Copy
NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois Innovation Network (IIN) held its first council meeting of the 2026-27 academic year Thursday, Sept. 17, at the Bone Student Center on the campus of Illinois State University.
The gathering opened with a morning session welcoming new council members Kris O’Connor (Illinois State University), Jill Rennels-Hutti (Eastern Illinois University) and Trevonne Thompson (University of Illinois College of Medicine Rockford) and hearing updates from each hub.
Over lunch, council members heard a presentation by Elisabeth Reed, Director of Illinois State University’s Office of Sustainability, detailing ISU’s efforts to develop Zero Waste practices on campus, significantly reducing waste through procurement, advancing composting efforts, conducting waste audits, and improving campus-wide waste management.
The afternoon session opened with outgoing council chair Chris Merrett giving parting remarks to wrap up his year at the helm. He was thanked for his leadership and accomplishments during the past year and serving as a champion for initiatives throughout his tenure as IIN Council Chair. Other departing council officers, Craig McLauchlan, Laretta Henderson and Denise Cobb, also were recognized.
The council then voted to officially approve the new 2026-27 IIN executive committee and welcomed incoming chair Mike Bedell to his new position. The 2026-27 IIN executive committee:
- Chair – Mike Bedell, Northeastern Illinois University, Dean, College of Business & Technology
- Vice-Chair – Lynn Andersen Lindberg, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Executive Director, SIU Research Park
- Secretary – Doug Cruitt, Distillery Labs, Executive Director
- Member at Large – Richard Mocarski, Northern Illinois University, Vice President of Research and Innovation Partnerships
- Immediate Past President – Chris Merrett, Western Illinois University, Director of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs
Following the leadership updates, the council heard project update presentations from 11 of the 14 IIN Fellows. Here are the fellows who presented:
- Anna Smith | Sustaining Responsible Use of Emerging Technologies across the IIN
- Hui Li | From Bench to Practice: Advancing Translation of IIN-Funded Point-of-Care Diagnostics
- Hei-Chi Chan | Innovation Student Ambassador Program
- Brandi Barnes | Carnegie Classification Toolkit for IIN
- Sammer Saleh Jones | U21 Partnership Metrics Survey and Toolkit
- Kevin Tucker | IIN Conference 2026: Powering Illinois’ Future Together
- Xiaoli Li | VR in Healthcare Education: A Multidisciplinary Pilot Study in Southern Illinois
- Josh Averbeck | NeighborBot: AI Driven Economic Resilience for West Central Illinois
- Roy Magnuson | Your Move: Teaching AI-Assisted Problem Solving for Non-Technical Staff and Faculty
- Sinan Onal | A Cross-IIN Faculty Development Initiative on AI-Enhanced, Competency-Based Teaching
- Anitha Saravanan | Broadband for Better Health (B4BH) Playbook for Equitable Digital Health for Older Adults in Illinois
More information on the IIN Fellows program can be found here.
Other meeting highlights included:
- Voting to create a Corporate Engagement Task Force
- Approval of the Illinois State Board of Education, represented by Superintendent Dr. Tony Sanders, as an ex-officio council member
- Appointment of the following IIN committee chairs:
- Craig McLauchlan, Illinois State University, Co-Chair, Research & Collaboration committee
- Danny Block, Chicago State University, Co-Chair, Social Innovation committee
- Reauthorization of the following IIN Subcommittees:
- Research Administration & Development Subcommittee
- Youth Entrepreneurship Subcommittee
The IIN council meets several times throughout the academic year to discuss initiatives and planning for the network and each of its 15 hubs. The next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 19, 2026, and will be held in person in the Chicagoland area as well as virtually. Future council meeting dates and materials from past meetings can be found here.