University of Chicago
Innovation Exchange
Location: Harper Theater
Mission: “The Chicago Innovation Exchange (CIE) is the University of Chicago’s new hub for multidisciplinary collaborations and support for business start-up activities by University faculty, students and area entrepreneurs.
The CIE will bring together the University’s distinctive strengths in research and resources from a network of world-class entrepreneurship programs to drive innovation in a range of areas, applying scientific discoveries to generate scalable solutions to difficult societal problems.”
Size:
- The CIE will occupy 17,000 square feet on the second floor of the Harper Theater complex; 6,000 square feet on the second floor of an adjacent office building; and 13,500 square feet of shared conference center space on the 11th floor of the Harper Court office tower currently under construction.
Features:
- Flexible coworking space for up to 150 students, faculty, and community members with passions for entrepreneurship and innovation
- Dedicated office space for the CIE management team, Argonne National Laboratory, and the Institute for Molecular Engineering
- Meeting spaces supporting formal and informal collaboration for groups
- Adjustable immersive-technology classroom
- A variety of informal lounge and café
Community Engagement:
- The CIE will reach campus-wide to draw participation from different parts and affiliates of the University
- The scope, depth and diversity of the disciplines and resources bring brought together at the CIE: energy, life sciences, engineering, social science, medicine, business development, and others.
- The involvement of three major research laboratories—including national labs Argonne and Fermilab, and the Marine Biological Laboratory. UChicago expects these affiliations to open up vast potential for discovery and innovation in energy, the environment, and security. Additionally, the CIE is an important element in the commercialization strategy for the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, the US Department of Energy’s $120 million energy innovation hub announced in November 2012.
- The participation of Booth School of Business and the Polsky Center forEntrepreneurship and Innovation is at the core of the CIE. Polsky is an engine of new venture creation: its New Venture Challenge alone has created more than 90 currently active businesses since its inception in 1996.
- Creation of the UChicago Innovation Fund, a $20 million venture philanthropic fund dedicated to proof-of-concept work to help new ventures attract outside commercialization funding.
- UChicago Innovation Week
Research Centers and Institutes:
These contribute to the entrepreneurial spirit of the students and faculty at UChicago.
Browse UChicago’s 140+ centers and institutes »
Arete serves as a research catalyst for faculty approaching the world’s most compelling questions.
Argonne National Laboratory, managed by UChicago for the US Department of Energy, aims to solve the nation’s most important challenges in energy, the environment, and national security.
Center on Policy Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy is a new initiative that will train future policy leaders on what it really takes to change policy by navigating the political process.
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, chiefly managed by UChicago for the US Department of Energy, is the nation’s only laboratory dedicated to the study of high energy physics.
Institute for Molecular Engineering, an Argonne-UChicago collaboration, explores innovative technologies in nanoscale manipulation and design at a molecular scale.
Institute for Translational Medicine strives to speed the rate at which research progress improves health care practice and community health.
Strategic Collaborative Initiatives program provides seed grants for joint UChicago, Argonne, and Fermilab projects.
University Research Administration provides guidance and support for research funding.
UChicago Impact provides empirically based tools and supporting services to create reliably excellent schooling, partnering with school systems to gather evidence, supply expert analysis, and build capacity.
Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship at UChicago’s Law School provides free legal assistance, access to resources, and advocacy for entrepreneurs in the Chicago area.
Future Expansion:
- A timetable for future phases has not been established. However, as currently envisioned, the first phase of the CIE will open in October 2014. Phase II involves the design, construction and management of a 30,000-40,000-square-foot prototyping, wet lab, and computer fabrication core facility adjacent to the main CIE building. This facility will be available for use by all CIE members and partners.
Contact: