Ecosystems For Change

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

Today marks the final stop on our tour of the US National Science Foundation-funded Regional Innovation Engines. To round out our adventure, we’re headed to Tempe, Arizona to talk with Brian Sherman, CEO of the NSF Futures Engine in the Southwest.

The NSF Futures Engine represents three states–Arizona, Nevada, and Utah–with a diverse range of landscapes, a large population that includes fifty-eight tribal nations, and a variety of industries from semiconductors to ski resorts and the entertainment hub of Las Vegas. With its resources and environments, the Southwest has both incredible opportunities for rural and urban regenerative economic development and unique challenges.

Join us as Brian talks us through what the NSF Futures Engine in the Southwest is doing to address regional challenges in energy, water, and air systems through building an ecosystem in the American Southwest.

Brian Sherman joined the NSF Futures Engine in the Southwest (formerly the Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine or SWSIE) as CEO in July 2024. Brian approaches economic development as a social entrepreneur, startup evangelist, and bureaucracy hacker. He believes human-inspired, market-leveraged, data-driven entrepreneurship can create a better world. His work is focused on technology-based economic development, entrepreneurship, early-stage capital formation, technology commercialization, and innovation in public policy, strategy, and finance. 

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How the Futures Engine is building on Arizona’s history of maximizing efficiency and planning in water use and conservation
• Why the Engine is investing in research on ozone, air quality, and direct air carbon capture
• How the Futures Engine is collaborating with other Regional Innovation Engines to share information and resources as they address shared challenges
• Why addressing the region’s environmental constraints is vital to unlocking economic opportunities that benefit both urban and rural populations
• How the Futures Engine is facilitating market-driven research and capital investment to get innovation out of the lab and into the world 
• The challenges of aligning workforce development programs with the availability of those job opportunities

Learn more about Brian Sherman:

• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn more about Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• NSF Futures Engine in the Southwest
• S07E02: Solving Global Water Challenges from the Great Lakes Region featuring Alaina Harkness
• S07E04: Building a Climate-Ready Future in Colorado and Wyoming featuring Mike Freeman
• S07E06: Powering Ideas That Feed The World with FARMS CEO Dr. Hollie Mackey
• S07E07: The Future of Energy Innovation with Mike Mazzola at the NSF FUEL Engine in Louisiana
• WAVR Technologies
• Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures, Merlin Sheldrake

Take a quick look around you. How many things in your field of view run on batteries? Your smartwatch, phone, the earbuds you’re listening to this podcast on, or maybe even the electric vehicle you’re driving–they all use batteries. Batteries also make our electric grids more resilient, enable transportation, and provide backup power to infrastructure such as data centers.

And yet, fewer than 25% of the batteries we use in the US are produced here, which is why our next US National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine wants Upstate New York to become America’s Battery Capital.

I sat down with the NSF Energy Storage Engine in Upstate New York CEO, Meera Sampath, to learn more about why bringing battery and energy storage innovation and production to the US is so important, and how the Engine is building on Upstate New York’s incredible resources and history of tech innovation.

Meera Sampath is a researcher, innovator, and leader with a global perspective. Throughout her 30-year career in industry and academia, Meera’s focus has been on two key areas: driving impact through technology and building purposeful partnerships across organizations, sectors and continents. Meera is deeply connected with and drawn to serving the Upstate NY community, a place she has called home for the past three decades. 

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How Upstate New York’s unique academic and industry resources and infrastructure are helping researchers and startups accelerate use-inspired innovation
• How the Engine is building partnerships with educational and community institutions that will help develop a battery tech-ready workforce
• What we risk if we continue to rely on foreign supply chains for battery technology, from grid reliability to defense systems to major economic losses and more

Learn more about Meera Sampath:

• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn more about Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• NSF Energy Storage Engine in Upstate New York
• Ateios Systems
• M. Stanley Whittingham
• Griffiss Institute
• S07E02: Solving Global Water Challenges from the Great Lakes Region featuring Alaina Harkness

In an industry dominated by fast fashion, our next US National Science Foundation funded Regional Innovation Engine is working to bring sustainability and circularity to the textile industry.

Headquartered in Morganton, the NSF Textile Innovation Engine in North Carolina –or The Textile Engine–is working to make the Southeast’s Textile Belt a home for innovation and the lifeblood of its communities. I sat down with Co-Deputy CEO Molly Hemstreet and CEO Anne Wiper to talk about the future of textile production, the true cost of fast fashion, and how each of us can reduce and recycle the pounds upon pounds of textile waste Americans produce each year.

