June 2024

EnterpriseWorks, Features, Media Mentions

Zite AI featured on WCIA News in how its technology is helping the medical industry

EnterpriseWorks startup Zite AI was featured in a recent WCIA news story about how artificial intelligence is helping the medical industry. Founded by brothers Joshua and Jacob Love in 2022, Zite AI uses artificial intelligence to empower informed decision-making for healthcare organizations. While the company was initially founded to revolutionize location consulting, it pivoted to create a suite of tools that empowers heathcare organizations in marketing outreach, operational planning, and facilities planning. Zite AI is well integrated into the EnterpriseWorks and University of Illinois ecosystem, with co-founder Joshua Love currently studying as a PhD student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Zite AI is changing healthcare systems which have traditionally relied on more old-fashioned forms of technology. “We’ve kind of come across this huge problem where a lot of the back office, the sort of strategic side of medicine, making sure people get access to care at all, is something that can really improve with more data and more understanding of what’s going on in the communities,” Jacob said in the interview with WCIA. The company’s programming can analyze medical images, identifying early signs of conditions like cancer and heart disease well before they are visible to the human eye. Read more or watch the news story on the WCIA website.

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Social Events

Fire At Five June 2024

Fire At Five June 2024 The “Fire At Five” Happy Hour and Bonfire is an event open to Research Park employees and their families and friends. The June Fire At Five, “Pride and Pets at the Park” was on Thursday, June 27 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on the Atkins Patio and lawn. To learn about more events at Research Park, visit the events page, and to see previous Fire At Five themes, visit the Fire At Five page.

Fire At Five June 2024 Read Post »

Intern Events, Social Events

Research Park Hackathon 2024

Research Park Hackathon 2024 The 2024 Research Park Hackathon took place on Wednesday, June 26, and was Bring Your Own Data-themed. Teams had fifteen hours to create a project that seamlessly integrated data in an innovative way. Finalists presented their projects to a panel of judges on Thursday, June 27, and winners were announced at Fire At Five later that evening. Congratulations to Capital One‘s “Class Connect” for winning first place! To learn about the Research Park Hackathon, visit this website page.

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EnterpriseWorks, Events, Research Park

Capital One, COUNTRY Financial Capture Top Prizes in Research Park Summer Hackathon

Twelve teams of 69 total student interns competed in the second annual Research Park Hackathon on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. This 15-hour hackathon encouraged students to form cross-functional teams, build solutions, and showcase their projects. Winners for six awards were announced at the “Fire At Five” Happy Hour on Thursday, June 27, 2024. Congratulations to the winners of this year’s Hackathon:  The winning project, “Class Connect,” is a browser extension that enhances learning by providing questions and answers for students watching lecture videos. “We wanted to create a project that was both applicable and useful to us as college students,” said team member Ishaan Bhandari during Capital One’s presentation on Thursday. Watch Capital One demonstrate “Class Connect” below. This year’s Hackathon prompt was “Bring Your Own Data,” requiring participants to leverage data from the source of their choice to create data-centric projects, including websites, applications, and extensions. “This prompt is accessible to students from all majors and academic backgrounds,” said Hackathon organizer James Kabbes. “I am always impressed with what the students build in such a short amount of time!” Twelve companies participated in the Hackathon: AbbVie, AGCO Corporation, Ameren, Brunswick, Capital One, COUNTRY Financial, FrostDefense Envirotech, John Deere Technology Innovation Center, Kohler, Rivian, SeriesFarm, and State Farm. Individuals from these companies formed twelve teams, six of which were named finalists and presented to a panel of judges on Thursday, June 27. Finalists included Kohler‘s “Refugee Haven Search,” COUNTRY Financial‘s “GeoGroove,” AGCO+Ameren‘s “OccuPi,” Capital One‘s “Class Connect,” Rivian‘s “EV Charger Location Optimization,” and UIRP/EW‘s “Wandertunes.” Thank you to everyone who helped to organize and those who participated in this event, including judges Matt Ahrens (NVIDIA), Bryan Goode (Research Park), Dustin Mayfield-Jones (Research Park), and Jarai Carter (John Deere). A special thanks to John Deere software engineer James Kabbes for creating the event structure and developing the prompt. View photos from the event on this media gallery, or learn more about past and future Research Park Hackathons on this website page.

