Anniversary
highlights accomplishments of nearly 100 teams and the announcement of the
addition of two I-Corps National Innovation Network nodes
In July 2011, the National Science
Foundation (NSF) launched the Innovation Corps (I-Corps), a program to broaden
the impact of select, NSF-funded, basic-research projects by preparing
scientists and engineers to extend their focus beyond the laboratory.
Leveraging experience and guidance from
established entrepreneurs and a targeted curriculum, I-Corps grantees learn to
identify valuable product opportunities that can emerge from academic research.
Now, one year into its three-year pilot
phase, the I-Corps program has reached pivotal milestones. Several teams
already are receiving public and private follow-on investment and participants
have built a novel I-Corps Mentor Network that connects experts from the
academic and entrepreneurial communities.
"NSF launched Innovation Corps to
leverage productive public-private partnerships and extend the impact of
fundamental research discoveries," says NSF Director Subra Suresh.
"I-Corps has already had an impact beyond our initial expectations and
inspired the research and business communities to collaborate in new ways. It
is a model that can be transferred to other areas as well, and we are grateful
to all the stakeholders for their support and participation."
Nearly 100 teams--composed of academic
researchers, student entrepreneurs (undergraduates, graduate students and
post-docs) and business mentors--participated in the six-month I-Corps program.
The curriculum is a hypothesis-based
approach to assessing technological readiness that combines two, site-based
short courses, extensive online coaching and hands-on outreach to potential
customers. I-Corps merges the structured coursework with guidance from NSF
program officers and leading entrepreneurs, who committed their time to the
program.
Several I-Corps teams have received NSF
Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants, enabling them to develop
companies based on what they have learned from the program. In the coming year,
NSF hopes to expand I-Corps to an additional 200 teams of researchers and their
business mentors.
"Academic researchers already have
many skills valuable for success in business, such as critical thinking,
teamwork and an ability to move in a new direction and learn when a hypothesis
proves false," says Errol Arkilic, NSF program director for I-Corps.
"The NSF I-Corps builds upon that expertise, introducing researchers to
the business community and teaching them to seek, and speak to, the needs of
potential customers."
As an extension of the I-Corps program's
success and as a mechanism to broaden the geographic reach of the effort, NSF
will expand the network of nodes that serve as teaching sites for the hands-on
curriculum.
The I-Corps node at Stanford University
now will join one at Georgia Tech and one at the University of Michigan.
Additionally, NSF is now soliciting proposals for new nodes, all of which will
serve their regional community as innovation supporting resources and act as
focal points for expanding the national I-Corps network.
"I-Corps is an innovation model
that demonstrates the continued strength of the American entrepreneurial
spirit," says Dedric Carter, NSF senior advisor for Strategic Initiatives.
"Building on NSF's 60-plus year legacy of investing in basic research and
spawning innovation, I-Corps embodies many of the key elements for
entrepreneurial achievement and illustrates why our nation is still the
world-leader for start-up success."
The National Science Foundation, the
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Deshpande Foundation support the
Innovation Corps. For more information, see NSF's I-Corps webpage.
-NSF-
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