Innovator Day 2024

Date: Friday, February 9th

Location: Prescott 225

Target Audience: Faculty, graduate students, and student researchers

Agenda:

Welcome (9:30 AM - 10:00 AM)
Join us for the commencement of Innovator Day at Tennessee Tech University with an introduction from Dr. John Liu, Vice President for Research and Dr. Michael Aikens, Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship to set the stage for the collaborative Tennessee Tech Advancement Consortium between LaunchTN and Tennessee Technological University. 

LaunchTN x TN Tech: A Collaborative Partnership to Advance Faculty Research and Commercialization (10:00 AM - 11:00 AM)
Discover how LaunchTN, the startup support organization for the state, is focusing their efforts to empower faculty researchers at Tennessee Technological University to translate their ideas from lab to market through the Tennessee Technology Advancement Consortium (TTAC).

Supporting Innovation at Tennessee Technological University (11:00 AM - 12:00 PM)
Learn more about the innovation ecosystem at Tennessee Technological University and how the university is fueling groundbreaking research, nurturing student ventures, and fostering partnerships to bring faculty and student research ideas to life.

Turning Research into Revenue: A Roundtable Discussion with TTU's Entrepreneurial Minds (12:00 PM - 1:00 PM)
Your groundbreaking research deserves a runway. Discover how professors Andy Pardue and Steve Canfield have leveraged TN Tech's resources and support to launch successful businesses through a moderated discussion with local entrepreneur and TN Tech’s TTAC Assistant Director, Téa Phillips. This interactive roundtable will equip you with actionable strategies and empower you to turn your own ideas into reality.

Break (1:00 PM - 1:30 PM)

MidSouth i-Corp Hub Info Session (1:30 PM - 2:00 PM)
Join Mid-South Hub Director, Charleson Bell, to learn more about NSF's National Innovation-Corps, an immersive entrepreneurial training program and $50,000 grant for research commercialization!

Whisper Aero Takes Flight: How One Local Company Has Partnered with Local Researchers (2:00 PM - 3:00 PM)
Hear from Whisper Aero, the Crossville based startup that recently raised a $32M Series A and is building the future of flight by harnessing the power of air more cleanly, efficiently, and quietly than ever before. Learn how they’ve used the SBIR/STTR programs to collaborate with faculty researchers at Georgia Tech. 

Innovator Reception (4 PM - 6 PM) - Hosted at The Biz Foundry, 114 N Cedar Ave, Cookeville, TN 38501
Faculty, students, and innovators can connect with research collaborators, potential industry partners, startups, entrepreneurship support personnel during this networking happy hour event.