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Community, EnterpriseWorks, Features, Research Park

Cache Energy Secures $8.5 Million in Seed Funding

EnterpriseWorks startup Cache Energy (Cache) has successfully secured a new investment, boosting its early funding to an impressive $8.5 million. Cache specializes in developing long-duration energy storage (LDES) technology utilizing low-cost materials capable of withstanding high temperatures. The recent investment was led by Voyager Ventures, a venture capital firm that “invests in early-stage climate technology companies, creating the foundation of a decarbonized global economy and livable future for all.” The funding supports the development and scaling of Cache’s thermal storage system. “The energy capacity cost is an order of magnitude cheaper than what we have seen anywhere in the market. The next alternative is at least 8-10 X more expensive,” said Arpit Dwivedi, founder and CEO of Cache Energy.Voyage Ventures believes Cache will revolutionize industries like manufacturing and chemicals, which rely on large amounts of heat energy and need affordable storage options. “With strong customer traction already from major utilities and industrial players, we are thrilled to support Arpit Dwivedi and his talented team as they scale this transformative technology to dramatically reduce emissions while saving customers money in these critical sectors,” said Leonardo Banchik of Voyager. Over the past year, Cache has also worked with Halliburton to speed up its scaling and operations. Cache has earned acknowledgment from the Department of Energy and won two awards: the DOE Energy Innovation Prize and a pitch competition at the White House.

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Team Members

Sheri Wilson

SHERI WILSON Administrative AideEmail : Swilsn@Illinois.EduPhone : 217-300-2580 Sheri is often the first person people meet when they come to the Research Park, as you walk into EnterpriseWorks.  She also assists all staff, tenants, and student interns at EnterpriseWorks. She is also the first point of contact for Laura Appenzeller, Executive Director of Research Park. Sheri Wilson joined the EnterpriseWorks team as the Receptionist in the fall of 2014.   Prior to coming to EnterpriseWorks, she had more than 25 years of customer service experience in the manufacturing and wireless phone industry.  Sheri is a Central Illinois native with one daughter and three sons. She’s a fan of Illini sports, the Dallas Cowboys, the Chicago Bears and Cubs.  She enjoys shopping, antiquing, spoiling her grandchildren, and vacationing with her husband.

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Team Members

Shelley Maves

SHELLEY MAVES FAST Center ManagerEmail : Smaves@Illinois.EduPhone : 217-244-1502 Shelley Maves is the manager of the FAST Center at the University of Illinois Research Park.  She coordinates outreach, training, and individual assistance to entrepreneurs throughout the state of Illinois looking to secure funding through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Shelley joins the EnterpriseWorks team with a background in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry serving as a technical consultant to both start-up health-care  and large pharmaceutical companies.  Prior to that, Shelley was an entrepreneur herself when she co-founded a startup company with technology spun out of Baxter Healthcare, where she had started her career in exploratory research.  Under Shelley’s leadership as Director of Research, the startup was successfully awarded an SBIR grant from the  NIH, which sparked her passion for assisting other entrepreneurs to become successful in obtaining this flavor of funding.  Shelley received her bachelors and doctorate degrees from the University of Illinois in Biochemistry.

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Team Members

Sarah Doherty

SARAH DOHERTY Accounting AssociateEmail : Sarahmd3@Illinois.EduPhone : 217-300-6217 Sarah Doherty joined the EnterpriseWorks team as an Accounting Associate in July 2023, bringing 14 years of experience in accounting including government and real estate knowledge. Sarah completed her master’s degree in accountancy from the University of Illinois, her honors certificate in accounting from Parkland College, as well as a graduate of the Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in political science. She is an Ohio native and has made Champaign her home with her husband and three daughters.

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Team Members

Roger West

ROGER WEST Associate Director, Operations and FinanceEmail : Rwest@Illinois.EduPhone : 217-244-7745 Roger oversees the financial aspects of our organization, including accounting, budgets, grant oversight, and contracts for EnterpriseWorks and UIRP LLC. Roger is a CPA with a background that includes a mix of entrepreneurship, technology, construction, and University financial audits. Before joining the Research Park staff in 2011, he worked as the Director of Accounts at Common Ground Publishing, a graduate of the EnterpriseWorks incubator which has its offices in the Research Park. He also worked as a Controller at Broeren Russo Construction and Vogel Bros. Construction learning about the construction business, and began his career as an accountant at two small accounting firms.  Roger and his family live in Savoy.

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Team Members

Laura Bleil

LAURA BLEILL Director, External EngagementEmail : Lwbleill@Illinois.EduPhone : (217) 244-7744 Laura Weisskopf Bleill manages the community building portfolio of the Research Park at Illinois. She develops strategy behind the Research Park’s events, programming, communications, branding and marketing efforts; and directs its strategy to attract, grow, retain and train its workforce. Bleill and the Research Park team work very intentionally to create a vibrant, dynamic community that drives innovation. She is active with the entrepreneurial ecosystem across campus, as a founding member of the iVenture Accelerator team, a Cozad New Venture Challenge mentor/trainer,  and a former instructor with National Science Foundation I-Corps at Illinois team. She was the co-PI and co-founder of the AWARE entrepreneurship inclusion effort (originally funded by NSF,) which now has been replicated at other universities. An entrepreneur herself, Bleill is CEO and co-founder of a hyperlocal media company, chambanamoms.com. She is very active in the Champaign-Urbana community, and serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Experience Champaign-Urbana and the Community Foundation of East Central Illinois. She is also on the board of Leadership Illinois. A native of the Chicago suburbs, she has a master’s and bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University.

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