Research ParkArchive for the ‘’ Category

2016 Innovation Celebration Winners Announced

Over 400 people gathered at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts for the 11th Annual Innovation Celebration on the evening on January 22nd to recognize 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 the community.

Innovation Celebration is not merely an award for accomplishment, but a benchmark of success for those outstanding individuals, organizations and corporations who are nominated and selected to receive this prestigious award.

Innovation Celebration is hosted by the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation in partnership with the University of Illinois, Parkland College, and community sponsors. For more information, visit www.innovationcelebration.com.

Award Winners

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Social Venture Award
Pens to Lens

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Student Startup Award
BioAnalytics

Entrepreneurial Excellence: New Venture Award
Inprentus

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Advocacy Award
Paul Magelli

Innovation: Economic Development Impact Award
Carle Illinois College of Medicine

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Management Award
Mike Folk

Innovation: Longevity Award
Wolfram

Innovation Transfer Award – University of Illinois
Dr. Paul Hergenrother

Alexis Wernsing Innovation Award – University of Illinois
The Wernsing Family

Innovation in Engagement Award – Parkland College
Dean Marietta Turner

The EDC is pleased to work with the following sponsors of Innovation Celebration 2016: the University of Illinois’ Technology Entrepreneur Center, Research Park, Office of Corporate Relations, and Office of Technology Management, along with Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Parkland College, Singleton Law Firm, Serra Ventures, Pavlov Media, BRG Sports, City of Champaign, Village of Rantoul, Martin Hood Friese & Associates, EpiWorks, Illinois Applied Research Institute, Fox Development Corporation, Ramshaw Real Estate, Illinois Small Business Development Center at Champaign County EDC, U of I Employees Credit Union, Surface 51, M2 on Neil, and McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff.

A special thanks to 40 North for producing the videos.

 

###

Press:

Innovation Celebration 2016: An eye-opening evening, Smile Politely
Excellence honored, The News-Gazette
#INNCEL Tweets & Posts, Storify

Honoring a Student Innovator Who Worked to Help Others, Alexis Wernsing Innovation Award to be Presented at Innovation Celebration 2016

The University of Illinois Office of Technology Management, Champaign County Economic Development Corporation, and organizers of Innovation Celebration are pleased to announce a new award to be given at Friday’s event.

The Alexis Wernsing Innovation Award recognizes an individual or team from the University of Illinois that has channeled their experience living with a disability into positive change through the creation of new products, environments, or protocols that enhance quality of life.

The award honors the memory of Alexis Wernsing, a University of Illinois art history student and aspiring teacher who was working on a voice amplification system for the disabled when she passed away in 2015. To help realize her dream of teaching and to aid others who also have difficulty projecting their voices, Alexis had been collaborating with a team from the College of Fine & Applied Arts and the Division of Disability Resources & Educational Services on a wheelchair voice amplifier called AmpliMy. The team received proof-of-concept funding from the Office of Technology Management to develop a prototype.

Her dedication to innovation as a force for good inspired the award, which will be part of the annual Innovation Celebration. This first year the award will be presented to her family in her memory. In subsequent years a call for nominations will go out alongside the other award categories.

Alexis Wernsing - Photo courtesy of Skot Weidmann

Alexis Wernsing – Photo courtesy of Skot Weidmann

The 11th annual Innovation Celebration will be held on January 22, 2016 at 5:30 pm in the lobby of Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. The event recognizes those 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. A total of 10 awards will be handed out on Friday evening, recognizing and honoring 24 finalists.

Innovation Celebration is free to attend and open to the public. Learn more and RSVP at www.innovationcelebration.com.

The EDC is pleased to work with the following sponsors of Innovation Celebration 2016: the University of Illinois’ Technology Entrepreneur Center, Research Park, Office of Corporate Relations, and Office of Technology Management, along with Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Parkland College, Singleton Law Firm, Serra Ventures, Pavlov Media, BRG Sports, City of Champaign, Village of Rantoul, Martin Hood Friese & Associates, EpiWorks, Illinois Applied Research Institute, Fox Development Corporation, Ramshaw Real Estate, Illinois Small Business Development Center at Champaign County EDC, U of I Employees Credit Union, Surface 51, M2 on Neil, and McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff.

 ###

Contacts:

For more information about the Alexis Wernsing Innovation Award:
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Office of Technology Management
Nicole Nair, 217-244-5011
nnair@illinois.edu

For more information about Innovation Celebration:
Champaign County Economic Development Corporation
Carly McCrory, 217-359-6261
carly@champaigncountyedc.org

Four Champaign-Urbana Companies Featured in ChicagoInno’s List of “10 Illinois Startups To Watch Based Outside Of Chicago”

In ChicagoInno’s latest ranking of the “10 Illinois Startups to Watch Based Outside of Chicago“, four Champaign-Urbana companies make the list – Quicket Solutions, IntelliWheels, Agrible, and OceanComm.

