Paul Riser Jr., the Managing Director of Technology-Based Entrepreneurship at TechTown Detroit, has been named the director of Detroit Urban Solutions. Detroit Urban Solutions is a consortium, founded by Wayne State, TechTown, NextEnergy and numerous other organizations, that will focus primarily on mobility, digital health, civic technologies and smart city technologies. Last May the consortium announced its first major investment with Wayne State University’s $6.6 million purchase of the Wayne State industry Innovation Center, formerly known as Next Energy.

Riser will assume his new position on March 1, 2019. He has more than 20 years of professional experience working with start-up firms and global enterprises in IT systems administration, systems  architecture, technology integration, technical pre-sales support and medical device development. Prior to joining TechTown, Riser served as chief technology and information officer for Innovative Health Technologies, a Detroit biotech startup developing regenerative, biomimetic medical devices. Riser is also the president and CEO of the Riser Group, a Northville-based IT and business development consulting firm.