{"678018":{"#nid":"678018","#data":{"type":"news","title":"National Science Foundation Awards $15M to Georgia Tech-Led Consortium of Universities for Societal-Oriented Innovation and Commercialization Effort","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a syndicate of eight Southeast universities \u2014 with Georgia Tech as the lead \u2014 a $15 million grant to support the development of a regional innovation ecosystem that addresses underrepresentation and increases entrepreneurship and technology-oriented workforce development.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Southeast Hub is a five-year project based on the I-Corps model, which assists academics in moving their research from the lab to the market.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELed by Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/commercialization.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EOffice of Commercialization\u003C\/a\u003E and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/innovate.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EEnterprise Innovation Institute\u003C\/a\u003E, the NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub encompasses four states \u2014 Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Alabama.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIts member schools include:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EClemson University\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EMorehouse College\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EUniversity of Alabama\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EUniversity of Central Florida\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EUniversity of Florida\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EUniversity of Miami\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EUniversity of South Florida\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn January 2025, when the NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub officially launches, the consortium of schools will expand to include the University of Puerto Rico. Additionally, through Morehouse College\u2019s activation, Spelman College and the Morehouse School of Medicine will also participate in supporting the project.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith a combined economic output of more than $3.2 trillion, the NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub region represents more than 11% of the entire U.S. economy. As a region, those states and Puerto Rico have a larger economic output than France, Italy, or Canada.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis is a great opportunity for us to engage in regional collaboration to drive innovation across the Southeast to strengthen our regional economy and that of Puerto Rico,\u201d said the Enterprise Innovation Institute\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/nakiamelecio\/\u0022\u003ENakia Melecio\u003C\/a\u003E, director of the NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub. As director, Melecio will oversee strategic management, data collection, and overall operations\u200b.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAdditionally, Melecio serves as a national faculty instructor for the NSF I-Corps program.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis also allows us to collectively tackle some of the common challenges all four of our states face, especially when it comes to being intentionally inclusive in reaching out to communities that historically haven\u2019t always been invited to participate,\u201d he said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat means bringing solutions to market that not only solve problems but are intentional about including researchers from Black and Hispanic-serving institutions, Melecio said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/keithmcgreggor\/\u0022\u003EKeith McGreggor\u003C\/a\u003E, director of Georgia Tech\u2019s \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/venturelab.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EVentureLab\u003C\/a\u003E, is the faculty lead charged with designing the curriculum and instruction for the NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub\u2019s partners.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMcGreggor has extensive I-Corps experience. In 2012, Georgia Tech was among the first institutions in the country selected to teach the I-Corps curriculum, which aims to further research commercialization. McGreggor served as the lead instructor for I-Corps-related efforts and led training efforts across the Southeast, as well as for teams in Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the Republic of Ireland.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/raghupathy-sivakumar\u0022\u003ERaghupathy \u201cSiva\u201d Sivakumar\u003C\/a\u003E, Georgia Tech\u2019s vice president of Commercialization and chief commercialization officer, is the project\u2019s principal investigator.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub is one of three announced by the NSF. The others are in the Northwest and New England regions, led by the University of California, Berkeley, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, respectively. The three I-Corps Hubs are part of the NSF\u2019s planned expansion of its National Innovation Network, which now includes 128 colleges and universities across 48 states.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs designed, the NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub will leverage its partner institutions\u2019 strengths to break down barriers to researchers\u2019 pace of lab-to-market commercialization.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Our Hub member institutions have successfully commercialized transformative technologies across critical sectors, including advanced manufacturing, renewable energy, cybersecurity, and biomedical fields,\u201d said Sivakumar. \u201cWe aim to achieve two key objectives: first, to establish and expand a scalable model that effectively translates research into viable commercial ventures; and second, to address pressing societal needs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022This includes not only delivering innovative solutions but also cultivating a diverse pipeline of researchers and innovators, thereby enhancing interest in STEM fields \u2014 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EU.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, is a proponent of the Hub\u2019s STEM component.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAs a biology major-turned-congresswoman, I know firsthand that STEM education and research open doors far beyond the lab or classroom.,\u201d Williams said. \u201cThis National Science Foundation grant means Georgia Tech will be leading the way in equipping researchers and grad students to turn their discoveries into real-world impact \u2014 as innovators, entrepreneurs, and business leaders.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019m especially excited about the partnership with Morehouse College and other minority-serving institutions through this Hub, expanding pathways to innovation and entrepreneurship for historically marginalized communities and creating one more tool to close the racial wealth gap.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat STEM aspect, coupled with supporting the growth of a regional ecosystem, will speed commercialization, increase higher education-industry collaborations, and boost the network of diverse entrepreneurs and startup founders, said David Bridges, vice president of the Enterprise Innovation Institute.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis multi-university, regional approach is a successful model because it has been proven that bringing a diversity of stakeholders together leads to unique solutions to very difficult problems,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd while the Southeast faces different challenges that vary from state to state and Puerto Rico has its own needs, they call for a more comprehensive approach to solving them. Adopting a region-oriented focus allows us to understand what these needs are, customize tailored solutions, and keep not just our hub but our nation economically competitive.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELed by Georgia Tech\u0027s Office of Commercialization and the Enterprise Innovation Institute, this Hub includes Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Florida, as well as the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Multi-state I-Corps Hubs project designed to strengthen regional innovation ecosystem and address inequities in access to capital and commercialization opportunities"}],"uid":"28137","created_gmt":"2024-10-30 20:00:15","changed_gmt":"2024-11-01 21:11:12","author":"P\u00e9ralte Paul","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-10-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-10-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"675471":{"id":"675471","type":"image","title":"NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub Team","body":"\u003Cp\u003EFrom left, Georgia Tech\u0027s Nakia Melecio, Keith McGreggor, and Raghupathy \u0022Siva\u0022 Sivakumar, are the NSF I-Corps Southeast Hub director, faculty lead, and principal investigator, respectively.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1730318440","gmt_created":"2024-10-30 20:00:40","changed":"1733765817","gmt_changed":"2024-12-09 17:36:57","alt":"Three Georgia Tech researchers headshots","file":{"fid":"259098","name":"New Trio.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/10\/30\/New%20Trio.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/10\/30\/New%20Trio.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2413319,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/10\/30\/New%20Trio.png?itok=cGSfw7-T"}}},"media_ids":["675471"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"139","name":"Business"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"193761","name":"Nakia Melecio"},{"id":"84581","name":"Keith McGreggor"},{"id":"20191","name":"Raghupathy Sivakumar"},{"id":"186603","name":"David Bridges"},{"id":"362","name":"National Science Foundation"},{"id":"14628","name":"I-Corps"},{"id":"815","name":"economic development"},{"id":"2579","name":"commercialization"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193658","name":"Commercialization"},{"id":"193654","name":"Enterprise Innovation Institute"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"106361","name":"Business and Economic Development"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EP\u00e9ralte C. Paul\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:peralte@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eperalte@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E404.316.1210\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["peralte@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}