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On November 12, 2020, the University of Illinois Research Park hosted its eighth annual Big Data Summit virtually through Zoom. The 2020 Big Data summit focused on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation. Keynote speaker Phil Hajduk, VP for Information Research at AbbVie, discussed how to turn data into knowledge to solve real problems in developing biologics and improve operations. This year’s speakers discussed a wide range of topics from AI in life sciences, consumer privacy in advertising, and biases in data sciences. The speakers also ranged from academia, industry leaders, and entrepreneurs. In addition to the unique mix of presentations, a panel of EnterpriseWorks startup companies discussed how corporate partnerships lead to new innovations. The panel was moderated by Laila Partridge, Managing Director at STANLEY+Techstars Accelerator. The panel included Chinmay Soman, Co-founder and CEO of EarthSense, Daphne Preuss, Chief Executive Officer at Aspiring Universe, Sam Hamedi Rad, COO and Sr. Research Scientist at LifeFoundry, and Mani Golparvar, CTO of Reconstruct. The day concluded with a networking reception. This not only allowed Big Data companies to talk about new advances in Big Data, but it also provided the opportunity for the community to connect with Research Park companies and to network with industry leaders.  Find photos from the 2020 Big Data Summit here. 2020 Agenda 8:00 AM COFFEE AND CONVERSATION 8:30 AM WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS Laura Frerichs | Executive Director, University of Illinois Research Park 8:40 AM AWS DEEPRACER LEAGUE Jarai Carter | Data Scientist, John Deere 9:10 AM NETWORK PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT Bryan Elverson | Team Lead, Engineering, Riverbed Technology 9:40 AM ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN LIFE SCIENCES Yannick Djoumbou Feunang | Data Scientist – Cheminformatics, Corteva 10:10 AM MACHINE LEARNING FOR TUMOR TREATMENTS John Cole | Chief Scientific Officer, SimBioSys 10:25 AM BREAK 10:35 AM CONSUMER PRIVACY IN DIGITAL ADVERTISING Larry Lo | VP of Engineering, Data Systems, Amobee 11:05 AM WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT THROUGH AI Nina Kshetry | President, Ensaras 11:25 AM BIASES IN DATA SCIENCE Jana Diesner | Associate Professor, School of Information Sciences 11:55 AM KEYNOTE SPEAKER Philip Hajduk | VP for Information Research, AbbVie 12:20 PM MHUB ACCELERATION INCUBATION – INDUSTRIAL INTERNET OF THINGS (IIOT) Haven Allen | CEO, mHub 12:30 PM CORPORATE PARTNERSHIPS WITH STARTUPS Moderator: Laila Partridge | Managing Director, STANLEY+Techstars Accelerator, working in partnership with Stanley Black & Decker Chinmay Soman | Co-founder and CEO, EarthSense Daphne Preuss | Chief Executive Officer, Aspiring Universe Sam Hamedi Rad | COO and Sr. Research Scientist, LifeFoundry Mani Golparvar | CTO, Reconstruct 1:30 PM MANAGING DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY Robert Brunner | Associate Dean for Innovation & Chief Disruption Officer,  Gies College of Business 2:00 PM MACHINE LEARNING FOR COVID-19 MITIGATION Sayantani Basu | PhD Student, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 2:30 PM ALL COVID TESTS (ACT) PIPELINE Ken Taylor | Cloud Architect, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 2:55 PM BREAK 3:05 PM DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN LIFE SCIENCES Dirk Tomandl | Principal Scientist and Group Leader Cheminformatics, Corteva 3:25 PM VERIZON 5G INNOVATION HUB Abhijit Kudrimoti | Distinguished Architect, Verizon  3:45 PM TECH TRAINING PROGRAM Neal Davis | Teaching Assistant Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Emilio Ruiz | Tech Training Participant 4:00 PM STUDENT CAREER AND NETWORKING RECEPTION 4:30 PM CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE INNOVATION Abhijit Chinai | SVP, Analytics Capabilities & Business Development, Synchrony 4:55 PM CLOSING REMARKS Laura Frerichs | Executive Director, University of Illinois Research Park 5:00 PM NETWORKING RECEPTION  

