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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

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    EnterpriseWorks Startup DeepWalk Pilots Technology That Keeps Campus Sidewalks ADA Compliant

    A EnterpriseWorks startup is changing the way that city workers and civil engineers inspect sidewalks for safety. DeepWalk has built a scanning app that makes it easier and more inexpensive to inspect sidewalks on university campuses and municipalities. The app is innovative in that users are trained how to use the program on the device. DeepWalk comes with a wide variety of unique features, including community mapping data, 3D site visit models, self-evalutation templates and automatically generated work orders. All of these tools can help a city to generate their estimated cost for sidewalk repairs in a matter of minutes. Co-founders Brandon Yates and Anshul Shah came up with the app idea in a first-year engineering course at UIUC. Since then, they have participated in the COZAD New Venture Challenge and the iVenture Accelerator program that is sponsored by Gies College of Business. The iVenture Accelerator is a university program that provides a variety of resources and opportunities for student-led entrepreneurial endeavors. “iVenture Accelerator is a safe and helpful place to make a lot of mistakes quickly. It taught us to create a fundraising pitch before we would have on our own,” said Yates.  With the iVenture program, DeepWalk was able to formulate a simple and responsive business model that could appeal to a greater pool of clients. Since DeepWalk’s enrollment in the iVenture program, it has managed to complete a pilot program in Danville, Illinois, and it has confirmed contracts with the University of Maryland, and Western Michigan University. By May 2023, the startup will be used in 15 different cities. As cities continue to grow and the Baby Boomer generation becomes older, there is a greater need for the inspection of sidewalk safety. There is also a greater need for technology that can analyze whether walkways are compliant with American Disability Act (ADA) guidelines. DeepWalk is currently located in the EnterpriseWorks building, where it is working on expanding past its current client base. In the future, the company envisions becoming an automatic measurement company that utilizes drones to scan pathways. Learn more about DeepWalk here.

    EnterpriseWorks Startup DeepWalk Pilots Technology That Keeps Campus Sidewalks ADA Compliant Read Post »

    News Research Park

    UIRP Releases RFP For CABBI Greenhouse Construction

    The UIRP LLC is seeking a developer for a special purpose project to construct a greenhouse for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, which will support the U.S. Department of Energy funded Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI). RFP #20230209BW Illinois Public Higher Education Bulletin Request for Proposal: Developer Selection Greenhouse Project Sealed proposals will be accepted below until 3:00 PM, Monday March 13, 2023. The University of Illinois is soliciting qualifications and proposals from experienced development teams for the award of a concession involving land owned by the University on the UIUC campus in Champaign, Illinois to select a developer who would have the exclusive right for two years to develop and build a Greenhouse project on a specific site at the Research Park which is designated for such a use by the Master Plan. Subject to the Pre-development Agreement, the proposed Greenhouse facility will consist of two components: approximately 8,000 SF greenhouse and approximately 5,000 SF headhouse. Find the RFP and background about CABBI online here. 

    UIRP Releases RFP For CABBI Greenhouse Construction Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    Vote Today: HabiTerre Selected as Finalist for THRIVE | Shell Climate-Smart Agriculture Challenge

    MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT! EnterpriseWorks startup HabiTerre needs your support. The THRIVE | Shell Climate-Smart Agriculture Challenge has selected HabiTerre as a finalist. As part of this esteemed competition, there is a People’s Choice Award in addition to the overall prize. Please take a moment to join HabiTerre’s supporters and vote online. Voting is being captured through AirTable – voters will be asked for name and affiliation. HabiTerre will present to a judging panel in the coming weeks for the overall prize, which rewards world-leading innovation in climate-smart agriculture. Find the full press release HERE. The finalists include 11 startup and scale-up innovators who are driving the global transformation to climate-smart agricultural practices. More specifically, the Challenge will recognize innovations that help farmers by finding: solutions that promote carbon sequestration and avoid emissions while improving soil health; solutions to improve farm connectivity to access carbon markets and carbon financing; and solutions that measure and quantify soil carbon, soil health, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. HabiTerre CEO Nick Reinke will be a featured panelist at the upcoming AgTech Innovation Summit – register today. Congrats to all of the HabiTerre team – especially Nick and founder Kaiyu Guan!

