AMI has graduated to a new facility in Champaign County, and recently closed on Series B funding worth $3.9 million, the News-Gazette reported. AMI spent five years at EnterpriseWorks. In that time, it raised the $3.9 million and increased from two to seven employees.
AMI Graduates to New Facility, Stays in Champaign County Read Post »
The new Indoor Climate Research & Training (ICRT) program training facility held its Grand Opening Ceremony on October 16, 2012. Dr. Manohar Kulkarni (ISTC Director) and Paul Francisco (Research Engineer and Program Leader for ICRT) kicked of the ceremony with welcoming remarks and short history of the ICRT program. Special guest Lt. Governor Sheila Simon was given the honor of cutting the ribbon for the official opening of the training facility. In addition to the Lt. Governor, Naomi Jakobsson (Representative from the 103rd district) and Paul Faraci (local representative) were in attendance as well as Dr. Howard Guenther from the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Research (UI), members from the Prairie Research Institute, the ISTC Advisory Board, the Smart Energy Design Assistance Center (SEDAC), Business Innovation Services (UI), Masha Trenhalie (VP of Operations for Fox Development), Civil and Environmental Engineering Department (UI), Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department (UI), Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (IDCEO), Community and Economic Development Association (CEDA), and a number of training instructors and contractors. The new weatherization training facility is 6,700 square feet and is located at 2111 S. Oak Street, Suite 106 in Champaign. The program is the only one in Illinois that includes space for both classrooms and hands-on training opportunities for the home performance industry. It is expected to serve thousands of trainees. Funding for the training center was provided by the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Illinois Jobs Now! capital construction program.
The Research Park continues to make progress to develop an additional 160 acres on the east side of First Street, with the first project being the long-anticipated retail and residential component. The News-Gazette reported on the recent meeting of the Research Park Board of Managers, which featured discussion of the retail/residential amenities as well as information regarding broadband.
Progress Continues in the Research Park Residential/Retail Project Read Post »
One of the key factors in the expansion of the University of Illinois Research Park is the extension of Fourth Street to connect St. Mary’s and Windsor Roads. The concrete for this road was poured on Thursday, Sept. 13. From the News-Gazette: “For 12 hours on Thursday, workers poured, smoothed and worked the concrete that will become a 4,100-foot segment of a street that officials hope will spur the continued development of the University of Illinois Research Park.”
Research Park Expansion Update: Fourth Street Extension Paved Read Post »
Outstanding student interns working for companies in the Research Park were honored Aug. 2 at the annual Intern Recognition Event. Supervisors nominated a 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. The judging team received 38 nominations this year, almost double last year’s total. Five awards were given out, with finalists honored in each category. The winners are: Most Valuable Marketing/Business Development Intern: Anne Wessel, junior in industrial design, IPT: Anne designed dramatic innovations in the sewing components of IPT’s prosthetic arm. (Finalists: Carol Grzych, State Farm; Jon Striegel, State Farm) Most Valuable Entrepreneurial Leadership in a Startup: John Stratton, PhD student in Electrical and Computer Engineering, MulticoreWare: He has been the primary developer of a new product line that has been getting consistently high interest from clients. Finalists: Sam Rappeport, Serionix; Philip Jurik, 4D Teleport; Christina Korp, Dioxide Materials Most Valuable Tech Innovation in the Research Park: Daniel Herber (pictured with manager Hank Roark), graduate student in Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering, Deere & Co.: Created a significant computational simulation and developed a method for calibration of the models. His work will be the basis for a patent application and/or submitted for publication. Finalists: Josh Eckhardt, Caterpillar; Hee-Seok Kim, MulticoreWare Most Valuable Graduate in the Research Park: Jibo He, Psychology graduate student, State Farm: Developed a high functioning smartphone prototype that has the potential to prevent thousands of drowsy driver-related crashes. Finalists: Saurav Mohapatra, PowerWorld; Rohit Naini, Neustar Most Valuable Undergraduate in the Research Park: Anna Oldani, recent graduate, Caterpillar: Anna’s modeling and structural analysis work is very comparable to the work done by full-time engineers, and allowed her team to serve more customers that it could otherwise serve. Finalists: Zack Stone, Waterborne Environmental; Alex Ratcliff, MulticoreWare
Research Park Honors Most Valuable Interns of 2012 Read Post »
The Rantoul Business Incubator, which celebrated its grand opening on June 28, is now accepting applications for tenants. Services available in this community incubator include free space for entrepreneurs as well as several support programs, including access to the Entrepreneurs-in-Residence at EnterpriseWorks and the counselors at the Small Business Development Center. Enterpreneurial education, first in the form of the FasTrac course, will be offered at this location. Here’s a photo gallery from the grand opening. Thanks to all who attended.