EnterpriseWorks startup Aspiring Universe has won the 2020 OCP Innovation Challenge, taking home $25,000 in prize money. The event was designed to solicit solutions from early-stage AgTech companies developing innovative data-driven solutions that address farmers’ challenges and support them in improving agricultural practices. It was sponsored by OCP, a global plant-nutrition company headquartered in Morocco, in collaboration with the Larta Institute, a startup accelerator and commercialization hub based in Los Angeles. Aspiring Universe’s technology takes a modern approach to risk management integrating artificial intelligence, remote sensing, and financial risk models to create customized risk modeling assessments for farm-related businesses. It was founded by Kaiyu Guan, a Blue Waters Assistant Professor in ecohydrology and remote sensing in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The company is a tenant at EnterpriseWorks, the technology incubator in the Research Park. Seven finalists from over 100 applicants worldwide were selected to participate in a custom-built mentoring program with industry experts in Larta’s network, along with mentors chosen by OCP. The program culminated with a Demo Day on June 17, and Aspiring Universe was announced as the winner on June 24. The following is from a news release compiled by The Larta Institute. Read the entire announcement here. Each finalist presented their pitch presentations in a virtual “Demo Day” on June 17, 2020, introducing innovative solutions using sensors, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, Internet of Things (IoT and wearables) and more. Finalists were judged by a panel composed of venture investment executive, Craig Herron of iSelect Fund, Trey Hill, owner of Harborview Farms, and OCP executives. “I was impressed by the rigor and passion the 7 finalists demonstrated in their pitches,” commented Marouane Ameziane, EVP for Strategy and Corporate Development of the OCP Group. “OCP is deeply committed to supporting the global agtech innovation ecosystem, and this challenge is an extension of that. We see innovators as important partners to create and provide solutions that are farmer-centric, data-driven, and that positively contribute to sustainable food systems. Congratulations to Aspiring Universe for a well-deserved win.” Aspiring Universe was announced as the winner of the $25,000 grand prize at the conclusion of the Demo Day. Aspiring Universe is developing geospatial intelligence solutions for assessing farmland sustainability metrics and productivity/financial risk, for all farmland on the planet. Summarizing his pitch at the Demo Day, Aspiring Universe’s co-founder and president, Kaiyu Guan, spoke to the Company’s achievements in developing “a comprehensive suite of tools that uses remote sensing, process models and artificial intelligence to allow us to evaluate past, current and future crop land performance, including crop rotation and management history, yield, water use, soil moisture and carbon.” This “bottom-up method”, Guan continued, “can be aggregated across any global region 2 (and) we are providing critical insights to companies throughout the agriculture value chain.” The team is “looking forward to working with OCP to explore a potential partnership, and we are grateful to OCP and Larta for providing the opportunity to compete in the OCP Innovation Challenge,” he added. Larta CEO Rohit Shukla spoke about the time he met Kaiyu and his team before he applied to the OCP. “I was struck by his ability to use large satellite data sets to focus on the granular, field level,” Shukla says, and, he says, “being taken with his enthusiasm, his clarity, his vision for where they were headed, and his huge appetite to learn.” Added Shukla, “we are proud of his achievement, and he knows we will be engaged together for a long time to come.” The panel of judges enjoyed the presentation, technology and clarity in the message about the impact of the technology. Judges mentioned that Kaiyu was a great presenter, and found Aspiring Universe’s geospatial intelligence solutions for assessing farmland sustainability to be incredibly compelling. Many of the judges were eager to learn more about their growth and advances in the field. OCP Advisor Bob Morris, President of AndMore Associates, LLC and mentor of Aspiring Universe. remarked, “It was clear to me during our first mentorship call with Kaiyu and the team at Aspiring Universe that, along with a strong technology behind them, they had the vision and talent to develop, translate and curate meaningful data to provide solutions to agricultural decision makers. Through winning the OCP-Larta Challenge, they have convinced other industry leaders of their potential. I wish them great success going forward.” Larta Advisor Gunjan Siroya who was the Larta mentor of Aspiring Universe was equally full of praise, saying, “Aspiring Universe is marked by high performing and passionate team members. Their next-generation technology offers both flexibility and scale. Winning the OCP innovation Challenge is more validation of Aspiring Universe’s offering. I’m confident Kaiyu and his team will continue to bring measurable impacts to the agriculture ecosystem.” More information on the challenge and the finalists can be found here.

