Marquette University president Michael Lovell today announced the inaugural recipients of the Milwaukee university’s innovation fund awards.
A total of almost $5 million has been granted to 38 projects led by the school’s faculty, students and staff across many disciplines.
The strategic innovation fund was one of the initiatives Lovell identified when he took the helm of the university in the fall. Like a venture capital fund, it will provide seed money for entrepreneurial ventures. Marquette designated $2 million for the fund, and Lovell raised another $3 million in his first two months as president.
Among the areas the 38 projects cover are: academic programs and student support, community collaboration and outreach, water and environmental, advanced manufacturing and engineering, university infrastructure and support, and health and well-being.
More than 270 teams submitted pre-proposals, which were evaluated by the University Innovation Council. Of those, 180 proposals made it to the next round, and 50 were most highly recommended by the Innovation Council’s review teams.
The full list of projects is available here.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the creativity and passion of our faculty, students and staff throughout this entire process,” Lovell said. “Every proposal we received showed a tremendous amount of innovative, entrepreneurial thinking, and each demonstrated a real desire to make Marquette, the broader community and the world better.”
“What’s most exciting to me is that the projects come from students, faculty and staff, and represent all areas of our campus, from education to engineering to dentistry to a vast array of other disciplines,” said Jeanne Hossenlopp, vice president for research and innovation, who led the innovation fund process. “Further, each of the university’s strategic plan themes will be moved forward by these innovative projects.”
