UMass Named Partner Institution in $15 million NSF I-Corps Hub

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This story was first published by the UMass News Office.

The U.S. National Science Foundation has named the University of Massachusetts Amherst as a partner in the NSF I-Corps Hub: New England Region. UMass Amherst will receive more than $1.4 million from the partnership, which will be led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The Hub will receive $15 million over five years to promote entrepreneurialism among STEM researchers, with I-Corps trained faculty, researchers and students working to transform deep technology inventions into marketable products. 

“We train our researchers to apply their findings to create value. We call it Innovation 101,” says Sundar Krishnamurty, faculty lead of I-Corps program at UMass, Ronnie & Eugene M. Isenberg Distinguished Professor in engineering, and department head of mechanical and industrial engineering. “The interdisciplinary program reaches into the whole STEM world. This speaks to the chancellor’s vision of building a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship on campus.”

UMass has expertise in translating research from scientific and technology domains that are key focus areas for the I-Corps Hub: New England Region. These areas are bluetech (advanced technologies and innovations related to the marine and maritime domains), forestry/sustainability and biotech/life sciences.  

UMass has been an I-Corps site since 2018, but this new award marks the NSF’s shift from individual sites to “a more integrated model, I-Corps Hubs, comprising a Lead and Partner institutions, that form the operational backbone of the National Innovation Network.”

Now, in addition to running these trainings for the UMass community, the UMass I-Corps team will be recruiting from other universities within the UMass system, as well as Western Massachusetts institutions such as Smith College, Mount Holyoke College and Springfield Technical Community College. The outreach initiative aims to correct persistent gender, race and geographic disparities in entrepreneurship.

“Our prior I-Corps site was highly successful in providing essential tech translation training programs to UMass faculty and student teams,” says Sanjay Raman, principal investigator of the UMass Amherst New England Hub I-Corps effort, professor of electrical and computer engineering and dean of the College of Engineering. “In total, over 60 regional teams were trained, 15 went on to the national level I-Corps program, and 12 new ventures were formed. We are thrilled to join MIT and our other New England partner universities to expand our impact throughout the region, in particular underserved, more rural regions.”

Successful I-Corps participants from UMass include Myrias Optics, an emerging developer of nanopatterned structures on glass called metaoptics; Latde, a company that designs inexpensive diagnostic tests to guide antibiotic treatment, starting with urinary tract infections; and rStream, a start-up creating AI-based systems to sort recycling. 

“Innovation is a core value for our campus. The I-Corps Hub and the opportunity to participate as a partner directly aligns with existing campus efforts to create an environment that supports the research, development and mechanisms leading to deep technology ventures,” says Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement Mike Malone.

Ina Ganguli, professor of economics in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the Isenberg School of Management, and director of the UMass Computational Social Science Institute, is the Hub research lead. She brings her expertise in how to effectively involve individuals with diverse experiences and identities in university innovation and commercialization activities and how to create more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Laura Burnham will continue to serve as program director. She brings over 20 years of experience leading the development, design and delivery of early-stage science and technology programs in the U.S. and globally.

“The goal of the I-Corps program is to deploy experiential education to help researchers reduce the time necessary to translate promising ideas from laboratory benches to widespread implementation that in turn impacts economic growth regionally and nationally,” said Erwin Gianchandani, NSF assistant director for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships. “Each regional NSF I-Corps Hub provides training essential in entrepreneurship and customer discovery, leading to new products, startups and jobs. In effect, we are investing in the next generation of entrepreneurs for our nation.”

The NSF I-Corps Hub: New England Region is one of three new regional hubs, bringing the total number of higher education institutions with an I-Corps site across the country to 128. Led by MIT, the Hub also includes Brown University, Harvard University, Northeastern University, Tufts University, the University of Maine and the University of New Hampshire.