Commerce RI says plans for Innovation Campus starting

UNIVERSITY OF Rhode Island President David Dooley said the Innovation Campus will "allow the university to partner with businesses to help solve real challenges, to provide educational opportunities for its students and to innovate products and services." / PBN FILE PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO
UNIVERSITY OF Rhode Island President David Dooley said the Innovation Campus will "allow the university to partner with businesses to help solve real challenges, to provide educational opportunities for its students and to innovate products and services." / PBN FILE PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO

PROVIDENCE – Proposals soon will be requested from industry, academic and research partners to develop a new Innovation Campus, according to the R.I. Commerce Corp.
Voters in November approved a $20 million bond issue to create an Innovation Campus affiliated with the University of Rhode Island. The campus will help bridge the gap between research occurring at Rhode Island’s universities and the opportunity for new startups and job creation as a result of that research.

Commerce RI, along with URI, said in a Tuesday release that it will ask potential partners to submit initial responses in the spring, and a formal request for proposals will follow in the summer. A development partner or partners will be selected by early 2018.
Development partners will be required to meet or exceed the state’s investment from bond proceeds. Respondents will be offered access to technical assistance workshops to guide concept development, the release said.

Gov. Gina M. Raimondo said the project is about the state’s future.

“Investing in strong university-industry partnerships will help existing work already happening in Rhode Island turn into jobs for Rhode Islanders,” she said.

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URI will work with Commerce RI throughout the solicitation process and will collaborate with the designated partner or team to develop and program the Innovation Campus.

“The Innovation Campus will allow the university to partner with businesses to help solve real challenges, to provide educational opportunities for its students and to innovate products and services,” David M. Dooley, URI president, said in prepared remarks. “As the state’s public research institution, the university can deploy its researchers, faculty and students to partner with other higher education institutions and businesses creating a true hub of innovation in Rhode Island.”

The Innovation Campus is modeled in part after other academic-industry collaborations across the country, including Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research, Pennovation Works and The Bridge at Cornell Tech.

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