EAGER: Pathway to Commercialization at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)

历史上，黑人学院和大学(HBCU)相对于白人为主的院校(PWI)对黑人STEM专业的生产产生了过大的影响，但它们往往缺乏支持技术商业化所需的财政资源和基础设施。HBCU技术转让资源的开发可直接影响相当大比例的非裔美国科学家和工程师，以及非裔美国人的技术创业管道。该项目寻求与计算机科学和工程系一起探索HBCU子集的技术和技术转让基础设施。它将调查采用联合体模式的压水堆机构对技术转让办公室的做法，以努力了解HBCU建立类似联合体模式的可行性。此外，它还将确定对HBCU环境最有希望的财团模式中的最佳做法。HBCU商业化之路项目旨在探索经ABET认证的HBCU和CESE资助的HBCU的子集的技术和技术转让基础设施。该项目将调查采用联合体模式的压水机对技术转让办公室的做法，以努力了解HBCU建立类似联合体模式的可行性。将进行客户发现，以确定参与HBCU的技术商业化管理员和教职员工的资产和痛点。其他发现将与将其TTO功能的一些元素集中在一起的PWI进行。这项工作将以下列研究问题为指导：1)目前HBCU进行技术转让的能力是什么；2)HBCU在多大程度上将技术商业化视为一种商机；3)研究密集型研究机构与HBCU在技术商业化方面的教职员工激励有何不同；以及4)能否确定潜在的共同活动的子集，以促进HBCU的技术商业化？客户发现的目标就是回答这些问题。特别是，该项目旨在确定对HBCU环境最有希望的财团模式中的最佳做法。将召开一次虚拟会议，讨论客户发现的发现，进行设计思考会议，并通过一套实施最佳实践的建议。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) exert an outsized influence on the production of Black STEM majors, relative to Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs), yet they often lack the financial resources and infrastructure needed to support technology commercialization. Development of technology transfer resources at HBCUs could directly impact a significant proportion of African American scientists and engineers, and the African American tech-entrepreneurial pipeline. This project seeks to explore the technology and technology transfer infrastructure at a subset of HBCUs with Computer Science and Engineering Departments. It will investigate PWIs with consortium models in their approach to technology transfer offices in an effort to understand the feasibility of HBCUs to establish similar consortium models. Further, it will identify best practices among consortium models that hold the most promise for the HBCU environment.The Pathways to Commercialization for HBCUs project seeks to explore the technology and technology transfer infrastructure at a subset of ABET-accredited HBCUs and CISE-funded HBCUs. The project will investigate PWIs with consortium models in their approach to technology transfer offices in an effort to understand the feasibility of HBCUs to establish similar consortium models. Customer discovery will be conducted to identify both assets and pain points from technology commercialization administrators and faculty at the participating HBCUs. Additional discovery will be conducted with PWIs that have some elements of their TTO functions centralized. The work will be guided by the following research questions: 1) What is the current capacity of HBCUs to perform technology transfer; 2) To what extent do HBCUs view technology commercialization as a business opportunity; 3) What are the differences in faculty incentives for technology commercialization at research intensive research institutions vs HBCUs; and 4) Can a subset of potential shared activities be identified to improve technology commercialization at HBCUs? The goal of the customer discovery is to answer those questions. In particular, the project aims to identify best practices among consortium models that hold the most promise for the HBCU environment. A virtual convening will be held to discuss findings from the customer discovery, conduct design thinking sessions, and adopt a set of recommendations for implementing best practices.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.