Molly Hemstreet is Co-Deputy CEO of the NSF Textile Innovation Engine in North Carolina, where she leads workforce development and regional engagement initiatives. She is also the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of The Industrial Commons, which supports over 2,500 workers through its collaborative, member-led network of textile manufacturers and workplace development programs.

Through her experience and leadership, she has organized economic development initiatives across rural Western North Carolina, founded Opportunity Threads, which has grown into the largest U.S.-based worker-owned cut-and-sew facility, and co-founded the Carolina Textile District in 2013, a strategic value chain focused on revitalizing textile manufacturing across the Carolinas.

Anne Wiper is the CEO of the NSF Textile Innovation Engine in North Carolina, where she leads efforts to strengthen the U.S. textile industry through cutting-edge research, commercialization of circular and regenerative materials, and workforce development. Her work centers on advancing innovation, resilience, and collaboration within the domestic textile supply chain.

Anne brings decades of industry experience to The Textile Engine, drawing on her previous roles as Vice President of Product for Smartwool and Icebreaker, brands under VF Corporation, as well as leadership positions at Salomon Sports and Nike across the U.S. and Europe. In addition, Anne has been a faculty lecturer in the University of Colorado Masters of the Environment program since 2022.  

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How offshoring textile production impacts not only our economy but our emergency preparedness
• Breaking down the forces that have led to overproduction and offshoring of the vast majority of our textile production
• Why keeping textile waste management in the US matters 
• How sustainable systems in textiles can actually lower the cost of goods and positively impact works and their communities
• How the Textile Engine is addressing their core pillars and building consortia among institutions
• The challenges to revitalizing an industry in communities that prior downturns have impacted

Learn more about Molly Hemstreet:

• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn more about Anne Wiper:

• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn more about Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• NSF Textile Innovation Engine in North Carolina
• The Industrial Commons
• Opportunity Threads
• Material Return
• TOSS
• Next Technology Tecnotessile
• Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, William McDonough, Michael Braungart 
• The Book of Hope A Survival Guide for Trying Times, Jane Goodall

Our next region has been part of the world’s energy story for over a century. Today, we’re visiting the US National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine that is aiming to not only be part of the story, but to write it through innovative research, workforce development, and commercialization of new technologies.

I sat down with Michael Mazzola, Executive Director of the NSF FUEL Engine in Louisiana to learn more about how Louisiana’s geology and history make the state uniquely qualified to drive innovation in carbon use, capture, and sequestration. And we’ll talk about how they’re building strategic partnerships to ensure that innovation and commercialization have positive impacts on local economies in Louisiana.

Dr. Michael Mazzola leads FUEL’s activities to position the state of Louisiana as a global energy innovation leader and decarbonize the state’s industrial corridor. Prior to his current position, Dr. Mazzola was the executive director of the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) at the University of North Carolina Charlotte and the Duke Energy Distinguished Chair of Power Engineering Systems. He has also served as associate director for advanced vehicle systems at the Mississippi State University Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (CAVS). As a tenured professor of electrical and computer engineering, he led research in high-voltage engineering, power systems modeling and simulation, the application of silicon carbide semiconductor devices in power electronics and the control of hybrid electric vehicle power trains. While at MSU, he co-founded SemiSouth Laboratories, a company that commercialized intellectual property originating from his research at the university.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How Mike’s background in use-inspired research commercialization gives him perspective on the true scope and impact of the NSF FUEL Engine’s project
• Three key job categories that are essential to successfully supporting a developing innovation ecosystem
• How the NSF FUEL Engine is tackling the thorny problem of how we reduce carbon emissions while meeting the world’s energy needs 
• Why incentivizing innovators and entrepreneurs to stay in or come back to Louisiana is an essential piece of the puzzle
• How the NSF FUEL Engine is addressing the challenges of cost and scale for research investment within the energy industry

Learn more about Michael S. Mazzola:

• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn more about Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• NSF FUEL Engine in Louisiana
• Encore CO2

Everybody needs to eat, and our food has to come from somewhere. With changing weather patterns and landscapes, ensuring we have secure and resilient agricultural and food systems is crucial to our future.

