Expanded Innovation Park to Open Up Opportunities
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe vice president for research at the University of Notre Dame says a planned second phase at Innovation Park will lead to more startup activity. Bob Bernhard says the first phase, which opened in 2009, is nearly maxed-out, which is keeping good ideas from reaching the market. A $5 million gift will pay for a major share of the expansion. A key feature of the planned new space is the IDEA Center, which will focus on supporting and cultivating marketable innovations.
Bernhard tells Inside INdiana Business the impact of an expanded Innovation Park will extend beyond Notre Dame. "As I look forward, I see increased activity of startups spinning out of the university. I see the ability to attract businesses to north central Indiana that will interact with the university and I see this expanded Innovation Park as a landing spot for a lot of that activity."
The next phase will be called the Thomas H. and Diane G. Quinn Hall for Innovation and Change. Construction could begin over the next couple of months and will result in a three-level facility on 12 acres just south of the campus. It is expected to provide space for some 25 to 30 startups.