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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

Research Park

    Nora Lozar

    News Partnerships & Acquisitions Research Park

    Bytemobile Acquired by Citrix

    Citrix today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Bytemobile, a leading provider of data and video optimization solutions for mobile network operators. This acquisition gives Citrix a key strategic foothold in the core infrastructure of more than 130 mobile operators in 60 countries around the world, significantly extending the company’s market reach, and enhancing the broader Citrix strategy of powering mobile workstyles and cloud services. Bytemobile has deep University of Illinois roots. University of Illinois Electrical Engineering professor Constantine Polychronopoulos’s research in multithreading computer architectures and wireless network performance optimization at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) formed the core of Bytemobile technology. The company was founded in 2000, and it is a graduate of the Technology Commercialization Lab, the incubator facility that was the predecessor to EnterpriseWorks.  It opened a research and development facility in the Research Park in 2006. Citrix is publicly traded on the NASDAQ, and becomes the 14th publicly traded company to have an operation in the Research Park.

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    Community News Research Park

    Champaign City Council Approves Critical Step in Research Park Expansion

    Critical to the planned expansion of Research Park is the construction of roads and other infrastructure. The Champaign City Council unanimously signed off on the project at its meeting May 1. The $4.9 million, state-funded project will extend a network of roads to the east of First Street, including South Fourth Street from St. Mary’s Road to Windsor Road. Laura Frerichs, director of Research Park, was interviewed about the expansion plans on WCIA-TV. The News-Gazette also provided coverage of the approval by the city council. The first building on the 160 acres slated for expansion has been completed off Hazelwood Drive. Construction of the new roads will go forward in June.

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    News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    Research Park Innovators Win Big at Innovation Celebration

    Several companies and individuals with close ties to Research Park won awards at Thursday night’s 7th annual Innovation Celebration. Research Park director Laura Frerichs was the emcee for the event, which took place at the Beckman Institute. Innovation Celebration recognizes those individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions, taken risks, and provided leadership to ensure the continuing economic success of Champaign County, the ongoing success of the University’s economic development mission, and the growth of entrepreneurial talent and energy in our community. The winners with Research Park ties include: Brian Jurczyk, co-founder of Starfire Industries, won the Entrepreneurial Excellence in Management Award. The company, an EnterpriseWorks graduate that remains in the Research Park, employs 17 and is a leader in neutron sources and plasma engineering. Nuvixa, founded in 2009 by electrical and computer engineering Associate Professor Sanjay Patel, won the New Venture Award. The company, based at EnterpriseWorks, has used new sensing devices, advanced algorithms, and new computing power to expand the potential of video presentations. Serionix, founded by materials science doctoral student Jim Langer, won the Student Startup Award. The company is developing technologies for air and water purification. Serionix recently moved into space at EnterpriseWorks. Scott Daigle and Marissa Siebel of IntelliWheels received the Social Entrepreneurship Award for developing an automatic gear-shifting system for wheelchairs. The device reduces shoulder pain for those using wheelchairs. IntelliWheels is housed at EnterpriseWorks. Professor Dave Kranz, co-founder of both Immuven and Biodisplay, won the Technology Transfer Award. Immuven, an EnterpriseWorks tenant, is developing new drugs based on the engineering of T-cell receptor proteins. Yi Lu, co-founder of ANDalyze Inc., received the Innovation Discovery Award. A professor of chemistry, biochemistry, and biophysics, he has 41 invention disclosures and 14 issued patents. ANDalyze Inc. is an EnterpriseWorks graduate and Research Park tenant. Liz Kellner won the Entrepreneur Advocacy Award for nearly 20 years of work to support and encourage entrepreneurship in the community. She has worked at the Technology Commercialization Lab, in TechCommunity and with the Second Saturdays group. Kellner is the entrepreneurship specialist at Singleton Law Firm, a tenant in the Research Park.

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    News Research Park

    Research Park Tenant Abbott and U of I establish Center for Nutrition, Learning, and Memory

    Abbott, a tenant at the Research Park, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign announced today they have established the first-ever multi-disciplinary nutrition and cognition research center, which will be located on the Urbana campus. The Center for Nutrition, Learning, and Memory will lead directed and solicited research on the impact of nutrition on learning and memory in the human brain. Abbott has been a tenant at Research Park since 2009 and recently expanded operations. Its Research Park facility focuses on nutrition, and the new research collaboration has its roots in the relationships developed through its presence here. Learn more here: https://researchpark.illinois.edu/abbott-laboratories/ 

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    News Research Park

    News Coverage of Research Park 10th Anniversary Events

    The (Champaign-Urbana) News-Gazette reported on Research Park expansion progress, as detailed at the Board of Managers meeting on Nov. 10, 2011. It continued its coverage of Research Park 10-Year Anniversary event with a photo gallery of the Research Park tours, the Atkins Building dedication and the 10-Year Anniversary Program.  The Daily Illini also wrapped up the Research Park’s 10-Year Anniversary events with coverage from the tours. 

