Applications are now live for the Agriculture and Food regional qualifier of Startup World Cup, which returns to the AgTech Innovation Summit stage for the second year on March 10.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (Oct. 2, 2025) – In the latest Innovations @ Research Park episode, host Tanmay Shah interviews Dr. David Ruzic on his path from professor to founder and how Research Park helped turn his academic research into a company. Dr. Ruzic is professor emeritus in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois, founder of Research Park company Starfire Industries, and Director of the Illinois Plasma Institute. “If you think science can’t be exciting, you haven’t met David Ruzic,” the podcast notes. His reputation for lighting up classrooms with his engaging teaching style and ability pushes the boundaries of plasma physics to make science accessible and engaging. The Innovations @ Research Park podcast highlights Champaign’s thriving entrepreneurial and corporate innovation culture. It is hosted by Tanmay Shah, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumnus. Subscribe to The Innovations @ Research Park to catch up on the latest innovations and news on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast network. Is there something you want to know about Research Park? Do you have an idea for a guest for the show or a story we should pursue? Do you want to provide other feedback? Contact Laura Bleill (lwbleill@illinois.edu).
New Podcast Episode: David Ruzic Read Post »
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (Sept. 4, 2025) – Custom software and web development firm Pixo has officially moved its headquarters to the first floor of the Atkins Building, Suite 106, within the University of Illinois Research Park technology hub. This strategic move positions Pixo in a vibrant innovation ecosystem, while reinforcing its commitment to a flexible, hybrid work model. Melinda Miller, CEO and co-owner of Pixo, expressed enthusiasm for the new location. “Our new office home is right in the midst of so much exciting technological innovation,” Miller said. “We look forward to connecting with the vibrant community here, tapping into that energy, and building new relationships with our neighbors at Research Park.” Founded in 1998 as “On the Job Consulting,” the woman-owned tech consultancy previously operated from second-story offices on Urbana’s West Main Street. Like many businesses, Pixo adapted to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing the success and versatility of a hybrid approach for its diverse team of developers, designers, and strategists, the company decided to adopt this model permanently. While Pixo continues to have a strong presence in Central Illinois, its team members are now distributed throughout the United States, serving clients coast-to-coast. “Despite being a mostly remote agency, maintaining a physical presence in Champaign-Urbana is incredibly important to us,” Miller emphasized. “We have deep roots here and a rich history tied to the University of Illinois, the agricultural economy, and the broader community.” “As a ‘people-first’ company, we also wanted to preserve the ability to gather in person—both with clients and with each other,” Miller added. “We’re excited to leverage Research Park’s excellent amenities, including beautiful and well-equipped spaces for client meetings, social gatherings, and team celebrations.” “Research Park and Pixo have a long history of partnership across domains–from working together on website projects, to working together on agtech cluster building,” said Laura Weisskopf Bleill, Director of External Engagement and Communications at Research Park. “We are thrilled to see the team locate a footprint in our on-campus tech hub, where small businesses, startups, and corporate innovation thrives together as one ecosystem.” About Pixo: Pixo is a custom software and web development firm specializing in creating innovative digital solutions. Founded in 1998, the woman-owned consultancy serves clients across the United States, providing expertise in areas including digital accessibility, artificial intelligence, content strategy, and web/software development. Pixo is committed to a people-first approach, fostering a collaborative environment for its distributed team and strong relationships with its clients and community. For more information, visit pixotech.com. Contact: info@pixotech.com 217-344-0444 pixotech.com Pixo’s office: Atkins Building, Research Park 1800 S. Oak St. Suite 106 Champaign, IL 61820
Pixo Relocates Headquarters to Research Park, Embraces Hybrid Future Read Post »
