“It’s a big milestone for our company, moving from R&D to production and commercial sales,” said Vasanthi Sunkara, AEM’s president and CEO, at a ribbon cutting event June 2. “Today’s event commemorates …the company’s direction toward becoming a full-fledged commercial venture.”Ěý

AEM makes nano-materials for catalysts used in chemical processing and oil refining. Its new facility is in about 20,000 square feet at 311 E. Lee Street, just north of the Belknap Campus.Ěý

Interim UofL President Greg Postel said the move was another success story from the university’s efforts to work with industry, including through the .

“Our Institute for Product Realization was designed as a way for us to pursue these types of new relationships,” he said.Ěý

The IPR connects companies with on-campus resources for problem-solving and innovation. John Gant, the IPR’s director of industry partnerships and alliances, said the university is looking for companies, like AEM, that have an “innovative twist.”ĚýĚý

“This is exactly the kind of company we want to work with at the University of Louisville,” he said.Ěý

Advanced Energy Materials LLC has roots at UofL, and was born from a break-through technology developed at the Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research. The company now has an exclusive license agreement with the UofL Office of Technology Transfer for a portfolio of several patents, which could be commercialized as products for customers.ĚýĚý

Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, chief of Louisville Forward, the city’s economic development engine, said companies leveraging those kinds of UofL resources can help drive the local economy.Ěý

“This density of companies here that are using the intellectual prowess of the university to drive economic growth in our city is certainly part of our long-term growth strategy for economic prosperity in our city,” she said.

Terry Gill, secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, said these partnerships, with support from the state, can also drive growth throughout Kentucky.

Gill added thatĚýsuccesses like this can be used “as kind of a draw for other young talent in the region to the University of Louisville and really to highlight the wonderful work that’s happening there.”

AEM has nine employees with plans to hire five more by the end of the year. Total employment is projected to reach as many as 60 by 2019.

Photos from the ribbon cutting event are . Video from the event is also available below:Ěý

The students, from the J.B. Speed School of Engineering’s Mechanical Engineering Department, formed 10Ěý“startups,” then worked together to design a product, prototype it using 3-D printing and build a business case around it that could compete for a future round of financing.

Each team will present their products at a venture day event from 8:30-10:30 a.m. on Dec. 5 at the Shumaker Research Building on the Belknap Campus.

“We are excited to have a hundred design engineers leverage disruptive 3-D printing technologies to create business with new products for biomedical, industrial, transportation and consumer sectors,” said professor Sundar Atre, , who launched the incubator. “What they have accomplished this semester is truly extraordinary.”

Companies are invited to sign up to mentor the teams and provide a market focus for their products. One way UofL engages industry is through the , which seeks to create an ecosystem that spurs innovation and generates educational opportunities.

The student startups in the incubator received technical mentorship from faculty and will receive business mentorship from an investment group. Each team was assigned a student project manager and a graduate student with relevant product research and development experience to serve as chief technology officer.

Another 10Ěýteams will be added in January, when spring classes begin. At the end of each term, investors and other community stakeholders will be brought in to hear pitches from the teams.

More information on the individual teams is available .

Ěý

The showcase brings together area entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders to highlight UofLl’s groundbreaking work in science, manufacturing and business. Held at the IPR’s Engineering Garage, the event treated attendees to tours of the adjoining FirstBuild and the Additive Manufacturing Competency Center, as well as a panel presentation from university administrators and members of the business community.

Case, who is currently CEO of the Washington, D.C. investment firm Revolution LLC, shared his experience on becoming one of the most successful and impactful entrepreneurs in American history and emphasized the importance of disruptive innovation in moving the economy forward. He challenged the idea that hotbeds of innovation can only be found in Silicon Valley or New York City and listed the qualities that make Louisville an ideal home for startups, includingĚýits central location, thriving foodservice and healthcare industries and strong business community.

Additionally, Case touted the IPR as a unique engine of innovation, and a nexus of manufacturing expertise, cutting-edge technology and public involvement. He praised the Institute’s willingness to push the envelope as essential to the future of enterprise in the city and cautioned business leaders in the audience not to rest on their laurels.

“If you want to know what a city will look like in 25 years, look at the state of its startups now,” Case said. “You have to constantly reinvent yourself, or you’ll get left behind.”

Case, who playedĚýa significant role in getting mainstream America connected to the Internet, is now investigating how his brainchild is being reinvented in his book The Third Wave, free copies of which were provided to attendees.

In addition to the presentation, representatives from the Speed School and College of Business demonstrated what their departments had to offer, including a custom prosthetic hand, a 3D printed heart and an Entrepreneurship MBA program ranked 23rd in the nation. Overall, the event’s atmosphere was one of optimism and excitement for innovation and potential.

“Two hundred and fifty years ago, America itself was just a startup,” said Case, reminding the audience that anything isĚýpossible.

See .Ěý

Video from the event is available below:Ěý