The University of Evansville’s (UE) Center for Innovation & Change (CIC) enters a new phase through a partnership with the Indiana Center for Emerging Technologies (ICET) and Evansville Regional Economic Partnership (E-REP). The CIC will now have a presence downtown for collaboration on changemaking projects. This partnership represents a significant step forward in the organizations’ shared missions of fostering innovation, supporting talent growth within our community, and improving the quality of life in this region.
The CIC has experienced rapid growth in recent years, becoming home to Evansville’s Promise Neighborhood team and Coordinating Partner with the UE School of Education for Toyota’s Driving Possibilities initiative. A unique and rapidly responsive resource to problem-solving in this region, the CIC’s presence downtown will make it more available to individuals, businesses, non-profits, and municipal entities looking to innovate in their sectors and interested in working with student consultants on a project. Any group interested in partnering with a UE ChangeLab team can now easily access the team able to organize that work. In addition, due to the proximity to E-REP and ICET, the CIC can better direct its programming to strategic needs in this region.
“We could not be more grateful to E-REP and the ICET for this opportunity to bring changemaking resources downtown,” CIC Executive Director Erin Lewis stated. “UE exists to change lives and change the world. Being next to our region’s best strategic thinkers means we can co-design a better future with the community. This is a game-changing move that brings higher education into the real world in an innovative new way. I can’t wait to see what comes of it.”
The Evansville Regional Economic Partnership (E-REP) and the Indiana Center for Emerging Technologies (ICET), also recently announced a new partnership between their two entities. The collaboration consists of the ICET and its team having a regular presence on the first floor of Innovation Pointe, which will bring technical expertise, resources, and collaboration opportunities to entrepreneurs throughout southern Indiana.
Logan Jenkins, Executive Director of the ICET and Circular Venture Lab, has already partnered with the CIC on multiple initiatives in the last nine months. Their early work in economic development, technology transfer initiatives, and regional collaboration has garnered four national prize awards through the U.S Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Students from Bosse High School, UE and more have worked with Jenkins and Lewis on a wide range of topics related to the environment, the energy transition, and materials recycling.
Jenkins explains, “Together with partners in our region, across Indiana, and through the U.S. DOE and U.S. SBA, we’ve demonstrated multiple successful collaborations. These early ideas originated in Evansville, then were developed through the UE CIC and its ChangeLab students, and now have recognition across the United States. These initiatives have significant relevance to the many efforts across Indiana to further educate and retain our young talent in their early workforce pathways and business careers. The co-location with the CIC and EREP opens the door to new possibilities and more innovative solutions with measurable impact.”
Individuals with project ideas or a request to meet with the team should contact Erin Lewis at EL131@evansville.edu.