The University of Iowa is converting a former downtown pizzeria into a hub for Iowans to design biomedical and electronic innovations.

Called protostudios, the center has received a $1.5 million grant from the Iowa Economic Development Authority. It will be located in MERGE, a new economic development center expected to open this fall in the former Wedge Pizza restaurant, 136 S. Dubuque St., on the west side of the Iowa City Public Library.  

The grant will pave the way for the installation of 3-D modeling software and hardware, prototyping, and electronics equipment and workspace to support the development of everything from biomedical devices to wearable technology. The tools will be available to the public, as well as UI researchers.

With protostudios upstairs and office and meeting space downstairs, MERGE will gather entrepreneurs, startup companies, engineers, technology professionals, graphic artists, programmers, students, professionals, and business resources from across the community in one location. MERGE will include dedicated offices for startups and space for coding and web and mobile app development.

“This project will benefit entrepreneurs and inventors across the state, facilitate collaboration across disciplines, and secure Iowa City’s reputation as a hive of creative commercialization, particularly in biomedicine and engineering,” says Daniel A. Reed, UI vice president for research and economic development. 

David Conrad, assistant vice president for research and economic development, says protostudios will be a statewide economic development resource, joining a network of advanced manufacturing hubs across Iowa, including TechWorks at the University of Northern Iowa and the Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS) at Iowa State University.

“MERGE and protostudios will provide incentives for faculty, postdocs, and graduate students to start more companies, create a pool of tech talent to meet the state’s IT workforce needs, promote STEM education, and bring together town and gown communities for economic development,” he says.

MERGE is a partnership between UI and the Iowa City Area Development Group (ICAD).

“The project will benefit the entire state with job and wealth creation as we change our culture toward an expectation for new solutions and innovations,” says Mark Nolte, president of ICAD.

MERGE, considered a “dry lab,” will have a “wet lab” counterpart in the Bowen Science Building on the UI’s west campus. The wet lab, located close to academic labs, would provide laboratory space for five to six faculty startups working to determine whether and how to commercialize their research.

Both labs are part of a parallel incubation strategy to help faculty and community entrepreneurs advance promising ideas through prototyping, initial funding, and startup creation that also will involve establishing space in the UI Research Park or the park’s BioVentures Center.