Nick Barendt

Nick Barendt is Assistant Vice President for Research for Technology and Ecosystem Growth at Case Western Reserve University. He also serves as Executive Director of the Institute for Smart, Secure and Connected Systems (ISSACS), Director of the CESMII Smart Manufacturing Innovation Center, and Co-Executive Director of the IoT Collaborative, a CWRU–Cleveland State University partnership. He has been an adjunct member of the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering and the Department of Computer and Data Sciences in the Case School of Engineering since 2012 and is the creator and instructor of EECS377 — Introduction to Connected Devices.

Recently, Nick was named PI/CEO of NEO-SMART (Northeast Ohio Strengthening Manufacturing for American Resilience through Technology), a finalist (as of early 2026) in the National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines competition.

Nick earned his MSEE and BSEE from Case Western Reserve University in 1998 and 1995, respectively. Prior to joining CWRU, he spent much of his career in industry building products in robotics, industrial automation, test and measurement, and Internet of Things, for organizations ranging in size from Fortune 1000 companies to startups. His technical experience combines real-time embedded systems with scalable cloud computing.

Under Nick’s leadership, ISSACS has led a NIST-funded national manufacturing technology roadmap integrating AI and machine learning across the product lifecycle. Through NEO-SMART, he is building a multi-sector consortium spanning 18 Northeast Ohio counties to accelerate sustainable smart manufacturing and position the region as a hub for advanced materials innovation.