April 11, 2024 | Issue 14

Kerpelman named Auburn University's associate vice president for research

Jennifer Kerpelman, professor and associate dean for research, graduate studies, and outreach in the College of Human Sciences, has been named Auburn University’s associate vice president for research, effective January 1, 2024.

An accomplished researcher in the fields of adolescent development and family studies, Kerpelman brings 30 years of leadership as a faculty member and higher education administrator to the role, including extensive experience in advancing partnerships with external agencies and private-sector organizations.

“Dr. Kerpelman brings a wealth of experience to the role of associate vice president,” said Steve Taylor, senior vice president for research and economic development. “Her many years of administrative leadership coupled with her strong research background make her a great choice to help us successfully cultivate the continued growth of Auburn’s research enterprise.”

Cary Chandler leaves the Auburn Research and Technology Foundation

On March 29, 2024, Cary Chandler’s eight year career at Auburn University drew to a close. Chandler joined the university in 2016 as the director of business development for the IP Exchange. His role quickly evolved to include additional duties in the Auburn Research and Technology Foundation as its senior director.  

Over the course of his career at Auburn, Chandler mentored countless student and faculty startups in the New Venture Accelerator and oversaw a period of significant expansion in The Park--doubling its built square footage. Notably, this expansion included a much-needed childcare facility (Big Blue Marble Academy), the 105,000+ square-foot, mixed-use Research and Innovation Center, as well as the Auburn Health Pavilion which includes a free-standing emergency department, breast health center, surgery center and pharmacy.

Later this year, Chandler will take on a new role—Chief Executive Officer for the national non-profit organization, Baby Steps. Founded in Auburn, Baby Steps offers a range of support and assistance to college-aged students navigating unplanned pregnancies with the goal providing the resources necessary for women to have both their baby and their education.

An Auburn graduate, successful entrepreneur and philanthropist, Cary Chandler’s material contributions to Auburn University have helped shape not only The Park, but the students, faculty and staff who had the opportunity to work with him. Auburn leaders, colleagues, and friends wish him well as he begins this next chapter in his professional life.

Auburn Mass Timber Collaborative to unite interdisciplinary faculty for research, education, outreach

Members of The Park community have joined an interdisciplinary collaboration that is positioned to make Auburn University a leader in the rapidly growing mass timber industry.  

“Mass timber building technologies represent some of the most promising solutions to the challenges associated with how we build in the 21st century,” said David Hinson, associate dean and the R. Hugh Daniel Professor in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction (CADC). “Helping advance and expand the use of advanced wood building systems will translate to economic growth and jobs throughout Alabama and the region.”

"We start with forestry, where we provide expertise on wood as a material, followed by engineering, who ensures structural safety. Then architecture helps to make these structures more functional and appealing, and the end product is a mass timber material that opens up new pathways for nonresidential construction in Alabama,” said Brian Via, Regions Bank Professor and director of CFWE’s Forest Products Development Center located in Auburn’s research park.

The Auburn Mass Timber Collaborative features expertise spanning the full spectrum of the mass timber supply chain, including four faculty members from various areas of study in forestry, five faculty members from architecture, one from landscape architecture, three from structural engineering and two from building science. As the team members gear up to begin research operations, they are applying for grants, reaching out to industry partners and reviewing campus projects that have the potential to utilize mass timber, just as the recently built Hey Day Market did. The group is also planning the 2024 Mass Timber Conference at Auburn.

Secretary of Commerce McNair visits Auburn Research Park

On Friday, February 23, Alabama Secretary of Commerce and Auburn alumna, Ellen McNair, joined Auburn leadership in The Park for a briefing and tour of the New Venture Accelerator as part of her day-long visit to the university. The meeting was a welcome opportunity to highlight the impact of Auburn research as well as the success of our faculty and student startups.

Patrick Reed, formerly assistant vice chancellor, innovation and partnerships, at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, has been named the new executive director of the Intellectual Property Exchange (IPX) at Auburn University. A graduate of the University of Tennessee-Martin with a master’s in biotechnology from Northwestern University, Reed has more than 20 years’ experience in technology transfer, including stints at the LSU Agricultural Center and at the Georgia Technological Institute Research Corporation prior to joining the LSU Health Sciences Center. In his last position at LSU, he was also responsible for technology transfer at the university’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge. 

Welcome to Auburn. What are your initial impressions of the campus and community?  What, if anything, has surprised you?

First, that the university and the city seem to work so well together and that there is little distinction between the campus and the community. I’ve heard several times that the ‘Town and Gown’ are extremely cooperative, but I’m now seeing it firsthand. My family and I are quickly assimilating into the culture here and couldn’t be happier that we chose to make Auburn our home. Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising, but it’s been amazing to have received such a warm welcome from absolutely everyone I’ve met so far. There seems to be a real desire to make Auburn University a destination for innovative research, commercialization, and entrepreneurship. And with leadership’s goal of doubling our research enterprise, IPX should have a lot of innovation to work with. I’m excited to help our innovation, commercialization, and entrepreneurial metrics rise with the increase in research expenditures.

