The Kummer College hosted the Innovation Ecosystem Inaugural Summit on Oct. 9, bringing together entrepreneurs and community leaders from south-central Missouri. The ecosystem’s tentative name is the Ozark Foundry.

Dr. Joel West, the ecosystem’s first distinguished speaker at S&T, kicked off the summit with a presentation about how to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem, drawing on lessons learned from San Diego’s now-thriving regional entrepreneurial hub.

West talked about the emergence of the University of California San Diego and how the university supported the creation of CONNECT, a unique public-private partnership that built local entrepreneurial networks and provided key support for local tech startups. This helped spur the region’s entrepreneurial hub in the late 20th century.

West’s background includes founding and leading two technology-based startups as well as co-founding of two trade associations and an academic conference. His research has been cited over 25,000 times and presented on seven continents.

“Novel technologies often emerge from the science and engineering being performed by our outstanding I&E Fellows,” says Dr. James Sterling, vice provost and dean of the Kummer College. “During Kummer Day, we were able to see their research presentations on topics that could yield invention disclosures and patents that could fill our S&T ecosystem technology transfer pipeline.”

Following West’s presentation, Dan Reuss led a workshop, titled “Charting the S&T Ecosystem.” Reus, founder and CEO of Openly Disruptive, has worked with over 1,000 startups, non-profit leaders, and investors.

Dr. Venkat Allada, director of the design initiative, wrapped up the event with a call-to-action from attendees to help define and grow S&T’s “Ozark Forge” ecosystem.