It’s fitting that our next stop on the US National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines tour has subtitled themselves the FARMS Engine: Food systems Adapted for Resiliency and Maximized Security.

Officially known as the North Dakota Advanced Agriculture Technology Engine, FARMS is building an ecosystem to support the agricultural innovations that will feed the world. Today, I’m sitting down with FARMS CEO Dr. Hollie Mackey to get the scoop on how they’re empowering North Dakota’s diverse communities to meet the challenges of creating thriving, resilient food systems for the present and the future.

A citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Nation, Dr. Hollie Mackey brings a unique perspective to her work, combining deep expertise in community-driven innovation with a commitment to equity and sustainability. With a distinguished career spanning academia, public policy, and industry leadership, Dr. Mackey has been at the forefront of integrating Indigenous knowledge with modern AgTech solutions. Her leadership at FARMS focuses on empowering Tribal Nations, small farmers, and rural communities by fostering scalable, localized food systems that address both regional and global challenges. 

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How FARMS is helping researchers and growers connect and collaborate to accelerate the pace of agricultural innovation
• How they are supporting pathways for the next generation to be able to stay in their communities and continue their agricultural legacies
• The complex interplay of politics, economics, national security, public health and more that impacts how we interact with food systems
• Why developing and implementing agricultural technologies also requires investing in social change and community building
• Why successful innovation in agriculture starts with addressing what growers actually need
• How FARMS is integrating Indigenous knowledge of the landscapes and facilitating the exchange of ideas and practices across communities

Learn more about Dr. Hollie Mackey:

• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn more about Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• North Dakota Advanced Agriculture Technology Engine

Research Is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods, Shawn Wilson

As we continue our tour of the US National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines, today we’re headed to North Carolina.

Tim Bertram and Jesse Thornburg of the Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine are taking us into the lab to give us a crash course in what regenerative medicine is, and how their Engine is helping regenerative medicine companies build, grow, and scale in the Piedmont Triad region through access to world-class resources, expertise, space, and collaboration opportunities to create economic impact.

Tim is currently serving as CEO for the Regenerative Medicine Engine funded by the National Science Foundation, focusing on economic development through translation and commercialization of regenerative medical technologies. He was previously founder and CEO of four biotechnology companies, served on the board of directors of multiple companies, and worked on the development of 8 registered medical products while serving as a scientific leader and senior executive at Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE}, SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, and The Procter & Gamble Company {NYSE: PG}. He started his career as a faculty member at the University of Illinois, was a visiting scientist at the National Institutes of Health, authored over 150 publications and invented over 100 patents.

Jesse has worked as a researcher and in operations, building diverse research teams in a Comprehensive Cancer Center and Clinical Translational Science Institute.  His business experience stems from starting and operating a successful business and setting up a trust to provide capital to help growing businesses scale. Dr. Thornburg is passionate about helping businesses and economic ecosystems change lives.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How advances in regenerative medicine can positively impact outcomes for both patients and the healthcare system at large
• How the Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine is working to develop an integrated supply chain for regenerative therapies in order to scale
• How the regenerative medicine ecosystem encompasses patients, workforce, researchers, entrepreneurs, businesses, and more
• How the Regenerative Medicine Engine is fostering collaboration among companies that is pushing growth forward
• What we stand to lose regionally, nationally, and even globally if we don’t continue to invest in regenerative medicine

Learn more about Tim Bertram:

• Connect On LinkedIn

Learn more about Jesse Thornburg:

• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn more about Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medical Engine
• Stan Parker
• Fettech
• Joshua Boger
• Anthony Atala: Printing a human kidney | TED Talk

Colorado and Wyoming are famed for their wide open spaces and incredible landscapes. 

They’re also very, very dry.

Changes in rainfall and snowpack are already impacting agriculture, tourism, and the frequency and intensity of wildfires in the western United States. The wicked problem of climate resiliency isn’t one for the future, it’s making itself known in real-time.

Today, we’re headed west to meet our next NSF Engine, the ASCEND Engine in Colorado and Wyoming, in short, the CO-WY Engine, where I’ll be talking to CEO Mike Freeman about the region’s unique resources and how they’re building a community-based commitment to climate resiliency.

