Successful research universities seek partnerships to align mutual interests with the resources required to tackle grand challenges. Increasingly, federal agencies recognize the value of industry participation to accelerate promising research and build the economic ecosystem (e.g., the Regional Innovation Engines program).

The Office of Faculty Affairs and the Division of Research and Innovation welcome Anthony Boccanfuso, president and CEO of UIDP (uidp.org) and co-principal investigator of the Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (ERVACommunity.org), to campus to discuss effective models for academic-industry engagement. He will address emerging opportunities and what government is doing to leverage academic, corporate and nonprofit institutions to solve the big challenges we face. This event will take place at 3 p.m., Friday, Sept. 9, in BELL 2291. RSVP is not required to attend the event. All faculty and staff researchers, as well as postdocs and grad students, are encouraged to attend the presentation. Those who wish to attend remotely may use the Zoom link.

Since 2007, Boccanfuso has led UIDP (University-Industry Demonstration Partnership), a solutions-oriented membership organization composed of top-tier innovation companies and world-class research universities, including the U of A. UIDP supports mutually beneficial collaborations by developing and disseminating strategies for addressing common issues between the sectors—academic, corporate and government. Its activities help members achieve meaningful impact on a broad array of collaboration matters, ranging from contracting to commercialization and workforce development.

After completing his doctorate in inorganic chemistry, Boccanfuso embarked on a career spanning more than 30 years with a focus on research and innovation. He managed a variety of administrative, programmatic and strategy initiatives for academic, government and private sector organizations, including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

To learn more about strengthening university-industry partnerships, please visit uidp.org.