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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

Research Park

    Nora Lozar

    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.

    Research Park Honors Most Valuable Interns of 2011 Read Post »

    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.

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

    EnterpriseWorks Media Mentions News

    Inc.com lists EnterpriseWorks as one of the “10 Start-up Incubators to Watch”

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. —Inc.com’s recently published list of 10 start-up incubators to watch featured EnterpriseWorks as one of the “most productive, innovative, and nurturing start-up incubators in the country.” EnterpriseWorks, a business incubator for early-stage technology firms located within the Research Park at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, was included in Inc.com’s July 15 article, “10 Start-Up Incubators to Watch,” because of its multifaceted approach to working with entrepreneurs and the various opportunities available to start-ups. EnterpriseWorks was lauded for “particular success with information and biotechnology companies.” The article also cited its unique location within the Research Park; as a result, EnterpriseWorks start-ups have the opportunity to interact, network and collaborate with tenants including large corporations and other established firms. Start-up companies also have access to an economically viable, highly talented workforce as they employ many University of Illinois students. “By working to commercialize U of I research, start-ups at EnterpriseWorks are addressing societal challenges and pursuing transformative results,” said Lawrence Schook, interim Vice President for Research at the University of Illinois. “We are proud of our efforts to support start-ups through hands-on training, funding and grant opportunities, and access to some of the best entrepreneurial minds our community has to offer.” The Inc.com article specifically mentioned the EnterpriseWorks Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) program, which provides free consulting services by experienced entrepreneurs who have effectively commercialized technology. The EIRs provide a wide array of assistance – at no charge to local technology entrepreneurs – including one-on-one consultations and training workshops. In the past year, the EIRs have conducted more than 200 individual consultations. “We appreciate the recognition of the accomplishments of EnterpriseWorks in creating an eco-system and support resources conducive for technology commercialization. Our success in launching more than 120 companies since the Research Park opened in 2001 has taken a lot of hard work by the entrepreneurs, the University, the community, and state,” said Laura Frerichs, Director of Research Park.

    Inc.com lists EnterpriseWorks as one of the “10 Start-up Incubators to Watch” Read Post »

    News Partnerships & Acquisitions Research Park

    Littlefuse Grand Opening press release

    WHAT: On January 25, 2011, Littelfuse Inc. (NASDAQ/NGS:LFUS) is hosting a grand opening event for their new engineering facility in the Research Park at the University of Illinois. This event will include leadership from Littelfuse dedicating the new building, including their CEO, Mr. Gordon Hunter. The University of Illinois will also welcome Littelfuse to the Research Park with remarks by Interim Chancellor Robert Easter and UI Vice President of Technology and Economic Development Avijit Ghosh. Littelfuse opened a new facility on the University of Illinois campus for the POWR-GARD division. The facility will house more than 20 full-time employees and student interns. Tours of the facility will be given including demonstrations in the new high power testing facility enclosed with bullet proof glass, which sends high voltage electricity through fuses to test their durability. WHO: The event will include Littelfuse executive leadership including CEO Gordon Hunter, CFO Philip Franklin, and leadership of the Electronics Business Unit. The University of Illinois community and the press are invited to attend. Formal remarks from the University of Illinois will be made by Interim Chancellor Robert Easter and UI Vice President of Technology and Economic Development Avijit Ghosh. WHEN: The event will take place on Tuesday, January 25, 2011 from 3:00-6:00 pm, with the formal ribbon cutting and ceremony commencing at 3:30 pm, followed by a reception, building tour, and technology demonstrations from 4:30-6:00 pm. WHERE: The event will take place at the Littelfuse Building located at 2110 S. Oak Street in the Research Park on the University of Illinois campus. The Research Park is immediately south of Assembly Hall, the Littelfuse building is between Hazelwood and Gerty on Oak Street. The building was constructed by Fox/Atkins Development LLC, the developer of the Research Park. WHY: The Research Park at the University of Illinois provides an environment where technology-based businesses can work with the research faculty and students. Littelfuse is the newest publically traded firm to open an R&D facility within the Research Park. The new location adds jobs to the Champaign-Urbana community, internships for students to get real world experience during the academic year, and increased engagement with the University.

