The Obama Administration Thursday announced the winning i6 Green Challenge projects from Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, New England and Washington.<\/p>\n
Each project will receive about $1 million from the U.S. Commerce Department\u2019s Economic Development Administration and up to $6 million in additional funding and technical assistance from the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, as well as Commerce\u2019s National Institute of Standards and Technology and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.<\/p>\n
All of the competition\u2019s winners will support emerging technology-based businesses as they mature and demonstrate their market potential, making them more attractive to investors and helping entrepreneurs turn their ideas and innovations into viable companies.<\/p>\n
UCF is leading the state\u2019s only winning team, which includes the Technological Research and Development Authority and the University of Florida\u2019s Florida Energy Systems Consortium.<\/p>\n
According to a 2009 study, the Central Florida region is ideally situation for the cleantech industry.<\/p>\n
The Florida partners will work together to speed up the development and commercialization of research in clean technology areas, such as solar power, building science, energy efficiency, hydrogen fuel cells and ethanol production.<\/p>\n
Research centers at universities across the state, economic development agencies, incubators and entrepreneur support organizations will participate in an online network to share proven techniques and encourage technology development in cleantech industries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe proposed this network to utilize the existing resources we have in the state and bring them together to help jumpstart the development of clean technologies statewide,\u201d said Tom O\u2019Neal, associate vice president for UCF\u2019s Office of Research and Commercialization and the lead investigator on the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only do we have outstanding energy research expertise, we have a skilled technical workforce located in Florida\u2019s Space Coast to develop a strong energy innovation cluster in Central Florida,\u201d O\u2019Neal added.<\/p>\n
Among the resources the program will offer is a catalog of energy research conducted at Florida universities, a dedicated market research team to identify opportunities for research while helping with market evaluation and business plan development and a statewide network of experienced mentors, investors and industry experts to assist entrepreneurs in business strategy, financing and management.<\/p>\n
Venture capitalists are now investing more heavily in later stages of research, making it difficult to find funding for early-stage projects, according to a Kauffman Foundation study. The UCF-led project will help bridge that gap.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe congratulate the organizations and entrepreneurs who came together to form these vibrant public-private partnerships in an effort to promote new green technologies and green jobs in the United States,\u201d Acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank said. \u201cThese investments will help boost U.S. competitiveness and better position the nation to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
The winning projects of the i6 Green Challenge include:<\/p>\n