“Innovation Week” returns for a four-day run in Nashville
The major events are the Tennessee Innovation Showcase at Meharry Medical College and the GAME Change Summit at Vanderbilt University.
Entrepreneurs and their supporters will descend on Nashville next week for Launch Tennessee’s annual “Innovation Week” celebration.
After an invitation-only event for the organization’s network partners on February 24, the pace picks up the following day (February 25) with the Tennessee Innovation Showcase at Meharry Medical College’s Kresge Learning Center. The agenda is as follows:
- Registration, Networking, and the Innovation Expo featuring researchers at Tennessee universities and companies that have received Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer awards showcasing their work.
- A welcome from Dr. Anil Shanker, Meharry’s Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation.
- A presentation on the State of Innovation in the Volunteer State by Deb Crawford, Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation, and Economic Development at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
- Another presentation by Lindsey Cox, Launch Tennessee’s Chief Executive Officer, on the $63 million technology-based economic development strategy that Governor Bill Lee announced in his “State of the State” address.
- A Meharry Innovator Showcase featuring presentations by faculty, students, and researchers on promising innovations emerging from the College’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
- A panel discussion moderated by David L. Butler, Vice Provost for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies at Middle Tennessee State University. He will be joined by: (1) Shanker of Meharry Medical College; (2) Nick Hagemeir, Vice Provost for Research and Chief Research Officer at East Tennessee State University; (3) Jasbir Dhaliwal, Executive Vice President for Research and Innovation at the University of Memphis; and (4) Chad Brooks, Associate Provost for Research and Dean of the College of Graduate Studies at Austin Peay State University.
Register for the showcase here.
The second day of “Innovation Week” concludes with the annual reception where state legislators interact with their local constituents who are doing innovative things in their districts.
February 26 is devoted to individual meetings with members of the General Assembly.
The final event on February 27 is the GAME Change Summit & Workshop. Led by the University of Kentucky (UK) but also involving a number of Volunteer State partners, the all-day event at Vanderbilt University’s Student Life Center brings together people interested in the global circular economy for an impactful day of discussion and networking. UK won one of the National Science Foundation’s one million dollar “Engines Development Awards” for the project to accelerate carbon-centric circular economy technologies for advanced manufacturing solutions.
Registration information for the Summit can be found here.
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