U News | University of Memphis dedicates Edwards Research and Innovation Center
Rice University has multiple announcements.
From the University of Memphis:
The Edwards Research and Innovation Center (ERIC), a state-of-the-art building that will house a variety of science, technology, engineering, amd mathematics centers and labs, was officially dedicated last week. At 65,000 square feet, ERIC will be the hub for the collection of academic disciplines that will develop economic opportunities, find solutions to the grand challenges the nation faces, and create new jobs for generations to come.
The building is named for University Trustee Douglas Edwards.
From Rice University:
Rice University is going beyond the hedges with its hub at the Ion, for which the school has just released details and renderings.
For more than a year, Rice has been planning its Rice Nexus, a collaborative hub for the university’s innovation efforts located in the Ion District, Rice Management Company’s 16-acre district in Midtown. Expected to open this fall, the new space will be located across 10,000 square feet on two floors of the Ion.
“We believe in the power of innovation to transform lives and shape the future,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches says in a news release. “With the launch of the Rice Nexus at the Ion, we are embarking on a journey to unleash the full potential of Houston’s innovation ecosystem, driving positive change and rapid economic growth.”
The Rice Nexus will provide the university’s community with prototyping tools, access to venture capital opportunities, and entrepreneurial support.
“We are thrilled to introduce the Nexus so that our faculty and students can rapidly develop, derisk and deploy solutions into the world by harnessing the full resources and capabilities of the Ion District,” Paul Cherukuri, Rice’s Chief Innovation Officer, adds. “Houston is a grand city of innovation, and the Nexus at the Ion further amplifies Rice as a global leader in inventing and commercializing world-changing technology at both speed and scale.”
Rice reports that three start-ups founded by faculty — Solidec, Coflux Purification, and DirectH2 — will be located in the facility.
From North Carolina State University:
The National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) announced $2.72 million in support for artificial intelligence (AI)-related research centers at five institutions, including funding for the new Embedding AI in Society Ethically Center at North Carolina State University.
The new Humanities Research Centers on Artificial Intelligence grant program is part of NEH’s agencywide Humanities Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence initiative, which supports humanities projects that explore the impacts of AI-related technologies on truth, trust, and democracy; safety and security; and privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties. The initiative responds to President Biden’s Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, which establishes new standards for AI safety and security, protects Americans’ privacy, and advances equity and civil rights.
According to an article in WRAL TechWire, the initial outlay of $500,000 will support of three research priorities: (1) ethical considerations related to autonomous vehicles; (2) large language models (LLMs); and (3) AI-based technologies for eldercare.
From the University of Arizona:
Tech Launch Arizona (TLA), the University of Arizona office that commercializes inventions stemming from university research and innovation, saw a record number of inventions during the 2024 fiscal year. Between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, TLA received 307 new inventions, up from 298 in fiscal year 2023 and 303 in fiscal year 2022. The office also launched nine startups; executed 75 licenses and options for U of A inventions; filed 367 patents; and had 78 patents issued.
“We’re most excited about the number of invention disclosures we received this year,” said Doug Hockstad, Associate Vice President of Tech Launch Arizona. “This represents a new record for the university, shows continued growth and means that our pipeline is strong.”
One of the centerpieces of the TLA plan to increase commercialization activity is its Faculty Innovation Ambassadors program. In eight colleges that have active research pipelines that regularly yield large numbers of inventions, TLA engaged a leading faculty member with experience in commercialization. These faculty members serve as sources of information about inventions, licensing and startups for their colleagues and students. TLA has planned a series of events in the fall to introduce the innovation ambassadors to their college communities.
From the University of Nevada, Reno:
Thirteen students from the Nevada Global Business program in the College of Business worked with founders of entrepreneurial companies in Poland recently, providing important insights to start-up companies that hope to crack the American market.
The collaboration between Nevada Global Business participants and founders of early stage start-ups at the Google for Start-ups campus in Warsaw broke new ground in the initiative created through a partnership between the College of Business and the renowned SGH Warsaw School of Economics in Poland.
As part of the weeklong experience, the Nevada-located students came away with deeper appreciation of the many differences — as well as the similarities — among entrepreneurial businesses across the globe.
Another from Rice University:
Four Rice University fellows and three Rice-affiliated startup ventures were selected to be a part of the inaugural Houston cohort of The Activate Fellowship for 2024. Activate is widely recognized as one of the flagship entrepreneurship programs that support start-ups focused on deep tech, and these four founders are the only representatives of Texas academia in the cohort.
The Activate Fellowship is a nonprofit that offers a two-year, $100,000 per year paid stipend and an additional $100,000 in research and development for scientists-turned-founders. Of the 11 Houston Activate Fellows, four of them are Rice-affiliated, and two of the Rice-affiliated start-ups, Coflux Purification and Solidec, have won several competitions previously and will office at the Rice Nexus in the Ion, Houston’s innovation hub powered by Rice. Both Coflux and Solidec are also One Small Step Grant awardees and Innovation Fellows at Rice’s Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
The 11 Houston Fellows join with 51 others to comprise the largest cohort yet. Selected from more than 1,000 applicants, this new class of Fellows is pioneering some of today’s most promising innovations across a range of critical sectors, including energy, transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, and national security. During the two-year Activate Fellowship, our new fellows will turn their breakthroughs into businesses and transform into high-impact science entrepreneurs.
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