Type I: Establishment of an NSF I-Corps Site at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

The University Of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg TX

Investigators

Abstract

This project at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Center for Innovation and Commercialization (CIC) creates an NSF I-Corps Site. 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. I-Corps Sites also strengthen innovation locally and regionally and contribute to the National Innovation Network of mentors, researchers, entrepreneurs and investors. The UTRGV-CIC is a center within the UTRGV Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship (VCOBE). The UTRGV- CIC was developed in order to accelerate the commercialization of student, faculty and regional innovations into the marketplace, foster and facilitate the exchange of ideas between the university and industry and prepare students to become entrepreneurs. This I-Corps Sites project: 1. Supports and expands an entrepreneurial culture in a region where entrepreneurs historically have not had significant assistance; 2. Expands opportunities for undergraduate and graduate business and STEM students so that they are able obtain hands-on experience in the implementation of product validation activities and to engage in real-world STEM-related business projects; 3. Assists STEM faculty to become more comfortable with the practice of marketing their inventions by introducing them to the I-Corps theory and practice of the I-Corps methodology; 4. Integrates the I-Corps methodology throughout the UTRGV infrastructure so that the university will be able to carry out its mission of "transforming Texas and the nation through the commercialization of university discoveries". There are several advantages to having an I-Corps site at UTRGV: being located directly on the U-S.-Mexican border, the UTRGV I-Corps is unique in that it the site is both binational and bicultural; and, the region that UTRGV serves is one of the fastest growing yet impoverished areas in the country. Promoting support for entrepreneurship in such a region demonstrates how well the I-Corps methodology works in a historically underserved area of the country. This project advances the commercialization of ideas that come from the STEM colleges and departments within UTRGV by providing STEM faculty and students with a methodology to promote their products and ideas in the marketplace. It also broadens the participation of normally underrepresented Hispanic students in the commercialization process. Ultimately, it will benefit the regional economy of deep-south Texas by providing support for start-up businesses and it will enhance the research enterprise at UTRGV through the creation of interdisciplinary teams.