Prof. Dr. Mario Lucas

»The key to understanding the new economic geography of creativity and its effects on economic outcomes lies in what I call the 3 Ts of economic development: Technology, Talent and Tolerance.« (Richard Florida, Economist)

The interplay of the three resources, which Richard Florida identifies in his book "The rise of the creative class" as the main drivers for innovative urban spaces, has always been the designer of Mario Luca’s professional journey.

Growing up in Luxemburg and attending the European School in the 1980s Mario Lucas was embedded into one of Europe’s leading financial ecosystems and specialized media hubs. Luxemburg since then has been transforming into an innovative hub and business ecosystem which international management and leadership play crucial roles in, ranking 20th among the 133 economies featured in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2024.

Studying Economic Geography and Economics at the RWTH Aachen University as one of Europe’s top 10 technical universities in Europe around the turn of the millennium Mario Lucas contributed to the transformation of Aachen into a High Technology Region: 

• member of Mitsubishi Electric Europe supporting the administration of production data via SAP R/3 
• member of the Aachen Agency for Innovation und Technology Transfer supporting start-up, innovation and technology transfer in the medical technology and automotive industry
• member of the Aachen Chamber of Industry and Commerce working for the department of further education and information technology consulting and training the leadership and management of SMEs on the path to digitalization (E-Learning among the main focuses) 

Nowadays the RWTH hosts leading European institutions such as the Institute for Technology and Innovation Management combining strategic, behavioral, and computational technology and innovation management.

Working in China from 2006-2010 Mario Lucas witnessed China’s ongoing socio-economic and ecological transformation. Focusing on environmental protection, hygiene and health in the rural area he co-designed sustainable energy supply systems for households in remote areas including solar cookers, small biogas plants and biomass powerplants:

• research team member and project manager at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ranks 2nd globally after the Havard University) 
• project manager at the Beijing University of Science and Technology on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Germany)

Teaching International Students in International Business and Management at the Bochum University of Applied Sciences from 2014 – 2022 Mario Lucas has supervised a high number of Master- and Bachelor Thesises with a strong link to strategy interculturality, innovation and sustainability of multinational corporates. 
He was engaged in the development of the university’s transfer strategy in the funding project innovative university by the federal and state governments.

Leading the China Competence Center for the Central Ruhr Area Mario Lucas developed Market Entry Strategies for regional companies planning to enter Chinese markets together with the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for the Central Ruhr Area, the City of Herne and the Herne Economic Development Acency.

Since 2022 Mr. Lucas has been teaching International Management, Retail & Sales Management, Leadership, Innovation and Projekt Management as a Professor for Innovation and International Business Management at the Mediadesign University of Applied Sciences, focusing on the interplay of business, design and media and researching on the Return on Creativity (ROC). 

Last but not least, he is involved as a student counselor within Student Support at Mediadesgin University in order to help shape a sustainable student journey.