Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

There was a good deal of optimism expressed in Nashville on Thursday when the University of Kentucky-led GAME Change initiative held its fourth Summit at Vanderbilt University’s Student Life Center.

“Luckily, we have a great plan, even as there is a lot of uncertainty,” said Ian McClure, who is leading the proposal for one of the $160 million National Science Foundation (NSF) Engines proposals. That uncertainty stems from NSF postponing the deadline for proposals submissions just days before they were due. A new deadline has not been announced.

While the funding was the initial focus of the proposal team that secured an “NSF Engines Development Award” (see teknovation.biz article here), McClure added, “Today, if we don’t do it, we lose a real opportunity.”

Thirty-one organizations, mostly from industry, have committed about $10 million in funding that would match the federal dollars if the proposal team is successful. Tennessee partners include two University of Tennessee (UT) campuses – Chattanooga and Knoxville; Vanderbilt, the host university for the latest summit; Tennessee State University; Tennessee Board of Regents; and Launch Tennessee.

So, what is the focus?

GAME Change is a two-state (Kentucky and Tennessee) initiative focused on the circular economy or, as McClure noted, the Southeast Commerce Corridor which he described as “a supercluster for the supply chain.”

The official name of the initiative is Generating Advanced Manufacturing Excellence for Change and involves four other areas in addition to the circular economy. They are:

1. Next generation manufacturing;
2. Supply chain innovation;
3. Industrial efficiencies; and
4. Workforce development.

One of the big challenges is the lack of robust workforce participation rates even as manufacturing output has increased by 40 percent in the last decade.

After McClure’s introductory comments, Deborah Dull, Founder of the Circular Supply Chain Network, moderated a one-person panel that featured Doug Adams, Vice Dean and Executive Director of Vanderbilt’s Institute of National Security. What followed was a fascinating conversation that touched on a variety of topics, starting with the new definition of national security.

“National security used to mean sovereignty,” Adams said. “To have sovereignty, we have to think differently about it.” Why? Think cybersecurity, which does recognize natural borders, and fentanyl.

Later, Adams and Dull noted several companies and other initiatives that can address the challenges of security and the circular economy.

1. SkyNano, the Knoxville area company that was in the first cohort of the Innovation Crossroads program, was cited by Adams as “taking something that is really a problem and turning into something that is beneficial.” The company produces carbon nanotubes.
2. Urban mining which can recover minerals from old electronic devices.
3. Longer timelines, something that Adams said the Chinese think in terms of centuries, not years as is the case in the U.S.
4. Public-private partnerships where the government provides financial incentives that Adams said are much more important than policies.

The fifth and final item in Adams list was a little surprising at first glance. “Trust is the most important thing about GAME Change and whether it succeeds or fails,” he said.

Later, in a keynote address at lunch, Dull combined the topic of the circular economy and something on the minds of many business executives – tariffs. Explaining that “necessity is the mother of invention,” her presentation was titled, “From Tariffs to Technology.”

What did we glean?

1. We can find new (re)sources, Dull said, noting that 60 percent of the materials we need as a society can be grown rather than mined.
2. The other two ways that companies can avoid some or all of the impact of tariffs involve (re)making and (re)directing.

In essence, that’s the focus of GAME Change – better utilizing and reusing our precious minerals or other assets.

“We use way more of the world than it has to give,” Dull says, adding, “We can regenerate so we have more tomorrow than we have today.”

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