{"id":11464,"date":"2015-10-06T09:21:33","date_gmt":"2015-10-06T14:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=11464"},"modified":"2024-07-02T16:08:09","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T16:08:09","slug":"innovation-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=11464","title":{"rendered":"UNC-Chapel Hill invites thought leaders to Innovation Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"innovatesummit\"<\/a>The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has invited entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and other thought leaders to help advance innovative solutions to local and global challenges at \u201cOutside In: 2015 Chancellor\u2019s Innovation Summit\u201d on Friday, Oct. 9.<\/p>\n

The day-long program, which will engage stakeholders in a broader conversation on how the University can impact global innovation, will also include a creative, public collaboration between students, faculty and staff that features effective solutions UNC-Chapel Hill has developed in partnership with communities in the state and around the world. A number of College of Arts and Sciences faculty and a young College alumnus are involved in the summit.<\/p>\n

At a time when public universities are being turned to for solutions to pressing challenges, Chancellor Carol L. Folt and University leaders are charting an ambitious course for Carolina to be a place where innovators consistently put important ideas to use. Currently, more than 262 of the 301 startups launched at UNC-Chapel Hill are active, with 150 of those located in North Carolina. Collectively, these commercial and nonprofit ventures have raised more than $5.5 billion and created thousands of jobs.<\/p>\n

Startups are only one mechanism for turning knowledge into action, however, and the Summit will call on partners to join Carolina\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinding solutions to the complex problems of our time requires collaboration from all sectors of our community,\u201d said Chancellor Folt. \u201cAnd it\u2019s critically important to have participation from many types of people with different backgrounds, ideas and experiences if we hope to achieve the greatest outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through \u201cOutside In,\u201d the University hopes to draw on the deep experience of its attendees. Bob Geolas, who is currently leading the vision for the future of the Research Triangle Park, believes the whole region will benefit from the kinds of partnerships that Carolina can create through this event.<\/p>\n

\u201cUNC-Chapel Hill is bringing together industry, the entrepreneurial sector, funders and state leaders to create a plan for the future,\u201d said Geolas. \u201cWe are excited to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The University community is invited to participate in the Summit from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. when \u201cOutside In\u201d features six interactive experiences on Polk Place in the center of campus. Each installation highlights a challenge such as preventing the spread of infectious disease, economic dislocation or environmental protection. Assembled and curated by student teams, each experience tells a story of seeing a need, responding to it with inventive solutions and making those solutions real.<\/p>\n

The six projects, which will be showcased in displays made from materials that will later be donated to Habitat for Humanity, include:<\/p>\n