The University Relations Report
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Recently, Indiana University President Pamela Whitten sat down for a conversation with IU Vice President for University Relations Michael Huber and Angela Smith-Jones, associate vice president for state relations, to discuss IU’s efforts to leverage its world-class teaching and research enterprise to positively impact communities across the Hoosier state.
Their discussion focused on the mission of University Relations to expand opportunities for IU faculty and students across the university, advance Indiana’s culture of entrepreneurship, and accelerate the development of critical and emerging sectors of the state’s economy, including the health and life sciences, microelectronics and nanotechnology, and national security and defense.
As President Whitten noted in the latest edition of her weekly blog, this mission has manifested itself in several historic IU investments and initiatives, including multimillion-dollar strategic investments in advancing Indiana’s leadership in microelectronics and biosciences, and the launch of IU Innovates to unify and strengthen IU’s support for high-potential faculty and student entrepreneurship.
At the core of the team’s work, Written explained, is “a clear focus: to leverage IU’s vast educational resources, talent, expertise, discoveries and innovations to make our local communities, state, and country a better place.”
Statehouse Update
The eighth week of session marked another significant milestone as Tuesday was the final day for Senate bills to be heard in House committees and Thursday was the final day for House bills to be heard in Senate committee. Bills that did not receive a hearing or pass a committee are no longer eligible to move forward. By the middle of next week, IU State Relations will know which bills passed through the chamber opposite their origination and are still eligible to become law.
Federal Update
House and Senate Push Deadlines to Avoid Partial Government Shutdown...
Economic Engagement Update
IU President Whitten tours leading manufacturing innovation center mHUB
Earlier this week, IU President Pamela Whitten visited mHUB, a leading innovation center, headquartered in Chicago, for hard tech startups, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, investors and industry leaders. mHUB, which recently moved into a new $50 million innovation and commercialization center on Chicago’s near west side, has supported more than 500 startups and 200 manufacturers worldwide.
Whitten toured the business incubator with IU Vice President for Research Russ Mumper and Tony Armstrong, IU associate vice president and president and CEO of IU Ventures. She also met with a group of Chicago-based IU alumni working in technology, entrepreneurship and venture capital to discuss how IU and the IU Northwest campus can expand their engagement and impact in Chicago and across the region, including northwest Indiana. “It’s clear that IU’s legacy of academic excellence and innovation continues to thrive in the Windy City,” Whitten said in a LinkedIn post after the visit. “I’m honored to lead an institution that has produced such exceptional and visionary graduates.”
View President Whitten’s LinkedIn post
IU students and faculty ‘gamify’ technical training in partnership with navy engineers
Students and faculty studying video game design at the Indiana University Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering in Indianapolis are collaborating with naval engineers at Naval Surface Warfare Center-Crane Division to improve training in fundamental concepts of systems engineering through gamification. The creation of “The Mystery of Vee Island,” a video game that uses pixelated pirates to make technical training fun and interesting, is led by students in the game development class co-taught by faculty members Mathew Powers and Todd Shelton.
Read the full story (includes video and photo essay)
Mira Award nominees signal growing success of IU’s innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem
Several Indiana University-affiliated entrepreneurs and companies are among the nominees, announced earlier this week by Indianapolis-based TechPoint, for the 2024 Mira Awards, honoring the best of tech in the Hoosier state. They’ll vie for several of TechPoint’s biggest honors while IU continues to unify and strengthen its support for student and faculty entrepreneurship through the just-launched IU Innovates initiative and as its early-stage and venture investment arm, IU Ventures, accelerates the development of high-potential startup companies and innovations with strong IU connections.
IU in the News
IU student success efforts spur record applications
IU Bloomington has received nearly 67,000 applications for the 2023-24 cycle thanks to efforts to enhance the undergraduate experience, such as new degrees, experiential learning opportunities and transparency in the admissions process.
Susan Sciame-Giesecke to retire; internal search planned for IU’s regional, online education role
Susan Sciame-Giesecke, who has served as Indiana University’s vice president for regional campuses and online education since May 2022, will retire on June 30. An internal search is planned to fill the role.
Weaver carries ER experience into role as Indiana health commissioner
Lindsay Weaver, MD, state health commissioner and adjunct assistant professor of emergency medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine, is leading the Health First Indiana initiative, a $225 million commitment from the state to create healthier communities and improve Indiana’s dismal rankings on key public health metrics, including tobacco use, obesity, drug overdose deaths and child and infant mortality.
Kelley professors playing an important role in international efforts to govern data use and artificial intelligence
Through their extensive and interdisciplinary research, two business law professors at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business are continuing the legacy of the late Elinor “Lin” Ostrom, who was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in economics.