New Rose-Hulman Ventures facility to serve as anchor for planned innovation district
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Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology plans to use a $2.2 million grant from the federal Economic Development Administration to relocate its Rose-Hulman Ventures program closer to campus.
The college will build a new facility at the corner of State Road 46 and State Road 42 that President Robert Coons says will be the catalyst for a proposed innovation district known as Innovation Grove.
“I think there’s a significant opportunity as a part of this to provide economic development for the region,” Coons said.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Coons said it was important to create better access for students to the Rose-Hulman Ventures program.
“Rose Ventures currently is housed in a very nice facility, but it’s about six miles south of campus,” Coons said. “Most of those interns work during the academic year, when they can. Our curriculum is pretty intense and pretty tight, so it’s difficult to get to that facility. During the summer, we have over 50 full time interns that work in in that facility doing the same type of work. And so relocating to this corner brings it physically on campus, hopefully improving access and letting more students have that opportunity during the academic year.”
Rose-Hulman Ventures is an engineering consulting and product design firm that employs full-time project engineers as well as student interns. The firm works with companies on engineering projects that focus on a variety of products such as small devices, computer software and others.
“Students work on these projects and get a great sense of what it’s like to work with a company, work with a budget, work with a deliverable, as well as the hands on technology,” Coons said.
Initial plans for the new facility call for a 25,000-square-foot building, which Coons said could be expanded in the long-term.
The institute plans to invest $14 million in the project. The EDA grant is being matched with $6.6 million in local funds, and Rose-Hulman has also received $1.5 million from the state’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative, or READI, as well as $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds.
The funding is expected to create 250 jobs and generate $2 million in private investment, according to a U.S. Department of Commerce news release.
Coons said the Rose-Hulman Ventures building is being designed to be the anchor for an innovation space along the State Road 42 property to give students more opportunities.
“We’re trying to facilitate ways for students to have more of that opportunity for engagement while they’re here at Rose-Hulman and their undergraduate degree program, ” he said. “So relocating Ventures to that corner is our first step. But we really are trying to create a Rose-Hulman version of an innovation park focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and discovery.”
He said the effort is in line with the strategic plan recently approved by the Rose-Hulman Board of Trustees, which includes a focus on discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship.
It is the very early in the process on the innovation district plans, but Coons said the space could revolve around a number of industries, such as semiconductors, health care, and battery innovation, noting the $1.5 billion battery separator manufacturing facility being built in Terre Haute by Oregon-based Entek.
“That type of work is something that we really would like to create more exposure for our students and experience while they’re here,” he said. “One of the other themes in our strategic plan is sustainability, and so we’ve been talking about solar and wind energy and trying to create some opportunities for that type of experience as well. So we’re looking at a variety of different types of companies.”
A specific groundbreaking date for the new Rose-Hulman Ventures building has not yet been identified, but Coons said officials hope to begin construction next year during the institute’s 150th anniversary year. The project could take 12-14 months to complete.
“It’s a very different type of experience and expansion for us,” he said. “Our curriculum is based on not only a rigorous traditional academic curriculum around engineering, math and science, but also hands-on experience, and the more opportunities we can provide for our students in that way, the better. So I think there’s a win win here for both Rose-Hulman and for the Terre Haute community.”