Type I: University of South Alabama Collaborative Research for Entrepreneurial Activities, Training, and Education (CREATE) Center

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This project, from the University of South Alabama (USA), in Mobile, creates an NSF I-Corps Site. NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Sites are NSF-funded entities established at universities whose purpose is to nurture and support multiple, local teams to transition their technology concepts into the marketplace. Sites provide infrastructure, advice, resources, networking opportunities, training and modest funding to enable groups to transition their work into the marketplace or into becoming I-Corps Team applicants. I-Corps Sites also strengthen innovation locally and regionally and contribute to the National Innovation Network of mentors, researchers, entrepreneurs and investors.The USA-Mobile Site is housed in the recently established CREATE Center, in the Office of Research Innovation. The Mobile region's economy is growing and features manufacturing and industries in a number of STEM-rich clusters (Aviation, Steel, Maritime & Shipbuilding, Energy, Chemical, Transportation, and Technology). The USA Site is likely to have broad regional impacts, particularly given this institution's involvement in several community activities such as Start-Up Weekend and a Minority Business Accelerator, leading to significant commercial and societal impact with increased successful iterations of commercialized technology, entrepreneurial work force development and employment activities. The USA Site itself is designed as a community asset made up of four, diverse Mobile institutions including: an emerging research university (USA); a primarily African-American community college; a Southern Baptist university; and, a 200 year-old Jesuit College. Teams formed at this I-Corp Site will include diversity of students and mentors across institutions. In addition, placing business students and technical writers on teams may provide a unique opportunity to observe ?best-practices? that are not currently being applied elsewhere.