This season, we traveled around the country to take a look under the hood of nine US National Science Foundation-funded Regional Innovation Engines. We learned about pressing issues facing our country, our economy, and the world in sectors as varied as water, energy, semiconductors, textiles, agriculture, biomedical, and climate resiliency. We uncovered how these innovation ecosystems are tackling these wicked problems for their regions and for all of us.

For the final episode of the season, I’m sharing some of my key takeaways from these conversations and I’ll chat with three practitioners from The Engine who’ve been working closely with all of the Innovation Engines over the last year to get their perspective and learn what insights from this massive undertaking we can apply in our own day-to-day ecosystem building.

Dr. Amy Beaird is a Senior Platform Manager at The Engine, where she collaborates with the NSF to catalyze innovation ecosystems across ten U.S. regions. Previously, as Chief Strategy Officer at the Florida High Tech Corridor, she spearheaded transformative initiatives like the award-winning Cenfluence industry clustering initiative. With 20 years of experience, Dr. Beaird has coached and mentored hundreds of startups and is an SBIR/STTR program expert. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of South Carolina and a B.S. from the University of Florida.

Elizabeth Patterson is a Platform Manager at The Engine responsible for partnering with NSF's Regional Innovation Engines to identify and deliver solutions based on their unique needs. As an economic development policy strategist and project manager, she has served on applied research teams at the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program and as a freelance project manager providing specialized and locally tailored support for regions building inclusive and innovative economies. Elizabeth received her BA from Rhodes College and lives in New York City.

Dr. Ian Johnston is the Director of Emerging Ecosystem at The Engine where he focuses on innovation ecosystem development. Prior to The Engine, Ian spent time at Engine Ventures as a Sr. Investment Associate and at Putnam Associates as a Life Sciences Consultant. Ian also worked at the Penn Center for Innovation, assessing technologies for their patent and market potential. Ian holds a PhD in Pharmacology from University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Three key lessons about the innovation to market pipeline, getting the right players to an ecosystem, and the impacts of offshoring vital supply chains
• How the Innovation Engines facilitate use-inspired research and accelerate development of real-world applications
• The vital role of the Engines in bringing researchers, communities, and industry together for collaboration
• The obstacles in the road to commercialization and how the Engines help ecosystems navigate them
• Two major components of workforce development and the challenges of working with unpredictable futures in emerging and legacy industries
• How the scope of the Engines allows them to build trust, collaboration, and infrastructure for the long haul

Learn more about Dr. Amy Beaird:

• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn more about Elizabeth Patterson:

• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn more about Dr. Ian Johnston:

• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn more about Anika Horn:

• Social Venturers
• Sign up for Impact Curator
• Instagram: @socialventurers

Resources:

• The Engine
• The Builder Platform
• Impact Networks: Create Connection, Spark Collaboration, and Catalyze Systemic Change, David Ehrlichman
• Blueprint by The Engine
• Activate
• Creative Destruction Lab
• Breakthrough Energy Ventures
• NSF I-Corps
• PitchBook
• Crunchbase
• Next Gen Sector Partnerships
• Global Entrepreneurship Congress