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    Features

    EnterpriseWorks Features News

    Paul Miller, EnterpriseWorks Entrepreneur-in-Residence, highlighted in latest Research Park podcast

    The newest episode of The Innovations @ Research Park podcast features Paul Miller, an EnterpriseWorks Entrepreneur-in-Residence, and Co-Founder of Agrible, a company that provides real-time agronomic information and sustainable solutions through long-term, scalable sustainability programs for growers, ag-retailers, and consumer packaged goods companies to take action. Miller, who started his career as a software engineer, has since founded numerous companies. He has found success in the technology industry, first with his startup, Motivote, and then with Flats or Spikes.  In the podcast, Miller discussed the importance of having a team of diverse people from different backgrounds and perspectives. He also spoke about the need to be resilient and take risks to achieve success.  “I’m a huge believer in taking risks and learning from failure,” said Miller. “If something doesn’t work, you have to find a different way to get the job done. Don’t be afraid to take risks and think outside the box.”  Miller also emphasized the need to listen to customers and understand their needs. He explained that customer feedback can provide valuable insights into how to improve products and services.  “It’s important to really listen to your customers and understand their needs,” said Miller. “You have to take their feedback into account and use it to make your products and services better. That’s how you create a better product that people want to use.” Miller’s podcast is the latest in a series of podcasts from Innovations at Research Park, which seeks to highlight the success stories of entrepreneurs and innovators in the research park and beyond. To listen to more of the conversation that Tanmay Shaw had with Paul Miller about his journey as a serial entrepreneur and learn more details about his company, tune in to the latest edition of the Innovations @ Research Park Podcast. To listen to the podcast, visit Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you prefer to download your podcasts. 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? Contact Laura Bleill (lwbleill@illinois.edu).

    Paul Miller, EnterpriseWorks Entrepreneur-in-Residence, highlighted in latest Research Park podcast Read Post »

    Features Research Park

    Crain’s Chicago Business Shows How Cat and Deere Leverage UIUC, Research Park for Talent

    At the University of Illinois Research Park, it’s said (a bit tongue-in-cheek) that companies there receive every unfair recruiting advantage possible when it comes to access to the strong tech talent at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This week John Pletz of Crain’s Chicago Business explores how this ecosystem is delivering computing talent to two UIRP companies, Caterpillar and John Deere. The premise? That a corporate presence in both Chicago and Champaign is keeping talent in the state. “Caterpillar and Deere are setting foot on campus more often and making jobs more appealing by setting up shop in Chicago. As a result, they’re having more success in meeting their own hiring needs while giving students with high-demand skills more reasons to stay in Illinois instead of leaving for the coasts,” Pletz writes. Companies are also going beyond the traditional mechanisms to engage with students, campus colleagues told Pletz. “While traditional recruiting strategies—such as attending career fairs or participating in hackathons—are great for keeping brands in front of the broad CS audience, we have noticed companies are also adding much more targeted activities to their recruiting arsenal,” says Cynthia Coleman, director of external relations for U of I’s computer-science department. Read the entire Crain’s Chicago Business story about Deere and Cat online HERE (access may be restricted by a paywall).

    Crain’s Chicago Business Shows How Cat and Deere Leverage UIUC, Research Park for Talent Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks Features Graduates News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    EnterpriseWorks Graduate Aptimmune Featured in APLU’s University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Showcase

    Aptimmune Biologics was featured as a successful university-related startup at The Association of American Universities and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Showcase in December. Aptimmune specializes in developing autogenous mucosal vaccines for viral diseases that are costly to the swine industry. Founded by Dr. Federico Zuckermann, a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign veterinary medicine faculty member, the company graduated from EnterpriseWorks in 2018. A video about Aptimmune’s technology and impact that was created and shown at the APLU event can be viewed HERE.  The third annual University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Showcase was held virtually on Dec. 7-11. The showcase spotlighted 22 startup companies from across the nation that have created products and services using federally funded, university-based research. Aptimmune is now based in St. Louis.

