USC I-Corps Site Program

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

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.