The University of Evansville's Center for Innovation & Change (CIC) and the Evansville's nonprofit 501(c)(3) Circular Venture Lab (CVL) announce the acquisition of a collaborative $50,000 award from the United States Department of Energy to spearhead innovative initiatives in clean energy manufacturing.

On November 15, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced 13 Phase One winners of the inaugural Manufacture of Advanced Key Energy Infrastructure Technologies (MAKE IT) Prize Strategies Track. The MAKE IT Prize is a multiphase, two-track competition aimed at catalyzing domestic manufacturing of critical components for the clean energy infrastructure. The Strategies Track supports communities developing roadmaps for bringing vibrant manufacturing activities to their regions. The MAKE IT Prize was developed by the DOE Office of Technology Transitions, the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).

Each of the 13 teams selected will receive $50,000 and will go on to engage their communities and draft a concept roadmap in their respective regions. The teams can then participate in Phase 2: Create for the chance to earn an additional $100,000 to develop a final roadmap and engage in discussions with manufacturers about establishing clean energy manufacturing. Successful Phase 2 competitors can continue to Phase 3: Activate, where they will wrap up the prize by obtaining commitment from at least one entity interested in establishing a clean energy manufacturing facility in the region and finalizing their roadmap.

This investment will propel our community's ability to harness its manufacturing and changemaking strengths for the benefit of the environment, and allow Evansville to play a pivotal role in shaping the future landscape of sustainable and eco-friendly manufacturing processes.

The prize will support the CVL and CIC collaboration as it develops teams preparing a credible road map to support clean energy manufacturing activity, with a particular focus on how it can be beneficial to residents in the Evansville Promise Neighborhood and other underserved communities. With Evansville's blend of manufacturing infrastructure, incentives, expertise, and student innovation power at the University of Evansville (Indiana's only Ashoka Changemaker Campus), it's ready to provide manufacturing companies and their employees a high quality of life, while still realizing sustainability goals for the region.

This funds will be used to create the Evansville Energy Nucleus. Led by Logan Jenkins of CVL, and supported by ChangeLab teams from the CIC, the Nucleus will highlight specific resources for manufacturers and their employees considering a move to the region, and how they can work with UE students to achieve those goals. It will be an asset for Executive teams of relocating companies, and an additional resource for regional economic development teams.

Logan Jenkins, Executive Director of the Circular Venture Lab, expressed enthusiasm about the transformative potential of this award. Jenkins states, "Though I've only been in Evansville since April, the community as a whole, the Evansville Regional Economic Partnership, and industry leaders have been very supportive of this and other potential initiatives I've introduced. Working with Erin and her team at the UE CIC has absolutely accelerated progress on these concepts, like this one, which are complementary to our region. We've got other exciting projects involving the CIC and its students coming together in the near future."

Erin Lewis, Executive Director of the Center for Innovation & Change added, "this generation of college students is not shy about its passion to help solve the climate change crisis. We are thrilled to collaborate with Circular Venture Lab as co-designers in the pursuit of sustainable manufacturing practices. We can't wait to work with the amazing manufacturers already in our region, as well as help attract new ones with this goal in mind."

As the team embarks on this groundbreaking venture, it invites industry partners, policymakers, and the public to participate in the future of clean energy manufacturing. Interested parties can contact CVL at hello@circularventurelab.org or the CIC at centerforinnovation@evansville.edu.