I-Corps Sites: Type I - University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez I-Corps Site

Award ID: 1829199

This project, from the University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez (UPRM), establishes and I-Corps Site at this institution. 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. Puerto Rico faces an critical economic situation. The UPRM I-Corps Site, in playing a role in the possible solution spaces, contributes to developing a strong innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem that can spur the translation of research into commercialization. UPRM is uniquely situated to provide an interdisciplinary educational experience that will allow their community to identify and exploit market opportunities. UPRM's campus has a Business School that actively collaborates with the Schools of Engineering. The Business and Economic Development Center (BEDC) is at the center of this collaboration and hosts the NSF I-Corps Site. The primary goal of this project is to accelerate the commercialization of new technologies developed by researchers and students located in Puerto Rico. To achieve this goal this Site provides customer discovery (CD) training, mentoring, and modest CD travel funds to entrepreneurial teams (focused on STEM) from UPRM and the extended community. The CD training consists of a two week workshop based on the national I-Corps program and tailored to the UPRM Site needs. Mentorship is provided by UPRM and external innovation ecosystem partners, and extends for a three to six month period, with a focus on working toward either application to the I-Corps National Program, competing for SBIR grants, or direct commercialization of the technology. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Ruth Shuman