News

Nebraska Innovation Campus wins $750,000 grant to help provide lab space for startups

By Martha Stoddard / World-Herald Bureau

LINCOLN — The Nebraska Innovation Campus has won a competitive federal grant to help nurture biotechnology startup companies by providing laboratory space.

Officials announced the $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration on Wednesday.

It will be matched with an equal amount of University of Nebraska-Lincoln funds to build and equip wet laboratories for lease by fledgling companies.

Grant to boost Innovation Campus, biotech startups

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln will use a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to build biotechnology lab space at Nebraska Innovation Campus for small and start-up companies.

Together with unused construction funds to match the Economic Development Administration's grant, UNL will create a “biotechnology connector program” to stimulate economic growth in fields from agriculture to pharmaceuticals in Nebraska.

Football Friday held in conjunction with NIC Grand Opening

Celebrate the Nebraska Innovation Campus Grand Opening with the Nebraska Alumni Association’s Football Friday, Oct. 9, at Innovation Commons, 2021 Transformation Drive. Come early for walking tours of NIC facilities from 4-5:30 p.m., and stay for the program beginning at 5:30. We’ll have special guests, including Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez, plus visits from the UNL Spirit Squad, mascot and pep band.

IntelliFarm to partner with NIC

Product development company IntelliFarm is Nebraska Innovation Campus’ newest partner. Dan Duncan, executive director of NIC, said the company would move its corporate office into space on campus later this year.

“We are pleased with the synergy and interactions IntelliFarm will bring to our campus and culture,” Duncan said.

IntelliFarm, based in Lincoln, develops intelligent and revolutionary products for the global agricultural industry. The company is engineering disruptive AgTech focused on simple and elegant technology solutions for agriculture.

Faculty startup is latest partner at NIC

Metagenome Analytics LLC, a start-up bioinformatics company led by a University of Nebraska-Lincoln food science professor, is the latest partner to be announced at Nebraska Innovation Campus.

Dan Duncan, the campus’ executive director, said the company, known as MGA, will move into space on campus later this year.

Innovation Campus bus routes launch Aug. 24

New bus routes connecting City and East campuses to Nebraska Innovation Campus will replace UNL's perimeter van service.

The routes were planned in accordance with the move of UNL's Department of Food Science and Technology from East Campus to Nebraska Innovation Campus. StarTran, Lincoln's city-owned bus service, will manage the routes through a five-year, $4.1 million contract with UNL.

NuTek Food Science R&D to locate at NIC

NuTek Food Science, a company that helps create great-tasting and affordable food to enhance global health, will locate its research and development office at Nebraska Innovation Campus later this year, Dan Duncan, NIC’s executive director, announced Aug. 4.

“NuTek Food Science is another great example of why the University of Nebraska-Lincoln chose to locate its Food Science and Technology Department at NIC,” Duncan said. “This location provides a great opportunity to work with the private sector on innovation that promotes healthier and more nutritious food options.”

Innovation Campus greenhouse puts plants through the paces

A single stalk of sorghum -- planted in a two-gallon bucket -- was the star of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Fascination of Plants Day, an event showcasing how the leafy lifeforms are integral to life.

Winding its way down a conveyor belt and through several chambers with doors automatically opening with a hydraulic hiss, the plant was the focal point of a sneak preview of greenhouses going up on Nebraska Innovation Campus.

At UNL, Madeleine Albright discusses how food-rich America can help feed the world

Food security is not just about politics or economics, according to Madeleine Albright. For Americans, feeding the world is a moral imperative.

Albright was at the University of Nebraska’s Innovation Campus on Monday as the keynote speaker for the Food Factory of the Future conference. Albright was named U.S. Secretary of State in 1997, the first woman to hold that position and the highest-ranking woman in U.S. government at the time. She now teaches at Georgetown University and leads a global strategy firm.

Researchers offer preview of Innovation Campus greenhouse

UNL's new state-of-the-art greenhouse facility at Nebraska Innovation Campus will open for a preview and celebration of Fascination of Plants Day at 2:30 p.m. May 18.

The unique system is one of a handful operating worldwide and will be used by researchers to study plant characteristics and responses to environmental stressors — such as drought. The phenotyping system has the potential to significantly advance UNL's plant science research agenda and open new opportunities for private-sector collaborations.