All you need is dough – September 10, 2019
A (pretty) penny for your thoughts
Brains might create an idea but funding makes it happen. Here are a few ways that Fast Future funding is helping startups and research institutions hit their stride.
Today's itinerary: Indiana is giving tech startups a hand up; state funding Pittsburgh will support neighborhood revitalization; research funding comes to Carnegie Mellon and Notre Dame.
September 10, 2019
FUNDING INNOVATION
Indiana gives a hand up to tech startups Image courtesy Mohamad Hassan
Indianapolis has emerged as a tech startup hub, with more than 350 new companies, many in the booming cloud-based marketing tech sector. The 74 even gave Indy the nod as being part of “The Silicon Prairie,” a kinda backhanded compliment usually reserved for Chicago, Texas, or the Twin Cities.
New capital mixed with a pool of veteran leadership has positioned the Indiana capital as a prime landing point on the I-65 Corridor. But Indy is also getting a big push from state government, which has always considered its only 500,000-plus metro as THE core engine for statewide growth.
You gotta spend tax money to make tax money
The state’s push for high-tech job creation is paying off in other cities, as well. Catalent Inc. just announced plans to expand its ops in nearby Bloomington and create 200 new jobs by 2024. Overall, the state’s tech employment rate grew 2% last year.
Still a few clouds on the horizon (get it?)
But you gotta start somewhere. And Indy is all about startups.
City of Pittsburgh gets state RACP funding for redevelopment projects
Several City of Pittsburgh redevelopment projects received $4.5 million in state funding this week to support ongoing work to revitalize some city neighborhoods.
The funding comes from the 2019 Revitalization Assistance Capital Program (RACP), which provides financial support for the acquisition and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational, and historical improvement projects statewide.
Pittsburgh’s mayor, William Peduto, said that the funding, “Will be used to transform city neighborhoods all over Pittsburgh.”
The revitalization projects planned include:
IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
Name that Fast Future U!
Schools doing great research are in the news(letter).
How about some trivia about the schools mentioned in this newsletter to get your Tuesday going?
Still curious? Our less-than-subtle clue above didn't help? Then click here for enlightenment.
HIGH FLYING U RESEARCH
Notre Dame to research ties between aging and cancer Image courtesy Pixabay
Thanks to an award from the National Institutes of Health, a team of researchers has the opportunity to study the role of aging in the development of cancer.
The researchers, from the University of Notre Dame, the National Institute on Aging, and the National Cancer Institute, will be looking at how age affects tumor growth in the peritoneal cavity—which contains the liver, intestines, and ovaries, among other organs.
Leading the partnership is M. Sharon Stack, professor of chemistry and biochemistry and the director of the Harper Cancer Research Institute, University of Notre Dame. The team hopes to discover how age-associated changes may enable cancer to spread by preparing the body to receive cancer cells.
“Through this award, our research team will be able to explore a number of age-related factors that may indicate why advanced-age people are more likely to have a higher cancer burden and why it’s more difficult for their bodies to fight off this disease,” Stack said. “By understanding molecular mechanisms used to ‘prime’ different locations to foster cancer growth, we can target those mechanisms with potential treatments.”
Changes coming to ISU's research park
Iowa State University Research Park president Rick Sanders is only three months into his position but he is looking at the next phase of development for the 400+ acre research park.
Sanders succeeded long-time resident Steve Carter, who grew employment at the park from 930 jobs to nearly 3,000.
“If you compare us to any other research park, we’ve got some strengths that others don’t have. And for many research parks, we’re kind of the model they’d like to follow, and that’s all a credit and attributable to Steve Carter,” said Sanders. “He left this place with a great foundation and our opportunities based on that foundation I think are almost limitless.”
Sanders expects to focus on two key areas in the next stage of development: agtech and biorenewsables.
“I think when we get a decade down the road, we’re going to be able to look back and some place is going to have solidified their position in those two spaces. And as lofty as it sounds, I want us to be that spot,” Sanders said. In three months, Sanders has opened up multiple facilities, including the John Deere Technology Center and the Tedesco Environmental Learning Corridor.
Carnegie Mellon to tackle the threat of online disinformation Image courtesy Schwerdhoefer via Pixabay
The internet is being overrun by disinformation (present company excluded) —false, misleading, and manipulative information delivered via bots, trolls, state-run propaganda, and hate speech—and it’s having a profound impact on global society and on democracy.
IDeaS will be directed by Kathleen M. Carley, a professor in the School of Computer Science's Institute for Software Research, along with co-directors Douglas Sicker, head of Engineering and Public Policy at CMU's College of Engineering, and David Danks, head of Philosophy in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
In an article on the CMU website, Carley said, "We are in the middle of a social media war. It's being conducted across Twitter and Facebook, websites, Reddit, pick your favorite media. It is about to get worse with the increased sophistication of bots, memes and the beginning of deep fakes."
PUDDLE HOPS
Metabolites May Predict Lung Injury in 9/11 First Responders (The Scientist)
Minnesota Security Startup Partners with Bethel University in Eliminating Crime (Tech{dot}MN)
Casey’s founder gives $2.9 million to Iowa’s Buena Vista University for rural entrepreneurship center (Clay and Milk)
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