On April 11, the inaugural Kentucky Innovator Challenge (KIC) at the University of Kentucky (UK) brought together leaders from business, service organizations and higher education for a one-day summit to identify the most pressing challenges facing Kentucky and discuss collaborative solutions through research and innovation.
This event was developed to forge new relationships and lay the groundwork for innovative solutions addressing the problems of University of Kentucky business partners.
UK Innovate hosted more than 150 participants and 11 industry partners for a full day of five keynote addresses, two federal program overviews, three presentation tracks with 15-minute TED Talk-style presentations and a special guest.
The morning kicked off with a welcome from UK Innovation Connect Executive Director Landon Borders, followed by keynote addresses by UK Vice President for Research Lisa Cassis and Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development Secretary Jeff Noel, and finally an overview of the Advance Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) from Deputy Director of Operations and COO Shane Kosinski.
“This was truly a special day for Kentucky and our diverse innovation ecosystem of industry, community, government, nonprofit, entrepreneurial and academic research partners. I am most delighted by how effectively the programming inspired our audience to discover opportunities to work together in new ways that benefit our Kentucky businesses, and ultimately, our economy,” said Borders. “These new partnerships materialized right there at the event in many cases. Despite the successful outcome, our work is far from over. We’ve already started planning next year’s event, which we aim to grow bigger and more effective than this year’s event.”
Presentations in the first track focused on materials, energy and logistics.
- Eric Wang, CEO and managing director, EcoFibre: EcoFibre has a facility in Georgetown, Kentucky and its vision is “to become the global leader in hemp technologies by providing innovative solutions that address emerging health and resource sustainability issues.”
- Matt Bedingfield, president of Recycling, Wieland North America and Mike Buckentin, president and CEO, Logan Aluminum Inc. representing Metals Innovation Initiative (MI2): MI2 “is a Kentucky-based nonprofit that provides collaborative, industry-led executive leadership to attract and promote advanced research, sustainability, commercialization and talent development in Kentucky’s metals industry — and, ultimately, for Kentucky to be seen as the preeminent destinations for metals innovation.”
- Aron Patrick, director of R&D, PPL: PPL’s mission is “to provide safe, affordable, reliable, sustainable energy to our customers and superior, long-term returns to our shareowners.”
- Brian Cobb, chief innovation officer, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG): “CVG is committed to being an essential part of the region’s overall growth and success through teamwork, innovation and continuous improvement.”
“The Kentucky Innovator Challenge over-delivered on its goals to bring together genuine business problems and well-resourced problem-solvers across the commonwealth,” said Wang. “The event created several new collaboration partners in industries and across the University of Kentucky that I had not expected. The future value of the Kentucky Innovator Challenge cannot be understated.”
Dean Rudy Buchheit presented a spotlight of the College of Engineering and an overview on Electrification Mobility Innovation Engine (EMIE), which is a proposal for the second phase of the National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines program. The presenters and attendees spent time networking and connecting during lunch.
After lunch, presentations from the second track focused on manufacturing and sustainability.
- Brandon Shirley, president, Houchens Industries, Inc: Houchens is headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky and “operates more than 300 retail grocery, convenience and neighborhood market stores across 14 states. Complemented by a strong foundation of diverse companies, 33 in total and over 15,000 employees corporate-wide, Houchens industries is one of the largest 100% employee-owned companies in the world.”
- Walker Mattox, founder and CEO, Gray Solutions: Located in Lexington, Kentucky, “Gray Solutions is a leader in automation and process integration for customers in food and beverage.” Gray Solutions’ vision: “a future where humans and automation coexist on a daily basis.”
- Wells Bullard, president and CEO, Bullard: Headquartered in Cynthiana, Kentucky, “Bullard is a globally scaled protective equipment (PPE) manufacturer based in Kentucky. Bullard’s vision is to advance human safety to enable long, healthy, productive lives through innovative solutions.”
- John Gagel, chief sustainability officer, Lexmark: “Lexmark is a global business with headquarters in Lexington, Kentucky. Lexmark creates cloud-enabled imaging and IoT technologies that help customers in more than 170 countries worldwide quickly realize business outcomes.”
Special guest SPOT — a four-legged mobile robot — joined Walker Mattox on stage during his presentation. After the final presentation in the second track, Graciela Narcho, deputy assistant director, National Science Foundation Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) gave an overview of TIPS programs.
“The Kentucky Innovator Challenge strengthened Bullard’s belief in why Kentucky is so special. Our commonwealth has outstanding universities, incredible talent and future-focused companies,” said Bullard. “We are optimistic on how we can collaborate to solve real, life-saving problems for our brave customers from the Kentucky Innovator Challenge.”
Presentations in the third and final track focused on automotive and aerospace.
- Vinny Nimmagadda, EVP, corporate development and new ventures, and Adam Layman, director of systems integration engineering, Holley: “Holley Performance Products is an automotive performance company based in Bowling Green, Kentucky.” Holley’s vision is “to inspire and enable enthusiasts in their automotive adventures by bringing innovation, discovery and fun to motor life.”
- Twyman Clements, CEO, president and co-founder, Space Tango: Space Tango is headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky, and its mission “is to manufacture products in microgravity that create value and transformational solutions.”
- Deborah Whitis, executive chief consulting engineer, GE Aerospace: GE Aerospace has centers across the United States including Madisonville and Florence, Kentucky. “At GE Aerospace, we invent the future of flights, lift people up and bring them home safely.”
“The University of Kentucky is clearly out in front when it comes to sustainability. It was exciting to see the government, university and business sectors coming together to share innovation in this area, and working together to create a better future,” said Whitis.
“It’s important to engage our local community and enable all of us to think bigger. Holley leads our industry in innovation; as such, collaborations across sectors will be increasingly important as we tackle larger challenges,” said Nimmagadda. “Our experience has been wonderful — from meeting national research groups and learning more about potential funding and collaboration opportunities unique to Kentucky to engaging UK’s student groups to discuss the growing need for the next generation of problem-solvers excited to tackle opportunities like converting and upcycling existing vehicles from internal combustion to electric powertrains.”
The afternoon wrapped up with UK Innovate’s Innovation Connect Manager Kim Sayre providing an overview on UK Innovation Connect and her focus area – College of Engineering. Ian McClure, associate vice president for research, innovation and economic impact and executive director of UK Innovate presented on Building Innovation Culture: UK Innovate. Landon Borders gave closing remarks. With the event completed, attendees, speakers and presenters engaged with one another during the networking reception.
Kentucky Innovator Challenge 2024 will be held in April 2024.
Learn more about the speakers and presenters. If you are interested in attending or presenting next year, contact the UK Innovation Connect team at innovationconnect@uky.edu.
UK Innovate at the University of Kentucky is the innovation, entrepreneurship and economic enterprise for University of Kentucky Research. Through technology commercialization, corporate partnerships, social innovation, innovation training and economic development initiatives related to UK’s research innovations, talent and community, UK Innovate works to move ideas into the world faster, where they can make the greatest social and economic impact possible.
