Bloomington's premiere event for the tech community, the Combine, returns for another weekend of innovating, networking, hacking, and inspirational speaking. Featuring an array of events to suit developers, designers, venture capitalists, and startup enthusiasts, the Combine brings speakers like Merlin Mann (creator of 43 Folders), Ade Olonoh (founder of Formspring), and Micah Baldwin (CEO of graphic.ly) for a main speaker event on Friday. Here's a preview of some of the other events at this year's Combine:

Open Pitch Session (Thursday, October 20th @ 7:00): Take the opportunity to pitch your ideas to a room full of other entrepreneurs, investors, and venture capitalists.

Tech Cocktail (Thursday, October 20th @ 8:00): Mix and mingle with other techies, investors, and entrepreneurs while hearing about local startups.

API Hackday (Saturday, October 22nd @ 9:00 am): Day long event for developers focused on building apps with APIs.

To view other events, see the complete list of speakers, or buy tickets to the weekend, head to the Combine's website: http://www.thecombine.org/

Education startup Pocket Tales, originally one of local tech company SproutBox's "sprouts," has been awarded top prize at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Global Education Challenge. A part of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Innovation Fund, the challenge aims to bring together innovators to improve education on a global scale. Pocket Tales took first place honors in a field of ideas submitted from 23 countries and 37 states.

In addition to winning the award, Pocket Tales will also receive $125,000 in cash and prizes, including $25,000 in books to be given to a school of the company's choosing. Pocket Tales has also been awarded a distribution partnership with the learning company. To learn more about the Global Education Challenge, head to the official website here.

Pocket Tales is an incentives-based learning platform that encourages reading through rewards and interactions. Now located in Indianapolis, Pocket Tales was originally developed at SproutBox, a venture capital firm for tech startups located in Bloomington. For more information about Pocket Tales, go to their website here. To read more about SproutBox, visit their website here.  

On Friday, October 14th at 3:00 pm, IU School of Informatics and Computing will be welcoming Gary McGraw, CTO of Cigital and IU alum, to its colloquium speaker series. Gary's lecture, "Attack Trends 2011 - or - Why Software Security" is open to the public and will be held in Lindley Hall, Room 102.

Gary holds a dual PhD in Cognitive Science and Computer Science from Indiana University, and he serves on the dean's advisory board at the School of Informatics and Computing. For more information about the speaker event, visit http://www.soic.indiana.edu/discover/news-events/events/events-colloquia.shtml.

About Cigital:

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Cigital is a software security consulting firm with global offices. Cigital plans to open offices in Bloomington in 2012.

Bloomington's annual tech event, The Combine, returns October 20th - 22nd, and the committee is seeking more volunteers to help make this year's event even better. They're looking for individuals who can commit to a sign 3-4 hour shift and can either attend the volunteer callout meeting (October 12, 6:30 @ City Hall) or view an online volunteer video prior to the event.

In exchange for their time and talent, volunteers will receive free t-shirts and heavily discounted rates for the event ($20 for single-day admission and $40 for the entire event). Friday volunteers will also receive a $10 food voucher good at most downtown restaurants.

For more information about volunteering for this unique Bloomington event, contact volunteer coordinator Jennifer Borland by emailing volunteers@thecombine.org. To learn more about this year's iteration of The Combine and the see its impressive lineup of local and international speakers from the tech industry, head to the event page.

Indiana University’s School of Informatics and Computing (SoIC) and the Kelley School of Business announced a new partnership last week to help students launch technology companies through a competition aiming to showcase the university’s most innovative software and Internet ideas. The 1.1 million dollar BEST (Building Entrepreneurs in Software and Technology) competition is funded through a group of 10 individual investors comprised of CEOs and alumni as well as additional funds from IU’s Research and Technology Corporation.

The annual competition will provide at least $100,000 to the top competitor to fund the early stages of development for the winning idea and will divide up to $150,000 among other strong applicants. “This is one of the few university competitions oriented solely at software and Internet companies, and certainly the highest payoff of that type,” explains Dean of the School of Informatics and Computing Bobby Schnabel. “This is the largest competition of this kind for students of a single university.”

The BEST competition will begin accepting applications from IU seniors and graduate students this fall, and students are encouraged to work in pairs. The initiative aims to strengthen existing partnerships between business-oriented and technology-oriented students while fostering the growth of new companies. “The BEST competition puts a spotlight on the stellar technology-related talent base at IU, which is already drawing in hundreds of employers annually,” says Jeremy Podany, Director of Career Services at SoIC. “Over time, the businesses that spin out of this competition have the potential to create hundreds or thousands of new job opportunities, to solve major and minor societal problems, and to create simple technology solutions that enhance the lives of everyday users.”

