ConnectED - Winter 2018

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WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE

1819 Innovation Hub will connect students, faculty, business, and nonprofits

INSIDE:

Winter 2018

Volume 6 > LIGHTS program supports Appalachian entrepreneurs Issue 1 > Ohio Mathematics Initiative leading statewide mathematics reform > Fuel Economy: Selamet seeks to improve efficiency of gasoline engines > Inaugural In-Demand Jobs Week set for May 7-11 > Ohio announces the OhioMeansJobs-Readiness seal for Ohio high school graduates

Photo: Ohio University Campus WINTER 2018

3 Winter is not a time for hibernation. In higher education, it is truly a time to prepare for the future. Our winter issue of ConnectED carries that theme of preparation and its stories reflect the importance of being ready for the opportunities that lie ahead.

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Two stories share that theme as they explore specific programs in higher education that help businesses grow. Ohio University’s LIGHTS program is helping entrepreneurs grow businesses in Appalachia, while the University of Cincinnati’s 1819 Innovation Hub will allow students to engage with industry, faculty, and not-for-profits to accelerate growth and creativity across many disciplines.

Higher education leads economic growth in small and large ways, and it all begins with awareness and engagement. To that end, ODHE is collaborating with other state agencies on the first In-Demand Jobs Week, scheduled for May 7-11, 2018. The legislature created this annual awareness week to highlight emerging jobs in new areas of technology.

And, in response to employers’ desire for new high school graduates to demonstrate certain skills important in the workplace, the Ohio Department of Education has worked with the Governor’s Office of WorkforceTransformation to create the OhioMeansJobsReadiness Seal that motivated students may have fixed to their high school diplomas when they demonstrate those skills in school, at work, or in their community.

This issue’s stories are all part of our big-picture mission to keep students ConnectED to the needs of the workforce. We hope you enjoy it.

John Carey Chancellor, Ohio Department of Higher Education

LIGHTS program supports Appalachian entrepreneurs during first year of operations

The Leveraging Innovation Gateways and Hubs Toward Sustainability (LIGHTS) program has helped dozens of new and existing businesses.

Ohio Mathematics Initiative leading statewide mathematics reform

The Ohio Mathematics Initiative is a unique and collaborative effort across the mathematics community in Ohio’s colleges and universities.

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Inaugural In-Demand Jobs Week set for May 7-11

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When Worlds Collide

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The Ohio Legislature authorized the statewide awareness week in the biennial budget last year.

1819 Innovation Hub will connect students, faculty, business, and nonprofits.

Ohio Announces the OhioMeansJobs-Readiness seal for Ohio high school graduates to show workplace readiness The OhioMeansJobs-Readiness Seal is a formal designation students can earn on their high school diplomas and transcripts.

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LIGHTS program supports Appalachian entrepreneurs during first year of operations The Leveraging Innovation Gateways and Hubs

Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER)

Toward Sustainability (LIGHTS) program helped

program, serves a 28-county region in Ohio, West

dozens of new and existing businesses, launched

Virginia, and Kentucky. The university’s Innovation

entrepreneurship programs and developed a

Center in Athens and Spark 560 (formerly the

network of economic development partnerships

Muskingum

in Appalachia during its first year of operations,

Zanesville are the program hubs.

County

Business

Incubator)

in

the program reports.

LIGHTS and its regional partners assisted 57 Celebrating its one-year anniversary, LIGHTS,

startup and existing business clients with 133

established by Ohio University in 2016 with a

employees during its first year. Those companies

$2 million grant from the Appalachian Regional

have revenues of more than $33 million, with

Commission’s Partnerships for Opportunities and

total annualized wages of $1.57 million. The

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5 Accomplishments during year one of the program include: •

LIGHTS and the Ross Foundation formed Mid-Ohio Valley Innovates, a network of local development districts, civic organizations, K-12 and higher education entities, library systems, philanthropic groups, and other community members interested in advancing innovation in the neighboring counties of Washington County, Ohio, and Wood County, W. Va.

•

In partnership with another Appalachian Regional

Commission-funded

program,

LIGHTS helped launch the Building Bridges to Careers Epicenter, which is now open with four clients in Marietta. The Epicenter is designed to connect high school and college students

with

entrepreneurs-in-residence.

