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Calendar of Events
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29 Sep
Sponsorship – 2026 International Conference
September 29, 2026
12:00am EDT
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29 Sep
2026 International Conference – Pegasus Park
September 29, 2026
8:00am EDT
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16 Feb
February 16, 2027
12:00am EST
7:30am – 8:00am | Check-in and Networking
8:00am – 8:30am | Welcoming Remarks
Marcel Johnson, Sr. Vice President, Talent & Technology Scouting & Identification, Port San Antonio
Siva Vanapali, CEO and Co-Founder, NemaLife
8:30am – 9:15am | Regional UAS/AAM Test Sites
Kara Hill, Director of Strategic Projects, Port San Antonio
Scott Snyder, VP Research & Economic Development, University of North Dakota
Dave Martin, Project Manager, Center for Advances Aviation Technologies; Autonomy Research Institute, TAMU – Corpus Christi
Phil Sizer, Associate Vice President for Research Innovation, Texas Tech University
Moderator: Michelle Duquette, Founder, 3 MAD Air
9:15am – 9:30am | Break
9:30am – 10:15am | Central Texas – A Hub for Aerospace and Defense Innovation
Bart Bohn, Head of US Accelerator, Starburst
Lukas Oberhofer, Managing Director, Starburst USA
Moderator: Harold Strong, Senior Advisor, Starburst
10:15am – 11:00am | Space Consortia Representatives
Moderator: Blake Sabo, Perkins and Will
11:00am – 11:15am | Break
11:15am – 11:45am | MEDCO – A Solutions Provider for Support Local, State and National Security Objectives
Thomas Sadowski, Executive Director, Maryland Economic Development Corporation (MEDCO)
11:45am – 12:15pm | Space Quantum
Moderator: Brian Darmody, Chief Strategy Officer, AURP
12:15pm – 12:30pm | Wrap-Up
7:30am – 10:30am | PHARMACEUTICAL FACILITY TOUR
Off Property – Transportation Provided
10:00am – 10:30am | Return to Pegasus Park
11:00am – 11:30am | State Bio Associations
Moderator: Pete Pellerito, BIO (invited)
11:30am – 12:00pm | From Silos to Systems: Accelerating Innovation to Impact through One Health Innovation District
John Stewart, Senior Director, Government Affairs, Elanco
Jacob Denecke, Senior Director, Strategic Facility Initiatives, Purdue University
Kaethe Beck, AVP of Strategic Impact in the Life Sciences, Purdue University
Moderator: Christy Wright, Chief Executive Officer, AgriNovus
12:00pm – 12:30pm | Foundations that Scale: Innovation Campuses and Biomanufacturing Growth
Melissa Roberts Chapmen, President and Regional Innovation Officer, KC BioHub
Spencer Chestnut, Manager, Biologics Strategy Deployment Catalent, Pharma Solutions
Moderator: Ben Wolfe, Dean and CEO, Kansas State University Olathe Innovation Campus
Milestone Moments of America the Exceptional: Updated Research Park / Innovation District Dataset
This year’s leadership roundtable will explore the trends, milestones and economic forces shaping America’s innovation landscape. Gain fresh insights and engage in thought-provoking discussions that will help you discover what the latest data says about the next chapter of American Innovation.
Erin Koshut, Executive Director, Cummings Research Park
Cullum Clark, Director, Economic Growth, George W. Bush Institute
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As state priorities evolve and budgets become more focused, innovation communities must sharpen how they communicate their value and impact. This interactive session will explore the current state and federal funding landscape, including insights on SBIR reauthorization, shifting legislative priorities, and trends affecting economic development organizations. Speakers will share both high-level perspectives and practical examples – from navigating funding changes to addressing emerging issues like AI, energy costs, hydrogen strategies, and data center growth.
Shared centralized research resources, often referred to as core facilities, enable access to expertise and sophisticated instrumentation creating opportunities to drive discovery and train the workforce. Despite the value they create, core facilities come with their own challenges especially in an environment where F&A cuts are looming. We will take a deep dive into best practices for efficient operations, strategically growing a strong user base, engaging corporate partners, and supporting defense related users with security needs. With effective execution, core facilities not only drive innovation and training, but also support business attraction and growth of regional economies.
Part 1: Fireside Chat
Part 2: Panel Discussion
This module explores the changing models for financing and building research infrastructure as changes in facilities and administrative (F&A) rates, shifting federal funding priorities, and evolving industry engagement strategies are driving new approaches to financing and sustaining research spaces. This session will explore how universities and companies are working together to co-invest in facilities, leverage public-private partnerships, and navigate policy changes to support cutting-edge research as well as approaches to financing that will enable research and innovation growth across a wide range of institutions. The session is organized around four core topics: financing fundamentals, emerging strategies by institutions, evolving overhead recovery models, and state-level funding approaches that support research parks and innovation ecosystems. Participants will gain insights in fundamental financing principles using a combination of qualitative and quantitative frameworks, risk-sharing strategies, and best practices for aligning infrastructure development with long-term research and workforce needs and examine how various investments can support sustainable research and innovation within their communities.
Billions of dollars across the US have been invested in Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) to develop student housing at our universities. But how can this funding and delivery mechanism be deployed to finance and build research parks and innovation districts? And exactly what is a P3 as opposed to just contracting to build a facility?
As universities, cities and regions face challenges in finding ways to launch or expand innovation districts and research park facilities, learn how P3s are overcoming resource constraints. This module focuses on partner selection and advancements in procurement, design, financing, and operating and maintenance (O&M).
This two-part module will examine several new models for research parks seeding support and execution.
Part 1: New Models for Research Parks
Participants will gain insight into the role of philanthropy and community impact in research parks, with practical strategies for enhancing funding models and deepening community engagement.
Part 2: Identifying the Gap and the Risk
The next part to this session will explore how some universities are partnering exclusively with third-party developers to deliver mixed-use districts, shifting development responsibility and capital risk while giving up certain levels of control common to innovation districts. With projects at various stages of development and redevelopment, the discussion offers an opportunity to compare approaches and share lessons learned among university leaders and development partners.
University-anchored “innovation ecosystems” include research, technology development, technology transfer, funding sources, start-ups, spinouts, and corporate partnerships. The development of innovative ideas and technologies, and their subsequent delivery to end users, require multiple resources to collaborate effectively to deliver improvements to society’s standards of living.
In the past few years, several new and improved software technologies have emerged to support University Administrators and/or Innovation Managers in the process of tracking emerging innovations and connecting them to necessary resources. This session will rely on both university practitioners as well as the technology providers to separate hype from reality and share best practices.
