Keynote Speaker

The National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps program helps researchers and entrepreneurs by providing training, mentorship, and funding to explore the potential of their ideas. It also aids participants in discovering problems their innovations could solve by engaging directly with the people they could serve to understand their needs and pain points. Faculty and students, who have completed an I-Corps cohort, will share their experiences.

The "Reverse Pitch" approach is designed to allow companies to build awareness of a business to and potentially forge productive connections with a diverse audience comprising of faculty, staff and students from each of the NEO public universities and representatives from various industries. Selected companies will discuss a problem statement in preparation for a later Q&A later in the afternoon.

Joseph Scott (Ohio Department of Development) Innovation can be a difficult journey for all involved. This panel will address the paths some innovative companies took to gain success through SBIR/STTR as well as resources available to anyone interested in technology transfer, SBIR/STTR, or any other government-led innovation programs.

Growing from student researcher to entrepreneur through “The Pixar Pitch” - Jaime Wood-Riley, Camillo Archuleta (VentureWell) In this workshop, student researchers will use “The Pixar Pitch” to identify a problem, value proposition, and a customer segment as they create pitches for research they’ve been working on. By the end, they will have a better understanding of how their research relates to the market and what steps they need to take to work toward commercialization.

Registration required **Meet in the Kilcawley Center - Chestnut Room to walk to NCDMM/America Makes and YBI