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s 17-state SBIR Road Tour will transition to an online format for its October program in the Midwest. Oct. 19-22 will be known as SBIR Week in the Midwest. Panels and presentations will be held on Monday, Oct. 19 – all online . On Thursday, Oct. 22, the Research Park/Champaign-Urbana small businesses will have access to one-on-one meetings with SBIR program managers, all held virtually. To get information and updates about this event, sign up for our SBIR Road Tour email list.  The Road Tour connects entrepreneurs working on advanced technology to one of the country’s largest source of early stage funding – the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs. This event was originally scheduled for June. More information, including a detailed agenda and registration, will be released in August.   “SBA is focused on helping small businesses grow and expand. The $4 billion in federal early stage funding is often a critical piece to maturing an entrepreneur’s research idea into a product or service. The Road Tours bring the federal managers to the entrepreneur and target areas and individuals that are underrepresented when it comes to receiving federal R&D funding,” said SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza. “This tour reflects our continued commitment to ensure those innovators are aware of SBIR/STTR program resources.” This will be the sixth year of the SBIR Road Tour, led by the SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation together with 11 participating federal agencies. NATIONAL SBIR ROAD TOUR SCHEDULE 2020: The Midwest Tour will run from October 19-23, with “stops” in Omaha, Nebraska; St. Louis, Missouri; Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and Bloomington, Indiana. Small technology firms, innovators, scientists or researchers seeking more information on the SBIR Road Tour, including a schedule of stops and participating agencies should visit: https://www.sbirroadtour.com/. For more information about SBIR/STTR programs, please visit https://www.sbir.gov/. About SBIR/STTRSBA coordinates the SBIR/STTR programs, also known as America’s Seed Fund, which each year provides more than $3.7 billion in early stage seed capital totaling over 5,000 awards to small businesses. Eleven participating federal government agencies announce funding opportunities as either grants or contracts to address their research and development needs. Companies supported by the SBIR/STTR programs often generate some of the most important breakthroughs each year in the U.S.  Additional information about the programs, as well as past and current topics can be found at www.sbir.gov. About the U.S. Small Business AdministrationThe U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) was created in 1953 and is a Cabinet-level agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns, to preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation.  The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses, and recover from disasters.  Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, the SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. To learn more about SBA, visit www.sba.gov.

Champaign, Illinois (February 18, 2020) – The brightest minds in agtech will convene Wednesday, March 4 for the fifth annual AgTech Innovation Summit hosted by the University of Illinois Research Park and presented by Bayer and The Climate Corporation. The AgTech Innovation Summit features a unique mix of investors , large corporations, prominent academics, and startups to provide a well-rounded perspective on the future of AgTech. Attendees will explore how technology solutions are addressing some of the most significant challenges facing agriculture today. “Over the past five years this event has grown from a regional conference to draw national participants from across the ag value chain,” said Laura Frerichs, executive director of the University of Illinois Research Park. “We have seen first-hand how this type of talent in a room together can advance the agtech sector in Champaign-Urbana and well beyond.” Attendees will also hear from  industry thought leaders including Cargill’s Chief Technology Officer Keith Narr, Land O’Lakes Chief Technology Officer Teddy Bekele, and The Climate Corporation’s Chief Science Officer Sam Eathington. New this year to the AgTech Summit is the AgTech Showcase and Networking Reception immediately following the event. The AgTech Showcase is an opportunity to connect with Research Park companies, discover innovative technologies, and network with industry leaders. The Showcase is free and open to the public, regardless of attendance at the AgTech Summit; see first-hand how technology is affecting the agricultural industry. The AgTech Summit is programmed by the University of Illinois Research Park in partnership with the Office of Corporate Relations and the College of ACES. The generous sponsors who make the AgTech Summit possible include: Bayer and The Climate Corporation, John Deere, Kin + Carta, Google Cloud, Corteva, COUNTRY Financial, AGCO, Land O’Lakes, and the Illinois Center for Digital Agriculture. About Research Park at the University of Illinois Research Park at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a technology hub for startup companies and corporate research and development operations. Within Research Park there are 120 companies employing students and full-time technology professionals.

