The fall 2014 semester has started for college students across the United States.
However, for a select group of USC, UCLA, and Caltech students, September 1st will mark the beginning of a new type of curriculum and collaboration.
Thanks to the National Science Foundation (NSF),
USC, UCLA, and Caltech students will have the opportunity to join an exclusive technology hub,
The Innovation Corps program or I-Corps.
The I-Corps is an entrepreneurship network for scientists and engineers.
The 3 year 3.75 million dollar joint grant into the 3 Southern California Universities encourages instruction and communication beyond University laboratories. The program fosters a collaborative education system and research infrastructure, allowing for scientific discoveries to be adapted into the commercial marketplace.
Ultimately, transforming research studies into useful product and services to positively impact the social and economic landscape.
“The NSF I-Corps initiative is a paradigm shift, that will facilitate cultural change in universities and research centers. It is no doubt one of the nation’s signature programs for promoting entrepreneurship and startup creation.”
The new Southern California innovation hub or “node,” joins five pre-existing I-Corps regional nodes located in New York City, Northern California, Washington, D.C, Michigan, and Atlanta, along with fellow newcomer Texas.
“NSF expects the new Southern California node will draw upon the deep well of talented people in that region, strengthening an already robust national innovation network.”
I-Corps Southern California is anticipating partnerships between the schools of medicine, business, and engineering.
If accepted into the program, participants will join a three-person team, which includes a NSF- funded researcher, a business mentor, and a graduate student. The team then receives a 6-month $50,000 grant, to turn an idea into a real world product or service.
I-Corps have been around since 2011, with roughly 50% of the 319 student faculty research teams going on to create a Startup.
Anticipate Fall 2017 to be a revolutionary time in Southern California’s Startup history.
