Meet Cory Knipp: NSF Engine Specialist

What is your background?

Cory: I studied Economics at Purdue University’s Daniels School of Business. I served as a Digital Fellow for the Purdue Center for Regional Development charged with the mission of closing the digital divide in rural and low-income areas in Eastern Indiana.

What will you be doing in your new role as the NSF Engine Specialist?

Cory: I will be working closely with the PCRD evaluation team, the National Science Foundation team, and NSF Engine awardees developing qualitative and quantitative data tools to effectively measure the impact of the NSF engine program.

What do you hope to accomplish or what are some of your goals in your new role?

Cory: My goal for this new role is to use what I have learned while serving struggling communities and apply that knowledge to the evaluation process. I hope my perspective can offer valuable insight.

What attracted you to this position? What are you most excited about in taking on this role?

Cory: For the past few years, I have worked in communities that have seen their regional economies fall behind due to global economic shifts. In these communities, automation and globalization have slowly erased traditional manufacturing anchors with little to replace them. The NSF Engine program offers to help grow innovation capacity in communities like the ones I have served in the past, so that they can support new emerging industries that will make sure they are not left behind in this new economy. The opportunity to play a small role in this transformative program that aims to help the communities I loved to serve was something I could not pass up.

Do you have anything else you want to add?

Cory: One of my favorite quotes is from Albert Einstein when he says, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” He is often referenced as an example of peak human intelligence that is above the rest, yet this quote shows that all it takes for us to be as smart as Einstein is to be as curious as him. What I love about PCRD is that curiosity thrives here. At PCRD, people ask questions, search for answers, and never stop trying to learn more. I love working with and alongside a bunch of Einsteins, and I hope that some of that passionate curiosity rubs off on me.