I-Corps Node: For the District of Columbia / Maryland / Virginia (DMV) Region

Award ID: 1643018

This project is a renewal of the DC I-Corps Node for the midatlantic and southeast region led by the University of Maryland College Park (UMD), in partnership with the George Washington University (GWU), Virginia Tech (VT), and Johns Hopkins (JHU). The DMV Node has a history of utilizing collective university resources, experience in successful technology startup formation, and skilled at entrepreneurial education bringing significant contributions and assets to the National Innovation Network (NIN). The Node will continue to operate as a "regional network", and uses a management model of cooperation and collaboration that sets a standard for the NIN. The Node is also integrating I-Corps concepts into the core curriculum for over 3,000 students of all majors. The Node intends to pursue multiple research initiatives to further improve the program outcomes, and will continue to teach innovators about customer discovery, commercial readiness and the development of sustainable business models. This project will continue to contribute a wide range of I-Corps materials, training practices, and curricula built upon its prior activities. These program components will be tailored to suit students, faculty, and other regional innovators. The Node will continue to work closely with Howard University (an I-Corps Site) to bring more I-Corps teams from this leading Historically Black College and University (HBCU). The Node will also collaborate with engineering research groups to provide women entrepreneurs training through I-Corps. Finally, the Node will continue to serve a wide geographic area with a very diverse demographic of innovators and entrepreneurs, including urban and rural populations. The DC Node will improve the success rate of technology transfer and commercialization from world-leading research universities and federal labs by creating new venture or licensing opportunities for program participants.

NSF Program Director: Ruth Shuman