    Littlefuse Grand Opening press release Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks News Partnerships & Acquisitions

    New Entrepreneur-in-Residence at EnterpriseWorks: Alan Singleton

    EnterpriseWorks hires Entrepreneurs-in-Residence to assist entrepreneurs and inventors that are starting a business. EnterpriseWorks hires local-experienced entrepreneurs that have effectively commercialized technology to provide consultation to local entrepreneurs at no cost to the company. The EIRs provide advice on business development, attracting investment, revenue creation, and engagements with industrial clients. They also provide entrepreneur training, and help fill early management guidance for startups and help inventors determine a path for starting their business. EnterpriseWorks will cover the cost of the consulting services for Research Park clients and other University of Illinois entrepreneurs. EnterpriseWorks requires a request for counseling submission to be completed. Alan Singleton specializes in corporate formation and transactions, intellectual property, and securities law. He has over 17 years of experience working with entrepreneurs to develop solutions to the wide variety of business and legal issues they face in establishing and growing their companies.  Alan regularly advises clients on issues including company formation, raising capital, securities compliance, taxation and implementing stock option plans, mergers and acquisitions, and asset sales.  Alan has established a reputation for being a leader in technology commercialization and early stage companies in East Central Illinois.  In recognition of his work, Alan was selected by the University of Illinois and the Champaign County EDC as the 2008 recipient of the Entrepreneurial Advocacy Award.  Alan is active in both the business and educational communities.   His firm organizes the business plan review group Second Saturday and he has served as a judge for the V. Dale Cozad Business Plan Competition.  While maintaining an adjunct faculty appointment with the University of Illinois College of Medicine, Alan has given guest lectures for the University of Illinois MBA course on technology commercialization, the senior Capstone Design Course in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, the Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership Idea to Enterprise Workshop, the Technology Entrepreneur Center Advanced Invention to Venture workshop and for medical residency programs throughout the state.

    New Entrepreneur-in-Residence at EnterpriseWorks: Alan Singleton Read Post »

    News Partnerships & Acquisitions Research Park

    Software company opens center in Research Park

    Canadian software company Infobright has opened a satellite development center in EnterpriseWorks at the University of Illinois Research Park. Infobright, based in Toronto, Ontario, markets a high-performance analytic database designed to support companies’ needs for analytics and business intelligence. The Champaign office plans to recruit five student interns to work with community manager Jeff Kibler on projects, the company announced this week. The interns are to develop new applications that will work in conjunction with the database to help users take greater advantage of business data.

    Software company opens center in Research Park Read Post »

    Internships News Recognition & Awards

    2010 Outstanding Research Park Student Interns Announced

    Roman Semenyuk, BS Molecular & Cellular Biology, Autonomic Materials:Roman advanced the research and development of self-healing coatings and healing chemistries while also providing direction on projects to the other interns.Ryne Beeson, MS Aerospace Engineering, Caterpillar Simulation Center:Ryne mastered the use of complex engineering simulation software and contributed to over 30 projects over three years alongside full-time engineers.Tyler Deitz, BS Business, Cazoodle:Tyler singlehandedly established contacts with clients and handled sales and negotiations with local and national media executives.Nicole Phillips, BS Community Health, State Farm Research and Development Center:Nicole is a business research analyst and is contributing to the start-up of a new department. She also serves as a senior resource and corporate liaison for her team members.David Goldstein, BS Computer Engineering, Watchfire Signs:David was a strong contributor on software projects: streamlining the distribution the company’s art collection, and automatic driver installation for end users.Jude Holscher, BS Agricultural Engineering, Waterborne Environmental:Jude traveled the country completing water quality sampling and data analysis projects from Indiana to Nebraska, with very little oversight needed from his supervisors.The event also recognized additional nominees that were selected by their companies including: Conner Grant, BS Chemical Engineering: Archer Daniels Midland, Inc. (ADM) Bryan Mishkin, BS Computer Science: State Farm Research & Development Center Kai Van Horn, Ph.D Electrical and Computer Engineering: Waterborne Environmental Carrie Cuno-Booth, BS History: Green Purpose Kyle McElmury, BS Aerospace Engineering: Caterpillar Simulation Center Roshan Choxi, BS Electrical Engineering, Merge.fm Eric Wilson, BS Speech Communications and Business: Serra Ventures Pawan Gaargi, MBA Program: Cazoodle Truman Shuck, BS Computer Science: Cazoodle Brian Gladden, BS Computer Science: SAIC, Inc. Hio Lam Lao, BS Actuarial Science: State Farm Research & Development Center Bob Skowron, BS Applied Mathematics: State Farm Research & Development Center

    2010 Outstanding Research Park Student Interns Announced Read Post »

    Features Media Mentions News Recognition & Awards

    Forbes Cites University of Illinois Research Park as a Technology Incubator Changing the World