Interns from around Research Park gathered on Thursday, July 25, 2019, for the Summer Picnic and Intern Awards. The Research Park community celebrated with food, games, and awards for the most outstanding interns of the year. Throughout the academic year and summer, interns gained valuable work experience while working on projects that positively impacted their respective companies. Of the 700+ interns working within the Research Park, less than 30 became finalists for the awards, and only 5 individuals and 1 group were awarded the winning prizes. The winners and finalists were determined from a pool of nominees by a team of Research Park professionals. To watch the entirety of the Intern Awards, click HERE. Most Outstanding Undergraduate Intern Derek Meyer, P&C Actuarial Intern at State Farm Undergraduate in Actuarial Science “Derek is an extremely hardworking individual, both in his work and school life. He maintains many extracurriculars, an excellent GPA, and handles the pressures of our internship with his time management, organization, leadership, and technical skills. He takes every piece of feedback to heart to try to improve upon his own skills, not just for his sake, but to help benefit his team dynamic as well. He holds not only himself highly accountable for his projects but also his team members.” Finalist: Avani Patel, Clinical Research Intern at PhotoniCare Undergraduate in Bioengineering Most Outstanding Graduate Intern Saurav Yadav, Data Scientist at COUNTRY Financial DigitaLab Master’s Student in Information Science “I believe that Saurav deserves this award because he is dedicated, treats people well, and has a high level of integrity. He continually offers to take on more responsibility and works well with all interns in the DigitaLab. He has excellent communication and technical skills. Overall, Saurav has had a huge impact on COUNTRY Financial. [Because of his] outstanding leadership and technical skills, we will be able to provide a large cost savings to the home office on 9 data-related initiatives this semester.” Finalists: Nuraini Aguse, Front End Intern at InstaRecon Master’s Student in Computer Science Zhuzhu Wang, Product Development Intern at Abbott Ph.D. Student in Food Science Best Entrepreneurial Leadership in a Startup Shaoyu Meng, Lead Software Engineer at LifeFoundry Master’s Student in Electrical and Computer Engineering “Shaoyu works autonomously without supervision. He can sort things through. He doesn’t comment about others. He can always finish all assigned tasks with a calm mind. He is very patient, regardless of what he is facing. When we were inexperienced, Shaoyu stayed very patient, even when we [were thrown a] project he worked on [for] a full month. It is a very rare personality [trait] to [be able to] look forward and discuss with us how to do better in the future. Shaoyu’s work ethic is very impressive, and it benefits both him and the whole team.” Finalists: Jugat Singh Lamba, Summer Engineering Intern at InstaRecon Master’s Student in Computer Science Xiaofan Zhang, Neural Network Engineering Intern at Inspirit-IoT Ph.D. Student in Electrical and Computer Engineering Best Technological Innovation Harshit Gupta, Data Scientist Technology Intern at Syngenta Master’s Student in Information Management “Harshit successfully created a Proof of Concept (and, after its success, a Minimum Viable Product) for Syngenta’s Global Data Science teams. This service, created entirely in AWS, will lay the foundation for how all of the company’s Data Scientists work with the latest and greatest Data Science technologies. Harshit drove change and adoption of Data Science technology on a global level for the company and across many different parts of the organization. He led and implemented the project in its entirety on his own…. He displayed incredible maturity, tact, and technical knowledge, and, more importantly, a wonderful ability to communicate. His work ethic, passion, dedication, and curiosity drove the success of this project in ways that were not anticipated for the scope of work or internship.” Finalists: Ashley Oyirifi, Biomedical Innovation Researcher at AbbVie Ph.D. Student in Nutritional Sciences Qianli Chen, Data Scientist at COUNTRY Financial DigitaLab