Skip to Main Content

Ambassadors help build academic culture of innovation and entrepreneurship

P

urdue, ranked as one of America’s most innovative universities, leads land-grant institutions in startup companies and ranks third among U.S. universities behind Stanford and MIT. Agriculture in particular offers abundant opportunities for academic entrepreneurs to make their research socially impactful, says Christian Butzke, professor of food science and Purdue’s first Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fellow.

Butzke, an ag-tech entrepreneur himself, leads a cohort of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ambassadors in efforts to cultivate a systematic entrepreneurial spirit and academic mindset leading to use-inspired research commercialization and social entrepreneurship out of the College of Agriculture.

The ambassadors are proven and passionate mentors with firsthand entrepreneurial experience to engage other faculty and their graduate students. Butzke directs the I&E ambassadors to connect with colleagues who are working on novel ideas with commercialization potential and need guidance to enter Purdue’s extensive entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Participation in entrepreneurship activities is voluntary across the university. “We continue to prioritize our land-grant pillars of teaching, research and extension,” says Bernie Engel, associate dean of agricultural research and graduate education. “If entrepreneurship based on your research interests you, our vision is that the ambassadors can provide an avenue to navigate the process.”

“The I&E ambassadors are a key component to recruiting new ideas and encouraging faculty and graduate students to talk to OTC,” says Brooke Beier, senior vice president of commercialization in the Office of Technology Commercialization. “They’re a champion and coach to direct people to the right resource.”

Since April 2022, Beier has overseen both the OTC and Purdue Foundry to ensure the teams work cohesively, and a new, three-part structure is designed to clarify where faculty and graduate students should seek assistance.

  • A Purdue Technology Incubator will support Purdue-affiliated ideas that aren’t yet companies. A program manager, product development manager and funding manager will work with inventors and promising technologies to lower risks, develop business plans and find gap funding for prototype building.
  • The Startup Foundry will help Purdue-affiliated startups secure grants for capital and early-stage funding, recruit a management team, and create a website and marketing materials.
  • Purdue Ventures invests in startups through a variety of funds, including the Ag-Celerator and an investment fund for life sciences.

Such support will draw aspiring entrepreneurial scientists to the College of Agriculture, Butzke says: “It helps us recruit the best and brightest grad students and most innovative faculty, who can engage in use-inspired research that will benefit the greater good of society.

“This is part of making Purdue even more relevant to society and all our stakeholders in the future — an exciting place to work and a leader in this field,” he adds. “As a modern College of Agriculture and land-grant university, we have an opportunity to impactfully utilize the ideas, energy and the fantastic entrepreneurial ecosystem that we have here in Indiana.”

Featured Stories

Janna Beckerman diagnosing a problem with a tree
Purdue Extension specialist brings updated management techniques to fields and orchards

As a specialist in diagnosing and managing diseases of horticultural crops, Janna Beckerman is...

Read More
Red pine trees
Intro to Trees of Indiana: Red Pine

Meet the red pine, or Pinus resinosa, which is not native to Indiana, but has been planted widely...

Read More
Laura Bowling stands in a creek with students while teaching.
Agronomy professor Laura Bowling presented with 2023 Murphy Award

Just as her agronomy class was beginning on Monday morning, NRES director and Agronomy professor...

Read More
purdue pete group shot
Boilermaker Vegetable Season Pass returns for 2023 season

“As a family, we look forward to weekly pickups at the student farm -- everyone gets...

Read More
krystal hans
"Societal Impact Fellows and Scholarship of Engagement Fellows Programs" feat. Krystal Hans

The Office of Engagement offers multiple ways for Purdue faculty and staff to use their work to...

Read More
Dog on campus at Purdue University
Lack of canine COVID-19 data fuels persisting concerns over dog-human interactions

Early COVID-19 pandemic suspicions about the resistance of dogs to the disease have given way to...

Read More
To Top