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Forbes.com’s list of technology incubators that are changing the world included the University of Illinois Research Park. The Champaign park was included in an April 16 online story — “In Depth:10 Technology Incubators That Are Changing the World” –because of it’s the combination of established firms and start-ups in close proximity, student employment in companies and the history of innovations from the University of Illinois. The University of Illinois Research Park was lauded for having a combination of large corporate operations alongside new technology startups. This creates an opportunity for interaction that allows small firms to learn from large corporations and for the established firms to develop entrepreneurial approaches to innovation. “The Research Park at the University of Illinois has effectively attracted and grown operations for large corporations and also supported technology commercialization,” said Avijit Ghosh, U of I vice president for technology and economic development. Located on campus, The Research Park at the University of Illinois opened in 2001 and has grown rapidly. Currently the park has 80 companies and 607,000 square feet of building space. The Research Park has been developed as a public-private partnership between the University of Illinois and Fox/Atkins Development. The Research Park at the University of Illinois provides an environment where technology-based businesses can work with the research faculty and students at the Urbana campus to take advantage of opportunities for collaborative research and easy access to University labs, equipment and services. Publically traded firms in the Research Park include: ADM, Abbott Laboratories, Caterpillar, Deere & Company, QUALCOMM, Littelfuse, Riverbed, SAIC, Sony, State Farm and Yahoo. “One of the secrets to our success has been the growing employment of students by Research Park companies,” said Laura Frerichs, associate director of Research Park and Incubation Facilities. Research Park companies employ 440 students in positions that are typically year-round placements and provide hands-on learning in paid positions.   “This continuity of employment allows companies to leverage student talent all year, reduce workforce costs by hiring students as research staff, achieve a flexible staffing model and create a recruiting pipeline of future talent to cherry-pick after graduation,” said Frerichs. The article and full list of incubators selected by Forbes is available at:http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/16/technology-incubators-changing-the-world-entrepreneurs-technology-incubator_slide_8.html.                                                              #### University of Illinois/Research Park contacts Research Park website: researchpark5.wpenginepowered.com Avijit Ghosh, Vice President for Technology and Economic Development (217) 265-5440 vpted@uillinois.edu Laura Frerichs, Associate Director of Research Park and Incubation Facilities  (217) 333-8324 lfrerich@illinois.edu Fox/Atkins Development, LLC Peter FoxManaging Member(217) 351-1430peterf@fox-companies.com About the University of Illinois: The University of Illinois is a world leader in research and discovery, the largest educational institution in the state with more than 71,000 students, 24,000 faculty and staff, and campuses in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield. Since its founding in 1867, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has earned a reputation as a world-class leader in research, teaching, and public engagement. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has a long history of innovations and technology invented by students, faculty, and alumni that have changed the world including: the first public demonstration of sound on film; Prof. John Bardeen’s theory of superconductivity and his previous work inventing the transistor; Illiac, the first digital computer built and owned entirely by an educational institution; Mosaic, the first popular graphical browser for the World Wide Web; Plato, the first computer based education system; nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) that led to the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); You Tube developed by former computer science students Steve Chen and Jawed Karim; PayPal founded by Max Levchin; Siebel Systems founded by UI alumnus, Thomas Siebel; and Beckman Instruments founded by UI alumnus, Arnold Beckman. About Fox/Atkins Development, LLC: In a joint effort with the University of Illinois, Fox/Atkins Development, LLC, a partnership that was formed between Fox Development Corporation and The Atkins Group, was selected to develop The Research Park at the University of Illinois. www.foxcompanies.com.

    Forbes Cites University of Illinois Research Park as a Technology Incubator Changing the World Read Post »

    News Recognition & Awards

    Innovation Celebration 2010 Winners – Congratulations!!

    This year was the fifth annual Innovation Celebration, on Thursday, February 25, 2010. The 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. Eight awards were presented, recognizing the various ways in which individuals and organization have utilize innovation, creativity, and leadership for entrepreneurial endeavor and economic development in the community. The winners were: Social Entrepreneurship Award: Tanya Parker – Founder & Publisher, Unity In Action Magazine Entrepreneur Advocacy Award: Brian Lilly – Adjunct Professor, TEC Economic Development Impact Award: Gary Durack – Founder and CEO of iCyt, a Sony Group Company Technology Transfer Award: Jonathan Beever- Founder AgriGenomics, Inc. Innovation Discovery Award: Hans-Peter M. Blaschek – Founder & Chief Science Officer TetraVitae Bioscience Entrepreneurial Excellence in Management Award: Brian Kucic – Founding Principal, R Systems Longevity Through Innovation Award: Quesnell Hartmann & David Ahmari – Co-Founders Epi Works Student Start Up Award: Matt Gornick & Ryan Matthews – Co Founders Orange QC, LLC We also congratulate nominees from the Research Park: Shawn Carlson – Director of Crop Genetics, Chromatin, Inc Walter Shore – Site/Senior Staff Engineering Mgr, Qualcomm Dr. Kevin Chang – President, Cazoodle Yi Lu – Founder, ANDalyze, Inc. Brian Jurczyk – President, Starfire Industries Adam Steele, Will Leinweber, and August Knecht – Co-Founders, Merge.fm

    Innovation Celebration 2010 Winners – Congratulations!! Read Post »