NSF - I-Corps Sites Program: Enhancing technology commercialization at a world-class innovation ecosystem

The NSF Innovation Corps program was created based on the class that Steve Blank taught for over 10 years at Standford University. In this class he used his decades of venture capital experience in Sillicon Valley to develop a methodology to build succesful technology start-ups: Lean Launchpad. In the UCF program, with the help of Steve Blanks and working closely with Jerry Engel, National Faculty Director of the National Science Foundation's I-Corps program, in 2014 we stablish the first I-Corps program in Florida. Since, this program has trained close to 200 start-ups at UCF. The UCF-ICorps program is a partnership between the Office of the Vice President for Research, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the College of Business Administration, and the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences. The goal of this effort is to increase the UCF translation of technologies into the marketplace by recruiting, evaluating and providing entrepreneurial support funded jointly by NSF and UCF to thirty entrepreneurial teams per year, each team consisting of an Academic Lead, an Entrepreneurial Lead and Mentor. This effort leverages the existing and extensive programs that currently promote entrepreneurship and innovation including: UCF Venture Lab, UCF Business Incubation Program, Office of Technology Transfer, UCF Research Park, Center for Entrepreneurship Leadership, Blackstone LaunchPad, Florida Angel Nexus, among many others.

National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps - National Innovation Networks Sites Program (I-Corps Sites), Industrial Innovation and Partnerships, PM: Dr. Anita J. LaSalle Award Number: CNS-1347356 and IIP-1735841 Principal Investigator: Thomas O'Neal Co-Principal Investigator: Ivan Garibay $660,000.00 May 2014-December 2020 [Project Video] [Project Website] [Project Startup Teams Trained] Team Videos : [Jan 2015] [Aug 2015] [Jan 2016] [Mar 2016] [Project What is Innovation?] [National I-Corps] [NSF]

Collaborators

	Jerome S. Engel Project Consultant Senior Fellow at the Lester Center University of California, Berkeley [Website]		Ozlem Ozmen Assistant Professor, Project Instructor University of Central Florida Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Department [Website]
	Oscar Rodriguez Project Instructor Entrepreneur in Residence University of Central Florida [Website]		Thomas O'Neal Professor, University of Central Florida Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Department [Website]
	Cameron M Ford Associate Professor University of Central Florida Department of Management [Website]		David Metcalf Director, Mixed Emerging Technology Integration Lab University of Central Florida Institute for Simulation and Training [Website]
	Michael Jay ODonnell Project Instructor University of Central Florida College of Business [Website]		Timothy G Kotnour Professor University of Central Florida Industrial Engineering and Management Systems Department [Website]

Selected Related Publications

Do graduated university incubator firms benefit from their relationship with university incubators? Lasrado, V., Sivo, S., Ford, C., ONeal, T., and Garibay, I. 2016 Journal of Technology Transfer, 41:205-219. [Journal] [Request Reprint]

Transformation networks: A study of how technological complexity impacts economic performance Hollander, C. D., Garibay, I., and O'Neal, T. 2012 In Teglio, A., Alfarano, S., Camacho-Cuena, E., and Gin ́es-Vilar, M., editors, Managing Market Complexity. Lecture Notes in Economics and Mathematical Systems, volume 662, pages 15-26. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. ISBN: 978-3-642-31301-1. [Publisher] [Request Reprint]

Press Coverage

FOX 35: Garibay: UCF has boot camp for tech startups WOFL TV News Coverage: Startup Bootcamp Kickoff; interviews with program director and teams February 3, 2015 [Youtube Video]

WESH 2: UCF New I-Corps Program WESH TV News Coverage: I-Corps Program Launch; keynote event coverage and interview with team member February 3, 2015 [Youtube Video]