UConn’s debut Tech Showcase highlighted Connecticut’s bright future of innovation and industry while paying tribute to an infrastructure built on manufacturing and security.
The Showcase, held at the UConn Tech Park on Sept. 18, drew almost 200 people, including University and state leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators. It was hosted by UConn’s Technology Commercialization Services (TCS), the wing of the Office of the Vice President for Research that facilitates tech transfer, intellectual property, other facets of entrepreneurship and innovation.
The event celebrated Connecticut’s industrial history, economic recovery from recession, and promising trends for a state amid a technological renaissance in areas such as quantum technology and artificial intelligence.
“It’s because we have this incredible hundred plus-year legacy of making incredibly complicated things here. That is where we have a true comparative edge,” said Daniel O’Keefe, the state Commissioner of the Economic Development and Chief Innovation Officer.
O’Keefe highlighted the state’s production of photolithography machines, which are machines that make semiconductors. “Every advanced semiconductor, not hyperbole, is made right here in Connecticut.”
The commissioner tied Connecticut’s future success largely to its embracing and integrating quantum technology. He highlighted the collaboration between UConn and Yale – the state’s two R1 research universities – for the QuantumCT proposal, which was just named a finalist for a $160 million National Science Foundation award. O’Keefe said Connecticut can be a leader in quantum, developed over decades of integrating material science, mechanical engineering, and chemical engineering.
“That’s what we do here. If you actually boil it down, that’s the skillset our workforce has built over the last 100-plus years,” O’Keefe said. “This combination of AI and quantum which we expect to happen and impact on a broad commercial scale in the next 10 to 20 years, I think that is a Silicon Valley moment.”
Provost Anne D’Alleva, reflecting on her 26 years at the University, connected UConn’s mission as a land-grant university with its emergence as an innovation engine. She highlighted initiatives like the Technology Incubation Program, which is the largest incubator of tech startup companies in the state.
“This is the innovative, groundbreaking work that we do that pushes our state forward and pushes our nation forward,” D’Alleva said, also lauding UConn’s resources and infrastructure. “We are continually on the leading edge bringing leading-edge technologies and experts here to Connecticut to work in partnership with industry.”
The Showcase was an opportunity for startups to make pitches to investors as backers of their companies and innovations. Expert panels served as judges and advisors, grading the presentations and offering constructive feedback. Thousands of dollars in prizes were awarded to pitches in business and technology in the life science and physical science fields.
The full-day event also featured panel discussion, faculty presentations and pitches, and a poster showcase in the IPB lobby.
Abhijit Banerjee, the Associate Vice President for Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, said he hoped the Tech Showcase was the first of many to come annually. In addition to demonstrating UConn’s breadth of technology and initiatives, it provided a priceless opportunity to bridge that success with communities.
“That’s where we derive our strength, our passion, and our support,” Banerjee said.