    Vote Today: HabiTerre Selected as Finalist for THRIVE | Shell Climate-Smart Agriculture Challenge Read Post »

    Investments Research Park

    Nominations sought for 2023 Glen “GB” Brandt Prize for Ag Entrepreneurism

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and The BRANDT Foundation Prize Honors the Legacy of GB Brandt CHAMPAIGN – Nominations are now being accepted for the third Glen “GB” Brandt Prize for Ag Entrepreneurism, recognizing an Illinois farmer for their role in advancing innovation and entrepreneurship in the ag sector. Established in 2021 to honor the memory of GB Brandt, a legendary figure in the field of Illinois agriculture, the $10,000 cash prize will be awarded to a nominee who exemplifies an entrepreneurial spirit and advances innovation through their business practices, crop growing processes or product usage. The nomination form is now open. https://go.illinois.edu/GlenBrandtAgInnovationPrize The deadline for submission is February 10, 2023. The prize is a partnership between the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and The BRANDT Foundation. The winner will be announced and recognized at the AgTech Innovation Summit, an annual event produced by the University of Illinois Research Park, on March 7, 2023. “GB was an extraordinary person who attacked life with optimism and built a global business from very humble roots,” said Rick Brandt, President of The BRANDT Foundation. “We’re looking to help someone who shares GB’s passion for ag, demonstrates a high level of creativity and has a vision to change the future.” Examples of possible innovations include (but are not limited to): working to increase productivity/efficiency of farmers; new applications of technology; unique business ventures; and creating new agricultural opportunities, such as new crops or new food production systems. Those eligible for the award include Illinois farmers, growers and producers or those engaged with Illinois farmers, growers and producers. Nominees must be connected with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign or its affiliates (full list of eligibility criteria is available in the nomination form). Matt Riggs of Riggs Beer Company was named the second annual recipient of the Glen “GB” Brandt Prize for Ag Entrepreneurism in March 2022. Riggs’s nominators cited his ag business ingenuity, writing: “Since founding his brewery in 2016, his farm and brewery have vertically integrated over 155,000 pounds of brewing grain, making them the Midwest’s #1 volume “grain to glass” brewery.” (See the full story HERE.) The son of a farmer from Sangamon County, GB, along with his sister Evelyn, started the company that would become the global agribusiness known as BRANDT. He provided the vision and energy to imagine, build and manage what today has 800 employees and sales in 81 countries. He died in 2020 at age 94. About The BRANDT Foundation The BRANDT Foundation was established in 2012 as a philanthropic extension of BRANDT, Inc. The Brandt family has always stood with their communities and as their company grew, so did the opportunities to give back. The BRANDT Foundation offers donations, grants and support to the farms, charities and organizations in the areas where the company does business. About the AgTech Innovation Summit The AgTech Innovation Summit is an interactive conference where participants to learn and share knowledge about the current state of agtech and get a looking into the future through dynamic panels, inspiring keynote presentations, and networking opportunities. It is produced by the University of Illinois Research Park in partnership with the College of ACES and the Office of Corporate Relations. One of the premier AgTech hubs in the nation, Champaign-Urbana is uniquely positioned to bring together entrepreneurs, investors, academics, and industry for learning, networking and advancing this sector. Contacts Karl Barnhart, The BRANDT Foundation, karl.barnhart@brandt.coLaura Bleill, Research Park, lwbleill@illinois.edu

    Nominations sought for 2023 Glen “GB” Brandt Prize for Ag Entrepreneurism Read Post »

    Community News

    Local Preschool Gives to Eastern Illinois FoodBank For Annual Holiday Giving Initiative

    This past holiday season, Chesterbrook Academy Preschool instilled leadership into its students’ young minds. The school has made an effort to encourage its students to participate in community service through its annual Holiday Giving Initiative. This program makes serving those in need a part of its academic curriculum. Each year, the students choose an organization to give to. Organizations helped in previous years include local hospitals, Make-a-Wish, and the Crisis Nursery in Urbana. This year the students chose to give to Eastern Illinois Food Bank. The youngsters were able to gather 150 non-perishable items to give to the organization. The program helps the kids to see first-hand the significant impacts that they can make on their local community. “I want them to be worldly and realize there’s more to life than what’s in their home and school because we see the same thing every day here. It’s important to have that diversity and see some people aren’t as fortunate as others. It helps us put into perspective what’s important”, said Chesterbrook Pre-K 2 teacher Sarah Webb. Chesterbrook, which is located near Research Park, also hosted a food drive that occurred this past November. These experiences have helped the students to embrace diversity both inside and outside of the classroom. The school stresses the importance of introducing kids to community service so that they can continue to volunteer as they age. Webb says that the preschool is hoping to expand the initiative to more than just a holiday program so that it can help more organizations. Read more about this story here.

