Community Partners

Organizations Helping Advance University-Industry Collaboration

UIDP Community Partners are organizations and agencies that are not eligible for general membership but whose missions and work complement UIDP.

These organizations provide expertise, services, and tools that strengthen the university-industry ecosystem and support UIDP’s efforts to develop and share practical strategies that address common barriers to collaboration. Community Partners publicly align with UIDP’s mission and values, invest in the organization, and actively engage with our membership.

Their highly visible involvement with UIDP helps foster connections among leading universities, industry organizations, and other stakeholders around the world, creating opportunities for transformative partnerships.

Community Partner Expertise

UIDP Community Partners represent leading organizations across a variety of sectors, including:

Real estate
Construction
Design
Consulting
Government affairs
Research intelligence

Partner Engagement

UIDP works closely with Community Partners to showcase their expertise, innovations, and specialized tools in meaningful ways.

Community Partners frequently:

Present or moderate sessions at UIDP events.
Share expertise where it aligns with conference and program topics.
Collaborate with UIDP through focused partnerships that create mutual value.

To ensure meaningful engagement, UIDP collaborates with one Community Partner within each focus area.

We encourage our members to seek out our Community Partners to learn how your activities can complement and amplify your effectiveness.

Contact info@uidp.net to learn how your organization can become a Community Partner and customize your engagement.

Meet Our Community Partners

CannonDesign is a global architecture firm focused on innovative design across health, education, business, and science.

In its work with large-scale healthcare projects, such as the OR 360 simulation center at Cedars Sinai, CannonDesign has questioned the role that architecture plays in human health. At the UC San Diego Jacobs Medical Center, which opened in November of 2016, the team created an all-electronic patient intake system. A similar concept for changing the amount of time patients spend waiting was implemented in 2016 at the University of Minnesota’s health center, where CannonDesign also reimagined the use of exam rooms and doctor offices to create a more efficiently used space. For Kaiser Permanente’s Radiation Oncology Center in Anaheim, California, when also opened in 2016, the firm took inspiration from day spas to create a more relaxing, inviting environment for cancer patients. The firm is also tackling social challenges—in Cook County, Chicago, it is working to redesign bond courts to be more equitable. A 20-person team at CannonDesign, called Yazdani Studio, acts as an experimental think tank that helps to drive innovation within the firm. In 2018, Cannon set its sights on improving children’s health and well-being through architectural interventions. It completed the VCU Health Virginia Treatment Center for Children, one of the largest stand-alone pediatric mental health facilities in the United States, and York University’s Student Centre in Toronto, Canada, which was designed to reduce social isolation among college students. (Source: FastCompany article, Most Innovative Companies.)

Learn more about CannonDesign and UIDP:

“Our engagement with the UIDP community stretches beyond a collaborative partnership—it’s an avenue that allows us to help shape the future of business. Having the opportunity to hear directly from university and industry leaders gives us the confidence that CannonDesign is contributing its expertise to solutions that will not only improve working relationships but, ultimately, generate the best outcomes for students, institutions, and employers.”

– Patricia Bou
Principal, Director, Education Practice, CannonDesign

Collaborative Real Estate is a full-service real estate firm specializing in innovation districts and university research parks. With our expertise in development, asset/property management, and community activation, we help innovative ecosystems truly thrive.

We believe that a research building’s greatest amenities are the tenants themselves, and that what happens inside a building is what matters most. Every day, we are creating spaces, communities, and programs to grow thriving innovation communities, designed to inspire, connect, and support ongoing user success.

Learn more about Collaborative Real Estate:

“At Collaborative Real Estate, we consider it our purpose to deliver and operate facilities that equip partnerships with the maximum opportunity to achieve meaningful and productive engagement. Being a Community Partner with UIDP has provided us with the capability to have critical conversations with key players while simultaneously conducting invaluable customer discovery.”

