Shawnee State University launches industry partnership initiative, ComPEET

Shawnee State University is launching a new industry partnership initiative called ComPEET, which stands for Combining Partnerships and Entrepreneurship for Emerging Technologies. Support for the initiative comes via a grant from the National Science Foundation’s Enabling Partnerships to Increase Innovation Capacity (EPIIC) program. This grant is the largest the university has received from the National Science Foundation and the first it has received from the NSF in 30 years. The ComPEET initiative seeks to strengthen industry partnerships, increase student and faculty engagement, and enhance innovation.

According to an article on Shawnee State University’s website, Amanda Hedrick, who serves as the university’s Director of the Kricker Innovation Hub, as well as the co-principal investigator of the grant project, was quoted as saying, “ComPEET is about building the systems that help great ideas turn into real opportunities. By strengthening how we connect faculty expertise, student learning, and industry needs, we’re creating a clearer pathway for collaboration that benefits our students and region.”

ComPEET will center the Kricker Innovation Hub as the home for the university’s collaborative efforts to expand engagement of students and faculty, enhance innovation, and strengthen industry partnerships. The initiative will create faculty fellows within each academic college. These faculty fellows will champion industry engagement through helping to facilitate relationships between students and industry partner organizations, supporting research efforts, and creating space for real-world projects to become part of program curriculum, among other duties. The types of industry partners that will be included in ComPEET include those in the business, engineering technology, arts and sciences, and health and human services fields.

Adam Miller, who is the Interim Dean of the College of Business and Engineering Technology and the co-principal investigator of the grant project, said, “Shawnee State is open for business. This program helps us respond more quickly and effectively to industry partners while giving students meaningful, real-world experiences that prepare them for today’s workforce.”

For more information about Shawnee State University, visit the school’s website.