ODON – Purdue@WestGate at the WestGate@Crane Technology Park is making Indiana known as the go-to state to solve the most challenging problems facing National Security.
WestGate has made a name for itself in the Defense community with their weekly Webinar Wednesday’s. Over 1,000 people attended webinars the past year covering a variety of topics designed to advance Hoosier opportunities in entrepreneurship and national security.
“We considered strengths of our university researchers, especially growing capabilities and demand, and identified cybersecurity, hypersonics, microelectronics, and quantum computing. So, we decided to create a special series focused within defense,” said Samantha Nelson, Program Manager, Purdue Research Foundation at WestGate Academy. Nelson took this opportunity to create the Defense in Indiana webinar series.
“As one of the first speakers in this webinar series, I was pleased to see the vibrant engagement from the start…and the growth since has been impressive. This series is a great venue for our defense Institute at Purdue (the i-GSDI) to mutually support common goals with WestGate@Crane to grow the size and impact of Indiana’s defense and security innovations.” Dan DeLaurentis, Director – Institute for Global Security and Defense Innovation at Purdue University.
Defense in Indiana focuses on promoting Indiana strengths in research and development, featuring experts from our universities, startups, industry, and federal labs, especially Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane.
“There is great, unrealized potential for Indiana universities, startups, and industry to impact National Security, and bring a lot of high impact jobs to the state,” said Jason Salstrom, Director, Purdue@WestGate. The initiative has already led to collaboration between Purdue faculty, startup companies, and NSWC Crane.
“WestGate@Crane Technology Park is home to over 60 companies, with the most prominent being defense contractors. We want to highlight the technologies and research that is being done, right here, in Indiana,” said Nelson. “With NSWC Crane focusing on specific technologies, we want to be a resource that can help make connections for future collaborations, as well as to help students, who are entering into the above fields, understand the opportunities that are right here in Crane, Indiana.”
To date, the Defense in Indiana series has featured multiple webinars with subject matter expertise in quantum computing and artificial intelligence, as well as cybersecurity and Hypersonics. All webinars are recorded and posted on the WestGate Academy youtube channel and website. This series just happens to align with the Purdue Moves initiative. Check out the Purdue Moves news release here: Purdue launches Next Moves initiatives – Purdue University News
Purdue@WestGate’s goal is 3 fold:
- Create opportunities between NSWC Crane, universities and Indiana businesses.
- Promote technologies and capabilities of the defense contractors within the WestGate@Crane Technology Park, featuring these career opportunities.
- Support the development of talent pipelines for careers in National Security.
The series will host webinars over the next few months featuring Quantum, Hypersonics, Microelectronics and Nanotechnology, and Energetic Materials and Systems. View the list of current and past webinar here: (westgate-academy.com)
About Purdue@WestGate
Purdue@WestGate is an economic development accelerator formed by the partnership between WestGate Authority, Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division (NSWC Crane), Purdue University, and Purdue Research Foundation. The Indiana-based collaboration combines strengths to advance education, research and development, and technology commercialization across Indiana and elsewhere. Purdue@WestGate offers tools for startups, entrepreneurial experts, programs, educational opportunities, and workforce development to help southern Indiana businesses grow and thrive. For more information about the resources available to businesses, visit https://www.westgate-academy.com/event to view a full calendar of upcoming events, including startups and defense organizations driving Hypersonic innovation.
