Office of the Provost

Innovation Hub

The Innovation Hub at Christopher Newport University serves as the gateway for industry and research institutions to collaborate with our faculty and students. We welcome partnerships for applied research projects that advance your interests while enriching our academic community. Please reach out to us with ideas to forge impactful partnerships and ignite scientific innovation.

The Innovation Hub is receiving funding from a National Science Foundation EPIIC grant (award 2331430) from 2023 to 2026.

Vision

We aspire to create a seamless exchange of knowledge, enrich career opportunities, and pave the way for innovative research and development by involving faculty and students in projects with industry and other research institutions.

Sponsored Projects

2025

• J.Balay (CNU, Philosophy) and T.Farinholt (Newport News Green Foundation, NNGF)
  • Title: "Using AI/Data Science and Social Epistemology to Monitor Green Space in Newport News"
• M.Morena (CNU, Mathematics) and C.Pullman (Lynnhaven River NOW)
  • Title: "Predicting Water Quality Events in the Lynnhaven River Watershed"
• S.Chen (CNU, Accounting and Finance) and E.Kauders & S.Corkery (Old Point Wealth Management)
  • Title: "Data-Driven Portfolio Optimization Using Python and AI for Wealth Management"
• Y.Lu (CNU, Engineering and Computing) and R.Gore (Old Dominion University, ODU)
  • Title: "Diagnostics for Early Detection of Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Using Multi-Modal Approaches"
• M.S.Lattanzio (CNU, Organismal and Environmental Biology) and L.Heller (Virginia Living Museum, VLM)
  • Title: "iVLM: A collaborative, data-driven approach to innovate biodiversity and environmental monitoring efforts at the Virginia Living Museum"

2024

• I.Panayotova (CNU, Mathematics), Dr. M. Fabrizio (Virginia Institute of Marine Science, VIMS) and Dr. V. Savatorova (Central Connecticut State University)
  • Title: "Data-driven Mathematical Modeling of Climate Change Effects on Chesapeake Bay Fishes"
• K.Perkins (CNU, Physics, Computer Science and Engineering) and P. Hennis (Width.AI)
  • Title: "Developing an Efficient Vector Database System for Legal Document Retrieval"

Advisory Board

Our Advisory Board consists of accomplished leaders from within the University and key sectors across the Hampton Roads area. They provide strategic insights, foster outreach and collaboration with the community, and strengthen the University’s connections to the regional innovation ecosystem.

The Board promotes activities designed to:

• Provide strategic insights on best practices in innovation, entrepreneurship, and research commercialization, ensuring the Hub remains competitive and impactful.
• Identify emerging trends in technology, industry needs, and research, integrating these into the Innovation Hub’s focus areas (artificial intelligence, data science).
• Advocate for the Innovation Hub to strengthen ties with the local community and cultivate connections within the regional innovation ecosystem, promoting collaboration and partnership opportunities.
• Offer ongoing feedback on the progress of projects, programs, and initiatives within the Hub, helping leadership adjust strategies to ensure continued success.
• Assist in identifying and securing funding sources to support the Hub's activities and initiatives, ensuring its long-term sustainability.

Members

• Jana Adamitis
  CNU College of Arts and Humanities, Dean
• Nancy Grden
  Hampton Roads Executive Roundtable, President & CEO
• Nicole Guajardo
  CNU College of Natural and Behavioral Sciences, Dean
• Sarah Hobgood
  CNU Center for Career Planning, Director
• Marlin McDaniel
  City of Newport News, Innovation Program Manager
• Tatiana Rizova
  CNU College of Social Sciences, Dean
• Keith Roots
  CNU Advancement, Senior Associate Vice President
• David Salomon
  CNU Office of Research and Creative Activity, Director
• Marla Schuchman
  Jefferson Lab, Chief Innovation Officer for Research & Technology Partnerships
• Alan Witt
  CNU Luter School of Business, Dean (Retired)
• Lisa Ziehmann
  NASA Langley, Associate Director

For Industry and Other Institutions

We want to leverage our faculty expertise with your industry skills to foster research through use-inspired research project collaborations. We have particular faculty expertise in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. Contact us with your ideas to explore possibilities for collaboration with our faculty in these or any related areas. There is no cost for external partners to participate in our current pilot research collaborations.

Our faculty have expertise in the following areas:

• Applied Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
• Data Science
• Data Mining
• Database Design
• Statistical Inference
• Software Development
• DevOps
• Scientific Visualization
• Robotic Controls and Systems
• Unmanned Aerial Systems
• Smart Grids
• Web Services

Reach out to us for further information or to discuss potential collaborations.

For Our Faculty

We seek to expand the horizons of your research and help you establish collaborations with industry and other external institutions. If selected for our pilot partnership program, you will be provided with a stipend to support the exploration of a research project with an external partner. We are also facilitating finding stipend support for a student assistant for each pilot partnership. 

For Our Students

Our research partnerships can provide you with opportunities to work with both CNU faculty and external research partners in industry and at research institutions.

Media and Communications

• Participation at the National Science Foundation showcase to the US Congress caucuses on Artificial Intelligence. Washington, DC., September 19, 2024. We presented our achievements during the first year of the EPIIC grant
• T. Swaak, "Spotlight: From Strangers to Partners." In "Adapting to AI", The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 2024, pp. 37- 38'.
• Christopher Newport University. Press release "National Science Foundation Grant Cultivates Student-Industry Collaboration." October 13, 2023.

Roberto Flores

Director

Director of the Computer Science Program
Associate Professor of Computer Science
Luter Hall 326

Lynn Lambert

Co-Director

Associate Provost for Research
Dean of Graduate Studies
Christopher Newport Hall 412

Ryan Fisher

Co-Director

Associate Professor of Physics
Luter Hall 317

Anton Riedl

Co-Director

Head of the School of Engineering and Computing
Associate Professor of Computer Engineering
Luter Hall 313A