The concept phase of applications for the first BEST competition are due November 15th. For more information about the competition, view the official press release here or visit the competition page.

Bloomington Technology Partnership is once again partnering with the American Society of Naval Engineers and NSWC Crane to host the annual Tech Symposium, to be held Monday, September 12 from 2:30 to 4:30 at the Bloomington Country Club. The event will feature poster sessions and presentations of emerging technologies in the fields of power & energy, software, communication, first response, and optics. A reception will immediately follow the presentations. To attend this event, RSVP by heading to the registration page.

Here's the schedule:

2:00        Registration & Networking (posters)

2:30        Welcome – Speaker TBA

2:40        Crane Patent Program – John Dement

·         Purpose of the Patent Program

·         Crane’s ability to work with the private sector

3:00        Patent #1 (Software) – Modular Mission Payload Control

3:10        Patent #2 (First Responder/Communications) – Secure VoIP to Analog & Digital Data, extra-vehicular

3:20        Patent #3 (Power & Energy) – Battery Charger & Power Reduction System/Method

3:30        Patent #4 (Medical/Optics) – Two-Band Imaging System

3:40        Patent #5 (First Responder) – Igniter for Exothermic Torch Rod

3:50        Patent #6 (Software) – Reconfigurable Signal Injection Mission Simulation

4:00        Patent #7 (Software) – Strategic Missions Technical Resource Center

4:15        Adjourn

4:20-??   Poster Session/Reception!

Poster Topics

Patent #                               Title                                                                        

7,058,377             Dual Channel Downconverter

7,811,132             EMI protective backshells for cables

7,948,829             Locator System and method

7,765,731             Quick release gun sight adapter

7,616,004             Backplane tester

7,573,235             Battery charger & power reduction system & method

7,278,310             Non-invasive measurement system

6,995,359             Mini cryogenic shutter assy

6,969,856             Two band imaging

7,841,898             Connector adapter

7,885,001             Tilt lock for elect optic device

7,938,066             Strip charge Storage device

7,117,796             Igniter for exothermic torch rod

7,036,786             Mounting System

6,907,940             Fast Response Fluid Flow Nozzle Control Valve

7,458,305             Modular Safe Room

On Friday, August 19th, defense engineering and alternative energy tech company Next Wave Systems announced plans to expand their Bloomington operations in upcoming years, adding up to 60 new jobs as well as facility and software improvements to their Bloomington location.

Based in New Pekin, Indiana with additional offices in Merrillville, Bloomington, and Bedford with a separate field office in Huntsville, Alabama, Next Wave produces mapping and command-and-control software systems supporting the U.S. Department of Defense, including the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Crane. The organization also produces innovative alternative energy solutions. The company currently employs 30 workers in the state of Indiana and plans to begin hiring additional engineers as the facility improvements are underway.

The Next Wave expansion is supported in part by performance-based tax credits and training grants made possible by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, as well as support from the City of Bloomington and the BEDC.

In May, the Bloomington community convened for a day of speakers, networking, and insightful conversation at the first annual TEDxBloomington conference. TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design) holds a yearly gathering on an international scale known for its quick-paced schedule and memorable speakers, but the organization also helps facilitate independently organized local events around the globe. The inaugural event in Bloomington was themed “The Wisdom of Play” and brought together internationally renowned speakers and local talent to a live audience from across the Midwest and beyond, and a livestream audience worldwide.

The planning involved in bringing the first TEDx event to the area was a process spanning more than 14 months, explains co-curator Luci Englert McKean, and the effort put forth by the planning team resulted in a successful day. “The event was extremely well received. The local and national speakers were very complimentary to us for the effort. At TED and TEDx events, the speakers also participate as part of the audience, and our event positively demonstrated that internationally-known speakers are interested in stepping into our community,” she says.

The Bloomington TEDx community is looking forward to next year’s event, but in the meantime, the group is also facilitating other ways to get involved in TED. Livestreams of the annual TED conference as well as TEDGlobal and TEDWomen have been organized for Bloomington, and this fall a TEDxBloomington Redux series will relive the May event. “Students were off-campus for the main event, and the Redux series will allow them to see what they missed,” Luci explains. “When we do these events, they’re really designed so anyone can stop in and get a glimpse of what TED and TEDxBloomington is all about.”

The committee is currently planning for TEDxBloomington 2012 and is in the process of selecting a new theme. “Bloomington is certainly a wise and playful city. We’re now looking for a theme that we can engage in a multidimensional way, as well as one that remains true to the liveliness and intelligence that Bloomington is known for,” Luci says. The committee’s hope is that next year’s event will build upon the successes of TEDxBloomington 2011 and will continue to create interactions in the community that didn’t exist before.

For more information about the event or to view videos of the speakers, please visit http://www.tedxbloomington.com/.