Fuel for an innovative, collaborative future
Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson September 24, 2021
91原创鈥檚 Spin In program gets five-year grant from U.S. Economic Development Administration
The 91原创鈥檚 Spin In program, where businesses in the region connect with faculty and students to find innovative solutions for technical or other business problems, has won a five-year $509,615 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to expand its reach and impact.
The announcement came from Alejandra Castillo, assistant secretary of commerce for economic development, during a visit with U.S. Sen. Tom Carper at 91原创鈥檚 Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus on Friday, Sept. 24.
The grant comes through EDA鈥檚 University Center Economic Development Program, designed to connect valuable university assets around the nation 鈥 including faculty, staff, students, researchers, laboratories and instruments 鈥 with businesses, manufacturers, nonprofits and government agencies in their regions. The goal is to build innovative, resilient, inclusive economic ecosystems. 91原创 is one of 25 colleges and universities to receive a total of $2.5 million in grants in the 2021 EDA competition.
It鈥檚 a great match for the 91原创, said 91原创 President Dennis Assanis.
鈥淓DA鈥檚 2021 University Center Economic Development Program aligns perfectly with our vision to make 91原创鈥檚 STAR Campus a growing hub of innovation and entrepreneurship,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he success of these efforts will benefit our entire region by leveraging the partnerships we continue to build with the public, private and nonprofit sectors. We are grateful that the Economic Development Administration recognizes the impact of our work, as well as the limitless potential here for even more development.鈥
Such partnerships are more critical now than ever, Castillo said, 鈥渁s we have an historic opportunity to invest in economic development and build back better in communities all across the country.鈥
Economic development, she said, 鈥渋s everything from infrastructure to water treatment plants to workforce development, the future of work, entrepreneurship, technology, tech transfer, innovation. Economic development comes in many different ways.鈥
The Spin In program provides students with opportunities that help to develop a strong workforce. Teams have unique opportunities to solve real-world business problems within a real entrepreneurial start-up environment, said Amalea Rassias, who manages the program for 91原创. It all leads to development of new products, businesses with scalable opportunities, jobs and a highly skilled workforce that supports regional industries and initiatives.
鈥淭his positions the program to scale up and create that broader impact,鈥 she said.
Friday, standing in a courtyard at STAR Campus, on land that once housed a Chrysler auto plant and its 4,000 workers, Carper said the day the bulldozers arrived to tear that plant down was one of the saddest of his life.
Now, exciting new projects are underway and anticipated in new facilities at STAR Campus, designed to enable collaborative excellence in biopharmaceuticals, health sciences, financial technology, entrepreneurship and innovative manufacturing, to name a few areas of focus.
鈥淭here has been an amazing transformation of this place,鈥 Carper said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l soon have more working here than ever worked in the Chrysler plant and they鈥檒l be good-paying jobs.鈥
The new grant adds fuel for many future endeavors.
鈥淭oday鈥檚 announcement is great news for economic development in our region, building upon the success of the STAR Campus,鈥 said Carper, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. 鈥淓DA鈥檚 investment in Delaware 鈥 from right here at the STAR Campus to the Innovation Space in Wilmington to the Automotive Center for Excellence at Delaware Technical Community College in Georgetown 鈥 is paying dividends to Delaware鈥檚 economy.鈥
Visitors Friday toured a section of the STAR Campus that demonstrated the impact of EDA鈥檚 investments.
Mike Bowman, director of Delaware Technology Park, took guests through the wet-lab incubator section known as DTP@STAR that grew out of a $500,000 EDA grant in 2016. Startups are selected to operate there based on their technology and business focus, leadership capability, financial status and the desire to locate near 91原创 resources. They get access to top-level facilities, mentoring services and extensive business savvy.
Five years later, DTP@STAR has supported more than 20 companies, creation of 200 jobs, raised about $1 billion in financing and engaged 60 students and interns, said Bowman, who is also state director of the .
One of those companies is RiKarbon, founded by Basu Saha using research he did at 91原创. RiKarbon develops technologies for renewable products that use unconventional carbon feedstocks, with the goal of reducing carbon emissions.
Another company that started at DTP@STAR now has a market value of more than $1 billion. moved to a larger incubation space at the Delaware Innovation Space, established in 2018.
EDA also provided support for Delaware Innovation Space Inc., a partnership between 91原创, the state of Delaware and the DuPont Company. Located at the DuPont Experimental Station in Wilmington, it offers 100,000 square feet of labs and facilities for science-oriented entrepreneurs and startups.
And earlier this year, EDA made a $750,000 investment in the Horn Entrepreneurship Program and its Proof of Concept Fund.
鈥淵ou are a point of excellence to replicate, potentially, across the country,鈥 Castillo told the 91原创 group. 鈥淥ur country needs this technological innovation and the commercialization, and I think this is where you are shining the most.鈥
The program is administered by 91原创鈥檚 .
鈥淭hrough the Spin In program, we are interacting with companies at a very critical time in their lifecycles,鈥 said Charles G. Riordan, vice president for research, scholarship and innovation at 91原创. 鈥淭hey may be facing a challenge that is a go or no-go decision relative to the success of the company.
鈥淔rom that perspective, the impact is enormous. And it leverages the talent of the students and faculty. The teams are inherently interdisciplinary. We have teams that involve engineers and scientists, artists, business students 鈥 all coming together and understanding not only how their own discipline is involved in the commercialization process, but how that collaboration and understanding of the differences is so critical.鈥
Much more information about EDA鈥檚 University Center program is available
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