Changes

Penn State has a few programs that allow university-industry collaboration. Penn State is working on increasing university and local industry collaboration. Some of the programs that exist today are The Learning Factory (where teams of students are given projects and budgets by industry to solve a problem within a semester), Hackathons (companies such as Microsoft and Google hold their Hackathons at Penn State), and the Engineering Design Program (where students learn to use industrial tools such as CAD) Currently, Penn State is working on increasing university relations with State College local entrepreneurs.

By collaborating with Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Penn State's Innovation Park, Penn State Business Development Center, Center Region Entrepreneur Network (CREN), Nittany Entrepreneurs and various other Penn State organization and university programs, Penn State is attempting to decrease the gap between university and State College local entrepreneurs. In 2013, there will be the first 'career fair' for local businesses to help students and entrepreneurs reach other. The UIF fellow at Penn State is also helping make a database and transfer platform for entrepreneurs, alumni, and past and current students. This should help regional and economical development. The goal for State College is to bring State College industry revenue to $3 Billion by 2033.