The gift is the largest ever received by Rose-Hulman.

   The three-year grant was one of two the Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment announced to fund programs to keep highly educated Hoosiers in the state and increase the number of high-tech jobs in Indiana.

   The Endowment also awarded a $29.9 million grant to the Indiana University Foundation for the Indiana Pervasive Computing Research Initiative.

   Endowment President N. Clay Robbins said the Endowment invited Rose-Hulman and IU to develop proposals to achieve a new level of excellence in areas of strategic importance to the institutions and to Indiana’s future.

   The grants will allow Rose-Hulman and IU to “make quantum leaps in their unique capabilities to educate students, conduct innovative and useful research and foster a critical cluster of expertise that will have an impact on the future of the state,” according to Robbins.
The Rose-Hulman Center for Innovation Economy (CIE) will:

   * Provide faculty and students with cutting-edge professional practice opportunities increasingly important to the needs of a 21st century engineering, mathematics and science education.        

   * Help retain more Rose-Hulman graduates in Indiana who have the ability to translate ideas into new products and services to support economic growth.

   * Increase the development of technological innovations into new commercial ventures to provide more high-level career opportunities for Indiana citizens.

   CIE will include a business incubator with advanced computing and communications systems. It will create new internship and fellowship opportunities for faculty and students to increase their talents at turning the theoretical into practical business applications. The goals of the business incubator are:

   • To increase real-world engineering experiences that advance the education of Rose-Hulman students.

   • To provide increased professional development opportunities for faculty.

   • To attract, develop and retain high-tech industries in Indiana so that students, faculty, staff and others can apply their talents to enhancing Indiana’s technological competitiveness.

   The Center will include Innoventure, a venture capital fund to provide capital for commercial development of promising ideas that will attract and retain entrepreneurs to Indiana.
CIE will be located in a 35,000-square-foot building at Aleph Park which is owned by Rose-Hulman. The site is on State Road 46, three miles south of the Rose-Hulman campus.
To support its overall goals, the CIE will sponsor programs such as:

   • An Innovation Fellows Program to attract highly trained professions with specific expertise needed by CIE clients.

   • An Entrepreneurial Internship Program to enable undergraduate students to have an impact on the growth of high-tech businesses.

   • An International Internship Program so students can acquire the global perspective necessary for business success.

   Sara Cobb, vice president for education at the Endowment, said Rose-Hulman’s initiative is, “A far-sighted proposal to develop a state-of-the-art, scientific, high-technology research and business incubator and education program. Rose-Hulman has indeed captured the essence of the impact the full range of engineering disciplines can have on Indiana’s future,” she stated.
Rose-Hulman President Samuel Hulbert said the grant will have an unprecedented impact on Rose-Hulman and its efforts to provide the education and career development the Endowment has cited as critical to Indiana’s future.

   “The generosity of the Lilly Endowment means that Rose-Hulman can accomplish its dream to offer a world-class education in undergraduate engineering, mathematics and science.

   “Now, our students will receive the very best undergraduate education available and experience cutting-edge research opportunities provided by this new Center.

   “The Endowment’s support will have a long-lasting impact on the quality of education our students receive, the professional development of our faculty, and the economic well-being of Indiana citizens,” he stated.

   The Center’s president is James Eifert, Rose-Hulman professor of mechanical engineering, who previously served as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Rose-Hulman.
“If we want our students to understand engineering, then we must give them every opportunity to do engineering,” Eifert noted.

   “As faculty members, we need to learn with them. The CIE provides a golden opportunity to significantly increase the opportunities for faculty and students to work together.”
Eifert said Indiana colleges and universities have an important role to help stimulate the state’s economic growth.

   “For many years, Indiana has been a net exporter of the precious commodity of well-educated talent. It’s time for us to keep those valuable human resources in Indiana so they can work to bolster our state economy.

   “While California has its Silicon Valley and Massachusetts has Route 128, what these grants will make possible could be thought of as Corridor 46, Indiana’s Innovation Highway,” Eifert said.

   Both grants are subject to favorable rulings by the Internal Revenue Service, according to the Endowment.

— by David Piker