The University of Kentucky is a strategic partner in a new nonprofit to foster innovation in Kentucky’s expanding metals industry…“We see MI2 as a real win for Kentucky and one of our top industries in the Commonwealth,” said Landon Borders, executive director of UK Innovation Connect.

Bourbon horses and … metal fabrication? If a newly formed nonprofit organization based in Bowling Green meets its goals the Bluegrass State will soon be associated as closely with steel and aluminum as it now is with thoroughbreds and sipping whiskey.

The Innovation Campus’ goal is to provide an environment where subject matter experts and corporate partners collaborate with faculty, staff, and students to solve problems and create opportunities and jobs for this region,” said Buddy Steen, CEO of the Innovation Campus at WKU and Programs Director for CREATE. “MI2 is exactly the kind of mission-aligned, industry-led innovation organization that we want to support.

A new Center for Organizational Readiness toward Enterprise (CORE) 4.0 has been launched at Speed School of Engineering, focused on helping companies prepare for smart and connected technology such as automation, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things. The center draws on the combined research strength of the UofL’s LoDI and the Office of Research and Innovation, with the industry expertise of the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council and the Metals Innovation Initiative (MI2).

A first focus of of AccelerateKY is helping get a new organization called the Metals Innovation Initiative off the ground, aimed at fostering further innovation in Kentucky’s fast-growing metals industry in areas like sustainability, talent attraction and development, R&D projects, grant funding, and industry connections with the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

A number of research initiatives are underway at WKU’s Innovation Campus, including collaborative work with Holley Performance Products, Louisville-based non-profit Kentucky to the World, and the Metals Innovation Initiative (MI2), which provides collaborative and sustainable executive leadership to attract and promote advanced research, commercialization, and talent development in Kentucky’s metals industry.

The center draws on the combined research strength of the UofL’s LoDI and the Office of Research and Innovation, with the industry expertise of the Louisville Healthcare CEO Council and the Metals Innovation Initiative (MI2).

CORE4.0 will engage three industry sectors including manufacturing, logistics and healthcare, through partnership with Western Kentucky University, Metals Innovation Initiative (Mi2) and Louisville Healthcare CEO Council.

Metals executive Vijay Kamineni is joined by Kentucky entrepreneur Rusty Justice and University of Kentucky’s Dr. Alison Davis to talk about the importance of investing in the innovation ecosystem of Kentucky, their experiences on the Kentucky team that went through the MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program, and their involvement in the formation of the nonprofit AccelerateKY.

Metals executive Vijay Kamineni talks about the importance of corporate engagement in the Kentucky innovation ecosystem and AccelerateKY’s work in pursuing a new initiative on innovation in the metals industry.