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Research Park Softball League concluded its season with a championship game on Monday, Aug. 4 where the Caterpillar Innovation Center would claim its second consecutive championship. The league ran throughout the summer, bringing together employees from companies across the Research Park for weekly games. Teams competed in a tournament-style bracket, with matches that mixed experienced players with newcomers still learning the rules. Caterpillar’s win marked back-to-back titles for the team, demonstrating consistent performance across two seasons. The championship game capped a competitive season where all 10 teams showed improvement from their early matches. “This year’s league was a blast,” said Bryan Goode, Talent Manager at Research Park. “Beyond the fun on the field, it created friendships across Research Park companies, gave interns a chance to build relationships outside their own teams and strengthened camaraderie within companies. It’s more than just a game, it helps employees old and new connect, encourages collaboration across organizations and builds the kind of trust and teamwork that carries back into the workplace.” The league has grown in recent years, drawing participants from various Research Park companies. Games are played on summer evenings, giving employees a chance to meet outside their usual work environments. We extend a special thank you to all the companies who participated in the Softball League: Champaign Caterpillar Innovation Center Motorola Solutions U. of I. Community Credit Union Littelfuse Synchrony Emerging Technology Center Electric Power Engineers Center for Energy Innovation University of Illinois Research Park John Deere Technology Innovation Center COUNTRY Financial DigitaLab Mondelēz International
Research Park Summer Softball League: Caterpillar Wins 2025 Summer Championship Read Post »
The 19th Annual Research Park Intern Awards Ceremony, which celebrates the contributions of outstanding student interns at Research Park corporate innovation centers and startups, took place on July 24, 2025. The awards ceremony brings together interns representing diverse skill sets and industry sectors, as well as their managers and colleagues. It reflects the overall depth and breadth of excellence of intern work that occurs daily at Research Park. Awards were given in the following categories: Best Startup Intern Best Technical Innovation Best Business Innovation Most Outstanding Graduate Student Intern Most Outstanding Undergraduate Student Intern Most Competent and Collaborative Team Among the notable projects showcased was an intern who developed an in-house model that once deployed saved their company $60,000 in expenses. Another standout project involved a group of interns who developed XR prototypes that have been deployed and utilized in tech centers across three different continents and did so an entire year ahead of the original schedule. The ceremony and nominations highlighted the incredible talent within the Research Park community and underscored the vital role that internships play in fostering the next generation of industry leaders. Best Startup Intern Hrishikesh Sarda | Earthsense | Mechanical Engineering Intern | Master of Science in Technology Management | Gies College of Business “Hrishi has very quickly demonstrated his value to our team. He takes on responsibility with the trustworthiness of a full-time engineer. He works independently, gives valuable design feedback, and shows comfort in the unknown. He found an error in my calculation, researched the topic to correct it, and brings a level of attention to detail rare at his experience level.” Finalists: Dongjoon Jeong | Hinetics | Mechanical Engineering Intern | Mechanical Engineering | Grainger College of Engineering Daniel Ormsbee | Boston Bioprocess | Bioprocess Intern | Molecular Biology and Mechanical Engineering | Cedarville University Best Technical innovation Undergraduate winner: Om Mistry | Brunswick Boating Intelligence Design Lab | Data Engineering Intern | Industrial Engineering and Statistics | Grainger College of Engineering “During his internship, Om’s primary responsibility was to enhance our data ingestion pipelines across multiple projects. One of his most impactful contributions was improving our propeller recommendation tool, which helps customers select the right propeller for their boat and engine combination—reducing both customer and dealer stress and driving internal sales. He brought initiative, technical curiosity, and a structured mindset—researching machine learning, building a user-focused interface, and delivering high-quality code. His adaptability, collaboration, and impact on a high-visibility project stood out throughout his internship.” Graduate winner: Farid Ahmed | Rivian | Thermal Modeling Intern | Nuclear Plasma and Radiological Engineering | Grainger College of Engineering “In a context where mileage per watt is a key performance metric, Farid’s contributions are especially impactful. His initial studies indicated an 8–10% improvement in cooling efficiency compared to the current design. He is self-motivated, thoughtful, and collaborative. His technical rigor and clear communication have made him a valued team member influencing high-priority design decisions.” Best Business Innovation Shravani Bhupal | COUNTRY Financial DigitaLab | Project Manager/UI-UX Intern | Master of Science in Information Management “Shravani led development of a Power BI dashboard for technology budget