Best of CASE District VI Award
 

Institution: Missouri University of Science & Technology

Title of entry: Bioinnovation Case for Support

About this entry: For more than 150 years, Missouri University of Science and Technology (S&T) has been known as a school that prepares engineers to change not only their industries but the world. This unparalleled reputation made the school’s official entrance into bioinnovation both an enormous challenge and a phenomenal opportunity. The exploratory conversations that began in the early 2020’s became definitive by speaking directly to benefactors, campus partners, industry leaders and state and regional policy leaders through the bioinnovation case for support, produced in 2025. Highlighting faculty research and the aspirations of current students set the stage for the innovation in Missouri S&T’s future. At the same time, the piece showcases the school’s legacy in biomedical research, which dates back to the pioneering work of Dr. Ida Bengtson, who joined the school in 1924, and Dr. Delbert Day, a 1958 graduate and long-time faculty member whose cancer treatment applications are used worldwide. With clean, crisp graphic design, a variety of photos of that lean more towards people than equipment, student vignettes explaining the human concerns that inspire the research and innovation, and plenty of compelling statistics, this case for support grounds Missouri S&T’s focus on bioinnovation not as a new curriculum or even a new state-of-the-art facility, but as a vision for better health, one that draws on the school’s deep roots in both biology and engineering.