I-Corps Sites: Type II - The Penn I-Corps Site

这个来自宾夕法尼亚大学（Penn）的项目扩展了它的I-Corps Site。创新团队（I-Corps）站点是nsf资助的实体，建立在大学里，其目的是培养和支持多个本地团队，将他们的技术概念转化为市场。网站提供基础设施、建议、资源、网络机会、培训和适度的资金，使团体能够将他们的工作转化为市场或成为I-Corps团队的申请人。I-Corps站点还加强地方和区域创新，并为由导师、研究人员、企业家和投资者组成的国家创新网络做出贡献。宾夕法尼亚大学I-Corps网站通过提供教育规划、财政支持和战略指导，支持将STEM领域的研究成果转化为市场，并为网站电子团队提供进入其创新中心——宾夕法尼亚大学创新中心（PCI）商业化项目的机会。该网站采用了一个结构化的流程，按照精益启动平台方法进行商业模型验证。在宾夕法尼亚大学STEM研究产生的技术背景下，该网站的目标是通过提供动手体验式创业教育来培训由教职员工和学生组成的团队，并加速宾夕法尼亚大学的创业创造。宾大I-Corps网站的直接成果是教师和学生在客户发现方法方面的实践培训，向NSF的I-Corp项目申请，团队项目的市场需求验证，新创业公司的创建，以及在适当的时候，宾大研究的技术授权。最终目标是帮助研究向商业化过渡。该网站的活动将教育和传统技术转让结合起来，促进实践体验。自2015年夏天宾夕法尼亚大学网站开始运营以来，已经有超过75个团队接受了培训。其中，32家公司成立，通过赠款和投资获得了720万美元的资金，并创造了39个就业机会。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。

This project, from the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), extends its I-Corps Site. 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 Penn I-Corps Site supports the translation of research from STEM areas into the marketplace by providing educational programming, financial support, and strategic guidance through offering Site e-teams access to commercialization programs at its innovation hub, the Penn Center for Innovation (PCI). The Site employs a structured process for business model validation following the Lean Launchpad methodology. Within the context of technologies arising from STEM research at Penn, the goals of the Site are to train teams consisting of faculty, staff, and students by providing hands-on experiential entrepreneurial education, and to accelerate startup creation at Penn.A direct result of the Penn I-Corps Site is hands-on training in the Customer Discover Methodology of faculty and students, applications to the NSF's I-Corp program, validation of market need for team projects, the creation of new startups and, when appropriate, licensing of technologies originating from Penn research. The ultimate goal is to help transition of research to commercialization. Promoting a hands-on experiential approach the Site's activities integrate education and traditional technology transfer. More than 75 teams have already been trained since the Penn Site started operating in the summer of 2015. From these, 32 companies were launched, which have acquired $7.2 million in funding via grant awards and investments, and 39 jobs created.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.