EPIIC AND EL POMAR

In the spring of 2008 the El Pomar Institute for Innovation and Commercialization (EPIIC) was created as part of a revitalization of a former campus unit, the Colorado Institute for Technology Transfer and Implementation (CITTI). In 1990, CU-Colorado Springs received an historic grant from El Pomar Foundation to establish EPIIC. The Institute was created to assist the region, state, and nation to gain the industrial, technological, and business leadership required to establish and maintain economic stability and growth. The Institute acts as a bridge between scholarly disciplines, industry, and the wider community, and enables unique public/private partnerships that encourage the transfer of technology applications to development opportunities and economic solutions.

El Pomar Foundation, based in Colorado Springs, is one of the largest and oldest private foundations in the Rocky Mountain West with assets totaling $500 million. El Pomar contributes more than $20 million annually through direct grants and Community Stewardship Programs to support Colorado nonprofit organizations involved in health, human services, education, arts and humanities, and civic and community initiatives. Spencer and Julie Penrose founded El Pomar in 1937.

L-R, Advisory Board member, Theo Gregory; Engineering and Innovation Chair, Dr. Michael Larson; Innovation and Security Chair, Dr. Terry Boult; Former Director, Dr. Jeremy Haefner; former Entrepreneurial Finance Chair, Dr. Clark Maxam; former administrative assistant, Laura Poffenberger; Advisory Board Chair, Dr. Venkat Reddy; former Associate Director, Daedra Pierce