2024 Finalists
Awards of Excellence Finalists
Congratulations to the 2024 UEDA Awards of Excellence Finalists. Leading initiatives from across North America compete in a six-month process, including application, peer review, online presentations, and, ultimately, selection by attendees of the annual UEDA Summit as category leaders. These projects represent the top university-based economic development initiatives in the country, as judged by their peers.
Talent
Talent includes the spectrum of knowledge transfer activities by which universities educate people, developing human capital for the 21st century Knowledge Economy. This category includes life-long learning, both degree and non-degree programs, experiential education and discovery-based learning programs, active alignment of curricula to industry needs, etc.
Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing
The University of Kentucky – CATEGORY LEADER
South Bend – Elkhart Regional Partnership + enFocus
From the Classroom to the Board Room: Collaboration for Today’s Intern
Innovation
Innovation begins with basic research, but then builds on knowledge creation to encompass knowledge transfer and application in ways that are useful and relevant to society. This category encompasses basic research; applied, translational, problem-oriented, and industry-contracted R&D; cooperative extension services; technology transfer; etc.
Tennessee Tech University
Broadband Across Tennessee – Innovation in Economic Impact Strategies
University of Georgia – CATEGORY LEADER
The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth
The University of Texas at Dallas
Texas Instruments Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Building (BMES)
Place
Place is defined as the many and diverse ways in which institutions contribute to making attractive, competitive communities—places where people want to live, create and take jobs, raise their families, participate in civic life, and age and retire. Competitive, successful communities and regions are attentive to the health, education, environment, housing, safety, and entertainment needs of community members. Campuses and sites like research parks are components of place-making, but the focus of this definition is broader, on communities, or even on regions.
Tech Parks Arizona / University of Arizona Center for Innovation
University of Arizona Center for Innovation Sponsored Launch
University of Michigan Economic Growth Institute
Energy Transition Impact Project (ETIP)
University of North Carolina Wilmington – CATEGORY LEADER
Climate Change and Coastal Resiliency — Turning knowledge to action
University of Texas at Arlington
Regional Centers of Expertise (RCEs)
Engaged University
This category recognizes initiatives that demonstrate excellence in linking all three legacy award categories. Projects included successfully engage multiple community partners to link, leverage and connect efforts in Talent, Innovation, and Place.
East Carolina University
Engage Eastern North Carolina (EngageENC)
Tennessee Technological University
Harnessing University Expertise: Fostering Sustainable Rural Tourism Economies
University of Alaska Anchorage Business Enterprise Institute
The Emerging Energy Market Analysis Initiative
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley – CATEGORY LEADER
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
This category recognizes projects that demonstrate excellence in fostering Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in a community. Projects in this category attempt to make their communities more equitable by creating opportunities for historically underserved populations, including but not limited to communities of color, unemployed and underemployed workers, persons with disabilities, individuals impacted by the criminal justice system, veterans and military spouses, and other groups facing labor market barriers.
Florida Gulf Coast University
Southwest Florida Equitable Jobs Pipeline
Rutgers University – JUDGES’ AWARD
Rutgers Advanced Institute for the Study of Entrepreneurship and Development (RAISED)