Rantoul Business Incubator Now Open Read Post »
Citrix today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Bytemobile, a leading provider of data and video optimization solutions for mobile network operators. This acquisition gives Citrix a key strategic foothold in the core infrastructure of more than 130 mobile operators in 60 countries around the world, significantly extending the company’s market reach, and enhancing the broader Citrix strategy of powering mobile workstyles and cloud services. Bytemobile has deep University of Illinois roots. University of Illinois Electrical Engineering professor Constantine Polychronopoulos’s research in multithreading computer architectures and wireless network performance optimization at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) formed the core of Bytemobile technology. The company was founded in 2000, and it is a graduate of the Technology Commercialization Lab, the incubator facility that was the predecessor to EnterpriseWorks. It opened a research and development facility in the Research Park in 2006. Citrix is publicly traded on the NASDAQ, and becomes the 14th publicly traded company to have an operation in the Research Park.
Bytemobile Acquired by Citrix Read Post »
Critical to the planned expansion of Research Park is the construction of roads and other infrastructure. The Champaign City Council unanimously signed off on the project at its meeting May 1. The $4.9 million, state-funded project will extend a network of roads to the east of First Street, including South Fourth Street from St. Mary’s Road to Windsor Road. Laura Frerichs, director of Research Park, was interviewed about the expansion plans on WCIA-TV. The News-Gazette also provided coverage of the approval by the city council. The first building on the 160 acres slated for expansion has been completed off Hazelwood Drive. Construction of the new roads will go forward in June.
Champaign City Council Approves Critical Step in Research Park Expansion Read Post »
Several companies and individuals with close ties to Research Park won awards at Thursday night’s 7th annual Innovation Celebration. Research Park director Laura Frerichs was the emcee for the event, which took place at the Beckman Institute. Innovation Celebration recognizes those individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions, taken risks, and provided leadership to ensure the continuing economic success of Champaign County, the ongoing success of the University’s economic development mission, and the growth of entrepreneurial talent and energy in our community. The winners with Research Park ties include: Brian Jurczyk, co-founder of Starfire Industries, won the Entrepreneurial Excellence in Management Award. The company, an EnterpriseWorks graduate that remains in the Research Park, employs 17 and is a leader in neutron sources and plasma engineering. Nuvixa, founded in 2009 by electrical and computer engineering Associate Professor Sanjay Patel, won the New Venture Award. The company, based at EnterpriseWorks, has used new sensing devices, advanced algorithms, and new computing power to expand the potential of video presentations. Serionix, founded by materials science doctoral student Jim Langer, won the Student Startup Award. The company is developing technologies for air and water purification. Serionix recently moved into space at EnterpriseWorks. Scott Daigle and Marissa Siebel of IntelliWheels received the Social Entrepreneurship Award for developing an automatic gear-shifting system for wheelchairs. The device reduces shoulder pain for those using wheelchairs. IntelliWheels is housed at EnterpriseWorks. Professor Dave Kranz, co-founder of both Immuven and Biodisplay, won the Technology Transfer Award. Immuven, an EnterpriseWorks tenant, is developing new drugs based on the engineering of T-cell receptor proteins. Yi Lu, co-founder of ANDalyze Inc., received the Innovation Discovery Award. A professor of chemistry, biochemistry, and biophysics, he has 41 invention disclosures and 14 issued patents. ANDalyze Inc. is an EnterpriseWorks graduate and Research Park tenant. Liz Kellner won the Entrepreneur Advocacy Award for nearly 20 years of work to support and encourage entrepreneurship in the community. She has worked at the Technology Commercialization Lab, in TechCommunity and with the Second Saturdays group. Kellner is the entrepreneurship specialist at Singleton Law Firm, a tenant in the Research Park.
Research Park Innovators Win Big at Innovation Celebration Read Post »
Abbott, a tenant at the Research Park, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign announced today they have established the first-ever multi-disciplinary nutrition and cognition research center, which will be located on the Urbana campus. The Center for Nutrition, Learning, and Memory will lead directed and solicited research on the impact of nutrition on learning and memory in the human brain. Abbott has been a tenant at Research Park since 2009 and recently expanded operations. Its Research Park facility focuses on nutrition, and the new research collaboration has its roots in the relationships developed through its presence here. Learn more here: https://researchpark.illinois.edu/abbott-laboratories/
