Earlier today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker visited the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando where she toured the university’s Maker Space Labs and announced the first round awards of the Regional Innovation Strategies Program.

Built with support from the private sector, the four Maker Space Labs are part of the UCF Engineering Leadership and Innovation Institute. They offer students a place to work together to build their innovative ideas into new products and give them access to high-tech tools like 3D printers and laser cutters that the students can use to build prototypes.

The labs drew national attention earlier this month when actor Robert Downey Jr. presented a 7 year old boy with a prosthetic limb designed to look like Iron Man. UCF students designed and produced the bionic arm using the 3D printer in the school’sManufacturing Lab.

Secretary Pritzker had the opportunity to see the bionic arm firsthand during her tour. She also met with a group of students who areworking on new ways to make it easier for wheelchair-boundindividuals to experience the attractions at Universal Studios.

Before touring the labs, Secretary Pritzker joined Sen. BillNelson to announce the first round recipients of Regional Innovation Strategies Program grants.

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) launched the 2014 Regional Innovation Strategies Program competitionlast year to spur innovation capacity-building activities in regions across the nation. EDA accepted applications for three separate funding opportunities: the i6 Challenge, Science and Research Park Development grants, and cluster grants to support the development of Seed Capital Funds.

The awards announced today – totaling nearly $10 million –include the i6 Challenge and the Seed Capital Fund grants andare going to 26 universities, nonprofits, and municipalities across the country. UCF is one of two institutions to receive two separate grants through the competition.

One of the grants will support UCF’s new “Proof of Concept Center,” which will build on its existing Maker Space Labs by enabling talented engineers from the counties hardest-hit by changes in the local economy can translate new products into businesses.

The center’s mission will be supported by UCF’s second grant for the StarterCorps Seed Fund, which will deploy early-stage capital into innovative technology and advanced manufacturing startups across Central Florida. This program addresses the gap in seed funding for local entrepreneurs – which is considered the largest barrier faced by startups around the country.

Beyond UCF, other grantees are addressing challenges specific to their regional markets, including:

• A development institute in Butte, Montana, will help manufacturers prototype products using advanced manufacturing technologies.

• The University of Alaska Fairbanks will commercialize smart grid innovations in rural Alaska.

• A nonprofit in Salt Lake City, Utah will deploy an innovative fund to drive more money into the hands of early-stage entrepreneurs.

EDA is expected to announce additional grant recipients later this year.