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    News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    Research Park Celebrates 10th Anniversary

     CHAMPAIGN – University officials, government representatives and members of the technology community will join together to celebrate a decade of innovation at the Research Park at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during ceremonies on Nov. 10. The first building at Research Park opened in 2001. Today, the complex has 12 buildings with more than 90 companies – from one-person startups to offices of 11 Fortune 500 corporations– that employ approximately 1400 workers. The public is invited to the formal celebration on Nov. 10 at 5 p.m. in the Atkins Building (formerly the Gateway Building). “Celebrating milestones like this gives us a chance to affirm our commitment to supporting innovation, creating jobs and ultimately, adding value to our community,” said Vice President for Research Lawrence Schook. “The Research Park is an integral component of the economic development mission of the University, and while we acknowledge 10 years of hard work to get to this point, I know the best is yet to come.” In 2010, Forbes.com named Research Park as one of the Ten Technology Incubators Changing The World. In 2011 Inc.com named EnterpriseWorks, the Research Park’s early-stage technology incubator, as one of the top 10 start-up incubators in the nation. Research Park is a hub of entrepreneurial activity, from technology commercialization by startups to research and development innovation by corporate partners. It facilitates the establishment and strengthening of research connections between companies and the University; its companies also employ students for hands-on learning opportunities throughout the year. A recent economic impact study performed by the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission showed the Research Park’s considerable imprint on the community, from construction to operations. Its wage impact totals $81 million a year, for an annual economic output of $169.5 million. Since 2001, the University has invested $101 million in Research Park facilities and infrastructure; construction job impact, combined with purchase of construction materials, has created an economic output of $159 million. “The Research Park is the result of the Board of Trustees’ vision to transform agricultural property and fish ponds into a vibrant technology community,” said Laura Frerichs, Director of Research Park. “We look forward to the next 10 years as we attract more large companies as well as new entrepreneurial ventures started right here.” The Research Park at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign provides an environment where technology-based businesses can work with faculty and students to take advantage of opportunities for collaborative research.  Located on campus, the Research Park is home to more than 90 companies, employing 1,400 people in high-technology careers.  Publicly traded firms in the Research Park include: ADM, Abbott Laboratories, Caterpillar, Deere & Company, Eastman Chemical, Littelfuse, Raytheon, Riverbed, Sony, State Farm, and Yahoo. The Research Park is also home to 30 startup companies that are commercializing technology. For more information, visit researchpark5.wpenginepowered.com.

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    News Research Park

    Sen. Dick Durbin Visits UI Research Park to Learn about Innovation, Entrepreneurship

    Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois toured the Research Park on Monday, Oct. 24, to learn about how high-tech companies in Champaign-Urbana are adding jobs through innovation and entrepreneurship.  Durbin saw demonstrations from two IT/software startups at the EnterpriseWorks high-tech incubator, Nuvixa and Cazoodle, before touring three other buildings. He visited with representatives from Starfire Industries, a plasma engineering firm that has attracted significant funding from federal Small Business Innovation Research awards. In addition he heard from Chromatin Inc., a biotech company that also graduated from the incubator.  His last two stops were at Littelfuse, where he saw a demonstration of the high-power testing lab, and Yahoo!, where the Senator met one new hire who was on his very first day on the job.  Photos from the Senator’s visit can be found at our Facebook page.

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    News Partnerships & Acquisitions

    New NSF Innovation-Corps (I-Corps) Program to Provide Startup Support

    On July 28, 2011, the National Science Foundation launched Innovation-Corps (I-Corps), a public-private partnership designed to bring promising research projects out of the lab and into the marketplace. Supported by the Deshpande and Kauffman Foundations, I-Corps was developed in conjunction with the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and is a part of the Obama Administration’s focus on innovation. Through I-Corps, NSF seeks to identify and nurture research capable of transitioning out of academia and the laboratory, and link it into a broader network of entrepreneurs, investors, and industry experts. I-Corps requires awardees to attend classes and learn the mechanics of creating a start-up company. Awardees would be required to assess their field and potential competitors, determine their customer base, attract investment, and market their ideas. Critically, this process is meant to enable grantees to define what value their idea or invention adds to the marketplace. While there are many possible outcomes for I-Corps teams, those envisioned by NSF include: start-up businesses, licenses to technologies or products, SBIR proposals, and business plans ready for investor support. Each team will utilize a mentor, who is a volunteer from the private sector with expertise in converting academic research into commercial products and technologies. NSF anticipates awarding one hundred $50,000 grants a year for three years. Each award will be made to a team led by a Principal Investigator (PI). PIs must either be current NSF grantees or have received an NSF award within five years previous to submitting an I-Corps proposal. More information is available at http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/i-corps/ 