tracking, producing a tool now essential for strategic reporting. Her precision, innovation, and ability to bridge technical and business needs earned praise from leadership, who highlighted her fresh perspective and strong communication on complex financial data.” Finalists: Luke Peng | Synchrony Emerging Technology Center | Operations Analyst- Data Engineering Intern | Statistics Most Outstanding Undergraduate Student Intern Miguel Aenlle | PrairieLearn | Software Engineering Intern | Computer Science | Grainger College of Engineering “As a freshman, he immediately led a full redesign of our navigation system—interviewing users, building an accessible UI, and engineering a staged rollout. His work is already in production. In 20 years of mentoring interns, Miguel is the best I’ve worked with. His impact has been extraordinary.” Finalists: Isabella Chou | Mondelēz International | XR Intern | Computer Science | Grainger College of Engineering Austin Carlen | Applied Pavement Technology | Engineering Technician Intern | Engineering Technology | Lake Land College Most Outstanding Graduate Student Intern Nanguan Lin | Boston Bioprocess | Software Engineering Intern | Computer Engineering | Grainger College of Engineering “Nanguan has been instrumental in building a new Lab Information Management System from scratch. He rapidly grasped requirements, led stakeholder interviews, and delivered a robust dashboard that’s now a cornerstone of operations. He balances professionalism and approachability—equally comfortable leading technical discussions and bringing positive energy to everyday team interactions.” Finalists: Charlie Du | Brunswick Boating Intelligence Design Lab | Computer Graphics Software Developer Intern | Computer Science | Grainger College of Engineering Kinjal Parekh | COUNTRY Financial DigitaLab | Project Manager/Software Developer Intern | Computer Science | Grainger College of Engineering Most Competent and Collaborative Team Mondelēz International XR Team Isabella Chou | XR Intern | Computer Science | Grainger College of Engineering Josh Sutanto | XR Intern | Computer Engineering | Grainger College of Engineering Roshni Dave | XR Intern | Computer Science | Grainger College of Engineering “The Mondelez XR team delivered both high-quality work and a remarkable number of prototypes, despite being new to XR. Their teamwork, adaptability, and dedication exceeded every brief—so much so, new ones had to be created. Their prototypes are now being deployed across three continents, with one fast-tracked for consumer research a year early. This accelerated timeline reflects the immediate business value of their work and is expected to drive faster ROI and greater digital adoption.” Finalists: Brunswick Boating Intelligence Design Lab Aashish Subramanian | Computer Graphics Software Developer Intern | Computer Engineering | Grainger College of Engineering Charlie Du | Computer Graphics Software Developer Intern | Computer Science | Grainger College of Engineering Jaden Ambrocio Alcantara | Computer Graphics Software Engineering Intern | Computer Science | Grainger College of Engineering Kaavya Vassa | Front End Development Intern | Computer Science and Bioengineering | Grainger College of Engineering Melody Breg | Mechanical Engineer Intern | Mechanical Engineering | Grainger College of Engineering Swathi Sureshmoorthy | Computer Graphic Software Developer Intern | Computer Science | Grainger College of Engineering Ameren Innovation Center Jason Liao | Data Science Intern | Computer Science | Grainger College of
Research Park Celebrates Interns During the 19th Annual Intern Awards Ceremony Read Post »
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (July 16, 2025) — The 2025 AgTech Innovation Showcase brought together innovators, farmers and industry stakeholders to get a firsthand look at emerging AgTech solutions tailored to farming challenges. The event was hosted by the University of Illinois Research Park in collaboration with BioSTL, a St. Louis nonprofit that invests in bioscience startups, and the Illinois Farm Bureau, a nonprofit that advocates for farmers and Illinois agriculture. “We are excited to welcome everyone to Champaign to showcase AgTech innovation,” said Laura Bleill, director of external engagement of the University of Illinois Research Park. “Gathering real feedback from potential customers is important for all startups, and especially significant in the AgTech sector. This collaboration between Illinois Farm Bureau, BioSTL and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a win for our region.” The showcase featured rapid-fire presentations from nine startup companies offering cutting-edge, on-farm solutions including cost-saving equipment technologies, soil and biological innovations, AI-powered decision tools and streamlined farm management platforms. Attendees rotated through sessions to connect directly with each innovator and provide real-time feedback on emerging ag tech solutions designed for farmers in the region. “On our farm, innovations and technologies such as these are things we continually