ART: Illinois Tech Forward Initiative

该项目支持伊利诺伊理工大学的TechForward计划，以促进以市场为中心的研究，并在高增长的技术领域培养更多样化的劳动力。通过鼓励教职员工与芝加哥科技生态系统中的行业专业人士密切合作，并建立基础设施、文化和流程来支持这一点，TechForward旨在激励教职员工将他们的研究活动导向解决关键的社会挑战。让教师与行业专业人士合作，将他们的研究成果转化为现实，也应该能提高技术转移的速度和效率，最终通过将创新更快地推向市场，造福社会。TechForward还将解决科技行业代表性不足的问题。认识到多样性和包容性是创新和进步的关键驱动力，TechForward将向未被充分代表的人群，包括芝加哥大都会地区来自不同背景的第一代大学生和其他学习者，提供高增长技术领域商业化的实践经验。TechForward对芝加哥人口种族多样性的关注尤为重要。黑人和拉丁裔创始人仅占该市科技公司创始人的6%，这一事实突显出这种差距，不仅限制了未被充分代表的群体的经济机会，也阻碍了科技行业从更广泛的观点和人才中受益。伊利诺理工大学位于布朗兹维尔，86.6%的居民是黑人，这使它处于一个独特的位置，可以直接解决这个问题。该项目旨在通过利用来自芝加哥技术生态系统的行业专业人士的经验，以及伊利诺伊理工大学创业和创新中心的项目和商业化资源，加速伊利诺伊理工大学使用灵感研究的转化，以实现技术转移过程。这些资源将建立能力，以发展一个市场驱动的过程，以确定、评估和推进种子转化研究项目。TechForward的目标是在项目被选中加速后的两年内，将至少40%的种子转化研究项目转化为商业机会。该项目将通过创建研究商业化的体验式培训项目，为芝加哥大都会地区寻求学位的学生和非寻求学位的弱势群体设计，在芝加哥高增长的技术领域培养多样化的人才。所有学习者都将通过商业化培训项目接受培训，培训方式包括实体授课或在线授课，然后邀请他们申请与教师和经验丰富的行业专业人士合作，推进种子转化研究项目。到项目结束时，TechForward将为至少150名攻读学位的学生和100名代表性不足的非学位学习者提供商业化培训。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The project supports the TechForward initiative at Illinois Tech to foster market-focused research and develop a more diverse workforce in high growth technology sectors. By encouraging faculty members to collaborate closely with industry professionals in Chicago’s tech ecosystem and building the infrastructure, culture and processes to support this, TechForward aims to inspire faculty to direct their research activities towards addressing critical societal challenges. Having faculty paired with industry professionals to translate their research should also enhance the speed and efficiency of technology transfer, ultimately benefiting society by bringing innovations to market faster. TechForward will also address the issue of underrepresentation in the tech sector. Recognizing that diversity and inclusivity are critical drivers of innovation and progress, TechForward will expose underrepresented populations, including first-generation college students and other learners from diverse backgrounds in the Chicago Metropolitan Region, to practical experiences in commercialization within high-growth technology sectors. TechForward's focus on the racial diversity of Chicago's population is of particular importance. The fact that Black and Latino founders represent only 6% of tech founders in the city highlights a disparity that not only limits economic opportunities for underrepresented groups but also hinders the tech sector from benefiting from a wider range of perspectives and talents. Illinois Tech's location in Bronzeville, where 86.6% of residents are Black, places it in a unique position to address this issue directly.This project aims to accelerate the translation of Illinois Tech’s use-inspired research by leveraging the experience of industry professionals from Chicago’s tech ecosystem and the programs and commercialization resources at Illinois Tech’s entrepreneurship and innovation hub to the technology transfer process. These resources will build the capacity to develop a market-driven process to identify, assess and advance seed translational research projects. TechForward targets converting at least 40% of the seed translational research projects into commercial opportunities as measured by negotiated licenses within 2 years after projects are selected for acceleration. The project will cultivate a diverse pool of talent within Chicago's high growth technology sector by creating experiential training programs in research commercialization, designed for both degree-seeking students and non-degree seeking underrepresented individuals from the Chicago Metropolitan region. All learners will be trained through a commercialization training program, delivered physically or online, then solicited to apply to work with faculty and experienced industry professionals to advance seed translational research projects. By the end of the project duration, TechForward will have provided commercialization training to at least 150 degree seeking students and 100 under-represented non-degree seeking learners.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.