CWRU Innovation Week 2023

Participants in the inaugural xLab Pitch Competition will reconvene to conclude the competition and announce award winners. One winning team will receive a cash prize of $3,000; two "honorary mentions" of $1,000 each will also be awarded. The winning project ideas will be further developed with the students during the spring semester as an xLab project with the Cleveland Guardians. Contact Celeste Blau with questions.

2023 Innovation Week Poster Pitch Contest
Are you passionate about research?  Do you enjoy presenting the importance of science and research? Do you want to learn how to 'pitch' an idea in less than 2 minutes? Enter the 2023 Innovation Week Poster Pitch Contest! This contest is open to all students and post-docs. Poster themes of all disciplines and topic areas are welcomed. 

Most poster presentations are intended to share scientific results to a focused audience. This competition is different. The goal here is to engage a broad audience. Each poster will be judged several times throughout the competition by multiple judges. Each time the judges introduce themselves, the presenter will deliver a 1-2 minute "pitch" of their poster. You can use a poster that you already have on hand or you may create a new one – the focus here is what you say. Review "Innovation Week 2023 Poster Pitch Compeition Tips" for more information! this information to learn┬á

Students and postdocs who wish to present must complete this Google Form by Tuesday, September 26 and register via CampusGroups to participate in the Poster Pitch Contest. Space is limited. If you wish to attend the contest only (not as a participant), you also must register online.

Importantly, the ten (10) $1,000 awards will be awarded by CWRU and regional judges based on a poster presenter's demonstrated ability to:

Concisely share the importance of a given project to a layperson audience;
Convey what important unmet need the work may address;
Present in an enthusiastic and engaging manner.
It is highly recommended that a presenter can utilize an existing poster as the topic on which their presentation or 'pitch' skills will be judged.

An optional preparatory "Preparing for the Poster Pitch Contest" will take place on Tues, Sept 26 at 10 a.m. Register here.

Schedule
12-12:30 p.m.: Boxed lunch featuring vegetable pita, local smoked turkey and brie on croissant or southwest chicken wrap
12:30-2:30 p.m.: Opening remarks by Interim Provost Joy Ward, followed by the poster pitch contest
2:30-3 p.m.: Presentation of awards

Curious about innovation in a corporate setting? Join the Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship for a roundtable discussion with Alyssa Stein, Global Head of Renewals, Partner Success, Innovation and Scale, Google Cloud Security. Alyssa will talk about her background in getting to her current role at Google, and share what innovation and scaling looks like at such a large company. There will be time for audience questions and discussion.

• RSVP In-Person
• RSVP Virtual

Attend this lunchtime session to recognize the recipients of our Innovation Week Milestone Awards (which includes the Inventor Awards, Commercialization Awards and Pedagogical Innovation Awards) and for a panel discussion featuring executives from some of CWRU's corporate partners. The panelists will share stories that illustrate what good corporate engagement looks like, what bad engagement looks like, and why a new corporate engagement model is needed. Open to members of the CWRU community, alumni and members of the public. Free lunch will be provided. Registration is required. 

The most recent winners of the Case-Coulter Translational Partnership Showcase will share their pitch presentations to showcase their cutting-edge healthcare technologies. 

Childhood lead exposure is a major social justice issue in that the impact is dominantly on our most disadvantaged families in communities of color. This workshop, led by MSASS Prof. Rob Fischer and Prof. Mike Henderson, will review how data has been used to mobilize, inform, and monitor sustained civic efforts in the City of Cleveland to reduce childhood lead exposure. This includes studies documenting the cumulative prevalence of lead exposure in Cleveland, the downstream effects of elevated blood lead levels, and the composition and characteristics of rental housing in the city. The housing, public health, medical, and community advocacy communities all play a role in addressing the ongoing threat from lead exposure and strategies to address its prevention and effects. The workshop will also share ongoing efforts to monitor the implementation of a lead safe ordinance in Cleveland and the progress of rental housing achieving lead safety.

Join us on Wednesday, September 27 at 8:30 a.m. as part the Case Western Reserve University Entrepreneurship Speaker Series and CWRU Innovation Week, for a coffee chat and roundtable discussion with Zaydoon Munir (CWR '88, MBA '90), CEO and co-founder of RainyDayPal. Zaydoon will discuss how to leverage data science to build a successful startup.

• RSVP In-Person
• RSVP Virtual

The Office the Provost's Critical Conversation series engages a panel of experts in timely and topical "Critical Conversations." These cross-disciplinary conversations cover important (and often controversial) topics providing multiple contexts, including the legal, societal, and ethical implications of the subject. To solve problems at scale, ethics must be a consideration of any innovation. Without ethical considerations, systems could perpetuate biases, harm privacy and more. This critical conversation will address the ethics of innovation with a focus on AI. Specific case studies will be cited.

