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Discovery Partners Institute
AbbreviationDPI
FoundersTim Killeen and Ed Seidel
Headquarters200 S. Wacker Drive
Location
Executive Director
Bill Jackson
Parent organization
University of Illinois System
Websitedpi.uillinois.edu

The University of Illinois Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) conducts tech workforce development, and applied R&D and business building in Chicago, Illinois.[1] It is one of 15 Illinois Innovation Network (IIN) hubs, each of which is associated with one or more of the 12 four-year public universities in Illinois. DPI currently operates in office space at 200 S. Wacker Drive, with plans to build a dedicated building within The 78, a neighborhood under development in Chicago's South Loop. DPI's stated goal is to attract individuals to Illinois tech careers and to facilitate corporate investment in Illinois, primarily through training and education and through applied research and development.[1]

Development of DPI

Planning for and development of DPI started in 2016 under the leadership of University of Illinois President Tim Killeen and Ed Seidel, UI's vice president for economic development and innovation, with a goal to build an institution where students and faculty from Illinois campuses and other individuals can interact with academic and business partners, take classes, do research, intern with private companies, learn entrepreneurship and work with community agencies. In October 2017, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and the University of Illinois System unveiled plans for DPI and the IIN as drivers for innovation and growth in the knowledge-based economy of Illinois.[2]

In June 2018, the Illinois Legislature approved $500 million for DPI and other IIN hubs within the state,[3] and in August 2018 William Sanders was named as interim director of the DPI.[4] That same month, Illinois Innovation Network hubs were established at the three campuses within the University of Illinois System (in Springfield,[5] Champaign-Urbana[6] and Chicago).[7] In October 2018 a hub was established at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb.[8] These have been joined by hubs at each of the other eight public universities in Illinois, and by the Illinois Rural Hub in Rockford and the Peoria Innovation Hub in December 2018.[9]

In September 2019 Bill Sanders announced his intention to become dean of engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.[10] The search for a successor led to the hiring of Bill Jackson, a former executive at Johnson Controls.

Headquarters in Chicago

In September 2022, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker unveiled the design for DPI's new headquarters in The 78, a new innovation district along the South Branch of the Chicago River. The eight-story building – a layered dome of glass and steel – will provide more than 200,000 square feet of office, classroom, laboratory and event space for DPI and its university and industry partners.[11] Designed by architecture firms OMA and Jacobs, the building is designed to create strong connections to surrounding communities, the adjacent riverfront, and the future phases of the larger Innovation District at The 78. The building's main entry will be located at 15th Street and Wells-Wentworth, and a Richard Hunt sculpture will anchor the site's landscape. The project is expected to break ground in 2024, and will be the first building to begin construction in The 78.[12]

Workforce Development

DPI runs several programs to help strengthen and diversify Chicago's tech talent pool. In December 2020, The Pritzker Foundation announced it is giving $10 million over five years to DPI to support and develop promising and more diverse tech talent in Illinois. The funding established DPI's Pritzker Tech Talent Labs (PTTL).[13] Today, PTTL operates a number of programs. They include:

  • Training programs for computer science teachers to expand the availability of computer science courses for students across Illinois.[14]
  • The City Scholars Program, operated in partnership with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Grainger College of Engineering. The program places top computer science and computer engineering students in 20 hours per week, semester-long internships in Chicago, while taking a full load of classes at DPI.[15]
  • Apprenticeship programs to develop tech talent for corporations in and around Chicago.[16]

Research

DPI conducts research in several arenas, including education and public health. Major undertakings include:

  • Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC), which provides data-based analysis to Illinois policy and education leaders’ questions to help ensure more widespread and equitable education outcomes across the state. IWERC's initial funders are the Joyce Foundation, the Steans Family Foundation, the Pritzker Traubert Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and two anonymous donors.[17]
  • Illinois Wastewater Surveillance System (IWSS) is a partnership between DPI and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). Launched in 2021, IWSS collects samples of raw sewage from over 85 wastewater treatment facilities across Illinois including metro Chicago and then analyzed in labs to track the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes COVID-19.[18] Separately, the principal partners in IWSS—DPI, University of Illinois-Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory and Northwestern University—test wastewater samples taken from sewer maintenance holes in Chicago neighborhoods and O'Hare International Airport to track COVID-19 for the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH).[19][20] A pilot project launched in September 2022 monitors wastewater collected from schools across Illinois for COVID-19, as well as influenza A and B.[21] In November 2022, IWSS was awarded a Chicago Innovation Award for its leadership in monitoring the ebb and flow of COVID-19 in Chicago and Illinois by detecting the virus’ presence in wastewater.[22] In January 2023, DPI announced it has launched a website to provide data to the general public on COVID-19 levels at the community level, based on its continued disease-monitoring work for IDPH.[23]

Partners

Academic partners to DPI include four Chicago-area institutions which are not state of Illinois universities (University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Illinois Institute of Technology[24] and Argonne National Laboratory)[25] and five international partners: Tel Aviv University,[26] Hebrew University of Jerusalem, M.S. Ramaiah Medical College, Cardiff University[27] and National Taiwan University.