    Local Preschool Gives to Eastern Illinois FoodBank For Annual Holiday Giving Initiative Read Post »

    Internships Media Mentions News 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. John Pletz of Crain’s Chicago Business explores how this ecosystem is delivering computing talent to two Research Park 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 News Research Park

    Immigration Specialist Matt Meltzer Joins EnterpriseWorks EIR Team

    Matt Meltzer, an immigration attorney and partner in Chicago-based Meltzer Hellrung, has joined the EnterpriseWorks Entrepreneur-in-Residence program. Meltzer is now available to meet with technology entrepreneurs and startup ventures. “As an entrepreneur, I deeply enjoy working with fellow entrepreneurs. The US immigration pathways for entrepreneurs are never easy; but with solid planning and creativity, we can work towards making a path possible,” Meltzer said. Meltzer is no stranger to the EnterpriseWorks and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign entrepreneurship community. He has led workshops and delivered lectures on topics related to employment authorization and immigration pathways for entrepreneurs. View a previous webinar below. The EIR allows entrepreneurs to seek help from experienced and successful members from the EIR over a variety of topics including business consulting, strategy assistance, marketing and communication help, investor preparedness. This program also hosts a series of events featuring the Entrepreneurs-in-Residence. To learn more about the Entrepreneur-in-Residence program or request to meet with Meltzer, click here. BIOGRAPHY: Matt co-founded Meltzer Hellrung in 2014 with his business partner, Matthew Hellrung. Their vision was to combine exceptional, strategic, and programmatic legal guidance with best-in-class technology to provide a service that makes immigration management easier for companies and more transparent, intuitive, and reassuring for foreign national employees. In addition, Matt continues to strive to build a workplace that treats employees with dignity and invests in their long-term success. Matt’s clients range from entrepreneurs to small and growth-phase companies to multinational corporations. In his practice, he has built up a specialty working with emerging companies, including entrepreneurs, foreign companies entering the US market, and high-growth venture backed companies. Matt works closely with clients to help them assess immediate legal needs and build strategies that scale with continued growth. Matt advises companies regarding employee hiring and I-9 compliance, immigration policy, reorganizations and mergers, global immigration and expansion, and government inspections. View his complete bio here.

    Immigration Specialist Matt Meltzer Joins EnterpriseWorks EIR Team Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks Media Mentions News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    Chicagoland Billboard Campaign Features EnterpriseWorks Startups

    A marketing campaign presented by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign hitting billboards across Chicagoland features several startups at EnterpriseWorks and Research Park. Those include: Network Perception: Now located in Chicago, Network Perception incubated at EnterpriseWorks. It has multiple UIUC faculty co-founders and its CEO is a former staff member. Prenonis: Now located in Chicago, Prenonis also incubated at EnterpriseWorks and has faculty co-founders. Tiesta Tea: This Chicago success story also got its start at EnterpriseWorks, where it was co-founded by one student from UIUC and one student from University of Illinois-Chicago. Ocient: in its early stages, Chicago-based Ocient opened an office at EnterpriseWorks.

    Chicagoland Billboard Campaign Features EnterpriseWorks Startups Read Post »

    Features Internships News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    New Podcast: Finding Success as a Research Park Intern

    The most recent episode of the Innovations @ Research Park Podcast features interviews with two of the winners of the 2022 Research Park intern awards.  Tune in to hear from David An and Natalie Xiong, two winners of this year’s annual intern award program. They discuss their perceptions of RP, memorable moments, skills gained, and advice for students listening who are curious about what Research Park has to offer. An was a data science intern at Ameren when he won the “Outstanding Undergraduate” award. Xiong, who won the “Outstanding Graduate Student” award, continues working at Riverbed, where she is a Data Science intern. Listen to the conversation that host Tanmay Shaw had with David and Natalie 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).

    New Podcast: Finding Success as a Research Park Intern Read Post »

    EnterpriseWorks News Recognition & Awards Research Park

    HabiTerre Awarded $75,000 Arch Grants Prize

    EnterpriseWorks startup HabiTerre has won $75,000 in the Arch Grants startup competition. HabiTerre monitors, measures, and analyzes global and local resource levels and provide actionable insights for optimal management of land and water. It was founded at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Arch Grants is a St. Louis nonprofit that annually awards $75,000 equity-free grants to startups. It awarded 23 companies in 2022.  Co-founder Dr. Kaiyu Guan, CEO Nick Reinke, Senior Modeling Scientist Bin Ping and Chief Engineer Yizhi Huang represented HabiTerre at the Arch Grants gala on Friday, Nov. 18. As part of the Arch Grants award, each company will commit to operating their business from St. Louis for at least one year; HabiTerre plans to continue its presence at EnterpirseWorks.

    HabiTerre Awarded $75,000 Arch Grants Prize Read Post »