IDEA Week

Presented by Barnes and Thornburg

Just because something can be patented doesn’t mean it should be or that the invention will create value. In this panel, you will hear from four experts with practical patent experience: a patent prosecution attorney, an in-house patent counsel, a patent valuation expert, and a patent investor. Learn key techniques to successfully commercialize intellectual property, common pitfalls, and how to focus research towards a solid intellectual property position able to protect your market and defends against the claims of others.

Presented by Bridge Bank

Corporate innovation is sometimes more theater than reality, resulting in bad investments and firing entire leadership teams. This panel will discuss various models, from classical entrepreneurship and joint ventures to the more cutting-edge Venture Builder and VC partnership models. Attendees of this session can expect to hear case studies and lessons learned about what works and what hasn't to help them determine which models or partnerships work best in their environment.

In this session, attendees will hear from and experience the Internet of Things (IoT) products of three startup companies in various stages of commercialization success. Each of the three companies will represent a different industry application: workplace safety, civic technology and healthcare.

More About Panelist's Companies

StrongArm Tech - StrongArm Tech's FUSE Risk Management Platform is a cloud-based IOT enabled software informed by an array of motion-interpreting sensors on a wearable device. With it organizations can monitor and assess workplace safety challenges and drive significant ROI by intervening with speed and accuracy.

Frost Control Systems (FCS) - Faced with sweeping environmental regulations on salt, municipalities rely on Frost Control System’s sensors to avoid loss of winter maintenance capabilities. FCS reinvented the wheel by rebuilding 15-year-old sensors, from the ground up, specifically for municipalities. Custom IOT electronics, edge computing, and patent-pending optical technology all work together to create an extremely cost-effective solution that eliminates the impact on the safety of drivers.

Everyone has heard predictions about how advanced manufacturing technologies such as robotics, automation, and AI will replace humans. However, these dystopian reports fail to appreciate that instead of eliminating human labor, the new technologies will transform human labor, requiring manufacturers to focus on retraining and reskilling their labor force for future work, especially as the influx of technology changes the very nature of the work humans need to do.

Join this conversation with regional manufacturers and workforce training experts as they explore how regional manufacturers have radically improved the experience and average incomes of their employees through automation, and to delve into the workforce of the future and the training and development resources available in the region.

Digital transformation is changing the way business gets done and, in some cases, creating entirely new classes of businesses. With digital transformation, companies are taking a step back and revisiting everything they do, from internal systems to customer interactions both online and in person. Digital transformation is the process of using digital technologies to create new — or modify existing — business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements. This reimagining of business in the digital age is digital transformation.

Join a panel of innovation practitioners and leaders from a wide variety of manufacturers as they discuss how innovation is reshaping their operations. This session will explore how to identify unmet operations needs, approach to use to ideate and deploy innovative solutions, and how to establish a culture that embraces innovation.

Whether you are a manufacturer just beginning or looking to accelerate innovation in your organization, an investor desiring to learn about innovation and processes ripest for automation and investment, or a students or workforce participant interested in learning about how innovation is being deployed by our regional manufacturers, this session is for you.

Do you know your funding acronyms and the associated outcomes? A panel of experts will explore a variety of funding sources for innovation in your manufacturing operation, including bank loans, leasing, joint ventures, private equity, venture capital, TIF and IRF dollars, and Federal R&D funding such as SBIR|STTR awards, RIFs, and CRADAs.

If you are a manufacturing executive, investor, or an entrepreneur interested in funding innovation in existing manufacturing operations and new startups, this session will be worthwhile to you.

Scott Molander will moderate this panel with Jack Swarbrick, University Vice President James E. Rohr Director of Athletics, Oliver Wells, Genius Sports NCAA Live Stats Lead, and more. Panelists will discuss the future of sports tech based on their unique experience in the field. Techstars Sports will present on a new sports accelerator, launching in Indianapolis in May, 2019.

In this panel, attendees will hear from experts in the major areas considered to be part of the larger "wellness" umbrella: health, nutrition, exercise, psychology, and spirituality. Companies from startups to mega corporations are coming to understand that programs that encourage their employees to embrace wellness often become productive, healthy, and happy employees.

Hear from a panel of experienced venture capitalists (VCs) who specialize in pre-seed and seed funding for startups and bankers. In this session, you'll learn what they look for in startups and entrepreneurs.