Join us as we present the Innovators of the Year Awards, followed by the panel discussion, "Innovation as Problem Solving" featuring Sr. Vice President Strategy and New Initiatives at Greater Cleveland Partnership Freddy Collier, President & CEO of MAGNET Ethan Karp, and Director of Technology Integration and Partnerships at NASA Mary Wadel (GRS '98). In a discussion moderated by Weatherhead's John Paul Stephens, the panelists will discuss how innovation occurs in our Northeast Ohio ecosystem among players with varying interests. Doors will open at noon, program begins at 12:30 p.m., followed by networking. Members of the CWRU Community, alumni and members of the public may attend. Free lunch will be provided.

Register for a 30-minute tour of Interactive Commons, the university's center that connects individuals from across our campus and our region through advanced visualization to further research and education. Guests will wear the Microsoft HoloLens and jump into augmented reality! Space is limited.

• 1:30-2 p.m. Tour
• 2-2:30 p.m. Tour
• 2:30-3 p.m. Tour
• 3-3:30 p.m. Tour

Members of the Case Western Reserve University community are invited to attend this session to hear from faculty, staff and students who are using Sears think[box] to innovate. Attend this session to hear how think[box] has helped ideas become a reality.

Join us on Wednesday, September 27 as part the Case Western Reserve University Entrepreneurship Speaker Series for a Roundtable Discussion with Sunil Nagaraj, founding partner at Ubiquity Ventures, a seed-stage institutional venture capital firm with over $150 million under management and a focus on "software beyond the screen"® startups. Sunil will be sharing 5 key differences between entrepreneurship and venture capital, with time for audience questions and discussion.

• RSVP In-Person
• RSVP Virtual

Join CWRU colleagues at the Jolly Scholar for an entertaining night of CWRU Innovation Trivia! Teams will be formed at the event and will compete on their knowledge of invention, CWRU history, entrepreneurship, and societal impact. Drinks, including beer from CWRU's own craft brew pub, and light appetizers will be provided.

Register for a 30-minute tour of Interactive Commons, the university's center that connects individuals from across our campus and our region through advanced visualization to further research and education. Guests will wear the Microsoft HoloLen and jump into augmented reality! Space is limited.

• 10-10:30 a.m. Tour
• 10:30-11 a.m. Tour
• 11-11:30 Tour
• 11:30-noon Tour

All students and postdocs are welcome to attend this session to learn how to develop a two-minute poster pitch for a broad audience. Case Western Reserve University Associate Vice President for Research and Managing Director of the Case-Coulter Translational Research Partnership Steve Fening will share the essential elements to creating a concise pitch and will emphasize a conversational, jargon-free approach. Students and postdocs should apply these skills when they present their research at the Innovation Week Poster Pitch Contest on Friday, September 29.

Vladimir Bulović, the Fariborz Maseeh Professor of Emerging Technology at MIT and the Founding Director of MIT.nano, will share innovative approaches to addressing today's critical problems. Dr. Bulović has launched a number of technology companies that have successfully commercialized research from his group, including Kateeva and QD Vision. Dr. Bulović is an inventor of over 50 patents in the field of organic optoelectronics and holds a BSE and PhD from Princeton University. The recipient of the Faculty Distinguished Research Award also will be recognized during this session. Open to the Case Western Reserve community, alumni, and members of the public. Free lunch will be provided. This session also will be livestreamed (http://www.case.edu/livestream/s1). Registration is required.

Weatherhead's xLab invites student teams from any part of CWRU to submit an innovation idea to the inaugural xLab Pitch Competition! Work with your team on your idea during the week, and pitch it on Friday, September 29 to a team of judges for a chance to win $3,000 and a VIP Guardians ticket experience! Two runner-up teams will win $1,000. Registration is required; contact Celeste Blau with questions. xLab is a center in the Weatherhead School of Management that works with students, faculty, and industry partners to develop and design new digital innovations for products, services, and business models.

Do you have an idea for an invention but are struggling with next steps? Are you considering founding or participating in a startup company, and looking to receive feedback? Join us for an action-packed, quick mentoring event focused on providing CWRU faculty, students and alumni with an opportunity to share their idea—whether just conceptual or ready for launch—with experienced faculty inventors, entrepreneurs, investors and innovators.

• Mentee: Venture Track
• Mentee: Idea Track
• Mentee: Researcher/Inventor Track