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    News Recognition & Awards

    Research Park Honors Most Valuable Interns of 2011

    CHAMPAIGN – Outstanding student interns working for companies in the Research Park will be honored August 4 at the Intern Recognition Event in the Gateway Building. Supervisors nominated broad spectrum of interns for this year’s awards; all the awardees are students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At any given time more than 400 highly-skilled student interns work for Research Park tenants, gaining valuable experience while making real contributions to internal corporate research and development programs.   Awardees will be announced at 6 p.m. and will be available for interviews at the conclusion of the awards ceremony, Best Tech Innovation in the Research Park: Sean Hurley, Sophomore in Computer Science, State FarmSean is a project lead of a six-member team focused on mobile application trends. He developed a prototype for a car shopping application. Best Tech Innovation from an Undergraduate in a Startup: Chun Yang, Senior in Computer Science, CatervaProductive, creative, and committed, Chun developed an extremely fast algorithm to advance significant product development. Best Tech Innovation from a Graduate in a Startup: Mert Dikmen, Electrical and Computer Engineering graduate student, NuvixaMert has assumed a technical leadership role as resident computer vision expert and has able to quickly and adeptly improve product demonstration. Most Valuable Graduate in the Research Park: Megan Danko, Aerospace Engineering graduate student, CaterpillarMegan helped to successfully execute combustion simulation for future low-emission engine concepts and 3D oil flow simulation for energy-efficient power transmission concepts, projects typically performed by full-time simulation specialists. Most Valuable Undergraduate in the Research Park: Jack Dintruff, Junior in Computer Science, Yahoo!Jack has demonstrated motivation and leadership skills necessary to keep a ground-up software development project on track, driving complex features into a new framework from Day 1. The Research Park at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign provides an environment where technology-based businesses can work with faculty and students to take advantage of opportunities for collaborative research. Located on campus, the Research Park is home to more than 90 companies, employing more than 1,400 people in high-technology careers. Publicly traded firms in the Research Park include: ADM, Abbott Laboratories, Caterpillar, Deere & Company, Littelfuse, Riverbed, Sony, State Farm, and Yahoo. The Research Park is also home to 30 startup companies that are commercializing technology.

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    EnterpriseWorks News

    I-Start Program Launching Soon, IL DCEO Awards Grant Funding

    EnterpriseWorks is creating a new entrepreneur kick-start program to help launch more companies out of the University of Illinois. EnterpriseWorks is developing the I-Start program to encourage more University of Illinois inventors to pursue start-up formation and commercialization of their research and technology. Working alongside proof-of-concept funding programs, I-Start will help facilitate the administrative and professional service work related to forming a new company, which can seem overwhelming and time consuming to new entrepreneurs. I-Start will offer a suite of first year startup services for new University of Illinois entrepreneurs including business development, business plan writing, legal setup, SBIR application, financial statements, marketing assistance, and human resources/payroll assistance. The I-Start program is designed to complement participation in the EnterpriseWorks incubator, which provides a supportive environment for new entrepreneurs to locate with other new startup companies. EnterpriseWorks will be offering the I-Start program through a cost sharing model, with funding provided on a competitive basis and awarded based on the potential of the faculty member (or qualified entrepreneur) and technology to have commercialization success. EnterpriseWorks would support funding for the program as a part of its incubation program. Funding provided by EnterpriseWorks, would overtime be considered “repaid” through rent, accounted by crediting half of future rent towards pay-off of I-Start services provided upfront to the new company.  The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) has generously awarded a grant to EnterpriseWorks at the University of Illinois to provide additionally funding to allow the program to support more entrepreneurs from the University of Illinois. With new funding provided by the grant from DCEO, combined with funding from the Research Park, it is anticipated that 15 new startup firms can participate in the program over an 18 month launch period. There will be two levels of funding available for I-START program. The first option is 90% upfront funding by EnterpriseWorks and DCEO and the remainder of the cost paid by the entrepreneur. This will include a competitive selection process to qualify for the program with input from the Office of Technology Management and EIR advisors. The second option is for the company to fund 50% of the services while EnterpriseWorks and DCEO fund the other 50%. This will also include an internal application process with input from OTM, but will be less restrictive. Additionally, a company may elect to fund 100% of the program upfront, requiring no repayment and qualification through EnterpriseWorks application.  Applications and service agreements are being developed for the new I-Start Program. If you are interested in being considered for the program please contact Laura Frerichs or speak with a Technology Manager at the UI Office of Technology Management.

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