BLOOMINGTON – Ivy Tech Community College’s Gayle & Bill Cook Center for Entrepreneurship and the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division were awarded the State and Local Economic Development Award from the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer for their partnership on a STEM summer camp. Ivy Tech and NSWC Crane accepted their award on Sept. 19 at a national ceremony in Cocoa Beach, Fla.
“The Cook Center has worked with the NSWC Crane STEM outreach team for the past two years to add business pitch competitions into the summer camp,” said Steve Bryant, executive director of the Cook Center for Entrepreneurship at Ivy Tech. “Business pitch events introduce young people to entrepreneurial skills that are valuable beyond competition, including learning variety of soft skills while developing invention ideas.”
Ivy Tech and NSWC Crane’s STEM summer camp is intended to serve students with entrepreneurial interest in grades seven through 10. This past summer, participants from the cities of Bloomington, Bedford, Bloomfield, and Washington worked together to develop business products and ideas stemming from patented NSWC Crane technologies, then participated in a competition by creating and delivering business pitches for their products to a panel of judges.
“This camp is an invaluable experience for the students,” said Tina Closser, NSWC Crane STEM coordinator. “It shows them technologies developed at NSWC Crane and how these technologies can be used to benefit their communities. Ivy Tech was able to help the students hone their pitches and direct the students in areas to research about their invention. Ivy Tech’s participation was an invaluable asset.”
About Federal Laboratory Consortium for T2 Awards
The FLC Awards Program annually recognizes federal laboratories and their industry partners for outstanding technology transfer achievements. The FLCs 30 plus years of advancing tech transfer to meet the needs of our nation’s economy would not have been possible without the creativity and dedication of the federal scientists and inventors we recognize through the Awards Program, as well as the innovative professionals who work alongside them to achieve their goal of creating available technologies to countless people around the world. The FLC awards are ranked as some of the most prestigious honors in the T2 field and are given as a symbol of well-deserved recognition for phenomenal technological efforts.
About Ivy Tech Community College
Ivy Tech Community College is Indiana's largest public postsecondary institution and the nation's largest singly accredited statewide community college system, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Ivy Tech has campuses throughout Indiana and also serves thousands of students annually online. It serves as the state's engine of workforce development, offering associate degrees, long- and short-term certificate programs, industry certifications, and training that aligns with the needs of the community. The College provides a seamless transfer to other colleges and universities in Indiana, as well as out of state, for a more affordable route to a bachelor's degree.
