TERRE HAUTE — Gov. Mitch Daniels will receive the inaugural “Excellence in Innovation” Award at an event Saturday at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in Indianapolis. The award is being presented by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, which is hosting the gala to celebrate the first decade of Rose-Hulman Ventures, a one-of-a-kind program that provides student interns with technical and professional experiences.
“Using his business experience and creative approach to government, Governor Daniels has implemented a number of programs that have resulted in financial stability for Indiana. At a time when states across the country are struggling, Indiana is now one of the top states in the country in terms of business attractiveness,” said Matt Branam, Rose-Hulman president.
The event will also honor Samuel F. Hulbert, Ph.D., professor emeritus and retired Rose-Hulman president who established an academic environment where innovation flourished. “We are thrilled to bring together so many of the people who made Rose-Hulman Ventures a success in its first 10 years,” Branam said.
Rose-Hulman Ventures, a program of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, brings together students and technology-based companies. For students, that means the best engineering professional practice experience possible within an academic program. For businesses, it means prototypes, refining the design of existing products and expanding current engineering capabilities.
This real-life, project-based program offers students professional practice experience. During the past decade, 757 students have worked as interns for 120 companies.
“We pride ourselves on the unique mix we have of classroom experience with faculty who focuses all their energies on teaching, along with the Ventures program where students learn engineering by doing engineering. The real business climate in which they work gives them a distinct advantage when they begin their job searches,” Branam said.
Dinner chairman for the event is James R. Baumgardt, a Rose-Hulman alumnus, an emeritus member of the college’s board of trustees and the former chairman of the board’s committee on Rose-Hulman Ventures. Leadership sponsors include Greg and Amy Gibson, David and Katherine Hannum, and the Cornelius Family Foundation. President’s Sponsors are Bill Fenoglio, chairman of the Rose-Hulman board of trustees, Nancy and Niles Noblitt, Joann and Jack Ragle, Susan and Donald Scott and Clyde Willian.
For more information, visit decadeofinnovation.com.
