Metals Innovation Initiative announces competition to address problems in Kentucky’s metals industry

The Metals Innovation Initiative (MI2), Bowling Green, Kentucky, has launched its annual InnoSearch competition, which aims to identify persistent issues within the metals sector in Kentucky and provide pilot-ready solutions prepared to address them. The competition is open to innovators and industry professionals.

“With this year’s search, we’re building the connective tissue that turns ideas into action and action into results,” says Summer Dixon, chief operating officer of MI2. “It’s all about impact: for our industry, our workforce and our future.”

The InnoSearch program, backed by an industry that has outpaced national growth with a 1.7 percent annual rise in primary metals employment, is accepting applicants across the United States. The MI2 innovation search invites participants to apply in one of two categories:

• Problem statements – Open to manufacturers, industry leaders and ecosystem stakeholders ready to define and share pressing operational or strategic challenges.
• Innovative solutions – Open to startups, researchers and technology providers with breakthrough innovations in technologies, processes or partnerships ready for deployment.

Selected finalists in both tracks will pitch live at the Kentucky Industry Conference (KYIC) in Lexington Oct. 27–29 in front of corporate partners representing the $38 billion metals industry in Kentucky across the aluminum, steel and copper sectors. The visibility provides a space for real-time connection and future partnership development, MI2 says. Backed by InnoSearch, the selected winners of the problem and solutions sides will be offered a runway to pilot, scale and partner within the industry and be eligible for a $ 5,000 prize.

Applications are open through Sept. 4 at www.innoengine.co/innosearch. Finalists will be announced Oct. 1.

The 2025 InnoSearch competition also lays the groundwork for a third track debuting in 2026, MI2 says, which will highlight the impact stories of successful pilots, implementations or partnerships that originated through the innovation search. Read more about InnoSearch and learn more about the 2024 competition winner here.