Caralynn Nowinski: Solving 'Big Problems'

Caralynn Nowinski has never been one to shy away from a challenge. As executive director and chief operating officer of Chicago-based UI Labs, Nowinski ’99 is bringing academia and industry together to solve “big problems that one company or one university or one national lab isn’t going to solve on its own.” Last February UI Labs received a five-year, $70 million grant from the Pentagon to create the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute. The Goose Island–based institute, a consortium of 70 organizations, companies and universities, including Northwestern, will develop advancements in digital manufacturing — such as a virtual supply chain — using computer-based methods and algorithms to streamline manufacturing processes and reduce costs and inefficiencies. Her role with UI Labs capitalizes on a career that’s focused on cutting-edge research and innovation. She studied human communication sciences and did research in Northwestern labs on neurological disorders. While earning a medical-MBA dual degree at the University of Illinois, she founded the biotech startup SanoGene Therapeutics. She then worked in venture capital and corporate finance before serving as associate vice president for innovation and economic development at the University of Illinois. “My role at UI Labs makes sense of the last 15 years of my résumé – blending my love of high-tech research with my entrepreneurial curiosity and drive for impact.”