Steeped in tradition, Connecticut is also a leader in world-class innovation
Matthew McCooe is the CEO of Connecticut Innovations.
[Photo | Kristyn Miller Photography]
Participants speak to a judge at VentureClash 2018 in Hartford. VentureClash is a global $5 million pitch competition that attracts owners of early stage companies.
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Connecticut is humming with major accomplishments in technology and innovation, spanning everything from tech at the tiniest level – engineering particles barely visible to the human eye – to hosting experts and business leaders who are collaborating to facilitate exploration to the farthest reaches of space.
With so many exciting successes in industry, academia, and everything in between, job growth is on the horizon in innovation and technology sectors across the state. New organizations are setting down roots here, startups are flourishing, and established companies are embracing innovation and branching out.
That growth means Connecticut is on the map as a major player in the technological sphere, and that the state is home to meaningful partnerships between institutions near and far, spurring even more innovation – and notable discoveries.
Just one example is the new method of “nanomanufacturing” that was discovered when Jan Schroers, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at Yale University, partnered with Professor Ze Liu of Wuhan University in China. The two created a method they call “thermomechanical nanomolding,” which allows them to mold crystalline metals into shapes only a few nanometers in diameter.
Until now, only a few materials could be used for nanomanufacturing. The new method “allows us to fabricate essentially every metal and its combination in the periodic table in a predictable and precise manner to nano-sized features,” Schroers said. This breakthrough could be crucial for enabling the development of new capabilities and products in a variety of areas, including sensors, batteries, and biomaterials, he noted.
Another development highlighting the power of partnerships in Connecticut is Sema4, a patient-centered health intelligence company that moved its Manhattan-based research labs and 400 jobs to Stamford last year after the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development granted the company a $6 million loan to buy new equipment, upgrade facilities, and create new jobs.
Under the direction of founder Eric Schadt, the innovative firm offers advanced genome-based diagnostics and builds predictive models of complex disease, enabling doctors and patients to better utilize the growing digital universe of medical data.
On yet another ground-breaking front, Connecticut played host to the first-ever International Space Trade Summit in May. The three-day event – presented by the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC)’s International Trade Administration and Collins Aerospace Systems, a subsidiary of Farmington-based United Technologies – was held in Hartford.
The summit brought together global space agencies, aerospace and defense firms, advanced manufacturing suppliers, and IT companies from the “5 Eyes” alliance countries – the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The goal? To provide an opportunity to discuss the current and future capabilities that companies require to participate in the space sector, and to help them to make strategic business connections that could lead to a deal.
Anne Evans, director of DOC’s U.S. Commercial Service in Connecticut, said while there was “a bit of competition to have the summit elsewhere in the States,” a successful push to hold it in Connecticut – home to major aerospace companies and many of their suppliers – was led by Congressman Joe Courtney of the 2nd District, co-chair of the bipartisan Friends of Australia Caucus. “He really is Mr. Export of our federal group,” said Evans. “He has led trade missions all over the world, and he’s so globally thinking. He was a major player in bringing this gathering to our state.”
She said the summit was “a tremendous event for Connecticut because it allowed us to demonstrate and promote our expertise in the space industry to people from all over the world.”
Matt McCooe, chief executive officer at Connecticut Innovations (CI), is in a good position to observe the many ways that the state is evolving when it comes to technology, innovation, and business overall. CI – a venture capital firm – not only funds enterprising startups and entrepreneurs but looks at ways to improve and facilitate innovation at existing companies.
McCooe said companies like Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim have been hiring chief innovation officers and creating “open innovation platforms,” which shows they are working towards creating more dynamic workplaces.
“CI has a warm relationship with innovative companies in Connecticut,” said McCooe. “We’re helping give these companies ideas about how to grow their business.”
What’s more, he said, business leaders are giving back to the cities that host them, fueling innovation and growth in cities like New Haven, Hartford and Stamford, and making them vibrant locales for young people choosing to work and live there. These cities are booming with attractive, affordable housing, a hopping restaurant scene and more, offering quality of life and employment opportunities on par with other major U.S. cities.
From his vantage point, Connecticut-based institutions across the board are working together to create a series of technological and business hubs, making the state every bit as competitive as places like San Francisco, Boston, and New York.
“CI is investing in these innovative companies so they will stay and grow here in Connecticut. We’ve got these relationships between universities, government and the big corporations, which I think is historic,” McCooe said. “When we invest in a company, we’re trying to find the reasons for them to stay in, or relocate to, Connecticut. We can connect them to the big manufacturers or the hospitals, and more. We can build those bridges.”
Radenka Maric, vice president for research at the University of Connecticut, as well as the CT Clean Energy Fund Professor of Sustainable Energy, is also always thinking about the importance of partnerships across the state.
Her department looks at ways the university can support established companies like Stanley Black & Decker and Pratt & Whitney with trained, educated talent at the college level. “If we can’t provide the talent, it’s hard for companies to come to – or stay in – Connecticut,” she said of the state overall.
Like the folks at Connecticut Innovations, her UConn team also sees tech startups as a boon to the state’s economy and innovation sector. That’s why UConn, in 2010, created the Technology Incubation Program, which offers wet and dry lab space, as well as office space, in a state-of-the-art, LEED-certified facility near the UConn Health Center in Farmington. The space hosts a number of startups, all in one place.
“Our goal is to provide the infrastructure. We help with marketing and innovation, organizing events, and really helping them with the investment [they need] to be successful,” she said.
Maric’s own research at UConn focuses on sustainable energy. When you look at the innovative work that’s ongoing in her lab, and in universities and companies across Connecticut, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic that even more growth and discovery is on the horizon.
“If you read the business news, you can see that Connecticut is ranked number four in the country when it comes to investment in startups,” she said. “The university has been providing opportunities to help companies be successful and provide reasons for them to stay here.”
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