April 23, 2019
IUPUI Hine Hall Auditorium
Indianapolis, Indiana
Always Innovating at IUPUI
Introduction
President McRobbie, Trustees, esteemed guests, I am delighted to be here as we celebrate the continuing growth of the IUPUI campus with the groundbreaking of Innovation Hall. IUPUI always seems to be growing, always striving, always evolving.
This campus is the perfect home for Innovation Hall because — here at IUPUI — we are also always innovating. I would venture to say that since the moment of our campus' founding fifty years ago, we have been built for innovation.
Preparing for the Innovation Economy
Here in Indianapolis, we are at the beating heart of this great city's innovation economy. We connect with the city through hundreds of partnerships that provide internships and clinical experiences for our students, preparing the next generation for success in that economy and beyond.
At IUPUI, we are educating more Hoosiers than any other campus in the state. More than 90 percent of those Hoosiers stay in Indiana after they graduate. The majority stay right here in Indianapolis.
This continuous infusion of recent college graduates translates into an educated, talented, and innovative workforce that drives the economy of this city and state forward.
And that economy is changing. A recent study charts the progress of industrial cities like Indianapolis, going back to 1970. That study shows that Marion County has lost two-thirds of its traditional industrial base, shifting from a manufacturing-intensive economy to one that demands higher-skilled professional and technical jobs. Right here in downtown Indy, technology companies like Salesforce and Infosys have announced expansions that will bring more than 3,000 new tech jobs over the next few years.
Those jobs require a strong foundation in STEM education. As President McRobbie mentioned, with Innovation Hall, we are aiming to strengthen that foundation, educating students for the jobs in science, technology, engineering, math, and related areas that are transforming our economy and our lives.
Twenty years ago the sentence, "I Googled YouTube so I could set up my smart speakers," would have made NO sense. Today everybody understands what that means … Right?
At IUPUI we are educating the experts who help with that translation, building the technologies of the future.
This campus is the perfect home for Innovation Hall because — here at IUPUI — we are also always innovating.
Chancellor Nasser H. Paydar
A Building for Innovation
And Innovation Hall will help us do just that.
As you've heard, it will bring three IUPUI STEM powerhouses together.
This co-location creates the ideal environment for collaboration. The variety of spaces promises to bring together people across disciplines. We have laboratories and clean rooms, a makerspace and lounge space, as well as state-of-the art classrooms.
And these classrooms are special. One maximizes interaction and engagement with a design that clears, allowing students to make eye contact not only with the instructor but with each other. The nontraditional shape of this classroom reimagines what the classroom of the future will look like. Others incorporate custom furniture that makes active learning more possible. And in a nod to traditional classrooms, Innovation Hall will feature one of the largest lecture halls on campus.
In many ways, this facility offers a history of pedagogical innovation building on what has worked in the past but revolutionizing for the future.
Innovation Hall, as a whole, also reinforces our campus's commitment to sustainability, aiming for LEED Gold certification after it is completed. It will be among six other LEED certified buildings at IUPUI that are energy and resource-efficient. Going green is a way of life on our campus.
Building for the Future
In closing, as we celebrate our past fifty years at IUPUI, we are educating the students of today and tomorrow. We are preparing tomorrow's workforce. We are conducting research that will make all of our futures better.
With Innovation Hall, we are also building for the future.