In the News
|
|
 All Cell Technologies, LLC, a company that offers customized thermal management solutions for high power lithium-ion battery systems, was featured in news coverage on ABC7 and NBC5 for its partnership with MATRA to develop lithium ion batteries for light electric vehicles. Download the video clips here.
Following upon
a successful Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Trade Mission sponsored by
the French government in November 2008, the UTP hosted MATRA Manufacturing Services, Global Electric Motorcars (GEM - a
Chrysler Company), and All Cell
on April 6, 2009 as part of a press conference to announce their
collaborative efforts to develop and promote electric vehicles. Download the press release here.
Hybrid Electric Vehicle Technologies' founder, president and CTO, Dr. Ali Emadi, was selected as one of fifteen Chicago Matters Global Visionaries who "are leading our region into the next century and putting our city on the global map." HEVT is a company that specializes in the design and development
of hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle controllers. Read the full story here.
|
|
The
University Technology Park at IIT is a unique combination of wet and
dry labs and office space that accommodates companies at every stage of
growth and connects them to the outstanding research faculty and
resources at one of the nation's leading universities, the Illinois
Institute of Technology.
|
Wexford
Science + Technology is a private real estate investment and
development company that focuses on serving the real estate needs of
university, healthcare, science and technology-based organizations.
|
Technology Business Center exterior. |
Technology Business Center atrium: upper level.
|
Technology Business Center atrium: lower level.
|
|
|
Greetings!
Welcome to our quarterly
University Technology Park e-newsletter, designed to give you quick updates
about new and growing companies within the UTP and to announce lectures,
workshops, and networking events. New developments include: Saarland Technology Corporation CollaborationRecent collaboration
between IIT and Germany's Science Park Saar/INM -
Leibniz Institute for New Materials culminated in a sustainable innovation
workshop on applying nanotechnology to
next-generation building materials, which was held in the Technology Business Center on April 24th. Further,
the Saarland Technology Corporation is establishing a marketing office within
the UTP to extend the commercialization of its nanotechnology
into U.S.
markets. This is UTP's
first international soft-landing client. For more information, click here. Co-op Space
In addition to
supporting start-ups with wet and dry lab space within the Incubator
building, UTP has opened furnished offices and cubicles (with dedicated
conference rooms) for emerging companies within the IIT Tower at 10 West
35th Street. This space is referred to as the UTP
Co-op. Co-op-North (1,651 sq ft) is nearly full with a variety of
software companies, and Co-op-South (2,201 sq ft) is in development.
TechAdvantage@IIT
UTP, in conjunction with
IIT's Department of External Affairs, Office of Community Affairs and the Jules F.
Knapp Entrepreneurship
Center, as well as O-H
Community Partners, is launching TechAdvantage@IIT, a Small Business
Administration-funded initiative that provides targeted business assistance to minority-
and women-owned, technology-based businesses located in the area surrounding
IIT. More information on TechAdvantage@IIT will be available soon at http://techadvantage.iit.edu.
Our thanks go to Congressmen Bobby Rush for his support of this
initiative.
If you have comments, questions or suggestions, drop me a line. Sincerely,
Daniel F.
Marselle
Director, University Technology Park at
IIT marselle@utp.iit.edu |
Spotlight on Wexford Science + Technology
|
|
Leasing space is one of the
most difficult decisions CEOs/CFOs make. This is particularly the case with
start-up companies, in which owners/managers have a hard time thinking as far
ahead as traditional leases stretch. This decision is further complicated
for science and technology based organizations, which often have very unique
space needs that can include wet and dry labs and specialized equipment.
Unfortunately, connecting with engineers and designers to custom build out
space can be extremely costly.
Wexford Science + Technology is the developer of the
126,000 square feet Technology Business Center (TBC) within UTP at IIT,
and it specializes in providing a combined real estate and service solution for
technology commercialization companies that meets both of these needs, plus
facilitates a third benefit: university access. IIT provides UTP clients with
human capital and core resources, while IIT benefits from real-world experience
for its students through jobs with UTP clients.
