MARQUETTE — Northern Michigan University is hosting the inaugural rebranding of Innovation Week, now Peak25, on Feb. 20-21.

“Peak25 is the next iteration of Innovation Week,” said Bill Digneit, director of SISU: The Innovation Institute at NMU. “We have more focus and more clarity on who we want to connect with and that is students, faculty, staff and the NMU community, as well as our (Upper Peninsula) community.”

The free event is open to everyone, though Peak25 organizers urge those looking to attend to register online at tickets.nmu.edu. The event is cohosted by Innovate Marquette and SISU: The Innovation Institute at NMU. The conference is conducted in partnership with the NMU College of Business, NMU College of Graduate Studies and Research, and the SHINE Institute.

“Each aspect of programming for Peak25 is designed to foster learning, curiosity and collaboration, whether you’re a student, community member, entrepreneur or someone just interested in the vibrant academic and entrepreneurial spirit of Marquette,” said Aubry Healy, outreach and engagement manager for Innovate Marquette and marketing chair for Peak25. “We are excited to make this programming open for everyone to join and interact with our community’s partners, scholars and innovators.”

The event will have two internationally recognized keynote speakers, Deborah Amato and Mark Twight.

“Mark Twight has done amazing things connected to the film industry to climbing all over the place, to be honest,” said Digneit. “He invented the diet regime for the actors in (the movie) ‘300.’ So a little bit of everything.”

Twight is a retired mountain climber who designed climbing gear for leading brands, including Grivel, Lowe Alpine and Patagonia. He trained various military and intelligence personnel on how to conduct operations at high altitudes in mountainous terrain, as well as actors for nine major Hollywood films, including “300” and “Man of Steel.”

In 2017, Twight cofounded NonProphet, a media company exploring the intersection of art and action and now runs his website under the name “Equipe Solitaire.” He is the author of several books, including “Extreme Alpinism” and “Kiss or Kill.”

The other guest speaker, Deborah Amato, manages NASA’s Internal Research and Development program, which invests in advanced technologies for future missions, enabling scientific discoveries for NASA. Previously, Amato worked as the senior systems engineer in Goddard’s Integrated Design Center, where early mission and instrument concept studies are conducted.

She has worked on a variety of projects from technology development to concept studies and proposals to sounding rocket and balloon payloads, to spaceflight missions, including the James Webb Space Telescope Integrated Science Instrument Module, the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, and the Transition Region And Coronal Explorer.

“It’s pretty amazing that she is coming and connecting with us,” said Digneit. “I feel really lucky that we have such an amazing human being coming to engage at the Peak Conference …Our keynote speakers for this year’s conference represent what Peak25 brings individuals together for — celebrating collaboration, ingenuity and exploration in all forms…. We look forward to hearing from Deborah Amato and Mark Twight to set the tone for both days of high-caliber programming.”

The culminating event of Peak25 will be the Big Pitch and Outdoor Innovation Pitch competitions. The Big Pitch, hosted by the NMU College of Business, is a competition in which NMU students pitch their ideas to a panel of judges as they try to win thousands of dollars to get their business ideas off the ground. NMU will also be giving away a litany of other prizes from outdoor gear to NMU-related merchandise.

“The new goal of Peak, just like Innovation Week, is a revolving door of each year you come, you could get something different,” said Digneit.

The Outdoor Innovation Pitch competition is cohosted with the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund and Centrepolis Accelerator. It will feature Michigan-based startups in the outdoor recreation industry pitching their business ideas live to a panel of judges for a chance to win up to $50,000 in investment from the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund.

The deadline for eligible Michigan businesses to apply is 11:59 p.m. Friday. The application form can be viewed at bit.ly/PeakOutdoorPitch. Applying companies will be reviewed and the finalists invited to advance to the live pitch competition. Finalists will pitch live to a panel of judges on Friday, Feb. 21, in Marquette.

The Outdoor Innovation Pitch Competition will present two awards. The winner of the grand prize will receive up to $50,000 in services and investments from the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund.

Investment from the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund is pending the results of the competition, completion of due diligence, and will be provided in investment in the form of a convertible note or simple agreement for future equity.

The winner of the other prize will receive up to $5,000 in product development services. The Make It In Michigan award is sponsored by Centrepolis Accelerator, Innovate Marquette and the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund.

The Make It In Michigan award winner will receive product development services worth up to $5,000 in value. The services will be available through Centrepolis Accelerator and other Michigan service providers. Eligible services include product design, engineering, prototyping and manufacturing readiness services.

“When you think about this conference, it really has something for everyone,” said Digneit. “It will be what you make it. You can come in and listen and do one keynote, and take from that what you will. Or you might layer it and do a lot of different things.

“I hope people will come and enjoy everything there is: complimentary breakfast and lunch on all days, we have a huge outdoor innovation experience that will be happening, live music, and we really tried to make sure that people can connect in a lot of different ways.”

For more information, including the full events schedule and times, visit www.peakconference.org.