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Orthopedic Innovation Research Center

Created for Innovation

The OIRC is poised to become a collaboration hub for innovation and talent development, ensuring Warsaw remains at the forefront of the orthopedic and med-tech industries. This initiative will benefit the greater Warsaw-Kosciusko community by providing local students, business leaders, and community members with unparalleled learning experiences and career opportunities.

What classes do mechanical engineers take in college? The Grace College Mechanical Engineering Major works with local orthopaedic companies.

Orthopedic Innovation Research Center

Shaping the future of talent development and innovation

STEM at Grace

The center will support the growth of Grace’s engineering and computer science programs, providing space for upper-level coursework, labs, and capstone projects, while also creating opportunities for Grace to launch new STEM programs.

Donation of Zimmer Biomet Building to Grace College to Fuel Next Generation of Orthopedic Education and Innovation. Zimmer Biomet buiding downtown Warsaw, IN.
Industry Collaboration and Medtech Research

Grace students will have opportunities to work directly with orthopedic and medtech companies on research projects and real-world challenges. Medtech and orthopedic companies can lease space in the building, creating an environment where students can interact with industry professionals and gain hands-on experience.

Community Impact

The OIRC will contribute to a regional STEM talent pipeline. Plans include a discovery center for elementary students, opportunities to engage Warsaw-area high school students pursuing manufacturing pathways, and potential connections with Ivy Tech students. The center will also provide space for industry presentations, seminars, and networking, bringing students, industry professionals, and thought leaders together to share knowledge and expertise.

“Our program has always operated under the motto, ‘Engineered to Serve,’ and the plans for the OIRC will take that mission to the next level. I look forward to seeing how our students roll up their sleeves to help startups solve their most challenging problems and conduct cutting-edge research that many students don’t get to complete until the graduate level. Hand-in-hand with this service-minded approach, our goal is to create a hub of shared knowledge that positively impacts everyone from the first-grader who is curious about how things move to the industry expert with decades of experience in the field.”

Dr. Fred Wentorf, chair of the Department of Engineering at Grace, with 11 years of engineering experience at Zimmer Biomet.

“The OIRC is a strategic model that will facilitate academic-industry partnership and collaboration to ensure Warsaw remains at the forefront of the orthopedic and med-tech industries. We have developed this concept through benchmarking with other innovation centers and academic-industry collaboration networks, and learning from their best practices and collaboration models. But this is our version, for our community — for Grace and for orthopedics — and I’m excited about the potential this project has to mutually benefit our students and the Orthopedic Capital of the World®.”

Dr. Emi Krelau, executive director of the Catalyst Corridor Initiative at Grace

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