Nebraska Innovation Campus poised for next phase of growth

Phase I of development at UNL\u27s Nebraska Innovation Campus is ahead of schedule, with facilities taking shape that will attract talent, open new opportunities for students and faculty and grow Nebraska’s economy. The historic 4-H Building, linked to a new building, forms Innovation Commons, a state-of-the-art facility that houses a conference center and where Innovation Studio, a “maker space” for innovators and a business accelerator are underway. Already, the conference center has hosted a “demo day” for Nebraska startup businesses that attracted 300 attendees interested in entrepreneurship. A Food Innovation Center, scheduled to open in 2015, will house UNL’s growing Food Science and Technology Department (http://foodsci.unl.edu) and ConAgra Foods (http://www.conagrafoods.com) , the university’s first private collaborator at Innovation Campus. Joint research projects between UNL faculty and ConAgra could include those in food sanitation, food safety, allergens and nutrition, and food product development. And a 45,000-square-foot greenhouse center is underway that will expand opportunities for plant science research and education. The greenhouse will house a unique LemnaTec system, which uses specialized conveyors and a camera system to take high-resolution images of plants as they grow in varied conditions. The system – one of only a few in the world – can identify phenotypes of food crops that display beneficial characteristics such as drought tolerance and could significantly advance the university’s plant science research agenda and open new opportunities for private-sector collaborations