LIGHTS assisted with grant writing, site selection and the implementation of best practices. The Epicenter hopes to expand its facility and feature a makerspace in future phases of the project.

•

Construction of a new makerspace in the Athens community is under way, projected to open in early 2018. In addition, the Athens-

program also hosted 70 entrepreneurship and

based Innovation Center is expanding its 3D

making events with 1,688 participants.

printing and training capabilities this fall.

“The LIGHTS program is an example of our

•

LIGHTS assisted the Somerset Innovation

commitment to economic and quality of life

Gateway, Lawrence County and the Shawnee

change for Appalachia, which is one of my

State Business Accelerator with grant writing,

strategic priorities for Ohio (University),” said

feasibility study plans, and legal and business

President M. Duane Nellis. “By working to

consulting services to help develop and

strengthen our connection with the communities

advance economic development programs

we serve, we lead the way for innovation and

in these locations.

other strategic support.”

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“

“Having a shared vision of the region is much more powerful.”

-Shmuel Roth •

Spark 560 and the IDEA Lab, a makerspace at Zane State College, implemented a joint partnership program, which allowed them to serve more Zanesville-area entrepreneurs.

Zanesville hosted its first Startup Weekend, an event designed to help entrepreneurs work through business concepts and study market feasibility. Twelve business ideas were pitched, four teams were formed, and at least two are developing their project further, including by getting a product into local stores.

“LIGHTS has been a critical part of the experience here,” said Shmuel Roth, director of Spark 560.

LIGHTS has provided funding, operational support, consulting services and expertise to clients on manufacturing and product design issues, Roth said. In addition, the Zanesville incubator has benefited from being part of a regional network of entrepreneurship programs that have provided new ideas and support for its efforts. “Having a shared vision of the region is much more powerful,” Roth said.

LIGHTS has worked with a diverse group of entrepreneurs and businesses in the 28-county region, including a number of machine or fabrication shops and startups seeking to prototype and test new products, said Jennifer Simon, executive director of regional innovation for the LIGHTS program. The LIGHTS staff helps entrepreneurs understand and identify the correct market for their product ideas and connect them to the necessary resources and funding to move forward. The program not only works with new startups, but also existing businesses seeking to expand into new markets and reach different consumers, Simon said.

“Across the region, people want to have a diversified economy,” Simon said. “They see the extractive industries as one part of the economic reality, but they see that without diversification, they will be continuously mired in low economic success. I see a lot of excitement over doing something new.”

For more information about LIGHTS, visit www.lightsregionalinnovation.com.

Contact: Andrea Gibson, (740) 597-2166, gibsona@ohio.edu.

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“

The end idea is that the course is relevant mathematics, rigorous in content, but something the students can take with them and use in the real world.

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Chelle Younker, Chair of the Mathematics Department, Owens Community College

Rethinking mathematics courses, curricula and their relationships with other disciplines

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Too many students leave high school unprepared for the rigors of college-level math courses. Too many adult students are coming to college unprepared; remediation and catch-up are required. Often, the math courses students have to take are not relevant to the skills and knowledge they need for their career and academic goals, or students are placed into college algebra as a default course for transferability or because they are undecided on their majors. All of these slow academic progress and increase frustration, cost, and the higher risk of students dropping out of college completely.

Enter the Ohio Mathematics Initiative, a unique, collaborative effort across the mathematics community in Ohio’s two-year and four-year public colleges that is making a difference in this critical area of higher education.

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Ohio Mathematics Initiative leading statewide mathematics reform

By establishing a cohesive network of professionals focused on key barriers for students, mathematics faculty from across Ohio have developed and endorsed three distinct pathways that are most relevant and meaningful for their individual areas of study and careers: •

Quantitative Reasoning (for students pursuing nonmathematics intensive fields of study)

•

STEM Preparation (for students following strict science and engineering careers); and

•

Statistics (for students pursuing fields of study in social sciences and allied health, among others.)

“Our network of mathematics chairs is important because this communicates a democratic process that is not driven top down, but rather by colleagues across the public universities and community colleges,” said Louis Casian, mathematics chair at The Ohio State University.

Operating in coordination with the Department of Higher Education allows credible discussion across the public system and among colleagues for the best possible results and buy-in, according to Casian.