Mike Freeman has dedicated the past 15 years to building up the science and technology innovation ecosystems in Colorado and surrounding areas. He brings several decades in public sector leadership, management consulting, non-profit management, and venture capital to his role at the CP-WY Engine.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How developing environmental technologies underpins community resilience and economic opportunity
• Why climate resilience is about more than just the weather
• How the CO-WY Engine is building collaborative partnerships with a particularly diverse set of regional stakeholders
• Why Mike sees differences among partners as ultimately beneficial to the project
• Measuring the success of the program, from more traditional economic terms to devising a framework to capture a community’s climate resiliency  

Learn more about Mike Freeman:

• The ASCEND Engine in Colorado and Wyoming
• Innosphere Ventures
• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn more about Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley, Victor Hwang, Greg Horowitt
• Brookings
• Heartland Forward
• Milken Institute
  
  

Would you be able to describe what a semiconductor is?

A lot of us probably can’t, but they’re essential to modern life as we know it. 

Today, we’re headed to NeoCity and the Central Florida Semiconductor Innovation Engine to talk with CEO Tawny Olore. This Regional Innovation Engine, funded by the US National Science Foundation, is taking on the major project of developing an ecosystem for producing semiconductors in central Florida that can be translated to other regions.

In our conversation, Tawny explains what semiconductors are, how they impact all of our lives, and why building semiconductor ecosystems isn’t just a matter of economics, but one of national security. 

Tawny Olore serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the NSF Central Florida Semiconductor Innovation Engine, where she is responsible for developing a semiconductor ecosystem in Central Florida that can translate to other regions in the United States. Prior to her role, Tawny served as Osceola County’s Deputy County Manager, responsible for the oversight and management of the Transportation and Transit, Public Works, Real Estate and Right of Way, and Information Technology departments. She has also served as Program Manager for the FDOT Rail Transit program for District Five, specifically managing all aspects of SunRail, Central Florida’s Commuter Rail project – a 61-mile system with 12 stations traversing through a multiple of jurisdictions including four counties and 11 cities.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How advanced packaging of semiconductors drives innovation in everything from healthcare to home electronics
• How the Semiconductor Innovation Engine will bring high-wage jobs to an area historically driven by tourism
• How the supply chain issues of the pandemic highlighted the need to bring semiconductor production to the US 
• The key partners across research, education, and economic development that have joined the engine
• How research and development in partnership with the engine will drive innovation in other sectors like supercomputing and data centers
• How the engine will measure their success in the region from creating jobs to cutting commute times 

Learn more about Tawny Olore, P.E.:

• Central Florida Semiconductor Innovation Engine
• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn more about Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• Brookings Metro
• Osceola County Commission to Work with South Korean Firm to Bring Hundreds More Jobs to NeoCity
• Plug and Play NeoCity | Corporate Innovation
• ELSPES
• The Builder Platform
• Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology, Chris Miller 

Fresh water is a vital resource for life on earth, and it plays an increasingly important role in developing technologies like AI, quantum computing, and the data centers on which both rely.

Managing access, use, and waste will only become more pressing as industry and communities continue to compete for water resources.

So it makes sense that the Great Lakes, which hold 20% of the world’s fresh surface water, are the site of our first Regional Regional Innovation Engine, funded by the National Science Foundation through the NSF Engines Program.

Today, we’re headed to Chicago to talk to Alaina Harkness of Great Lakes ReNEW about how this ecosystem is leading efforts across the Great Lakes region to bring stakeholders together, transition to a circular water economy, and protect and steward the Great Lakes for generations to come. 

Alaina Harkness is the CEO of Chicago-based water innovation hub, Current, and the CEO and Principal Investigator of their NSF-funded Great Lakes Water Innovation Engine: Great Lakes ReNEW. She’s an entrepreneurial leader and lifelong Great Lakes resident who has spent her career seeking ways to build more inclusive economies and resilient communities. Outside the office, you can often find her on or near Lake Michigan, where she enjoys sailing, swimming, and birding in the parks near her South Side home.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How conventional delivery and treatment systems have rendered water usage invisible to too many
• How developing water reuse systems benefits both the humans and the industry that rely on freshwater
• How Great Lakes ReNEW is building an extensive coalition to balance economic and environmental factors around water use in the region, develop new circular water technologies
• The challenges and opportunities of building the “blue economy” and how Great Lakes ReNEW will measure their impact and success

Learn more about Alaina Harkness:

• Great Lakes ReNEW
• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn more about Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• The Fundamental Molecule Podcast
• Junhong Chen
• Collective Impact