Wexford's approach is to connect tenants with the UTP and IIT early in their
relationship. All three form a community of like-minded people who share the
common goal of getting start-ups off the ground, attracting capital to them,
and helping them grow.
Wexford assesses a new client's needs and goals, and then assembles a core
project development team, including leading architects and engineers to
facilitate the design process for the space, which helps to keep costs
down. Wexford will fund build out and customization to a certain level
and leverages financial incentives such as historic tax credits, tax increment
financing, and public economic development programs.
This strategy has led to increase in interest in the TBC, with negotiations
currently underway on two floors of the building. At present, 36% of the TBC is
occupied, and Catherine Vorwald, Director of Business Development for Wexford,
estimates that 70% of the UTP will be leased by the end of 2009.
As a developer, Wexford is unique because it focuses solely on university
technology parks and invests for the long-term. "The relationships formed
with the sponsor universities are crucial to the success of the technology
park, and Wexford has a great relationship with IIT," states Catherine.
Wexford Science + Technology has 1.5 million square feet of space in the U.S.
Led by a seasoned team of real estate, finance and
engineering experts, it is a privately held company based in Baltimore,
Maryland.
|
New Tech Park Client - ProOnGo
|
|
The University Technology Park
welcomes its newest client, ProOnGo.
Founded in 2008 in Chicago, ProOnGo helps mobile professionals manage
and submit  their business expenses with ease and efficiency, moving
beyond traditional expense reporting processes that are time-consuming
and frustrating.
Expense reporting can be as easy as snapping pictures of receipts with a smartphone. ProOnGo's solution digitizes the receipts, gathers the merchant name, date, and
expense amount off of each receipt, and makes the resulting expense report available within minutes in a variety of formats.
Although ProOnGo was founded at
University of Chicago and was a finalist in its 2008 New Venture Challenge, the company's founder and CEO, Phillip Leslie, was drawn to the UTP in January this year due to the immense quality
and quantity of engineering talent at IIT. He states, "Our partnership with IIT has
been even better than we imagined: every time we post an internship position, we
are flooded with candidates that are eager to work with us and talented in
the exact areas of software development on which we focus."
If you know anyone that is
struggling with "traditional" expense reporting processes and is
looking for a better way to manage them, give them a personal introduction
to the ProOnGo team. Their service is available to the
general public for free trial at www.ProOnGo.com.
|
|
Ford Fusion Hybrid Drive Visits IIT
|
|
The Ford Fusion Hybrid Drive visited the UTP on Tuesday, May 12th as part of a 40-city national tour. John
Vierra, Director of Sust ainable Business Strategies at Ford Motor Company, gave a presentation in the TBC atrium on Ford's plans to introduce vehicles with better fuel efficiency in the US. A new Fusion Hybrid was available for test drives after the presentation.
David Baker, Executive Director of the UTP and Vice President of External Affairs for IIT, stated that the UTP was pleased to participate in the tour, as it is currently partnering with Mobilité et Transports Avancés, a French automotive
competitiveness cluster in Western France, and the Economic Development
Agency of Western France to develop a shared International Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Technology Hub. Ford's strategic vision complements that of the Hub: the advancement of research and development of hybrid and electric vehicle technology.
|
|
Upcoming Events
|
|
Connectiviity
Please
join the Jules F.
Knapp Entrepreneurship
Center, the University Technology
Park at IIT, and Wexford
Science + Technology for our monthly networking event on Thursday, May 28th!
Connectiviity brings together
the entrepreneurship community both within IIT and the greater Chicagoland area
and provides the opportunity to network and share experiences with
fellow entrepreneurs. Whether you are currently an entrepreneur or are
considering starting a business, this event can help you make the connections
you need to get your new venture started or grow your existing business. Come
explore what the Knapp Center, University
Technology Park,
Wexford and IIT have to offer!
Refreshments will be served. There is absolutely
no charge for this event. For more information, contact Jennifer Keplinger at keplinger@iit.edu.
Event
Info
4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
May 28, 2009
Technology Business Center
Atrium
University Technology
Park at IIT
|
|
|
|
|