evaluate to see how we can produce more with less, increase our sustainability footprint and really just be the best stewards of our land that we possibly can be as new solutions and innovations make their way forward,” said Evan Hultine, vice president of the ILFB. Innovators in attendance included: View photos from the event here. Illinois Farmer Today — Ag companies show off latest tech (July 31, 2025) FarmWeek — Farmer feedback meets startup ingenuity at AgTech Showcase (July 21, 2025) WCIA — From the Farm: Ag geneticist creates new product to increase crop yields (July 17, 2025) Morning AgClips — Ag Innovators to Bring Emerging Technologies to Farmers During Startup Showcase (July 1, 2025) About BioSTL: Founded in 2001, BioSTL has been a cornerstone of St. Louis’ innovation landscape, fostering a dynamic economy through convening stakeholders, engaging in public policy, and delivering targeted programs. Our mission is to cement the city’s position as a hub for addressing global challenges in agriculture, food, biopharma, and healthcare. About Illinois Farm Bureau Founded in 1916, Illinois Farm Bureau – originally known as the Illinois Agricultural Association – is a nonprofit, grassroots membership organization. Illinois Farm Bureau and a statewide network of county Farm Bureaus give members an advantage through impactful advocacy, trusted information, and meaningful development to support their careers and Illinois farm families. About University of Illinois Research Park The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Research Park is an innovation hub for technology commercialization with a unique environment that cultivates startups and increases capabilities for established companies. Located on campus, Research Park has more than 120 companies and growing, employing over 2,100 people in high-technology careers.
Research Park Hosts 2025 AgTech Innovation Showcase Read Post »
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – 11 teams of 65 total participants competed in the 2025 Research Park Hackathon on Tuesday, July 1. Teams had 16 hours to create a project aligned with the theme “Innovation in a Day.” The Hackathon held a science-fair style exhibition session where judges and guests could learn more about participants’ projects. Finalists demonstration and presented their work to the judges, who scored them in three categories; business viability, creativity and execution. Judges were highly impressed with the team’s outcomes. Not only did projects perform well in the Hackathon, but judges believe they would yield successful results if integrated into internal production. “Participating in Hackathons like this from a judging perspective helps me get an understanding of some of the newest tools and technologies out there and where the younger talent is focusing their efforts,” said Jarai Carter, Senior Manager of Data Science at the John Deere Technology and Innovation Center. “I saw some really cool ideas where I’m like, ‘this is actually something that could be used in a variety of different settings.’” 2025 Research Park Hackathon Winners: COUNTRY Financial DigitaLab won first place for “Party Mode,” a real-time Spotify voting feature allowing users to upvote and downvote the songs in a communal queue. Groups are democratically able to choose what song plays, leading to better music experiences and reduced conflicts. Mondelēz International won second place for “Labyrinth”, a platform designed to easily connect students with professors based on academic interests, skill level, availability, and academic compatibility. COUNTRY Financial DigitaLab also won third place for “Wrist Play”, a smart watch that establishes a seamless communication channel between the watch itself, and smartphones. Wrist Play using Google Play Services’ Wearable Data API to enable gesture recognition and motion-based control applications. Mondelēz International also won the “Fan Favorite” award for “UniTion”, which allows students to place their homework, exam, and lab deadlines in one central location such as Google Calendar or Notion by taking data from any course website allowing one place for all deadlines to be organized. The Kohler Innovation Center won the “Most Creative” award for “Duolingo World”, a VR program allowing users to be places in realistic environments where they can interact with NPCs, ask questions, check out at a store, and solve spontaneous challenges all while learning a language of their choosing. The John Deere Technology Innovation Center won “Best Business Potential” for “Real Useful Life Prediction,” a software used to predict the estimated life remaining on John Deere equipment. The software can alert users of where issues may appear, and can point them in the direction of getting repairs. The judges included: More photos from the event can be viewed in the Research Park media gallery and on the Research Park Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook pages. Learn more about the event on the Research Park Hackathon page. To participate in similar events, visit the Research Park calendar.