Students benefit greatly because the work promotes consistency across the system and allows completed coursework to transfer from one school to another, speeding progress within the three pathways established by the math initiative.

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10 “The initiative doesn’t prescribe which pathway a student should follow, and they appreciate that there is a pathway that is tailored for where they are headed,” said Chelle Younker, chair of the Mathematics Department at Owens Community College. “It should be relevant to their program of study, so institutions decide what is most relevant to students. The end idea is that the course is relevant mathematics, rigorous in content, but something the students can take with them and use in the real world.”

The formula for success is simple: student focused, faculty driven. Find common ground and appropriate learning outcomes for courses that prepare students and transfer across two-year and four-year public colleges and universities, as well as promote students’ active learning and faculty’s innovative pedagogical methods. The progress has been steady, and the results are promising.

For example, seven Quantitative Reasoning courses have been developed, reviewed, and accepted for transferability across public higher education in Ohio.

According to Casian, students perform better when they are happier, and early indications are very encouraging.

“Faculty involvement in the change process has been very positive, and students have been happier with what is in the classroom,” Casian said, adding that many states are already trying to emulate what Ohio has been doing.

Continued collaboration between secondary and higher education sectors, as well as between the Ohio Department of Education and Ohio Department of Higher Education, will help assure that the pipeline of high school students will have the proficiencies and applicable skills necessary to be successful in a college-level mathematics course. This is of critical importance to students moving efficiently from high school to higher education, workforce, and beyond.

Students’ sense of mathematics as an opportunity for their futures will play a key role in the attainment of degree and meaningful credentials, and in Ohio’s ability to provide workers for future jobs that will require both technical and holistic skills.

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Inaugural In-Demand Jobs Week set for May 7-11

• For students and job-seekers, In-Demand Jobs Week is an opportunity to learn more through local events and activities about the reward and highdemand careers available regionally.

At the urging of Ohio business leaders and with the cooperation and leadership of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation, a new awareness week to promote “In-Demand Jobs” will be observed every year in May. The Ohio Legislature authorized the statewide awareness week in the biennial budget last year.

May 7-11, 2018 will be the first observation of InDemand Jobs Week, with the Ohio Department of Education and Ohio Department of Higher Education joining businesses statewide and a collection of other agencies, including the Department of Job and Family Services.

Chancellor John Carey is urging higher education leaders to get involved to showcase the role higher education plays in preparing the workforce and enabling prosperity for Ohio families.

“Universities and community colleges have an impact locally, regionally, and beyond, and it’s so important to focus on helping students find direction through internships, apprenticeships, and early experience,” Carey said.

Workforce leaders, aware that emerging technologies are creating enormous changes in the skills needed by tomorrow’s workers, often predict skills gaps among workers and the need for workers to be flexible, adaptable and ready to acquire new knowledge and skills in real time. In-Demand Jobs Week was created to inspire students to learn about careers in emerging fields.

• For secondary and postsecondary educators, In-Demand Jobs Week is an opportunity to inspire students by focusing on in-demand careers and pathways in the classroom and beyond.

• For employers and workforce professionals, In-Demand Jobs Week is an opportunity to open doors to students and job-seekers to increase interest in local jobs and build a talent pipeline.

• For communities, In-Demand Jobs Week is an opportunity to identify like-minded stakeholders to partner, plan events, and increase awareness about jobs available in the community.

Educators are uniquely positioned to help guide students as they pursue career pathways. As May approaches, college leaders, particularly those in touch with training students in the use of emerging technologies, are encouraged to work with local business and workforce leaders and encourage them to open their doors to students and staff.

“By building strong relationships and collaborating with local business and workforce leaders, you and your community will be better positioned to help students launch successful careers,” said Ryan Burgess, director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation.

A consortium of organizations has been working with Burgess’ office to prepare a host of activities for the awareness week in May. Look for details coming to campus career services offices in the weeks ahead.

For more information, visit http://omj.ohio.gov/indemandjobsweek.

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WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE

By Matt Koesters

1819 Innovation Hub will connect students, faculty, business, and nonprofits

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13 Photos by Andrew Higley/UC Creative Services

T

he intersection of academia and industry in Cincinnati now has a new address: 2900 Reading Road. That’s where you’ll find the University of Cincinnati’s new front door to the community — the 1819 Innovation Hub. Named for the year of UC’s founding, the 1819 Innovation Hub occupies a structure built in 1929 that once housed a Sears, Roebeck & Co. department store and later was home to UC Campus Services. But make no mistake: UC’s $38 million investment in the renovation of the cavernous, 133,000-square-foot building signals that the 1819 Innovation Hub is all about UC’s future.

