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The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded the Center for Business & Information Technologies (CBIT) at the �㽶Ӱ�� a $600,000 grant to create �㽶Ӱ�� TIES, a Technology Incubator for Entrepreneurial Success.

�㽶Ӱ�� TIES will leverage the state’s approximately $60 million investments in the �㽶Ӱ�� Optical Network Initiative (LONI) and the �㽶Ӱ�� Immersive Technologies Enterprise (LITE) to incubate new technology businesses and accelerate existing technology businesses into the frontiers of high-performance computing and 3D visualization. �㽶Ӱ�� TIES provides �㽶Ӱ�� businesses the unprecedented opportunity to access the high performance computing, visualization and networking resources of LONI and LITE.

NSF grant funds will be used to provide residential and virtual incubation services for �㽶Ӱ�� technology entrepreneurs, summer mentorship programs for high school students and teachers, statewide workforce development and training, and entrepreneurship mini-grants. NSF will distribute the $600,000 in funding over a two-year period.

“ �㽶Ӱ�� TIES has the elements we look for in a proposal,” said Dr. Sara Nerlove, program director for NSF Partnerships for Innovation. “It’s optimistic, realistic, and designed to serve a population that’s underserved in technology. We expect this project to become a model for other communities. Through this project, NSF is pleased to part of �㽶Ӱ��’s long-term economic revitalization.”

�㽶Ӱ�� technology entrepreneurs with a viable business plan are encouraged to contact CBIT Director Dr. Ramesh Kolluru (337.482.0611) to apply now for either a virtual or a limited number of residential incubation slots. Residential clients will receive fee-based office space along with technical, research, and administrative support in the new LITE building. Virtual clients will be able to access the incubator’s supercomputing resources from anywhere in the state.

�㽶Ӱ�� TIES’ state-of-the-art technical resources are designed to support data-intensive industries, including oil and gas, engineering, medical, health, manufacturing, and other emerging areas for visualization applications.

“ This incubator reinforces the University’s commitment to economic development,” said Dr. Robert E. Stewart, �㽶Ӱ�� Vice-President for Research and Graduate Studies. “Its name reflects the University’s ties to our business, government, and academic partners in this effort. We believe that collaboration is key to advancing �㽶Ӱ��’s technology economy.”

�㽶Ӱ�� TIES’ technology partners and service providers include Lafayette Economic Development Authority, Silicon Graphics (SGI), Lafayette Chamber of Commerce, �㽶Ӱ�� Economic Development, along with the Lafayette Consolidated Government. UL domain experts from computer science, petroleum engineering, geology, manufacturing, communications, business, and, arts and architecture will provide technical assistance to incubator clients.

�㽶Ӱ�� TIES was established to offset declines in the state’s resource-dependent economy. �㽶Ӱ�� ranks 45th in the nation in the States New Economy Index and 49th in the creation of high-tech knowledge econony jobs.

“ �㽶Ӱ�� has lost too many people and firms in search of technology jobs to other states,” Kolluru said. “Our goals with �㽶Ӱ�� TIES are to establish �㽶Ӱ�� as a source of innovative businesses, ideas, and workers. We want to show the world and �㽶Ӱ��’s own citizens that when it comes to technology innovations, we can discover, invent, and invest in them right here. ‘Invented in �㽶Ӱ��, Invested in �㽶Ӱ��’ should become the cornerstone of our economic development strategy. It’s time for us to grow our own technology companies.”