COUNTRY Financial DigitaLab Wins 2025 Research Park Hackathon Read Post »
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The 14th Annual Research Park Table Tennis Tournament took place on Tuesday, June 17, and Wednesday, June 18, 2025. A Research Park favorite, the Table Tennis Tournament brought together 64 participants from companies across Research Park. Players took part in two intense days of round robin matches and bracket play in three categories: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Champions were crowned in each bracket, points were awarded to top-placing players, and the top-scoring company won the coveted Golden Paddle. The Synchrony Emerging Technology Center emerged as the Golden Paddle champion for the second year in a row, marking a shift from Yahoo!‘s 10-year domination of the tournament. Yahoo! came in second and the AGCO Acceleration Center came in third. In the beginner division, Weston Walker (AGCO Acceleration Center) claimed first place, followed by Kush Patel (Synchrony) in second. Yuxuan Chen (PrairieLearn) and Devin Patel (Synchrony) tied for third place. The intermediate category was led by Jakub Slomczynski (Yahoo!), who took home first place. Charlie Liu (Synchrony) earned second, while Abhjit Kannepalli (Synchrony) and Minjae Jang (COUNTRY Financial DigitaLab) shared third place. The advanced bracket saw Asim Chitre (Synchrony) securing the top spot. Venkatarama Sooriyakumar Ramakrishnan (Yahoo!) finished second, and Neelan Coleman (Yahoo!) and Yong-Bin Kim (Champaign Caterpillar Innovation Center) rounded out the podium in a tie for third. “The atmosphere is really phenomenal,” Tommy Miller, a Research and Development Intern at Mondelēz International, said. “Everybody’s clapping, cheering for the people playing, teammates or not. The game’s really fast-paced and I’ve lost the games I’ve played, but I’m having fun.” The tournament also handed out 10 company and individual superlative awards. Mondelēz International won Team Spirit and Yahoo! and COUNTRY Financial won In It for the Long Run. Kush Patel won Biggest Comeback, Yong-Bin Kim and Yuxuan Chen won Best Sportsmanship, Yuxuan Chen and David Lomiashvili (Identomat) won Early Bird, Roy Taylor won Fan Favorite and Dustin Mayfield-Jones (EnterpriseWorks) won Most Entertaining to Watch. “This is a really good event to know other companies in Research Park because I work for Caterpillar, but other than Fire at Five, there are not many interactions that I can have with other companies like Yahoo or Synchrony,” Kim, a Senior Data Specialist at Caterpillar, said. “When I was playing in this event, I had a lot of good conversations with other players. We had so much fun and I had some great moments, I was laughing, smiling.” More photos from the event can be viewed in the Research Park media gallery and on the Research Park Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook pages. Learn more about the event on the Research Park Table Tennis Tournament page. To participate in similar events, visit the Research Park calendar.
Synchrony Emerges as 2025 Research Park Table Tennis Tournament Champion Read Post »
Eight student startups who competed in the 2025 Cozad New Venture Challenge received awards from Research Park and EnterpriseWorks. The CNVC is a campus-wide program run by the Technology Entrepreneur Center that provides mentoring to teams through the phases of venture creation, and resources in idea validation, pitching skills, and customer development. EnterpriseWorks Catapult Award: includes up to $5,000 in professional support services to assist in new venture formation, in addition to student startup tenancy. Catapult recipients are: Instinfo, a website where attendees can press a single button to get more information about a live presentation in real time Pinata Diagnostics, a startup that is using proximity aptamers for point-of-care ultrasensitive protein detection, allowing for rapid testing for traumatic brain injuries, concussions, and more The Student Startup Tenancy award, which includes access to EnterpriseWorks entrepreneurship resources including professional consulting, co-working space, and more, was awarded to: Earlynosis, an AI-powered wearable biosensor for real-time sepsis detection Sensiboo is building the future of human development with a playtime planning app and wearable device that empowers parents to optimize early brain growth through personalized, enriching, real-world experiences Sprout, the first balloon-expandable RV-PA conduit that will replace right ventricular outflow tracts for congenital heart disease patients Tandemn, a software company that combines idle GPUs into a high-performance network for AI compute YoTally, a startup that is developing a smart stitch counter to prevent miscounting stitches while crocheting Research Park is proud to be of the sponsors of the newly launched Dr. P. Street College Innovation Prize. The Dr. P Street College Innovation Prize was