The University of Notre Dame will host the inaugural symposium of the Indiana Innovation Network (IIN), a new consortium of business and university leaders attempting to develop research-based industries and technologies inIndiana.
The symposium will begin atnoonFriday (May 6) at McKenna Hall, but business leaders need not come to campus to participate. The event will be streamed over the Internet from the URL http://www.nd.edu/~research/FSRIIN.html beginning at1:40 p.m.
From Notre Dames faculty, Steven Schmid will discuss work in orthopedics, Wolfgang Porod will describe ongoing projects in nanoscience technology, and Paul McGinn will describe developments in fuel cells. All three are faculty members in theCollegeofEngineering. Industry partners will join them at the podium.
In addition, Thomas Siegmund, a member of thePurdueUniversityengineering faculty, will discuss his current research in carbon composites.
IIN aims to be a network in the true sense of the word: an exchange of information on cutting-edge research that could drive further collaboration, innovation and the development of new technologies, according to Jerome McCluskey, IIN volunteer chair and an attorney with the law firm Baker&Daniels.
Notre Dame is hosting the first IIN symposium by invitation of Jeffrey Kantor, vice president for graduate studies and research, whose membership on the board of the states 21 st Century Fund has put Notre Dame in the mix of university and state-supported groups focused on economic development through technological innovation.
Research being conducted here has much potential for stimulating economic development inIndiana,Kantor said.Notre Dame is both committed and enthusiastic about ensuring that all steps are taken to get important discoveries into the marketplace where they can find value.
Indianaannually sponsors $3 billion of scientific and engineering research and development by companies, and more than $600 million in research in development at the university level.
These investments represent a substantial research base and driver for innovation,McCluskey said.
IIN will focus on fostering collaborative partnerships that support the flow of research from the laboratory to the marketplace.
IIN hopes to sponsor six symposia around the state throughout the year.IndianaStatealready has been identified as the location to discuss systems engineering. Purdue also is expected to host a session, on alternative energy technologies.BallStateis being approached to host a discussion on wireless technologies.
IIN is supported by grants from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation through ATAIN, a statewide alliance of universities, research institutions and businesses that promotes the transfer of technological innovation to business and industry.
The alliance also hopes to foster the development of an Internet-based database of technological expertise in the state, both at the university level and in industry.
This database will hopefully serve as a sort of Yellow Pages of Indianas technological expertise,McCluskey said.
IIN is less an organization than it is a movement,McCluskey added.It is a movement to more aggressively commercialize technologies derived from Indiana-based research.
Further details are available online at http://www.nd.edu/~research/advmat.pdf .Registration is free and is available by calling 574-631-7432.
_ Contacts: Greg Luttrell, technology licensing associate, Office of Research and Graduate Studies, 574-631-2857; or Jennifer Morehead, assistant director of sponsored programs, Office of Research and Graduate Studies, 574-631-5537._
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