Colorado Universities Innovation Council (CUIC)

CREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLORADO'S FUTURE WORKFORCE

The Colorado Universities Innovation Council (CUIC) supports and accelerates Colorado’s future workforce. CUIC works across the state to provide experiential, work-based learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.

LINKED is the flagship program of the Colorado Universities Innovation Council (“CUIC”). LINKED collaborates with industry partners on cross-disciplinary experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students across Colorado. Students roll-up their sleeves, collaborate across campuses, and work with C-Suite leaders to solve real problems.

Now in its fifth year, we aim to evolve LINKED into a year-long, cohort-based fellowship program, reaching more students with experiential learning opportunities through a competitive application process. Your support will help make this a reality in 2024!

GIVING LEVELS

We have set a Giving Goal of $5,000 for Colorado Gives Day, and your support will help us achieve this milestone. Consider the various giving levels and the impact each level can make:

$50: Provides learning materials for one student participant in the LINKED Fellowship Program.

$100: Supports networking events, fostering collaboration among LINKED Fellowship participants.

$250: Contributes to the development of mentorship programs for LINKED Fellowship participants.

$500: Fuels the expansion of the LINKED Fellowship Program to additional campuses.

$1000: Funds a fellowship for one LINKED program participant

We are  proud of the impact that our students have had on the organizations and companies that they have served through work-based learning projects. The industry leaders of those projects have demonstrated the power of these programs: 

“Both with the project that I was involved with, and with the LINKED program as a whole, I can't recommend it enough. I think just the ability to be solving and innovating for real world problems, working with industry, leading companies, getting in the trenches, and solutioning is such an invaluable experience during my time in college, and just something that I believe has positioned me very well for success. Today, I am currently working as a senior business operations manager for a logistics tech startup. LINKED provided me with a strong foundation in learning about the process behind innovation – how to ask the right questions and think strategically about developing the correct action plans and project plan to really drive change in an organization. I was able to learn a tremendous amount about that process, which has really helped me advance my career thus far.” Evan O'Dowd, Former LINKED participant on the Hitachi Ventara Project

"Collaborating with LINKED students to address transportation related issues in the Denver Tech Center area has been incredibly beneficial to Denver South and our municipal stakeholders. Our initial project involved analyzing traffic data to determine how people commuted to and from the region. The data analytics expertise that the students provided was phenomenal in helping us make investment decisions... The students’ energy and passion are only outshined by their creativity and analytic skills.” Daniel Hutton, Director of Transportation and Mobility, Denver South 

“Partnering with CUIC on the EUCAST Commercialization Project was a game-changer for our organization as we worked to relocate this South Korean company to the Denver area. The students helped us test the technology and assess the market ultimately leading to a very successful field trial with the Colorado Department of Transportation... We definitely know that our first hires here in Colorado will be student members of the team.” Gary Sumihiro – Executive Vice President, EUCAST Global, Inc.

"CUIC is the perfect example of the collaborative spirit of Colorado. Sharing ideas and opportunities is the best way to foster the next generation of Colorado success stories. CUIC is equipped to encourage real change in higher education by creating pathways for students and faculty across schools to connect with each other and to the greater Colorado innovation and startup ecosystems. Cross-institutional, cross-disciplinary programs are the future of innovation." - Erik Mitisek, former Chief Innovation Officer for the State of Colorado

OUR IMPACT

11 LINKED Projects

100 Students Engaged

10 Disciplines Represented