| NSF Org: |
TI Translational Impacts |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | June 11, 2014 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | July 31, 2016 |
| Award Number: | 1347390 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Anita La Salle
TI Translational Impacts TIP Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships |
| Start Date: | June 15, 2014 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2017 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $297,398.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $297,398.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2015 = $99,116.00 FY 2016 = $100,457.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
3720 S FLOWER ST FL 3 LOS ANGELES CA US 90033 (213)740-7762 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
3720 S. Flower St. Los Angeles CA US 90089-0001 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | I-Corps-Sites |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001516DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001617DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): | |
| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.084 |
ABSTRACT
With this project, the University of Southern California I-Corps Site leverages two successful commercialization support programs at USC; the Maseeh Entrepreneurship Prize Competition, run by the Viterbi School of Engineering, and the Ideas Empowered Program, run by the USC Stevens Center for Innovation. Both of these programs offer faculty/student teams start-up/commercialization educational programs, industry/business mentors, and gap funding.
In keeping with national entrepreneurship trends in colleges and universities, the USC I-Corps Site program will provide funds to support customer discovery, equipment or materials for prototypes, and travel expenses to consult with potential clients or experts. In addition, the USC I-Corps Site program will create a start-up/commercialization workshop for student/faculty teams. This workshop will introduce student/faculty teams to the basics of the commercialization process, the challenges they will face, the questions they must answer, and the value of the USC I-Corps Site program, including the possibility of additional funding through the NSF I-Corps program.
The USC Viterbi School of Engineering practices an "engineering+" focus in which engineering plus some other discipline is the key to achieving broader impact. This proposal is in line with engineering+innovation, at the center of innovation and entrepreneurship. This goal is important for the US economy and to solving many global challenges that call for innovations that will change the world in fundamental ways. This Site strives to be a place where engineers, medical professionals, scientists, and all researchers can learn how to navigate entrepreneurial waters and better support the commercialization of their ideas. The process of exploring the commercialization of inventions will empower faculty and student inventors to understand what it takes to assess the feasibility of their ideas for commercialization, empowering them to better evaluate and push their subsequent inventions into the market in years to come.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The USC I-Corps Site Program supported teams from three different innovation programs connected to the USC School of Engineering,
one business model competition geared towards advancsing the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenges, one focused on Social Entrepreneurship, and one that forms a bridge between Medical Doctors and Engineering PhD Students. Each program spanned multiple months, included several workshops that taught the I-Corps Lean Startup Model, and gave teams NSF I-Corps Mini Grants to support their customer discovery. The NSF I-Corps Site support also helped attract free legal and marketing services from external stakeholders to the winners of these programs, exceeding a value of $100K in several years. A total of 75 teams went through I-Corps Site supported programs, several of which went on to the NSF I-Corps Nationals, start companies, obtain SBIR grants, and, so far, raise a combined total of over $7M in capital. However, all students and faculty that go through our programs gain a tremendous respect for the importance of customer discovery. They all learn how to listen for market pains as well as (towards the end of our competitions) pitch their technology/product in a manner that is understandable and persuasive to the non-expert. In particular, several faculty have taken this experience and pivoted their own research plans to better align with market needs. Finally, the success of these programs has increased the awareness and importance of innovation within the Viterbi School of Engineering and through a combination of these supported programs, the effort of our dean, Yannis Yortsos, and the Los Angeles centered I-Corps Node directed by Dr. Andrea Belz, the importance of innovation within top engineering schools across the nation.
Last Modified: 12/27/2017
Modified by: Peter A Beerel
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