Happy first birthday, National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps

April 23, 2024

The I-Corps program at UND’s Center for Innovation helps scientists learn how to commercialize cutting-edge research

Scott Snyder, vice-president for Research & Economic Development at UND, addresses the crowd at the UND Center for Innovation’s “Celebrating Year One of NSF I-CORPS Hub” event on April 11. Photo by Haylee Bjorke/Center for Innovation.

By Haylee Bjork

The National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps or I-Corps program trains scientists and engineers to look beyond the laboratory to increase the economic and social impact of their research. UND is a founding member of the Great Plains I-Corps Hub; for the past year, the UND Center for Innovation has provided I-Corps’ immersive, entrepreneurial training for scientists, researchers and engineers.

And on April 11, the Center celebrated the I-Corps program’s inaugural year of being fully offered at UND. The event highlighted the journey undertaken by participants and the impact has had on translating the participants’ ideas into potential businesses.

UND’s I-Corps training spans five weeks, offering a blended approach to help participants assess the market potential of a solution. The curriculum explores the commercial potential of deep technology solutions across any industry sector. It prepares researchers to commercialize cutting-edge technologies and in doing so, enhance partnerships between the academic and industrial worlds.

The April 11 event featured several speakers, with Wayne Seames, a Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at UND, serving as emcee. Seames, who also serves as the I-Corps grant faculty leader, introduced the members of the UND I-Corps team. They include Lead Instructor Amy Whitney, director of the Center for Innovation; Site Coordinator Sona Lesmeister, entrepreneur coach and start-up specialist at the Center for Innovation; and Grant Project Principal Investigator Brian Tande, dean of the UND College of Engineering & Mines.

Scott Snyder, UND’s newly appointed vice president of Research and Economic Development, welcomed event attendees. In his remarks, Snyder celebrated the growth of innovation and entrepreneurial activity on the UND campus. He also expressed excitement about the growing interest in the I-Corps program and its focus on giving researchers a chance to consider ways to commercialize their research.

In his remarks, Tande underscored the vital role universities play in fostering economic development and nurturing entrepreneurial talent. Reflecting on his own journey, Tande shared insights gleaned from incorporating entrepreneurship into academia, and emphasizing the value of customer discovery in shaping viable business ideas.

From left, Wayne Seames, Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering; Md Hasib Fakir, biomedical engineering graduate student; Mina Molani, biomedical engineering graduate student; Pantea Tavakolian, assistant professor of biomedical engineering; Amy Whitney, director of the Center for Innovation; and Chad Ulven, professor at North Dakota State University and director, I-Corps Great Plains Region Hub, pose at the Center for Innovation’s April 11 I-Corps event. Photo by Haylee Bjork/Center for Innovation.

I-Corps means connections

The heart of the event featured testimonials from Bella Peterson, a sophomore Entrepreneurship student at UND, and Utkarsh Gupta, a postdoctoral researcher in Psychology. Peterson and Gupta highlighted the surprises, insights and challenges of their customer discovery journey in I-Corps.

Gupta is working on an eyecare screening technology that he discovered as part of his research. Peterson is the entrepreneurial lead with Russell Schell, founder of RJ Energy Solutions, in developing a technology that converts captured heat into other energy sources.

Gupta and Peterson shared that their biggest takeaway from the I-Corps program was the connections they created — not only within their own industries, but also across other industry sectors.

Participants were presented with certificates and congratulations for the hard work they completed within the five-week program.

The essence of I-Corps lies in its emphasis on customer discovery and market validation, a key takeaway echoed by both Peterson and Gupta. Through a rigorous process of interviews and feedback, participants learn how to determine the value of their solution in meeting a market need.

The I-Corps program is available to UND students, faculty and postdoctoral researchers. It is a nationally recognized program that advances continuous learning and adaptation, essential qualities in the ever-changing innovation economy.

For more information, visit the Center for Innovation’s I-Corps webpage.