BEHREND MAGAZINE
Innovation Commons gets $2.13 million and a new name A NEW $2.13 MILLION ENDOWMENT
will expand Penn State Behrend’s Innovation Commons product ideation, design, and prototyping lab. The endowment will provide funding support for the lab, which offers early-stage product design, computer-aided drafting, no-cost 3D printing, and Industry 4.0 training, among other services. Since it opened in 2016, Innovation Commons has supported more than 240 projects for local entrepreneurs, startups, and community groups. That work has led to fourteen new companies and twelve patent applications.
“Innovation Commons is the embodiment of our Open Lab approach to engaging students with businesses and innovators as part of the undergraduate experience,” said Amy Bridger, senior director of corporate strategy and external engagement at Behrend. “Through the Open Lab model, students apply classroom learning to product design challenges that lead to economic growth for regional businesses and entrepreneurs.” The endowment was created through an array of private and corporate gifts with a combined value of more than $1.06 million. Those gifts have been matched
one-to-one by Penn State’s LaunchBox Matching Program, bringing the total endowment to $2.13 million. In recognition of the largest of the gifts, made by a private donor, the lab has been named the James R. Meehl Innovation Commons powered by Penn State Behrend. The Meehl family has had a strong association with Behrend faculty, programs, and athletics that began when James Meehl’s grandson, Aaron Meehl, a 2012 graduate, first enrolled as a student more than a decade ago.
SUMMER 2022
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