Sprint Week Intro

Sprint Week is a fun, week-long, team innovation challenge. At this kick-off for participants, we’ll present the Challenge, designed by our sponsor MetroStar. Teams will have one week to come up with an innovative solution, which they’ll pitch on Friday. A panel of distinguished Indiana founders, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and our lead sponsors will name the winner of Sprint Week! Want to be a part of it? Bring your own team or join one at The Mill.

Community Innovation Awards Gala

The Community Innovation Awards celebrate and publicize our community’s business successes. Our accomplishments are amplified and encouraged when acknowledged before our colleagues and friends. The Best Places to Work Awards recognize the area’s best employers and provide organizations with valuable employee feedback. The Fast 15 Awards recognize the MVP employees who drive innovation at our companies. The FUSE Business Innovation Awards recognize the accomplishments of companies and individuals in Bloomington’s thriving tech scene.

This event is invitation-only for award nominees and their guests. 

Ada Lovelace Day Lunch & Panel

Help Bloomington recognize one of history’s overlooked champions by celebrating Ada Lovelace Day with us! Ada Lovelace Day is an international celebration of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Founded in 2009, it is now held every year on the second Tuesday of October.

On Tuesday, October 12, Bloomington is celebrating its third annual Ada Lovelace Day Celebration, with a special focus on how the arts relate to STEM (commonly referred to as “STEAM”). Cardinal Stage and The Dimension Mill are teaming up for this special event! Join us for a free lunchtime discussion panel and celebration of the world’s first computer programmer.

“HUBMAP—HACKING THE KIDNEY” KAGGLE COMPETITION

The Cyberinfrastructure for Network Science Center (CNS), along with the National Institutes of Health, Google, Eli Lilly & Co, and InnovationDigi, recently hosted a Kaggle competition to hack the healthy human kidney using machine learning. Kaggle is the world’s largest data science community with powerful tools and resources to help individuals achieve data science goals through global challenges and collaboration. The Kaggle competition was part of the Human BioMolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP), an international consortium funded by the Common Fund at the NIH. Just as the Human Genome Project mapped the entirety of human DNA, the HuBMAP program aims to develop an open atlas of the human body at the cellular level. 

Leah Scherschel, research analyst for CNS, will explain: 

• What the Kaggle platform is and how it is used
• How the Kaggle competition emerged
• Key learnings from the competition

Unleash the True Value of Your Data

This panel presentation will focus on the importance of visual analytics and how understanding your data influences crucial decisions in today’s world. Three individuals who have participated in the Visual Analytics Certificate (VAC) course, developed by the Cyberinfrastructure for Network Science Center (CNS) at the Indiana University Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, will share how they developed skills to access insights to data and how that has influenced their work. Panel presenters include:

• Devta Kidd, Director of Innovation, Office of Innovation, City of Bloomington, IN
• Jonathan M. Dilger, Ph.D., Director of Research, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane), Crane, IN
• Leah Scherschel, Research Analyst, Cyberinfrastructure for Network Science Center at The Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, Bloomington, IN

Moderator: Andreas “Andi” Bueckle, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Cyberinfrastructure for Network Science Center, at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, Bloomington, IN

ELEVATE HAPPY HOUR

Join Elevate Ventures and Velocities for an October Ecosystem Happy Hour to network with local and regional resources. 

MICROSOFT for STARTUPS

To be announced soon!

Crossroads Pitch Competition Finals

The top four highest-scoring startups from the semi-finals of the Crossroads Pitch Competition will compete in person for $10,000 in cash and a sweet package of in-kind services!

Nurturing a Culture of Innovation

What are the elements needed to nurture a culture of innovation? How do you know when you are “there”? Follow the journey of the City of Bloomington on one of their three areas of focus for innovation— “Nurturing a Culture of Innovation”—in this part-narrative, part-panel discussion.

BEDC Opportunity Expo & Job Fair

Join the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation at The Mill for an Opportunity Expo. The Opportunity Expo is a career event for professionals and students looking for opportunities to network and work in Bloomington, Ellettsville, and Monroe County. A variety of life sciences and technology businesses will share more about their companies, the impact they have on Bloomington and Monroe County, and available job opportunities. Employers interested in exhibiting can contact Stacie Marotta at the BEDC.

MONTHLY Maker Café

Join Dream Technician Andrew Woodard and the Uplands Maker Mobile to explore 3D printing, laser cutting, and more. Come create with us! No reservation, registration, or long time commitment needed. Pop in, see how it works, pop out.

Lean Startup Panel Discussion

A panel discussion with founders from The Mill about lean startup methods.

SPRINT WEEK DEMO NIGHT

Sprint Week is a fun, week-long, team innovation challenge. At this wrap-up event, teams will present their solutions to the 2021 Challenge.  A panel of distinguished Indiana founders, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and our lead sponsor MetroStar will name the winner of Sprint Week!