09/05/18
TOPEKA, Kansas – Innovators from across the Midwest will pitch their ideas to technology scouts from the U.S. Department of Defense at Encountering Innovation: Delivering Innovation to the DoD and Beyond – a weeklong event starting Monday, Oct. 8, at the Kansas SBDC at Johnson County Community College in Overland Park.

The public is invited to learn about technology commercialization from the DoD and view the 70-plus innovations on display during the Conference Day on Tuesday, Oct. 9, at JCCC.

Participants will be able to network with innovators, Federal agency technical scouts, incubator managers, investors, intellectual property attorneys, Small Business Innovation Research applicants, and others involved in the innovation ecosystem. Registration to the conference is open at https://ce.jccc.edu/courseDisplay.cfm?schID=10481.

This is the second year for the Encountering Innovation event. At the 2017 event, U.S. DoD tech scouts expressed interest in 44 of the 57 technologies; 27 of 57 innovators connected with a DoD contact; and 17 of 57 innovators were referred to another federal agency. Five additional innovators received a referral or recommendation that could help move their product or innovation forward.

“Regional technology events are critical to the Department of Defense and to the very backbone of American innovation,” said Tim N. Fowler, a field science and technology advisor for the U.S. Strategic Command.

“Frankly,” said Fowler, “in the past we have done a poor job of finding breakthrough technologies that have direct effect on our warfighters from the small business owners, university students and staff, or the small business that has that something we need. The innovation, collaboration, and passion we have found at these events is amazing.”

About Kansas SBDC
The Kansas SBDC is a statewide advising, consulting, and training service for small business (typically less than 500 employees) funded by federal, state, and local partners. Funding allows the Kansas SBDC to provide advising and training (i.e. financial analysis, marketing, and management) to businesses across the state at low or no cost. Kansas SBDC is an accredited member of America’s SBDC, the most comprehensive small business assistance network in the United States.

To learn more, visit kansassbdc.net.

For more information on the Kansas SBDC, contact Lisa Roberts, 785-296-6514 or lsroberts@ksbdc.net