Quicket Solutions, a 2016 Innovation Celebration award finalist, is located in the University of Illinois Research Park. They provide cloud-based, mission critical solutions for law enforcement and other public safety agencies. The e-citation and e-report system used is a turnkey solution that enables digitization of information at the source of incident, real-time data sharing, fast and easy report generation and intelligent data analytics. Quicket will enable clients to recapture lost revenue, recognize new revenue and increase officer safety. Most importantly, this solution represents a game changing departure from current e-citation models by offering a zero upfront cost, pay-as-you-go model for clients.

In late November, Quicket was named a winner in the City in a Cloud Innovation Challenge hosted by Amazon Web Services.

IntelliWheels, a 2012 Innovation Celebration award recipient, is located in Champaign and Rantoul. They are the innovation house for wheelchair technology and recently launched Tinker, the first ever 3D product configurator in the wheelchair marketplace. Tinker’s goal is to create transparency in the wheelchair industry and using educational tools, empower wheelchair users, their families and caregivers to ensure their voice is clearly heard in the wheelchair ordering process. They are also the maker of The Easy Push and FitGrips.

Earlier this month, IntelliWheels was selected as the local InnovateHER Business Challenge Winner.

Agrible, a 2015 Innovation Celebration award recipient, is located in the University of Illinois Research Park and is one of the fastest growing companies in Champaign County. Their focus is to provide innovative, easy-to-use products that farmers and companies can use to improve their production. They create predictive analytics tools that deliver field-specific data and forecasts to help with decision-making on the farm. Current customers include independent growers, software developers, soil test laboratories, crop consultants, insurance agencies, commodities companies, traders, and major ag chemical companies developing seed technologies and new production methods.

Agrible recently celebrated the grand opening of their new headquarters.

OceanComm developed wireless communications that work underwater. They use acoustic waves, much like dolphins and whales, to improve communication. In May, OceanComm was named one of the oil and gas industry’s most promising technologies.

 

2016 Innovation Celebration Finalists Announced

IC LogoThe Champaign County Economic Development Corporation is pleased to announce finalists for the 11th Annual Innovation Celebration in recognition of 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 the community.

Innovation Celebration is not merely an award for accomplishment, but a benchmark of success for those outstanding individuals, organizations and corporations who are nominated and selected to receive this prestigious award. Additionally, Innovation Celebration serves as a tangible collaboration between the Champaign County EDC, University of Illinois, Parkland College and the community.

The winner of each award category will be announced at Innovation Celebration 2016, held at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, January 22, 2016 from 5:30 – 8:30 pm. To RSVP and learn more about the event, visit www.innovationcelebration.com.

Award Finalists

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Social Venture Award
PSYONIC
Pens to Lens
MakerGirl

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Student Startup Award
Blink Technologies
FlipWord
BioAnalytics

Entrepreneurial Excellence: New Venture Award
Inprentus
Quicket Solutions
RINGR

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Advocacy Award
iVenture Accelerator
Stephanie Larson
Paul Magelli

Innovation: Economic Development Impact Award
Carle Illinois College of Medicine
State Farm Research & Development Center
The Pygmalion Festival

Entrepreneurial Excellence: Management Award
John Busbee
Mike Folk
John-Paul Buzard

Innovation: Longevity Award
Wolfram
Pixo
R Systems NA, Inc.

2016 Innovation Transfer Award Recipient – University of Illinois
Dr. Paul Hergenrother

Innovation in Engagement Award – Parkland College
Award recipient will be announced at the event.

The EDC is pleased to work with the following sponsors of Innovation Celebration 2016: the University of Illinois’ Technology Entrepreneur Center, Research Park, Office of Corporate Relations, and Office of Technology Management, along with Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Parkland College, Singleton Law Firm, Serra Ventures, Pavlov Media, BRG Sports, City of Champaign, Village of Rantoul, Martin Hood Friese & Associates, EpiWorks, Illinois Applied Research Institute, Fox Development Corporation, Ramshaw Real Estate, Illinois Small Business Development Center at Champaign County EDC, U of I Employees Credit Union, Surface 51, M2 on Neil, and McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff.

 

 

 

Innovation Celebration 2016: Save the Date + Nominations Open

We are pleased to announce the 11th Annual Innovation Celebration in recognition of those individuals and IC Logoorganizations 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.

January 22, 2016
5:30-8:30 pm
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts Lobby

The awards have been established to recognize the various ways in which individuals and organizations have utilized innovation, creativity, and leadership for entrepreneurial endeavors and economic development in the community. Please nominate as many people/organizations as you would like. Nominations will be viewed and judged in early December 2015 by a panel of past winners, sponsors and community & university leaders. Finalists will be announced soon after.

To learn more about the event, nominate someone, view past award winners, watch our videos, and RSVP, visit our event website.

#INNCEL

Interested in sponsoring the 2016 event? Email Liz Kellner (Innovation Celebration Committee Chair) for more information.

Nominations are open to the public and will be accepted through November 27, 2015.

1 … 8 9 10 11 12 … 19