Innovations at Research Park
Episodes
Nancy Sullivan- CEO of Illinois Ventures
05 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Nancy Sullivan is CEO, Managing Director, and Managing Principal of Illinois Ventures, one of the longest-running and most active university-affiliate...
Dr. Ken Paige & Dr. Chris Harbourt - Founders of Frenzy Ag
13 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Frenzy Ag is a company revolutionizing crop yields with breakthrough biological technology. Ken Paige is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Ill...
2025 Year in Review
19 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is a special episode to celebrate a great year at UIRP! Research Park’s Laura Appenzeller and Laura Bleill join the podcast to talk about impor...
S5E2: Dr. David Ruzic on Pioneering Plasma Physics Research
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. David Ruzic is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, & Radiological Engineering at UIUC , founder of Starfire Industries-- ...
S5E1: Cara Bognar - Founder & CEO of Top Tier Lessons
18 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cara Bognar is the Founder of Top Tier Lessons, a sports technology platform that connects collegiate student athletes with parents looking for sports...
2024 at Research Park - Year in Review
21 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is a special episode to celebrate a great year at UIRP! Research Park’s very own Laura Appenzeller and Laura Bleill join the podcast to talk ab...
S4E5: Jack Cui- CEO of Yummy Future
01 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jack Cui is Co-Founder and CEO of Yummy Future, a Y-Combinator backed robotic coffee shop with roots, and stores, at the University of Illinois. Yummy...
S4E4: Dr. David Lomiashvili on Digital Identity Verification
03 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. David Lomiashvili is the CEO of Identomat which has created an innovative AI-powered KYC and identity verification solution. Prior to his current ...
S4E3: Matt Ahrens - Perspectives on AI from an NVIDIA Leader
06 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Matt Ahrens oversees performance and tools work for the Accelerated Big Data Platforms group at NVIDIA. He’s a long-time leader in the University of...
S4E2: Beth Conerty- Transforming Central Illinois into a Leading Biomanufacturing Hub
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Beth Conerty helps lead business development for the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Lab at the University of Illinois. She’s also the Regiona...
S4E1: Brad Miller- AI, Linguistics, and Knowledge Transfer
09 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Brad Miller is the Co-Founder and Chief Linguistic Officer of Puzzle Labs, a software platform that uses AI to make knowledge transfer easier. P...
S3E7: 2023 at Research Park- Year in Review
27 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is a special episode to celebrate a great year at UIRP! Research Park’s very own Laura Appenzeller and Laura Bleill join the podcast to talk ab...
S3E6: Arpit Dwivedi- Disrupting the Energy Storage Industry
18 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Arpit Dwivedi is the Founder and CEO of Cache Energy. Cache is developing energy storage systems that can be safely installed anywhere and transported...
S3E5: Alex Kosyakov- Creating Efficient Batteries for a Renewable Future at Natrion
14 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alex Kosyakov is the Co-Founder and CEO of Natrion. Natrion is creating safe, high-performance, and highly scalable solid-state batteries with the goa...
S3E4: Susan Hinrichs- Chief Scientist at Aviatrix
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Susan Hinrichs is Chief Scientist at Aviatrix, a cloud networking and security company based in Silicon Valley. Prior to Aviatrix, Susan held prestigi...
S3E3: Brandon Yates- Simplifying Public Works Compliance with AI
22 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Brandon is the CEO of DeepWalk, a tech startup born and raised in Champaign. Brandon and his team are on a mission to create AI-powered solutions for ...
S3E2: Paul Miller- Flats or Spikes CEO Shares his Journey as a Serial Entrepreneur
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Paul is the Co-Founder and CEO of Flats or Spikes. Flats or Spikes is building a "community of expertise and science in running in a brand new wa...
S3E1: The Latest in AgTech- From the Research Park AgTech Summit
31 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to a new year of the Innovations at Research Park podcast! We are so excited to continue bringing you new conversations, new insights, and new...
S2E7: Celebrating Research Park Interns
05 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As 2022 wraps up, we'd like to highlight the outstanding students that made this another great year for Research Park. Tune in to hear from David An a...
S2E6: Jack Marck- Accelerating AgTech Innovation at UIUC
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jack is the Managing Director of the Illinois AgTech Accelerator, a 12-week program designed for early-stage agtech startups to gain traction and impr...
S2E5: Cozad 2022 Winners Showcase
14 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This is a very special episode of the series, and a bit different than our usual podcasts. The Cozad New Venture Competition is an annual event at Uni...
S2E4: Chinmay Soman- Robotics and the Future of Agriculture
27 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Chinmay is Co-Founder and CEO of EarthSense, an agricultural robotics and AI company that is developing a technology platform to support the next gene...
S2E3: Dr. Mani Golparvar & Scotty Greenburg- Using AI To Revolutionize the Construction Industry
29 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Mani Golparvar, Co-Founder, and Scotty Greenburg, Head of Marketing, join the podcast to share how their company Reconstruct is using AI to revolu...
S2E2: Eli Lazar- SNOOZing with Tech
14 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Eli is the Co-Founder and CTO of SNOOZ, a consumer electronics company that focuses on controlling airflow and acoustics to turn a bedroom into a have...
S2E1: Trevor George & Meghan Reynolds- Disrupting the Marine Industry with Tech
15 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Trevor is the Site Director for the Brunswick Corporation’s Innovation center located in the Research Park, and Meghan is a Software Engineering Int...
S1E8: Deana McDonagh- The Importance of Design
20 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Deana McDonagh is a Professor of Industrial Design at the University of Illinois as well as the Designer-in-Residence at the Research Park. Dr. Mc...
S1E7: Paul Couston- Using Technology to Improve the Lives of First Responders
14 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Paul is the Co-Founder & CEO of Ascent Integrated Tech, a startup company in the Research Park that is building technology to improve safety for p...
S1E6: Aadeel Akhtar- "Redefining Human" through Advanced Prosthetics
11 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Aadeel Akhtar is Founder and CEO of PSYONIC, a prosthetics company on a mission to “redefine what it means to be human through advances in bioin...
S1E5: Gerald Wilson- Insights from a Startup Journey & Empowering Other Entrepreneurs
06 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Gerald Wilson is President and CEO of Autonomic Materials, a homegrown U of I startup, and an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Research Park. He j...
S1E4: John Cole- Transforming Cancer Care with SimBioSys
10 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
John Cole, Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer of Research Park startup SimBioSys, joins the podcast! He discusses the breakthroughs his team ha...
S1E3: Srijith Srinath- The Research Park Intern Experience
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Srijith Srinath joins the podcast to share his insights on being a Research Park intern turned full-time employee at Motorola Solutions Innovation Cen...
S1E2: Laura Frerichs- Research Park Origins, Impact, and Student Talent Pipeline
17 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Laura Frerichs joins the show to discuss how the UIUC Research Park has built its brand over 20 years, highlight what impact it has made in the Champa...
S1E1: Mark Moran- Breakthroughs in AgTech
08 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Mark Moran joins the show to discuss AgTech innovations at John Deere, fueled by student projects at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Re...