DPI's corporate partners in its workforce development efforts include Apple, Google, Cognizant and CVS.

Funding

Release of the state of Illinois funding for the DPI and the other IIN capital projects was delayed[28] until, on February 12, 2020, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker announced $500 million for capital projects around the state of Illinois, with $235 million to go toward building the DPI facility in Chicago and $265 million to be used for capital projects at the other 14 Illinois Innovation Network hubs.[29] On the same day the University of Illinois announced agreement with real estate developer Related Midwest for construction of the DPI research and innovation center within The 78, on one acre of land donated by Related Midwest.[30] The release of these capital funds was a major step toward expanding the DPI toward its full potential. Additionally, as Crain's Chicago Business reported: "In an era of companies moving entire headquarters to gain an edge in recruiting top tech talent" knowledge that the University of Illinois will build this facility in Chicago can be a selling point for Related Midwest to attract corporations to The 78.[29]

References

  1. ^ a b "Discovery Partners Institute – About". dpi.uillinois.edu. University of Illinois. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  2. ^ Rhodes, Dawn (October 19, 2017). "University of Illinois plans public-private Chicago innovation center with Rauner backing". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2020-03-13.
  3. ^ Zigterman, Ben (June 20, 2018). "UI-led Discovery Partners Institute officially off and running". The News-Gazette. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
  4. ^ Rhodes, Dawn (August 24, 2018). "University of Illinois engineering professor to lead downtown Chicago innovation center". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  5. ^ Moore, Brenden (August 28, 2018). "UIS awarded first hub in statewide innovation network". The State Journal-Register. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  6. ^ Wurth, Julie (August 30, 2018). "Chunk of DPI funds put UI's planned data-sciences hub on fast track". The News-Gazette. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  7. ^ Marek, Lynne (August 31, 2018). "UIC will tap state's $500M Discovery Partners fund for expansion". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  8. ^ Rettke, Kelsey (October 10, 2018). "NIU announces partnership, plans for $23M research facility". The Times. Shaw Media. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  9. ^ Wurth, Julie (May 16, 2019). "Illinois Innovation Network now includes all public state universities". The News-Gazette. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  10. ^ "blog posts Sanders accepts deanship at Carnegie Mellon". University of Illinois System News.
  11. ^ "OMA/Jacobs selected to design the University of Illinois' new DPI innovation hub in Chicago". Architect.
  12. ^ "Pritzker, stakeholders unveil design for Discovery Partners Institute". University of Illinois System News.
  13. ^ "Pritzker Foundation gives $10 million to develop diverse tech talent in Chicago". Chicago Tribune. Dec 15, 2020.
  14. ^ "Discovery Partners Institute Launches Statewide Swift Coding and Mobile App Development Training Program for K-12 Educators with support from Apple". Discovery Partners Institute.
  15. ^ "City Scholars Program Expands At Discovery Partners Institute". Discovery Partners Institute.
  16. ^ "DPI Software Developer Apprenticeship Program". Discovery Partners Institute.
  17. ^ "DPI launches new education and workforce research center". University of Illinois System News. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  18. ^ "Illinois Wastewater Surveillance System". Illinois Department of Public Health.
  19. ^ "CDPH, Discovery Partners Institute Announce Citywide System To Monitor COVID-19 In Wastewater". Chicago Department of Public Health. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
  20. ^ "How Chicago's sewers are helping predict COVID outbreaks". Crain's Chicago Business. December 22, 2021.
  21. ^ "IDPH and University of Illinois Spinoff Launch Wastewater Testing for COVID-19 at Schools". Illinois Department of Public Health. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  22. ^ "Chicago Innovation Award Winners: Discovery Partners Institute". Chicago Innovation.
  23. ^ Armentrout, Mitchell (January 10, 2023). "New website tracks and shares COVID-19 levels in Illinois wastewater to help residents 'make informed decisions'". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  24. ^ "Illinois Tech Joins Prestigious Discovery Partners Institute". Illinois Institute of Technology. July 10, 2019. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  25. ^ Ballard, Tom (September 8, 2019). "University of Illinois secures state approval for one billion dollar Discovery Partners Institute". teknovation.biz. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  26. ^ Solomon, Shoshanna (October 25, 2018). "Tel Aviv University to partner in new Chicago innovation, entrepreneurship hub". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  27. ^ "Cardiff University joins Discovery Partners Institute". Cardiff University. June 11, 2019. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  28. ^ Toppo, Greg (October 30, 2018). "Illinois Looks to Chicago for Research Site". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  29. ^ a b Ecker, Danny (February 12, 2020). "The 78 lands a big tenant draw with DPI". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  30. ^ Roeder, David (February 12, 2020). "The 78 megaproject gets backing from U of I, Pritzker – The school's Discovery Partners Institute will build on the site south of downtown". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
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