– David Tyndall
Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Collaborative Real Estate

Huron is a global professional services firm that partners with clients to put possible into practice by creating sound strategies, optimizing operations, accelerating digital transformation, and facilitating successful collaborations among industry partners. By embracing diverse perspectives, encouraging new ideas and challenging the status quo, we create sustainable results for the organizations we serve. Learn more at www.huronconsultinggroup.com.

Read the interview with Huron’s Rick Rohrbach, managing director, research strategy, and learn how Huron’s suite of services complements UIDP’s role in shaping approaches while helping organizations bring those approaches into practice.

“UIDP has played an important role over the past two decades in convening university and industry leaders to develop practical approaches for reducing friction in collaboration. That focus aligns closely with Huron’s work. We help bring to life the ideas and tools developed by the UIDP community.”

– Rick Rohrbach
Managing Director, Huron

With nearly 40 years of experience and $1.5 billion in transactions, The University Financing Foundation is a non-profit developer and advisor focused on creating vibrant physical environments for institutions of education and research at below the cost of market. Through careful consideration of institutional program needs, we develop facilities that are more than just buildings. They are communities intentionally crafted to inspire creativity, stimulate economic growth, and accelerate innovation. Learn more about TUFF and UIDP.

“Being a UIDP Community Partner has allowed TUFF to support efforts for UIDP to be recognized as a problem-solving organization and innovator relative to university-industry collaboration. In 2022, TUFF celebrated our 40th anniversary by building new university and industry relationships across the country because of our Community Partner alliance with UIDP. Thanks to Tony, the UIDP staff, and the UIDP membership for the opportunity to serve beside you as we strengthen local innovation ecosystems.”

– Kevin Byrne
President and CEO, The University Financing Foundation

Elsevier plays a pivotal role in facilitating collaboration between academia and industry by harnessing the power of data analytics. With over 140 years of experience serving the global research and healthcare communities, Elsevier’s influence extends across 180 countries and regions. Annually, their high-quality journals publish approximately 630,000 articles, which contribute to over 17% of global articles and 28% of global citations, underscoring the significance of their contributions to research. Through sophisticated data analytics tools, Elsevier provides access to a vast repository of structured and unstructured content sources, comprising over 1.2 billion unique data points. This extensive database includes millions of authors, institutions, publication records, patents, drugs, grants, and policy documents, empowering stakeholders to make evidence-based decisions.

By offering access to such comprehensive datasets and analytical tools, Elsevier enables researchers and industry professionals to collaborate more effectively, leveraging data-driven insights to inform their decisions. Their commitment to open access and inclusive research practices fosters a culture of knowledge sharing, enabling diverse stakeholders to contribute to collective progress. Through these collaborative efforts, Elsevier strives to humbly contribute to the advancement of research and innovation, recognizing the importance of collaborative efforts in addressing societal challenges and driving meaningful impact. Learn more and download the report, View from the Top: Academic leaders’ and funders’ insights on the challenges ahead.

Elsevier’s global Researcher of the Future survey offers fresh insights into how advances in artificial intelligence (AI), evolving research practices, and shifting policy and funding dynamics are transforming research more profoundly than ever before. Drawing on insights from more than 3,200 academic and corporate researchers across 113 countries, the report highlights widening regional differences in researcher attitudes, evolving views on mobility, and a shift in how researchers see their own role in a changing world. Learn more and see the survey report.

The 4th generation university model transcends conventional boundaries, championing an integrated approach to education, research, and innovation, with a strong focus on societal impact and regional development. Download Elsevier’s seminal report, Towards the 4th Generation University: The Transformative Role of TU/e in Delivering Innovation and Impact in the Eindhoven Region.

Recommended Offerings

Member rate for five attendees at two UIDP conferences each year
Member rate for two attendees at non-recurring events
Advance access to conference registration lists
Access to member-only UIDP learnings on the website
Annual UIDP newsletter article or article in the eMagazine
Website recognition
25% discount on event sponsorships

For more information about becoming a Community Partner, contact info@uidp.net