Auburn Startup, VivoSphere Nominated for Prestigious Ignite Award

VivoSphere, a biomedical engineering start-up founded by two Auburn University chemical engineering researchers that has created a precise, cost-effective test bed for high-throughput and pre-clinical evaluation of critical cancer therapy candidates, was recently selected as one of the most promising new ventures in the biotech industry.

VivoSphere is addressing the need for more physiologically relevant drug screening models able to perform accurate, cost-effective testing of promising pharmaceutical candidates that also meet the high-throughput requirements drug companies face in bringing lifesaving therapeutics to market. The company’s unique 3-dimentional hydrogel scaffold-based tissues provide a robust platform for assessing the efficacy of drug candidates while also identifying any toxicities these potential treatments might generate.

The New Venture Accelerator company was nominated for the Ignite Award at the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) International Conference and Exhibition SLAS 2024 held on February 3-6 in Boston, Massachusetts. VivoSphere co-founders Elizabeth Lipke and Yuan Tian, were present to meet with potential customers, partners and investors from around the world who were in attendance.

“We are honored to have been nominated for the prestigious Ignite Award and thankful for the extraordinary opportunity it offered us to exhibit on the Innovation AveNEW showcase at SLAS,” said Tian. “The visibility and industry exposure for our young company as a result of this featured position will go a long way in support of our efforts to progress our patented technology into market trials.”



Auburn named Top Metro & 

Best-Performing Small City

Auburn was recently named one of the Best-Performing Small Cities in the U.S. by the Milken Institute and one of the Top Metros by Site Selection Magazine.

The Milken Institute ranked the Auburn-Opelika area No. 14 on its list, which tracks the economic performance of about 400 U.S. metro areas. Auburn was the second-highest of three Alabama cities that made the top 50.

Site Selection Magazine ranked the Auburn-Opelika area No. 3 on its list, which ranked communities with populations over 50,000 but under 200,000 based on the number of industrial projects announced in 2023.

AbGlo Awarded Top Prize at the 2024 Tiger Cage Pitch Competition 

A competition that started with twenty-one student-led business startups competing for $80,000 in seed funding came to conclusion on March 29, 2024 when the six teams who advanced to the final round of the 2024 Tiger Cage Business Pitch Competition presented their business plans to industry professional judges in the Broadway Event Space and Theater located in Horton-Hardgrave Hall.

First place, receiving $30,000 in startup capital, went to AbGlo. Led by Holli Michaels and Courtney Montague of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and Marianne Madsen, AbGlo is a fitness device that corrects lumbar position during core strength exercises through visual and sensory feedback. AbGlo strengthens muscles deep within the core to significantly alleviate lower back pain and improve health outcomes.

Second place and $15,000 in startup capital went to Mammoth Super Sod. Led by Chera Howard of the College of Agriculture, Mammoth Super Sod is a natural grass that can stand up to drought, contains an efficient irrigation system that can reduce up to 70% in water usage, serve as a fire barrier for homes, and produce safer sod for players. The environmental benefits of super sod include carbon sequestration, oxygen production, groundwater replenishment, and pollutant filtration.

CONVERGE: News and Notes from around The Park is a publication of Auburn Research Park. CONVERGE aims to connect with members of The Park community and in turn, help them connect with one another and with university expertise.

Our goal is to highlight innovative activity in The Park and on campus, and link you to resources that may be useful to your organization, for example, if you 're interested in technology that is available for licensing through Auburn, visit the IPX Available Technologies page. If you have a startup and you'd like to learn more about resources available to help you start and grow your business, visit the New Venture Accelerator site and be sure to check out their Opportunities and Events pages.

Spring is often a time for growth and change, fresh starts, and new beginnings. That’s particularly true in The Park this year. March of 2024 was filled with opportunity for several of our staff who will be leaving us to pursue new careers.  Cary Chandler, senior director for the Auburn Research and Technology Foundation, will be taking a position as CEO for a national, non-profit organization, Baby Steps later this year. We are grateful for his nearly 8 years of distinguished leadership and service, and for his mentorship to countless of student and faculty startups.  Haley Franklin, the former director of our event center, 540 at The Park, is the new event operations manager for the Marriott at Grand National in Opelika. Energy, enthusiasm, and attention to detail marked her career at Auburn and will serve her well as she takes this next step in her professional life.  Laney McElroy, our lead graphic designer and former graphic design intern has joined the communication and marketing team in the Auburn offices of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Her unparalleled talent, creativity and taste have left their mark (literally and figuratively) on our organization, for which we are incredibly fortunate. These members of the Auburn family and of The Park family have each played a role in advancing our organization. We are grateful for their meaningful contributions and wish them the very best in their new roles. 

We are fortunate to welcome to our team, Laura Miller, who will be taking over as director of our event center. Laura's considerable corporate experience as an event professional, as well as her ongoing pursuit of a graduate degree in hotel and restaurant management perfectly positions her to assist members of The Park and campus communities who are planning future functions for 540 at The Park. Look for a spotlight on Laura in our next issue.

In the meantime, stay up to date between issues by following us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and by keeping an eye out for us in your inbox.

Thank you, again, for your role in making The Park the place where innovation and creativity begin,

Leslie Chapman

leslie@auburn.edu

334.844.6047