Ivy Tech Community College Northwest and The Society of Innovators announced that 29 new members will be inducted during the 10th Annual Innovators Induction Ceremony at Horseshoe Casino, Hammond on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014. Three additional members inducted previously also will be honored as part of the 2014 – 2015 Class of Innovators.
"We are proud our new members exemplify the twin pillars of creativity and innovation," said O'Merrial Butchee, director, Gerald I. Lamkin Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center, Ivy Tech Northwest. This year's Fellows, Accelerating Greatness, and Chanute Prize co-recipients are selected from among the new and existing members of The Society of Innovators.
Each year, The Society of Innovators – a project of the Lamkin I & E Center – seeks nominations of the most innovative people in our region, said John Davies, assistant director of the center and managing director, The Society of Innovators. Nominations come from Jasper, Lake, LaPorte, Porter, Newton, Pulaski and Starke Counties. The two categories for membership are for individuals and teams.
Society Individual Members:
The 15 new individual members are: Scott Albanese; Chris Birky; Kenneth J. Brock; Ph.D.; Robert Colangelo; Gary Johnson; Gregory C. Koons; Mark Murphy; William E. Nangle; Dushan Nikolovski; Caroline Olah; Jim Paglia; Neeti Parashar, Ph.D. William Pauley, Roger Pradhan, Ph.D.; and Norma Serrano Williams. Three previously inducted members also honored are Dr. Barbara Eason-Watkins; Robert Palumbo, Ph.D.; and W. F. "Bill" Wellman.
Society Team Members:
The new 14 team members being inducted are: Association of Beverly Shores Residents Environment Committee; BP Whiting Refinery Modernization Project; Davis/Lee Hangar Team; "Everglades of the North – The Story of the Grand Kankakee Marsh" Team; JD Marshall Preserve Site; Lake County Court Tattoo Removal Program; Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority (RDA); NWI Coincident Index Team; PCL Alverno; Port of Indiana, Burns Harbor; READY NWI; SLYCE, South Shore Leadership Center; James S. Markiewicz Solar Energy Research Facility; and Thermo Products Design Engineering Development Team.
Ivy Tech Community College is the state's largest public post-secondary institution and the nation's largest singly-accredited statewide community college system serving nearly 200,000 students enrolled annually. Ivy Tech has campuses throughout Indiana. It serves as the state's engine of workforce development, offering affordable degree programs and training that are aligned with the needs of its community along with courses and programs that transfer to other colleges and universities in Indiana. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association.