Funding for the effort, dubbed Generate Advanced Manufacturing Excellence for Change (GAME Change), comes via the U.S. National Science Foundation’s inaugural Regional Innovation Engines, or NSF Engines, program. GAME Change received one of just 44 type-1 NSF Engines planning grants, qualifying it to compete for a type-2 award worth up to $160 million — the largest award NSF has ever offered.��

“UofL is proud to help lead the GAME Change coalition and work to ensure regional next-manufacturing competitiveness through research, innovation and workforce development,” said Kevin Gardner, UofL’s executive vice president for research and innovation. “Kentucky and this region are ripe with opportunity, and through this work, we can accelerate our strong manufacturing sector’s growth as a national leader.”��

The goal, he said, is to secure economic competitiveness throughout the Southeastern Commerce Corridor (SCC) of Kentucky and Tennessee, with a focus on next-generation and advanced manufacturing, supply chain and logistics, more durable and sustainable materials and more. Louisville alone more some 2,400 manufacturing firms in areas ranging from food and beverage to automotive, with a total workforce of more than 82,500.

As part of the coalition, UofL will leverage its manufacturing and technology expertise to provide research support and talent development to industry partners. This includes connection to the UofL-based statewide resource center, along with labs, inlcuding the multi-disciplinary Louisville Automation and Robotics Reseach Institute (), led by J.B. Speed School of Engineering researcher and GAME Change teammember, Dan Popa.��

UofL also will lead the development and launch of a manufacturing-centered venture studio, offering funding, mentoring and training to help new tech-based companies spin up and out. The venture studio will draw on programming and resources offered through , part of the Office of Research and Innovation, inclduing innovation training and funding via UofL’s eight-week startup bootcamp and a suite of focused on translating research into marketable products.��

“UofL already has a long track record of success in getting its research out into the world as new products, businesses, and more with the power to radically improve the way we live and work,” said UofL principal investigator Will Metcalf, an associate vice president for research and innovation who leads UofL New Ventures and the new venture studio. “With GAME Change, we can catalyze that earned expertise to help our regional manufacturing economy thrive.”

In addition to UofL, the GAME Change coalition includes research, education, economic development, industrial and manufacturing leaders of the SCC, spanning the I-65 and I-75 thoroughfares and the promising high-growth centers of Louisville, Lexington, Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga that outline an Appalachian region in need of greater connectivity and economic resiliency.

Launched by NSF’s new Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships and authorized by the “CHIPS and Science Act of 2022,” the NSF Engines program uniquely harnesses the nation’s science and technology research and development enterprise and regional-level resources. NSF Engines aspire to catalyze robust partnerships to positively impact regional economies, accelerate technology development, address societal challenges, advance national competitiveness and create local, high-wage jobs.

“These NSF Engines Development Awards lay the foundation for emerging hubs of innovation and potential future NSF Engines,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan. “These awardees are part of the fabric of NSF’s vision to create opportunities everywhere and enable innovation anywhere. They will build robust regional partnerships rooted in scientific and technological innovation in every part of our nation. Through these planning awards, NSF is seeding the future for in-place innovation in communities and to grow their regional economies through research and partnerships. This will unleash ideas, talent, pathways and resources to create vibrant innovation ecosystems all across our nation.”

As part of an honors class, a group of undergraduate students studied — through interviews, research and first-hand experience — how towns like New Albany, Clarksville and Jeffersonville, Indiana, benefit from and can better promote kayaking, concerts and other riverside activities.

They worked with the U.S. National Park Service – Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program to conduct river town reviews. The program’s team effort approach to looking with “fresh eyes on enhancing tourism and outdoor recreation” helped these communities explore how they can further realize the benefits of the Ohio River and the development of the 270-mile Ohio River Recreation Trail from Portsmouth, Ohio, to West Point, Kentucky.

“I think the main takeaway is that there is so much potential for the Ohio River and the communities that surround it,” said Forest Clevenger, a political science major who worked on the project. “By focusing on recreation, it not only reinvigorates the economies of these communities, but it makes it so that conservation (of rivers) is an economic asset and something that is supported.”

The results of the students’ research, including observations, models, maps and photos from their trips to the Ohio River Greenway, currently are on display at the main branch of the Louisville Free Public Library. The exhibit, “River of Life: Cities and Towns Along the Mighty Ohio,” is expected to run through the summer.

“The students’ work in this exhibit uses photos and explorations to understand past initiatives that encouraged river recreation,” said David Wicks, who taught the class and also is director of River City Paddle Sports. “They put a lot of work into this and it really shows. Their work could help shed new light on the role of rivers – how they shape and grow our towns.”

The exhibit also spawned an offshoot project called “Ripple Effects: Exploring Water in Louisville.” That project began with a photo contest that asked kids in grades K-12 to capture their feelings about water on film. The goal is to learn more about youth attitudes toward water — what it means to them, its role in their everyday lives and how they engage with it.

Mary Brydon-Miller, professor in the UofL College of ����ֱ�� and Human Development, will prepare a summary of the main themes that come out of the entries to present as part of an upcoming National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forum on extreme rainfall and community resilience.

“The important thing is the engagement of youth across the Louisville metro area in thinking about the importance of water in our community,” she said. “And asking kids to tell that story in a creative way will tell us a lot about how they see water’s role in their lives.”

Winners of the photo contest will be announced at Louisville Waterfront Park on June 21 and featured in another exhibit at LFPL this fall as part of the Louisville Photo Biennial.

More information on the exhibit, including sponsor listing, is available on , as well as more information on .

UofL’s College of Arts and Sciences is offering the public event, “The Future of Our Community: West Louisville Economic Development Forum, Part II,” at the Muhammad Ali Center, 144 N. Sixth St. The program runs from 8:30 a.m. check-in to 2:30 p.m.

“This whole intent of ‘The Future of Our Community’ really brings together the community leaders with the people who have resources and have the ability to make things happen,” event organizer Clest Lanier said.

“People need to say what they want. I think we’re going to learn a whole lot,” she said.

Forum breakout sessions will focus on identifying community needs, financing large projects, helping small businesses and updating the status of current and new projects. Panelists will include area residents, developers, financiers, entrepreneurs and government and community organization representatives.

The program concludes with a 1:15 p.m. luncheon talk by U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a development activist and city council member who became Kansas City, Missouri’s first African American mayor in 1981 and now is serving his sixth congressional term. The congressman will talk about championing redevelopment efforts for Kansas City’s 18^th and Vine jazz district that was once the heart of the city’s black business zone.

Advance registration is required by Aug. 15 for the forum, which includes breakfast and lunch. Participants should visit and pay by check; fees are $60 for corporate representatives, $50 for individuals and $40 for students.