Discovery Partners Institute

The University of Illinois Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) is an organization designed for tech workforce development and applied R&D in Chicago, Illinois.[1] It is one of 15 Illinois Innovation Network (IIN) hubs, each of which is associated with one or more of the 12 four-year public universities in Illinois. The DPI is headed by Bill Jackson and it currently operates in office space at 200 S. Wacker Dr., with plans to build a dedicated building within The 78, a neighborhood under development in Chicago's south loop. The DPI's stated goal is to attract individuals to Illinois tech careers and to facilitate corporate investment in Illinois, primarily through training & education and through applied research & development. Initially, DPI will focus on data analytics and computing, and their uses for four areas of strength in the Illinois economy: food/agriculture, health/wellness, finance/insurance and transportation/logistics.[1]

Discovery Partners Institute
AbbreviationDPI
FoundersTim Killeen and Ed Seidel
Headquarters200 S. Wacker Dr.
Location
Executive Director
Bill Jackson
Parent organization
University of Illinois
Websitedpi.uillinois.edu

Development of the DPI

Planning for and development of the DPI–IIN project started in 2016 under the leadership of University of Illinois president Tim Killeen and Ed Seidel, vice president for economic development and innovation, with a goal to build an institution where students and faculty from Illinois campuses and other individuals can interact with academic partners and business partners, take classes, do research, intern with private companies, learn entrepreneurship and work with community agencies. In October 2017, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and the University of Illinois unveiled plans for the IIN and DPI as drivers for innovation and growth in the knowledge-based economy of Illinois.[2]

In June 2018, Illinois lawmakers approved $500 million for the DPI and other IIN hubs within the state,[3] and in August William Sanders was named as interim director of the DPI.[4] That same month, Illinois Innovation Network hubs were established at the three campuses within the University of Illinois system (in Springfield,[5] Champaign-Urbana[6] and Chicago).[7] In October 2018 a hub was established at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb.[8] These have been joined by hubs at each of the other eight public universities in Illinois, by the Illinois Rural Hub in Rockford, and by the Peoria Innovation Hub in December 2018.[9]

In May 2019 Urbana sociology Professor Phyllis Baker became director of academic affairs for the DPI.[10] In September 2019 Bill Sanders announced his intention to become Dean of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.[11] Search for a new director led to a January 2020 announcement of Bill Jackson, an executive at Johnson Controls,[12] as the DPI director.[13]

Partners

Academic partners to DPI include four Chicago-area partner institutions which are not state of Illinois universities (University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Illinois Institute of Technology[14] and Argonne National Laboratory)[15] and five international partners: Tel Aviv University,[16] Hebrew University of Jerusalem, M. S. Ramaiah Medical College, Cardiff University,[17] and National Taiwan University. In addition, each of the other 14 Illinois Innovation Network hubs will participate in the functioning of the DPI.

Most of the corporate support received to date is directed toward specific members in the Illinois Innovation Network. The first corporate partner, Peoria-based OSF HealthCare, sponsored interdisciplinary courses to improve health care delivery in Illinois starting in 2018.[18] Additional corporate partners include Deerfield Management,[19] Foxconn Interconnect Technology[20] and The Joyce Foundation.

Funding

Release of the state of Illinois funding for the DPI and the other IIN capital projects was delayed[21] until, on February 12, 2020, Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker announced release of $500 million funding for capital projects around the state of Illinois, with $235 million to go toward building the DPI facility in Chicago and $265 million to be used for capital projects at the other 14 Illinois Innovation Network hubs.[22] On the same day the University of Illinois announced agreement with Related Midwest for construction of the DPI building within The 78, on land donated by Related Midwest.[23] The release of these capital funds is a major step toward expanding the DPI toward its full potential. Additionally, as stated by Danny Ecker in Crain's Chicago Business: "In an era of companies moving entire headquarters to gain an edge in recruiting top tech talent" knowledge that the University of Illinois will build this facility in Chicago can be a selling point for Related Midwest to attract corporations to The 78.[22]

gollark: Weak. I use 205%.
gollark: Oh, I just had an EXCELLENT idea.
gollark: Why not just use TTS like the apioform hotline?
gollark: I doubt they have a table of "alphabet characters", though, and then fail to sort them.
gollark: Generally weird sort orders are due to arbitrary internal things in databases.

References
  1. "Discovery Partners Institute – About". dpi.uillinois.edu. University of Illinois. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  2. Rhodes, Dawn (October 19, 2017). "University of Illinois plans public-private Chicago innovation center with Rauner backing". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
  3. Zigterman, Ben (June 20, 2018). "UI-led Discovery Partners Institute officially off and running". The News-Gazette. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  4. Rhodes, Dawn (August 24, 2018). "University of Illinois engineering professor to lead downtown Chicago innovation center". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  5. Moore, Brenden (August 28, 2018). "UIS awarded first hub in statewide innovation network". The State Journal-Register. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  6. Wurth, Julie (August 30, 2018). "Chunk of DPI funds put UI's planned data-sciences hub on fast track". The News-Gazette. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  7. Marek, Lynne (August 31, 2018). "UIC will tap state's $500M Discovery Partners fund for expansion". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  8. Rettke, Kelsey (October 10, 2018). "NIU announces partnership, plans for $23M research facility". The Times. Shaw Media. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  9. Wurth, Julie (May 16, 2019). "Illinois Innovation Network now includes all public state universities". The News-Gazette. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  10. Wurth, Julie (May 4, 2019). "UI names first academic administrator for Discovery Partners Institute". The News-Gazette. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
  11. Marek, Lynne (September 30, 2019). "Interim head of Discovery Partners Institute to leave for Carnegie Mellon". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  12. "William C. Jackson – Vice President and President, Global Products, Building Technologies & Solutions". Johnson Controls. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  13. Pletz, John (January 8, 2020). "University of Illinois hires alum, consulting vet to lead Chicago tech center". 43 (2). Crain's Chicago Business (published January 13, 2020). Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  14. "Illinois Tech Joins Prestigious Discovery Partners Institute". Illinois Institute of Technology. July 10, 2019. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  15. Ballard, Tom (September 8, 2019). "University of Illinois secures state approval for one billion dollar Discovery Partners Institute". teknovation.biz. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  16. Solomon, Shoshanna (October 25, 2018). "Tel Aviv University to partner in new Chicago innovation, entrepreneurship hub". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  17. "Cardiff University joins Discovery Partners Institute". Cardiff University. June 11, 2019. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  18. Molina-Weiger, Denise (September 7, 2018). "OSF HealthCare Kicks off Innovation Work with the University of Illinois". OSF HealthCare. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  19. Goldberg, Stephanie (April 23, 2019). "UIC gets $65 million to commercialize novel drugs". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  20. Pletz, John (October 1, 2019). "U of I, Foxconn plan $100 million tech center". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  21. Toppo, Greg (October 30, 2018). "Illinois Looks to Chicago for Research Site". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  22. Ecker, Danny (February 12, 2020). "The 78 lands a big tenant draw with DPI". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  23. Roeder, David (February 12, 2020). "The 78 megaproject gets backing from U of I, Pritzker – The school's Discovery Partners Institute will build on the site south of downtown". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
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