New UC Chief Innovation Officer David Adams also serves as the CEO of the UC Research Institute.

“We want to create an innovative environment that allows our students to engage with industry, with not-for-profits, with faculty, and with other students. Let this be the place where magic occurs,” said David Adams, CEO of the UC Research Institute.

Adams, the former CEO of the University of Louisville’s Institute for Product Realization, WINTER 2018

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Visitors to the 1819 Innovation Hub will be struck by the openness of the lobby and the large staircase that provides access to each of the building’s upper floors.

Much of the building is still under construction, but the drywall on the lefthand side of this hallway on the fourth floor of the building will soon be replaced with glass. Behind the glass will be the offices of the UC Research Institute and the 1819 Innovation Hub building staff.

recently took the reins of UCRI. He also now serves as UC’s chief innovation officer and reports directly to UC President Neville Pinto. Adams and Pinto are already well aquainted, as Pinto hired Adams during the former’s tenure as University of Louisville interim president.

Adams envisions the 1819 Innovation Hub becoming a creative supercollider, with students, faculty, and businesspeople from multiple disciplines working together to develop creative solutions to problems. “The vision is to make this as school-agnostic as possible,” said Adams. “The real power of this is having engineering students colliding with DAAP

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A welcome center will be constructed in the lobby of the 1819 Innovation Hub, viewed here from the ground floor entrance.

students, colliding with nursing students, colliding with business school students — how it occurs in the world that they’re going to get involved in — what kind of magic can occur because of the collisions that occur there?”

Adams is no stranger to that kind of magic. His run at UofL’s institute was highlighted by a partnership with GE Appliances, culminating in the latter’s creation of the FirstBuild microfactory and makerspace on UofL’s campus. Adams sees UC’s 1819 Innovation Hub serving as the place where similar collaborations between UC and the Cincinnati business community will be catalyzed.

Decisions are still being made on the final layout of each of the

first three floors of the building, but some features have already been determined. The first floor will house a 12,000-square-foot makerspace, where tools for creators of all skill levels — including hand tools, 3-D printers, laser cutters, and CNC machines — will be available for use. The second floor’s main features will include several classrooms, conference rooms, and a multipurpose space capable of accommodating up to 150 guests, making it the primary gathering area of the building.

Although construction isn’t scheduled to be entirely complete until fall of 2018, the 1819 Innovation Hub will soon welcome its first tenant, the UC Simulation Center. Formed in partnership

15 The 1819 Innovation Hub building was originally constructed in 1929, and still retains some of its art deco charm.

“Let this be the place where magic occurs.”

- David Adams

with Procter & Gamble, the center capitalizes on the College of Engineering and Applied Science’s computer simulation expertise to provide P&G with cost-effective, high-value, virtual modeling capabilities that are applied to the company’s products and manufacturing processes while developing a talent pipeline for future recruitment.

The UC Simulation Center will be a neighbor to UCRI and 1819 building staff on the fourth floor of the Innovation Hub. Also the result of a partnership between P&G and UC, the Live Well Collaborative will set up shop on the Innovation Hub’s third floor. The Collaborative

facilitates connections between industry and academia, bringing together multidisciplinary teams of students and faculty that work together on semester-long studio projects for industry partners such as Boeing, P&G, and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

The 1819 Innovation Hub will serve as one of the crown jewels of the Uptown Innovation Corridor, the vision of the Uptown Consortium.

“UC faculty, researchers, students, and staff advance the work of the Uptown Innovation Corridor through their future-facing research and community partnerships,” said Beth Robinson, Up-

town Consortium president and CEO. “That’s one reason why the Uptown Consortium’s oversight of the corridor’s development is so fulfilling: It’s a community effort. As a flagship in the corridor, the 1819 Innovation Hub is a great example of how multi-disciplinary, solution-based collaborations with our Uptown community will continue to shape a better tomorrow.”

The 1819 Innovation Hub will have as its neighbor a new, $110 million National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health research facility. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced its plans for the facility in mid-July.