created to honor the memory of Dr. William Patterson, a beloved member of the University of Illinois innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem who passed away in 2024. This prize recognizes student entrepreneurs using technology and education to empower the creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship of under-resourced communities. EnterpriseWorks contributed $2,500 of in-kind business incorporation professional services. Strand Logic is the winner of the inaugural Dr. P Innovation Prize. Strand is revolutionizing Black hair care with innovative technology, automating synthetic hair separation to eliminate prep time. EnterpriseWorks Student Memberships Available EnterpriseWorks is pleased to offer student memberships to select Cozad teams who are continuing to work on their businesses and are interested in being part of the broader Champaign-Urbana startup community. Interested teams are encouraged to apply by filling out this form, mentioning participation in CNVC. Past participants of the program include EnterpriseWorks graduates Cast21, DeepWalk, Mesh++, Prenosis, Psyonic, and Serionix, in addition to current EnterpriseWorks startups Natrion and ZiteAI. Learn more about Cozad on the TEC website.
Eight Cozad New Venture Challenge Startups Receive Awards from EnterpriseWorks Read Post »
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (April 9, 2025) – Mondelēz International, one of the world’s largest snack companies, has opened an innovation center at the University of Illinois Research Park, its first on a college campus. Mondelēz FutureLab aims to leverage forward-thinking perspectives from students across multiple disciplines. By leveraging the abilities and unfiltered imagination of students, Mondelēz seeks to identify disruptive concepts, experiment with emerging technologies, and challenge conventional product development processes. FutureLab provides interns with campus resources, flexible innovation processes, and support to help materialize their innovative ideas, and to test their magical hypotheses. “By embracing unconventional collaborations, Mondelēz reinforces its position as leading the future of snacking, driving superior innovation that meets the evolving needs of consumers in a rapidly changing world ,” said Marylena Meza, SVP R&D Strategy & Excellence of Mondelēz. “This initiative not only strengthens Mondelēz’s commitment to fostering innovation, it also provides students with invaluable hands-on experience, mentorship, and the chance to see their ideas come to life.” FutureLab opened with a small team of research and development professional leaders from within the company. When fully occupied, FutureLab will host a team of University of Illinois student interns working year-round. “Mondelēz is eager to tap into student insights to develop products and experiences that resonate with emerging consumer preferences, and where better to do that than our land grant institution – a state focused on ag and food innovation,” said Dr. Susan Martinis, Vice Chancellor of Research and Innovation at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. “With Mondelēz’s Chicago roots, there’s all the more reason to be optimistic about the future of the state’s booming bioeconomy.” Students will have the opportunity to work on new and evolving research projects that will bring together traditional sciences and other disciplines such as music and arts, leveraging digital approaches. Interns will gain industry experience while making real contributions to internal corporate R&D programs, skills that will benefit students as they move forward in their careers. The site is led by Michelle Firrell, who has over 17 years of progressive experience in leading scientific and technical teams, shaping research programs, and driving operations for global organizations. About Mondelēz International Mondelēz International, Inc. (Nasdaq: MDLZ) empowers people to snack right in over 150 countries around the world. With 2024 net revenues of approximately $36.4 billion, MDLZ is leading the future of snacking with iconic global and local brands such as Oreo, Ritz, LU, Clif Bar and Tate’s Bake Shop biscuits and baked snacks, as well as Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka and Toblerone chocolate. Mondelēz International is a proud member of the Standard and Poor’s 500, Nasdaq 100 and Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Visit www.mondelezinternational.com or follow the company on LinkedIn at Mondelēz International: Overview | LinkedIn About the Research Park at the University of Illinois The Research Park at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a technology hub for startup companies and corporate research and development operations. Within the Research Park there are 120 companies employing students and full-time technology professionals. More information at researchpark.illinois.edu. Follow the company on LinkedIn at UIResearchPark.
