovation Workshop for BBVA, Madrid, Spain, June 6-9, 2022

• Lecture on Open Innovation at University of Houston's Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture, Houston TX, May 2022

• Lecture on Open Innovation for Rice University Business School, March 2022

• Innovation and Entrepreneurship Course for University of Texas, San Antonio's Executive MBA program, San Antonio TX, Spring 2022

• Honor's Program Lecture, Mary Hardin Baylor University, Temple, Texas, September 2021

• Lecture on Open Innovation at University of Houston's Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture, Houston TX, January 2021

• Lecture on Open Innovation MBA Program, Rice University Business School, January 2021

• Lecture on Open Innovation in Grand Challenges for Entrepreneurs Class, Harvard Business School, October 2020

• Innovation and Entrepreneurship Course for University of Texas, San Antonio's Executive MBA program, San Antonio TX, Fall 2020

• Lecture at MCTX Commercialization Clinic, Mass Challenge, Houston, August 2020

• Hacking HR MicroClass, July 2020

• Lecture on Open Innovation, Stanford University, April 2020

• Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lecture for the College of William & Mary's Alan B. Miller Entrepreneurship Center, Williamsburg, VA, September 2019

• Lecture on Open Innovation at University of Houston's Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture, Houston TX, September 2019

• Innovation and Entrepreneurship Course for University of Texas, San Antonio's Executive MBA program, San Antonio TX, Fall 2019

• Lecture on  Innovation and the Future of Work at University of Houston Clear Lake, Houston TX, May 2019

• Lecture on Open Innovation at University of Houston's College of Technology, Innovation Course, Houston TX, April 2019

• Lecture on Crowd-Based Innovation and the Future of Work at the University of Texas San Antonio undergraduate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Class, San Antonio TX, January 2019

• Lecture on Open Innovation at University of Houston's Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture, Houston TX, November 2018

• Innovation and Entrepreneurship Course for University of Texas, San Antonio's Executive MBA program, San Antonio TX, Fall 2018

• Lecture on "Crowdsourced Challenges" for Rice University's Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie) Lecture Series, Houston TX, October 2017

• Lecture on Open Innovation at University of Houston's Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture, Houston TX, September 2017

• "The Power of Crowd Based Challenges" Lecture to Centro de Estudos Sociedade e Tecnologia (innovation conference) at the Cidade Universitária, San Paulo, Brazil, May 2017

• Lecture on "Prize-Based Challenges" at the University of Texas San Antonio undergraduate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Class, San Antonio TX, April 2016

• "Harnessing the Power of the Crowd", Lecture to Rice University's Professional Masters of Engineering/Science students, Houston TX, November 2015

Steve has both authored and co-authored a number of academic publications as well as provided chapters or contributions to several published books.

• Szajnfarber, Z., Hennig, A., Mukherjee, S., Rader, S., Crusan, J. "Linking solver characteristics, solving processes and solution attributes: A data explainer for an open innovation generated robotic design dataset" SSRN, July 2023

• Contributor to "The Open Innovation Barometer" report by the Impact Economist, 2022

• Chapter contributor to the book: Innovating in the Open Lab: The new potential for interactive value creation across organizational boundaries, Ed. by Fritzsche, Albrecht , Jonas, Julia M.,  Roth, Angela,  Möslein, Kathrin M. May 2020

• Contributor to Paul Estes book "Gig Mindset: Reclaim Your Time, Reinvent Your Career, and Ride the Next Wave of Disruption," January 2020

• Phillips, P. Tang, S. Rader, S. "Surprising Results from Large Crowds Using Micro-Purchase Challenges - Using Contests on Freelancing Communities to Source Innovative, Impactful and Cost-Effective Solutions." Paper for the Laboratory for Innovation Sciences at Harvard (LISH) for the Crowd Academy, September 2018

• Buquo, L. Rader, S. Woolverton, A. Wolf, C. Galica, C. Becker, K. Ching, M. "Using Open Innovation to Solve NASA Planetary Data Challenges" Second Planetary Data Workshop, June 2015.

