At the IdeaFestival in Louisville, Associate Dean for Research Gregory Luhan and Architecture graduate student Xiaoyin Li presented student models for the proposed Water Innovation Center in Louisville. The project, commissioned by the Louisville Water Company (LWC), was part of a year-long workshop during which students worked with engineers, architects, and designers to develop proposals for a center for education, exhibition, and recreation at the site of the historic water tower on the banks of the Ohio River.

“What I envision is we would have programs for preschool to elementary to middle to high school, college, and then post-doc research,” said LWC CEO Greg Heitzman to WFPL News. “So it would be a venue by which you could study the entire science of water and how we advance the science of water to be able to make this world safer and be able to extend the life of humans throughout the world.”
The presentation included not only conceptual renderings of the students' proposals, detailing appearance of the center, but also how it would be utilized by the community. Concert venues, exhibition spaces, and sports fields were among the possibilities.