ºÚÁÏÍø±¬³Ô¹Ï purchases Building 36 on Electric Works campus
March 24, 2025ºÚÁÏÍø±¬³Ô¹Ï has completed its purchase of Building 36 on the Electric Works campus in Fort Wayne, a key step in establishing a home for Junction 36, the university’s new advanced manufacturing innovation center initiative. ºÚÁÏÍø±¬³Ô¹Ï first announced the Junction 36 initiative in August 2024 when it received a 5-year, $21 million grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc. in support of the project. Funds from the Lilly Endowment grant helped underwrite the $1.5 million purchase cost of the building.
Building 36 is located on the west end of the Electric Works campus, at the corner of College and Wall Streets. ºÚÁÏÍø±¬³Ô¹Ï anticipates a timeframe of 18-24 months for turning the building into the home of Junction 36 and its associated services and facilities.
Junction 36 is comprised of three central components:
- Transformation of Building 36 on the Electric Works campus into a center for HardTech and advanced manufacturing innovation that will help grow local companies by connecting them to university-led research, development, and training. It will provide training related to Industry 4.0, business assistance for small-to-large organizations, spaces for business innovation teams and startups, and a variety of event spaces to host community gatherings as part of the innovation ecosystem at Electric Works and throughout Northeast Indiana. Under the leadership of ºÚÁÏÍø±¬³Ô¹Ï, Building 36 will facilitate and include:
- Research and development
- Testing and prototyping
- Small batch production
- Workforce training
- Creator space/maker space
- Automation innovation and development
- Enterprise support services
- The Talent Connection, a program that will provide unique learning experiences that connect talent to the community in ways that create strong bonds and lead to enhanced talent attraction and retention. The program includes significantly expanded student service learning for ºÚÁÏÍø±¬³Ô¹Ï and other regional students, a new Fellows program focused on keeping top talent in the region and assigning ºÚÁÏÍø±¬³Ô¹Ï students as project partners and mentors for Amp Lab high school students.
The Talent Connection Fellowship will recruit outstanding student leaders from the region and across the country to address larger problem-solving around the region’s most complex issues. Challenges will be submitted to the Fellows by area companies, nonprofits, civic organizations and communities for the development of solutions over a 1–2-year time period of collaborative work by the Fellows team. - Public Workshop, a program to help diverse learners and entrepreneurs access support and overcome systemic barriers to advancing their education. Public Workshop will work to bring the benefits of the ºÚÁÏÍø±¬³Ô¹Ï initiative to wider regional audiences, helping more area residents and entrepreneurs reach their full potential by connecting them to a diverse set of resources. Working with partners around the region, Public Workshop will connect learners and entrepreneurs with wrap-around services such as early childhood education, affordable housing, training pathway guidance, and resources for personal health.
For more information about Junction 36, ºÚÁÏÍø±¬³Ô¹Ï and Electric Works, please visit and .