    EnterpriseWorks Graduate Aptimmune Featured in APLU’s University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Showcase Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks Features Media Mentions News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    Aspiring Universe founder’s study highlighted in a Forbes article

    Kaiyu Guan, founder of EnterpriseWorks startup Aspiring Universe, was a principal investigator to the University of Illinois report, Redefining drought in the US corn belt. This report was featured in a Forbes article. Stating the climate is now trending warmer and drier, global food security is now increasingly dependent on crops’ ability to withstand droughts, and producers aren’t focused on the right metrics when measuring crop-relevant droughts. Kaiyu Guan said, “Plants have to balance water supply and demand. Both are extremely critical, but people overlook the demand of the equation, especially in the U.S. Corn Belt. If you only consider rainfall and soil moisture, that’s mostly describing the supply side. Of course, if you have low soil moisture, plants will be stressed by how much water they get. However, the demand side from the atmosphere can also severely stress plants. We need to pay more attention to that drought signal.” Read more about the report here. Read more on the Forbes article here. Aspiring Universe (ASP) is a farming financial risk modeling company. ASP helps financial institutes, public agencies, and individual producers to quantify, manage, and reduce financial risks in the farming-related business. They aim to monitor and model every crop field’s financial risks in the United States and worldwide. ASP has developed revolutionary approaches to rate historical and real-time financial risks for each crop field and each farmer, by integrating advancing technology in three domains: satellite/corp modeling, artificial intelligence, and agricultural finance modeling. Learn more about Aspiring Universe here.

    Aspiring Universe founder’s study highlighted in a Forbes article Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks Features Media Mentions News Research Park

    Illinois Soybean Association Examines AgTech Sector Growth at Research Park

    A report in the July issue of the Illinois Soybean Association magazine Soy Perspectives examines the burgeoning AgTech startup scene at the University of Illinois Research Park. Reporter Tim Alexander highlights two high-performing agtech startups, EarthSense and Aspiring Universe, as well as the new Illinois AgTech Accelerator that will launch officially this fall. EarthSense and Aspiring Universe are both located at EnterpriseWorks, the technology business incubator at Research Park. “In addition to gener8tor’s Illinois AgTech Accelerator program, which will take five fledgling agtech startups under its wing, others like Aspiring Universe and EarthSense are developing and marketing next generation, field-applicable technology that will benefit soybean farmers,” Alexander wrote. The entire article can be found online here. 

    Illinois Soybean Association Examines AgTech Sector Growth at Research Park Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks Features Graduates News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    EnterpriseWorks Graduate IntelinAir Ranked in Inc. 5000

    Inc. introduced its annual ranking of private companies for 2020, and IntelinAir, a 2019 EnterpriseWorks graduate, came in at #714 in the list of 5000 companies. Companies in the 2020 Inc. 5000 list are ranked according to percentage revenue growth from 2016 to 2019. Inc. reported that this agtech company has grown by 659%. IntelinAir is the only Champaign-based company honored in the Inc. 5000 this year. IntelinAir’s AgMRI gathers high resolution aerial images, temperature readings, humidity measurements, rainfall, soil samples, terrain type, equipment utilized, planting rates, applications, and more in order to determine patterns that agronomists and farmers can use in their decision-making. On March 10, IntelinAir announced that it joined the NVDIA Inception program as a community member, allowing the startup to collaborate with industry-leading experts and other AI-driven startups. In early April of this year, Jacobs’ and IntelinAir announced their partnership, and IntelinAir also partnered with the Wabash Heartland Innovation Network. The agtech company released its AgMRI application for iPhone® in May 2020. IntelinAir is a full-season and full-spectrum crop intelligence company focused on agriculture that delivers actionable intelligence to help farmers make data-driven decisions to improve operational efficiency, yields, and ultimately their profitability. To see the full Inc. 5000 list for 2020, visit the Inc. 5000 2020 page.

    EnterpriseWorks Graduate IntelinAir Ranked in Inc. 5000 Read Post »

    Features Media Mentions News Research Park

    The Economist Profile of the Midwest Highlights Research Park’s Focus on Technology Commercialization

    An in-depth, multi-story report on the Midwest economy published in the Economist’s July 23 edition included a snapshot of the University of Illinois Research Park, highlighting its commitment to commercialize technology and to capture talent on its own campus – creating a tech hub that is a viable alternative to the coasts. One portion of the report, “A Region with Outsized Punch,” focused on how top Midwest universities drive economic prosperity by supplying a talented, educated workforce and developing advanced technology. Reporter Adam Roberts visited UIRP and EnterpriseWorks in March, meeting with startups and touring with Laura Frerichs, UIRP Executive Director. Laura Frerichs … “says her university—with 13,000 engineering students and more mathematics phds than anywhere in America—learned from that experience. It has since put up 17 buildings for entrepreneurial students and recent graduates.” The story highlights some of the Research Park’s stellar startup stories, including EarthSense, Reconstruct, and SimBioSys, but doesn’t mention them by name. The story is available online, but subscription is required to read it. 

