Page 24 - Innovation Delaware 2018

“Organic growth of our businesses is the best way for Delaware to go forward; therefore, we’re looking at
a lot of new, early-stage companies dealing in the
life sciences.” —Mike Bowman
ACROBIOSYSTEMS
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MIKE BOWMAN
JENNIFER KMIEC
WILLIAM PROVINE
like Siemens, Agilent, W.L. Gore and DeNovix continue to thrive. Adesis, which had been focused on classical chemical synthesis and is now moving into display optics, recently announced a significant expansion.
In biotech news, the University of Delaware’s STAR Campus broke ground late last year on the new Biopharmaceutical Innovation Building. The 200,000-square-foot research facility
is slated to open in early 2020, and will serve as headquarters for the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL), which works to advance the industry and develop the next generation of workers.
“Biologic drugs and their impact on the future of medicine are really a very large bet and Delaware will be the center of activity for the nation around that research because of a [cooperative agreement] it won from the federal government,” says MIKE BOWMAN, associate director of the Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships at the University of Delaware (UD). “That kind of STEM underpinning bodes very well for the future.” Federal investment under the agreement is expected to total $70 million.
Delaware is also well positioned to increase gender diversity in STEM fields, an effort spearheaded by the organization Inspiring Women in STEM. Founded in 2013 and centered on an annual conference — with Ellen J. Kullman, then CEO of DuPont, and Terri Kelly, then CEO of Gore, serving as inspiration and anchor participants — the organization focuses on providing actionable ideas and guidance to its members on topics like personal empowerment, having one’s voice heard, getting a seat at the table, salary negotiations, pay equity and networking. “It’s been an annual event,” says founder JENNIFER KMIEC. “We get about 300 attendees, and we do a full day of professional development programming, and we use it as a way to showcase some of the outstanding women who are leaders in the industry.”
Meanwhile, science-based startups are getting a leg up at the Delaware Innovation Space, a 130,000-square-foot incubator at The Experimental Station in Wilmington. A partnership between the State of Delaware, DuPont and UD, the Innovation Space offers labs,
headquartered here (with some R&D taking place elsewhere); a specialty products company, which will retain the DuPont name and will be largely located here; and a performance materials company that will be known as Dow and will be located at Dow’s traditional home in Northern Michigan.
Chemours — which had been considering a move away from the First State — has elected to stay. Firms
AGILENT TECHNOLOGIES
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COURTESY OF DELAWARE INNOVATION SPACE