Ph.D. Student in Civil Engineering Most Advanced Business Development Mallory Gorman, Associate Product Owner at Nutrien Ag Solutions Undergraduate Student in Agricultural Engineering “Mallory is a critical team member. She not only can complete critical tasks on-time and on-schedule, but she can also bridge the science-based world of our work with the business and marketing requirements necessary for the work to proceed…. Mallory works hard, quickly, and efficiently. She can handle stressful situations and keep her eye and the team on-task. Currently, she is supervising the entire testing plan for our platform launch. I would only trust such an activity to someone who is dedicated to getting the job done correctly and efficiently.” Finalists: Nikita Nerkar, Web Develope at Ekey Technology Master’s Student in Technology Management Sherry Yi, Idea Lab Summer Intern at AbbVie Ph.D. Student in Educational Psychology Most Competent and Collaborative Team IntelinAir Agronomy and Deep Learning Team: Xingqian Xu, Ph.D. Student in Computer Vision Research Pedro Leal-Aradillas, Undergraduate in Agricultural Engineering MangTik “David” Chiu, Master’s Student in Computer Science Engineering Kyle Adomaitis, Undergraduate in Music Kate “Sam” Ssentamu, Undergraduate in Agribusiness Jerame “JT” Jones, Associate’s Student in Precision Agriculture “Our Ag Team is essentially the eyes and ears for the rest of our company…. Our team has done an amazing job being responsive and putting in the late night and early mornings when they are needed. In coming together as a team, we’ve been very impressed with their ability to work together. You may have noticed the diversity of our team, not only in their career paths but culturally. In order for our company to be successful, our Ag Team and our Engineering Team need to work as closely as possible.” Finalists: AARP Computer Programming Team: Mohammed Faiz Patangia, Undergraduate in Computer Science Kushal Kumar Goenka, Undergraduate in Computer Engineering PSYONIC Mechanical Engineering Team: Robert Mauge, Undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering Richard Mauge, Undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering Patrick Shalton, Undergraduate in Electrical Engineering Gabe Delgado, Undergraduate in Industrial Design Dhipak Bala, Undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering

We are excited to announce the finalists for the 2019 Research Park Intern Awards. The winners will be named on Thursday, July 25, during our annual Summer Picnic and Intern Awards between 4-5:30PM and, consequently, will be listed here. Missed the awards ceremony? Watch the video. Best Entrepreneurial Leadership in a Startup Winner – Shaoyu Meng: Software Engineer, LifeFoundry (Masters, Electrical & Computer Engineering) Xiofan Zhang: Neural Network Engineering Intern, Inspirit-IoT (Ph.D., Electrical & Computer Engineering) Jugat Singh: Summer Engineering Intern, InstaRecon, Inc. (Masters, Computer Science) Best Technological Innovation Winner – Harshit Gupta: Data Science Technology Intern, Syngenta (Masters, Information Management) Ashley Oyirifi: Biomedical Innovation Researcher, AbbVie (Ph.D., Nutritional Sciences) Qianli Chen: Data Scientist, COUNTRY Financial DigitaLab (Ph.D., Civil Engineering) Most Advanced Marketing-Business Development Winner – Mallory Gorman: Associate Product Owner, Nutrien Ag Solutions (Undergraduate, Agricultural Engineering) Sherry Yi: Idea Summer Lab Intern, AbbVie (Ph.D., Educational Psychology) Nikita Nerkar: Web Developer, Ekey Technology (Masters, Technology Management) Most Outstanding Graduate Student Intern Zhuzhu Wang: Product Development Intern, Abbott (Ph.D., Food Science) Winner – Saurav Yadav: Data Scientist, COUNTRY Financial DigitaLab (Masters, Information Management) Nuraini Aguse: Front End Intern, InstaRecon (Masters, Computer Science) Most Outstanding Undergraduate Student Intern Winner – Derek Meyer: P&C Actuarial Intern, State Farm (Undergraduate, Actuarial Science) Avani Patel: Clinical Research Intern, PhotoniCare (Undergraduate, Bioengineering) Most Competent and Collaborative Team Winner – Intelinair Agronomy and Deep Learning Intern Team PSYONIC Mechanical Engineering Team AARP Computer Programming Team