The Front Range Industry and Postdoc Summit (FRIPS) 2019 was held on October 11, 2019 at CU Boulder. FRIPS aims to connect postdocs and industry to build ongoing local partnerships and collaborations between Front Range academic institutions, government laboratories, and businesses.
The Postdoctoral Association of Colorado Boulder (PAC Boulder), in partnership with the NIST Postdoctoral and Early-career Association of Researchers (PEAR), organized the second annual summit after the success from FRIPS 2018, where over 100 postdoctoral researchers and graduate students throughout the Front Range attended to network and to learn about careers in industry.
This year, FRIPS had an even larger postdoctoral and industry representation. Industries from a variety of scientific fields attended the summit, including Arpeggio Biosciences, Array Biopharma, Ball Aerospace, CO-LABS, ConcealFab Corporation, Double Helix Optics, Horizon Discovery, Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, Point Designs LLC, Promega, Strobe, and Sienco. Dr. Walter Copan, director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), kicked off the event and highlighted the importance of this opportunity to foster collaboration between academia, industry, and government.
During the event, participants had the chance to give an elevator pitch about their research, as well as to participate in a networking session with industry representatives. The elevator pitch winners were Pacifica Sommers (CU Boulder, Biomedical, Chemical, and Material Science); Sean Cascarina (Colorado State University, Engineering and Information Technology); and Sam Gage (National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Physical and Optical Sciences). Each winner received a $250 gift card in recognition of their research and presentation.
Industry representatives included Promega VP of Life Sciences Tom Livelli and Ball Aerospace VP of Engineering Mike Gazarik, who both delivered plenary talks about their own journeys through STEM industry. FRIPS 2019 concluded with a social gathering at Twisted Pine brewery, where the networking continued.
The goal is to evolve and grow FRIPS every year. The FRIPS 2020 committee has already begun sketching out the next summit. If you would like to help plan FRIPS or have any ideas that could improve the event, please contact FRIPS (cofrips@gmail.com) or PAC Boulder (pacboulder@gmail.com).