Leaders in chips, quantum and bioscience demonstrate Indiana-Illinois corridor technology advancement and innovation at Purdue-hosted conference

Leaders from host institutions pose for a photo in between panel discussions and talks at the Competitiveness Conversation at Purdue Sept. 9. From left: Robert Jones, chancellor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Deborah Wince-Smith, president and CEO, Council on Competitiveness; Paul Kearns, director, Argonne National Laboratory; Laurie Locascio, undersecretary of commerce for standards and technology and director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and Mung Chiang, Purdue University president. (Purdue University photo/Rebecca Robiños)

Leaders from industry, government, academia and national laboratories gathered at Purdue University Monday (Sept. 9) for a conference that highlighted the leading role of the Indiana-Illinois innovation corridor in advancing three critical technologies: semiconductors, quantum science and advanced bioscience.

The full-day event, hosted by the Council on Competitiveness, Purdue, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Illinois System, included discussions on how the regional collaboration among Purdue, Argonne and the University of Illinois is building an unrivaled strategic innovation ecosystem.

The conference, part of a series of Competitiveness Conversations hosted by the Council on Competitiveness, attracted more than 200 leaders from industry, academia, government, national laboratories and economic development organizations. Panels of experts discussed best practices in amplifying innovation capacity and capability as well as how to elevate and deploy these practices for benefit of the nation.

The event also featured several keynotes and remarks from federal representatives and leaders, including U.S. Rep. Jim Baird; Laurie Locascio, undersecretary of commerce for standards and technology and the director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and Vanessa Chan, chief commercialization officer and director of the Office of Technology Transitions at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Leaders from the organizations hosting the Sept. 9 Competitiveness Conversation focused on semiconductors, quantum science and engineering and advanced bioscience. From left: Mung Chiang, Purdue University president; Robert J. Jones, chancellor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Paul Kearns, director, Argonne National Laboratory; and Deborah L. Wince-Smith, president and CEO, Council on Competitiveness. (Purdue University photo/Rebecca Robiños)
Mark Doud, regional director for U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, looks into the Scifres Nanofabrication Laboratory cleanroom at the Birck Nanotechnology Center on a tour of that facility Sept. 9. The tour took place following the Competitiveness Conversation event at Purdue, which brought together leaders from industry, academia and national laboratories across Indiana and Illinois, as well as from the federal government, to advance the innovation of key technologies in the Indiana-Illinois innovation corridor. (Purdue University photo/Marc Lebryk)
Leaders from institutions hosting the Competitiveness Conversation discuss insights on strategies over the next 25 years to build industries of the future. From left: Deborah Wince-Smith, president and CEO of the Council on Competitiveness; Karen Plaut, executive vice president for research at Purdue University; Paul Kearns, director of Argonne National Laboratory; and Jay Walsh, vice president for economic development and innovation for the University of Illinois System. (Purdue University photo)
Leaders from Argonne National Laboratory, industry and Purdue University discussed the region’s role in semiconductor research, design and manufacturing and the role these organizations and the region play in fulfilling the objectives of the CHIPS and Science Act. From left: Valerie Taylor, director, Mathematic and Computer Science division, Argonne National Laboratory; Supratik Guha, professor, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago and senior advisor, Physical Sciences and Engineering directorate at Argonne National Laboratory; Woong-Sun Lee, senior vice president and head of advanced packaging and module technology at SK hynix; Cristina Farmus, Purdue’s interim vice president of industry partnerships and vice president of special projects; Patrick Wilson, vice president of government relations at MediaTek; and Bill DeVries, vice president for industry transformation and customer success, Dassault Systèmes. (Purdue University photo/Lena Kovalenko)

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