• Gustetic, J. Crusan, J. Rader, S. Ortega, S. "Outcome-driven open innovation at NASA". Space Policy (2015) 10.1016/j.spacepol.2015.06.002

• Gustetic, J. Crusan, J. Rader, S. Ortega, S. “21st Century Ways of Doing Business: The Impact of Open Innovation and Prizes on NASA”. Paper presented at the 65th International Astronautical Congress, Toronto, Canada. September 2014 

• Rader, S. Reagan, M. Janoiko, B. Johnson, J. "Human-in-the-Loop Operations over Time Delay: Lessons Learned" 43rd International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2013

• Rader, S. Kearney, M. Smith, D. McVittie, T. "Moving Towards a Common Ground and Flight Data Systems Architecture for NASA's Exploration Missions" AIAA, Space Ops Conference, June 2006, 10.2514/6.2006-5723

Steve Rader has been referenced, acknowledged and/or quoted in a number of books, articles and blog posts including:

• "Open Talent: Leveraging the Global Workforce to Solve Your Biggest Challenges" book by John Winsor, January 2024

• "What Drives Demond for Online Gig Workers? NASA's Drive for Innovation" World Bank blog post by Namita Datta, Catalina Rodriquez Tapia, and Steve Rader, December 2023

• "Why Every Enterprise Needs A Freelance Strategy Right Now",  by Matthew Mottola in Forbes, October 31, 2023

• Working Without Borders: The Promise and Peril of Online Gig Work, report by The World Bank, September 2023

• "The Disruption We Know: Digital Transformation" post, LinkedIn, August 2023

• "Mission Control to Mission Connect – NASA Program Manager Steven Rader" blog post by Fred Schonenberg on VentureFuel, July 21, 2021

• "What 80 Innovation Leaders Say About The Power Of Storytelling" Forbes article,  Novmber 19, 2020

• "CROWD INNOVATION AT NASA SOLVING GRAND CHALLENGES IN DAYS" R&D Today Blog, August 2020

• "Crowdsourcing Helps Drive Innovation" blog article by Douglas Ferguson at Voltage Control, July 2020

• "NASA Needs Your Help Designing a 'Lunar Loo'" article by Theresa Machemer, Smithsonian Magazine, July 6, 2020.

• "Future Of Work Leaders Debate The Long-Term Effects Of This Crisis On Business Structure", Forbes article, April 13, 2020

• Steve Rader, Article "Responding to Time-Delayed Crisis" on LinkedIn, April 2020.

• Breaking Rules: Future Of Work Leaders Discuss How Positive Changes Made Today Can Lead To Lasting Change Tomorrow Forbes, April, 2020

• "Competing in the Age of AI: Strategy and Leadership When Algorithms and Networks Run the World" book by Marco Iansiti and Karim Lakhani, January 2020

• "Gig Mindset: Reclaim Your Time, Reinvent Your Career, and Ride the Next Wave of Disruption" book by Paul Estes 2020

• "Overcoming cultural resistance to open source innovation" paper by John Winsor, Jin Paik, Mike Tushman and Karim Lakhani published by Harvard Business School 2020

• Experts weigh in on the future of the workforce in Houston, Innovation Map, December 2019

• Steve Rader, Article "Why OPEN Matters" on Medium, November 2019

• Balance Employee Workload With Open Source Platforms Forbes, December 2019

• 4 Revolutionary Shifts That Will Change the Way We Work by John Winsor on LinkedIn, December 2019

• When It Comes To Future-Of-Work Multi-Tasking Forbes, November 2019

• "Surfing the Wave of Innovation in The Staffing Industry", Forbes article by John Winsor, September 27, 2019

• "Co-Creating the Future of Work", Open Assembly Quarterly - Fall 2019

• "How The GrabCAD Community Helps NASA Solve Tough Problems" by Daniel Dern on the GrabCAD blog, August 7, 2019

• Will Passionate Community Replace Influencers? They Already Have. Forbes, February 2019

• 7 Lessons for Scaling Up Open Innovation, NESTA Innovation Growth Lab blog, July 2018

• FutureHero Steve Rader, Atlas of the Future, July 2018

• The Power of the Crowd: A Practical Open Innovation Tools, RMEL Electric Energy Issue 3 November 2017 

• "NASA Picks Winner of Space Poop Challenge" article by Elizabeth Howell, Space.com February 16, 2017

• Crowdsourcing ideas for Mars houses, robots, and space poop, Business Insider, November 2016

• "NASA Turns To Freelancers To Solve Challenges In Space Exploration" article by Elaine Pofeldt on Forbes, August 31, 2015

• "NASA's robot R2 needs your help" article by Parija Kavilanz at CNN Money, July 24, 2015