This I-Corps Site at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) will increase the quality and quantity of commercializable student projects, leveraging its core strengths in diversity and experiential learning to advance innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialization outcomes.
RIT has a track record for innovation. The Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship's Student Incubator advanced approximately 100 multidisciplinary teams during 2012. These teams are supported by the Simone Center's faculty Innovation Council with representatives from all of RIT's colleges. Funding from the NSF I-Corp program will expand the number of teams that will receive funding for prototyping/proof of concepts supplies, coach expense, and exploratory customer market activities. The Simones Center's approach to entrepreneurship is experiential and multidisciplinary. RIT is situated to pioneer an I-Corps Site because of its history with experiential learning (coop, industry relationships, history of practitioners in the classroom etc.) and its program diversity. The Simone Center programs integrate technology, design, and business perspectives in a holistic manner. Teams simultaneously enter a program with formalized training and curriculum and weekly coaching by an experienced cohort of industry-based entrepreneurs and product developers.
This proposal provides broader impacts to society and Rochester region in several ways: -The Creation of Entrepreneurial Assets: RIT will increase the number of graduates with an emphasis on STEM and design with business creation/tech commercialization knowledge, experience, and teams building skills to innovate throughout their careers. -New Ventures: The Student Incubator has and will continue to create a variety of companies that have growth and provided economic development to the struggling Rochester Region. -Pipeline Development: RIT will provide a pre-seed/early stage pipeline for potential new ventures. -Successful Undergraduate Innovation Processes: This program promotes and advances the development of balanced student teams, experienced coaching, and access to university support services (prototyping labs, faculties, and other expertise). -Integration with a Preexisting Business Incubator: The Simone Center's programs and events target early stage business development. The Simone Center's Student Incubator Program transitions its investment ready projects/businesses to the pre-existing RIT Incubator allows each unit to focus on the a specific stage of new venture creation. This is also a potential process for learning and dissemination. This is a project at an institution that serves a very large population of deaf students (the largest population in the nation). It has processes in place that will accommodate those and the other RIT students to explore entrepreneurship and innovation - 90% of all RIT students engage in a co-op experience. The Site design is student-centric, having the joint impact of launching innovative products and immersing students in an entrepreneurship curriculum. RIT has a track record of successes - in particular, they have a history of launching "game-centric" and visual media products.
The Site has the potential to have a large regional impact in a part of the country that has been economically depressed. There is a large team of volunteers willing to mentor students as well as an Advisory Board to guide the programs.
