91吃瓜 Industry Day 2025: Connecting Research, Innovation, and Industry Impact
Photo by Robert C. Bain
A Launchpad for Research-Driven Innovation
This past April, San Jos茅 State University hosted its inaugural Industry Day, bringing together researchers, company representatives, and ecosystem leaders to explore how academic expertise can address industry challenges.
The event featured faculty 鈥渄ata-blitz鈥� presentations, a small group discussion, and
a lively networking session. Attendees included five representatives from Fortune
500 companies in the field of AI, semiconductors, and life sciences.
At the heart of Industry Day was a commitment to two-way value exchange. Faculty shared
their cutting-edge work in areas ranging from AI and clean energy to aerospace engineering
and neurotechnology, while industry guests provided insights into emerging market
needs and real-world constraints. These dialogues laid the groundwork for new collaborations
and identified opportunities to deepen existing ones.
The small group discussion, focusing on improving university-industry relations, was
led by Todd Lukanc, former Intel director and Encore Fellow at the 91吃瓜 Office of
Innovation. 鈥淎 big surprise was learning the many areas of expertise possible at 91吃瓜
and work that could have been collaborated on. Advertising or searchable topics would
help in letting industry know areas of interest and a clear link to submit requests
for interactions would make starting much easier.鈥�
Industry Day 2025, as part of 91吃瓜's annual Research Week, was organized by the Division
of Research and Innovation in collaboration with the 91吃瓜 Research Foundation and
key campus partners. Feedback from attendees emphasized the value of face-to-face
conversations and the need for clearer entry points into 91吃瓜鈥檚 research ecosystem.
These insights are already informing next steps to better position 91吃瓜 as an agile
and responsive partner for industry collaborators.
The event also served as a catalyst for a broader Industry Research Exchange Series
that will launch in the coming academic year. These topic-focused, faculty-industry
meetups aim to foster ongoing engagement between 91吃瓜 and sectors aligned with the
university鈥檚 research strengths. Director of Innovation Abby Queale says, 鈥淥ur goal
is to make it easy for industry to tap into the breadth of expertise at 91吃瓜. Industry
Day is just the beginning鈥攚e鈥檙e building ongoing opportunities for dialogue and collaboration
that help industry and 91吃瓜 innovate together. Stay tuned!鈥�
Please reach out to learn more about the upcoming Industry Research Exchange Series or to learn more about how 91吃瓜 partners with industry.