    The Economist Profile of the Midwest Highlights Research Park’s Focus on Technology Commercialization Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks Features Media Mentions News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    EnterpriseWorks Graduate Eden Park Illumination Featured in Wall Street Journal After Pivoting Technology to Address COVID-19

    Eden Park Illumination, a faculty-founded startup that launched at the  EnterpriseWorks incubator at Research Park, drew the attention of the Wall Street Journal for pivoting its UV light technology to address COVID-19. In the process, it has rejuvenated the company and has experienced unprecedented growth. Wall Street Journal reporter Ruth Simon profiled the company in her recent story, “Covid-19 Shuttered More Than 1 Million Small Businesses. Here Is How Five Survived.” Wrote Simon, in the Journal’s August 1 editions: “Eden Park Illumination Inc. had one product to sell before Covid-19: an ultraviolet light that distinguished real diamonds from fakes. The spread of a deadly virus across the globe shifted the focus of the tiny Champaign, Ill., startup to another ultraviolet light application that it had not planned to introduce for at least two years. This one would disinfect crowded spaces. Within weeks, the 10-person company began shipping prototypes. Eden Park has since delivered more than 1,000 of the lights and added a dozen workers, including a head of manufacturing.” Eden Park Illumination was founded by Gary Eden and Sun-Jin Park, then University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign electrical engineering faculty members (Eden is now an emeritus faculty member). It graduated from EnterpriseWorks in 2009. Eden and Park remain part of the company; it recently hired a new CEO, John Yerger. Now based on the west side of Champaign, the company manufactures flat panel, thin 222 nm UV lamps that “may provide immediate relief in mitigating COVID-19 outbreaks in populated indoor spaces, including factories, submarines, aircraft carriers, planes, waiting rooms, restaurants and more.” The company has also been profiled on Fox Business News with other mentions on ABC News and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  For more about the company and its technology, visit the Eden Park website.

    EnterpriseWorks Graduate Eden Park Illumination Featured in Wall Street Journal After Pivoting Technology to Address COVID-19 Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks Features Media Mentions News Research Park

    EarthSense TerraSentia Featured in Successful Farming

    EarthSense, an agtech startup based in EnterpriseWorks, was featured by Successful Farming for their innovative robot, TerraSentia. 80 of these robots have been deployed as of July 2020, and the company intends to produce 100 before the year ends. Corteva Agriscience, a publicly traded, global pure-play agriculture company with a research and development center in the Research Park, currently uses EarthSense’s TerraSentia “to develop hardware as well as analytics to get the best possible data for our product development,” explained Neil Hausmann, Corteva Agriscience Field Sensing Lead and Distinguished Research Fellow. Although Corteva began using drones in 2015, TerraSentia is unique since it is designed to “automate in-field plant trait collection” where drones cannot reach. “Using computer vision and machine learning, the autonomous robot is currently being taught to measure early vigor, corn ear height, soybean pods, plant biomass, and to detect and identify diseases abiotic stresses.” Hausmann said that TerraSentia is essential for Corteva because it “improves the outcomes for the grower not only to achieve higher yields, but also to help create more stable products for his operation.” EarthSense was founded in 2016 by Chinmay Soman and Girish Chowdhary. The company develops ultracompact autonomous robots that use machine vision and machine learning to collect and convert field data into useful information. TerraSentia, their first robot, is revolutionizing agriculture. EarthSense received a Phase II SBIR award from the National Science Foundation in April 2020, was selected by the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator to join its seventh cohort in May 2020, and received accelerated funding from the National Science Foundation to transform TerraSentia into an autonomous sanitizing robot in June 2020. To read on about how TerraSentia is automating the laborious task of collecting data to improve crop breeding, visit the Successful Farming website.

    EarthSense TerraSentia Featured in Successful Farming 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 Fox Managing Member (217) 351-1430 peterf@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 »

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