See more updates and background on the event on Around the O.
The University of Oregon Innovation Summit is a day-long, campus-wide celebration of the UO's culture of innovation, featuring presentations, interactive exhibits, skill-building workshops, pitch competitions, hackathons, film showings, and performances from students, faculty, alumni, and the local community.
The inaugural summit is set for Friday, Oct. 27 at the Erb Memorial Union (EMU), 1395 University Street, and other locations around campus. The date coincides with the university's homecoming weekend, and organizers are hoping to draw students, faculty, alumni, and community members to join the exchange of ideas in business, art, science, technology, media, environment, and the humanities. President Michael H. Schill has declared the day “UO Innovator's Day" to encourage the campus community to participate in this event.
Sample summit events include
- Startup Alley (featuring Lundquist College of Business startups, as well as the College of Education's Center of Teaching and Learning EdTech startups)
- Elevator Pitch Competition at Hayward Field, supported by Tracktown USA
- A “How Technology is Changing Cities" panel, presented by the Sustainable Cities Initiative Urbanism Next Research Initiative (with professor of English Gordon Sayre, associate professor of architecture Nico Larco, professor of computer and information sciences Steve Fickas, and professor of planning, public policy, and management Marc Schlossberg)
- “Hack the Undergraduate Experience," an interactive, human-centered design prototyping workshop that will allow students and faculty to innovate the undergraduate educational experience sponsored by Transforming Education by Design (trED)
- A “10 Things to Know About Fake News in 30 Minutes" session (with Associate Professor and Shirley Papé Chair in Emerging Media Seth C. Lewis)
- A panel on diversity and inclusion in venture capital sponsored by UO Duck Ventures (with Diane Fraiman, Voyager Capital; Nitin Rai, Elevate Capital; Edith Dorsen, Women's Venture Capital Fund; and moderator Rick Turoczy, Portland Incubator Experiment)
In addition to bringing students from various interests and areas of study together, the interdisciplinary effort will also showcase faculty research and community and alumni achievements in innovation. The event is expected to showcase more than 50 sessions, workshops, competitions and tours during the day-long festival.
Members of the UO and Eugene/Springfield communities are invited to register to attend this free event. The full schedule of sessions and activities will be posted to the event website by Oct. 15.
The University of Oregon and its Lundquist College of Business would like to thank Grant and Suanne Inman for their leadership gift to support the Innovation Summit. We would also like to thank Bob and Mary Ann Rode for their support of this interdisciplinary effort.