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OHIO ANNOUNCES THE OHIOMEANSJOBS-READINESS SEAL FOR OHIO HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES TO SHOW WORKPLACE READINESS Ohio high school students now can earn

“Work ethic and resiliency are essential

recognition by showing they are prepared

to success no matter what your education

to contribute to the workplace and their

level or where you are in life,” said Ohio

communities. The OhioMeansJobs-Readiness

Department of Higher Education Chancellor

Seal is a formal designation students can earn

John Carey. “The OhioMeansJobs-Readiness

on their high school diplomas and transcripts

Seal will equip high school students to

indicating they have the personal strengths,

adapt to the rapidly changing workforce

strong work ethic and professional experience

and to stand out with a much-in-demand

that businesses need.

credential.”

“The 21st century workplace is rapidly

“Ohio businesses have expressed

changing, and businesses need to know

concern about a lack of soft skills among

graduates are leaving high school with job-

applicants,” said Ryan Burgess, Director

ready professional skills,” said Paolo DeMaria,

of the Governor’s Office of Workforce

superintendent of public instruction. “Along

Transformation. “The OhioMeansJobs-

with Ohio businesses, our team identified

Readiness Seal will help Ohio’s graduates

essential skills for workplace success and

demonstrate to businesses that they have

developed the OhioMeansJobs-Readiness Seal

the skills necessary to succeed in the 21st

for students to demonstrate those attributes.”

century workplace.”

To earn the OhioMeansJobs-Readiness

Established by the Ohio Legislature under

Seal, motivated high school students must

House Bill 49, the Ohio Department of

demonstrate certain professional skills required

Education, Governor’s Office of Workforce

for success in the workplace. Students work

Transformation, and Ohio Department of

with at least three experienced and trusted

Higher Education identified an initial list

mentors who validate the demonstration of

of professional skills based on reports by

these skills in school, work, or the community.

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17 “The OhioMeansJobs-Readiness Seal will help Ohio’s graduates demonstrate to businesses that they have the skills necessary to succeed -Ryan Burgess, in the 21st century workplace.”

Director for the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation

Paolo DeMaria, state superintendent of public instruction (pictured in the foreground), Ryan Burgess, director for the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation (center) and John Carey, chancellor of the Ohio Department of Higher Education watch a presentation on LCCC’s Retooling Adults for Manufacturing Programs (RAMP), Aug. 30, 2016. Eric Bonzar — The Morning Journal

the National Association of Colleges and

thinking and problem-solving, leadership,

Employers, in partnership with The Conference

creativity and innovation, good oral and written

Board, Partnership for 21st Century Skills,

communication skills, an understanding of

Society for Human Resource Management and

digital technology, global and intercultural

Corporate Voices for Working Families.

fluency, and career management.

In addition, state partners surveyed Ohio’s

The OhioMeansJobs-Readiness Seal is

business community to select the most

available for the graduating classes of 2018 and

essential or important skills for workplace

beyond and will be printed directly on Ohio

success. Through the survey, business

diplomas and transcripts. The seal also counts

leaders identified the 15 skills students must

toward graduation options for students in the

demonstrate to earn the seal. These skills

class of 2018.

include a commitment to being drug free, reliability, a strong work ethic, punctuality, discipline, teamwork and collaboration, professionalism, learning agility, critical

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19 Photo: Lakeland Community College

A special thank you to all of those who contributed stories and articles: LIGHTS program supports Appalachian entrepreneurs during first year of operations Andrea Gibson Shmuel Roth Ohio University Spark 560

Ohio Mathematics Initiative Leading Statewide Mathematics Reform Chelle Younker Louis Casian Owens Community College

The Ohio State University

Inaugural In-Demand Jobs Week set for May 7-11 Ryan Burgess The Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation

When Worlds Collide Matt Koesters University of Cincinnati

Andrew Higley/UC Creative Services Photos

Ohio Announces the OhioMeansJobs-Readiness Seal for Ohio High School Graduates to Show Workplace Readiness Eric Bonzar — The Morning Journal Photos

Thank you for reading ConnectED. We appreciate any suggestions or ideas to improve this newsletter.

We welcome story ideas, links to articles of interest, and news releases.

Please send story ideas to Jeff Robinson at jrobinson@highered.ohio.gov.

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