CHICAGO-The University of Chicago briefed city and state officials Thursday on a plan to develop a research and development and supercomputing center here.

The university's board of trustees, as well as invited guests, were briefed on the plan that would create UI Labs, a center or centers where tech startups, manufacturers and big corporations would go to in order to solve problems in energy, transportation, advanced manufacturing, food production and health care technology, according to the Chicago Sun Times. No location has been set for the center.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn stated in a published report in the Chicago Sun Times that the project could receive some public funding.

“We'd decide whether it involves state taxpayer dollars, depending on the project,” Quinn said after attending the University of Illinois Board of Trustees meeting on Thursday where Larry Schook, the university's vice president of research, outlined the proposal. The board met at a UIC student center at 828 S. Wolcott Ave.

ULI's goal is to raise $20 million for the first year of operations for the UI Labs, which would operate as a private, not-for-profit company. The University of Illinois would have an “affiliation agreement” with UI Labs and offer resources to the researchers from its National Center for Supercomputing Applications and its Blue Waters supercomputer, the newspaper reported.

The UI Labs' yearly budget would be approximately $100 million in the next five years, and was proposed to be funded grants, private donations and strategic partnerships. See story in the Chicago Sun Times.

Instant Insights /

University of Illinois Pursues R&D, Supercomputing Center

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