Who?
Are you interested taking your idea, technology, or processes commercial? Entrepreneurial minded graduate and undergraduate students, faculty, staff, alumni and local community teams are invited to attend the I-Corps Site Program’s Lean Launchpad Workshop Series here at MTU.
What?
The site program offered through Michigan Tech will be structured around the Lean LaunchPad teaching methods and principles used by NSF’s National I-Corps Program.
The purpose of the NSF funded I-Corps Site Program is to foster entrepreneurship that will lead to the commercialization of technology.
The I-Corps Site Workshop is available and geared toward developing I-Corps Teams for the National I-Corps program.
The I-Corps Site program provides training and modest funding (awards of $1,000-$2,500) per team to enable teams to 1) transition their work into the marketplace and/or 2) to become National I-Corps Team applicants.
Upon completion of the I-Corps Site Program, participants are eligible to apply for the National I-Corps program, an intensive six week NSF training with the opportunity to be awarded a $50,000 grant, as well as many other funding opportunities. Non-university based teams will need to include at least one team member based at a university for grant administration purposes.
Participants in the I-Corps Site Program will be expected to commit at least 3-5 hours per person per week to market research, customer discovery and other commercialization-focused activities.
Where?
Pavlis Honors College, 724 Minerals and Materials Engineering Building
When?
The next round of workshops will include four half-days. Training dates are: Friday, September 28th; Thursday, October 4th; Thursday, October 11th; and Friday, October 19th.
Why?
Through the Site program, using the Lean LaunchPad teaching method, teams will learn first-hand about entrepreneurship and explore the transition of their ideas, devices, and processes into the marketplace. Getting out of the laboratory/university is what the effort is all about.
Teams will learn about entrepreneurship using the I-Corps curriculum which provides real-world, hands on, immersive learning about what it takes to successfully transfer knowledge into products and processes that benefit society. I-Corps teams will be engaged talking to industry customers and competitors and encountering the chaos and uncertainty of creating successful innovations.
Outcomes and Opportunities:
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See the real world impacts of your research and technology
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Gain an appreciation of what it takes to commercialize technology and understand barriers to adoption
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Discover a market for your technology that you had not previously considered
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Expand your network of support with teachers, investors, customers, and inventors
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Gain the ability to identify increased commercial potential for your technologies
