In the first-ever full-day 865 Fest, formerly known as Knoxville’s Startup Day, about 300 people gathered inside Bridgewater Place in West Knoxville. The day-long programming included conversations about the collaborative efforts on the Covenant Health Park stadium downtown, keynotes from Mark Pancratz and Jordan Harper, and breakout sessions on valuation, relational equity, and more. But
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the opening of application portals for the Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program (LEEP) 2026 Cohort, a two-year, funded fellowship that supports the next generation of energy entrepreneurs. Selected fellows will work to advance technologies that make energy more affordable, bolster national security, and give American manufacturers a competitive edge in
While she didn’t grow up on a farm, Bianca Bailey always had a fascination with agriculture and engineering. The summer before sixth grade, the Texas native attended a research apprenticeship program at Kentucky State University where she took soil samples from a tomato farm and examined pesticide infiltration in groundwater. Fast forward to when she
The U.S. Air Force awarded startup SkyNano, led by Innovation Crossroads alumna Anna Douglas, a $1.25 million contract to advance its CO2-to-carbon nanotube technology as part of a project to develop low-cost, battery-grade graphite. SkyNano’s partners include American Energy Technologies Company and Eonix, led by Innovation Crossroads alumnus Don DeRosa. SkyNano and Eonix were recruited to Knoxville through Innovation Crossroads, a Lab-Embedded
The community welcomed 12 new companies to Knoxville for the Innovation Crossroads program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Spark Cleantech Accelerator at the UT Research Park. The ground level of the Institute for Advanced Materials & Manufacturing at the University of Tennessee Research Park was packed to the brim on Wednesday morning for a sold-out
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory go beyond breakthroughs to bring quantum innovation into the real world. Here are four ways ORNL-developed quantum technologies support industry.
From the world of research papers and cubicles, Kevin Roccapriore has made a leap into the entrepreneurial arena with Innovation Crossroads, a Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program node at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory that provides support for startups like Roccapriore’s AtomQ.
Vinit Chaudhary, founder of Elemental Composites and a member of Cohort 2024 in the Innovation Crossroads program, comes from a family of entrepreneurs and has long been interested in business. His focus sharpened when he discovered an interest in composite materials during his mechanical engineering studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and saw the potential to scale and
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today selected 27 innovators and entrepreneurs to join the latest cohorts in its Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program (LEEP). Selectees will be embedded within four U.S. national laboratories where they will work with an extensive network of mentors and experts to develop transformative energy technologies.