| NSF Org: |
TI Translational Impacts |
| Recipient: |
|
| Initial Amendment Date: | February 1, 2017 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | June 26, 2024 |
| Award Number: | 1644743 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Jaime A. Camelio
jcamelio@nsf.gov (703)292-2061 TI Translational Impacts TIP Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships |
| Start Date: | February 1, 2017 |
| End Date: | December 31, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $500,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $599,912.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2018 = $100,000.00 FY 2019 = $200,000.00 FY 2020 = $199,912.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
|
| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
400 HARVEY MITCHELL PKY S STE 300 COLLEGE STATION TX US 77845-4375 (979)862-6777 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
|
| Primary Place of Performance: |
College Station TX US 77843-3127 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
|
| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
|
| Parent UEI: |
|
| NSF Program(s): | I-Corps-Sites |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001718DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001920DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): | |
| Program Element Code(s): |
|
| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.084 |
ABSTRACT
This is a project from Texas A & M University (TAMU) to create TAMU-iSite, an I-Corps program that immerses engineering student teams in commercialization training from development of ideas to startups.
NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Sites are NSF-funded entities established at universities whose purpose is to nurture and support multiple, local teams to transition their technology concepts into the marketplace. Sites provide infrastructure, advice, resources, networking opportunities, training and modest funding to enable groups to transition their work into the marketplace or into becoming I-Corps Team applicants.
The proposal describes an institution and I-Corps Site implementation plan that are likely to result in a successful Site. There appears to be good outreach to the community and a likelihood that a Site will contribute to a change of culture at this institution. The personnel are strong and experienced with the Lean Launch Pad curriculum. There are specific plans for recruiting women and minorities. A plan for sustainability was also included and the assessment plan was detailed. The proposal presented a strong implementation plan, a solid management team, excellent external partners, significant innovation resources and facilities on campus, and a student body, comprised mostly of engineers, that will contribute a pipeline of teams and projects to the Site.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
Note:
When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external
site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a
charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from
this site.
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.
I-Corps Site at Texas A&M University focused on three areas:
1. Recruitment of Student Teams: Identifying teams with well-developed ideas or those already collaborating with faculty on high-potential innovations for commercialization.
2. Entrepreneurial Training Program: Delivering a targeted 6-week training program to equip selected teams with essential entrepreneurial skills.
3. Customer Discovery and Commercialization Decision: Guiding teams through a customer discovery process, culminating in a Go/No-Go decision regarding the commercialization of their innovations.
Key Achievements:
- Six-Week Training Program: Developed and offered program which helped participants evaluate the potential of their innovations by pursuing market research and understanding actual customer needs through customer interviews.
- Impact to Students: A total of 264 teams were supported by the program. Teams represented a total of 554 participants - 301 undergraduate students, 248 graduate students and 5 postdoctoral researchers. Participants represented more than fifteen engineering majors and several non-engineering majors. Participants gained an understanding of advantages/disadvantages of their innovations compared to competitors, collected input on actual needs of potential customers, and had an opportunity to evaluate the potential of the proposed innovation for success in the market.
- Publications: Published 4 conference papers sharing lessons learned and qualitative and quantitative assessment data on the impact of the program to participants.
- Pipeline to NSF Teams Program: Seventeen Site teams were accepted and participated in the National Teams program offered by the National Science Foundation and awarded a total of $850K to support further efforts for bringing their innovations to market.
- Impact to Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: The program had significant impact in promoting entrepreneurship among engineering students and students from other majors. Site participants have won several local, regional and national competitions.
- Startups: Five participants have launched startups on innovations they pursued during the Site program while two others have launched startups on new innovations leveraging the knowledge gained at the I-Corps Site program. Overall, these startups have secured more than $16M to support their innovations.
Summary
The NSF-funded project #1644743 made significant contributions to promoting innovation and entrepreneurship among engineering students at one of the largest public engineering colleges in the nation. Providing engineering students opportunities to explore innovations through a structured approach such as the I-Corps program enabled them to pursue innovations of interest in a supportive environment and learn what it takes to launch a successful product or service. Such experiences greatly complemented their engineering knowledge and better prepared them to develop solutions which incorporate stakeholder needs beyond just technical requirements to ensure successful outcomes.
Conference Papers:
o N. V. Mendoza Diaz, M. Z. Lagoudas, Work in Progress: The Missing Link in I-Corps Entrepreneurship Engineering Education at a Southwestern Institution, ASEE 2024.
o M.Z. Lagoudas, S. Y. Yoon, R. Boehm, “Impact of an I-Corps Site Program on Engineering Students at a Large Southwestern University: Year 4”, ASEE 2021.
o M.Z. Lagoudas, S. Y. Yoon, R. Boehm, “Impact of an I-Corps Site Program on Engineering Students at a Large Southwestern University”, ASEE, Montreal, CA, June 21-24, 2020.
o M.Z. Lagoudas, S. Y. Yoon, R. Boehm, “The Implementation and Assessment of an I-Corps Site at a Southern University: Lessons Learned”, ASEE Annual Conference, June 16-19, 2019, Tampa, FL.
Last Modified: 03/29/2025
Modified by: Magdalini Lagoudas
Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.
