The NYU I-Corps sponsored Summer Sprint program kick-off lunch was held at the MakerSpace at NYU Tandon School of Engineering on May 21st and hosted by the Convergence for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) Institute and NYU Entrepreneurial Institute, sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Picture: Speakers shed light on their invaluable experiences and how to shape the future of STEM
Top-Left: Jin Montclare of the CIE Institute & NSF I-Corps Sites Program explained her involvements with I-Corps
Top-Center: Gilda Barabino of CCNY shared statistics around innovators and STEM research
Top Right: David Lefer of the CIE Institute & NSF I-Corps Sites Program concluded with strategic critical thinking skills as it relates to entrepreneurship
Bottom-Left: Kurt Becker of Innovation and Entrepreneurship introduced the NSF I-Corps Sites Program
Bottom-Right: Vita Rabinowitz of CUNY touched upon the regional expansion of the NYCRIN
Jin Montclare, Director for the CIE Institute and NSF I-Corps Sites Program, and Kurt Becker, Vice Dean for Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, kicked off the event by introducing the NSF I-Corps Sites Program and the guest speakers from the City University of New York (CUNY) and City College of New York (CCNY).
Vita Rabinowitz, Executive Vice Chancellor and University Provost at CUNY, talked about the goals of the New York City Regional Innovation Node (NYCRIN) and how it aims to boost local teams and expand at the regional level. The program is in the development phase of initiating pipelines in entrepreneurship ranging from Degrees in High School to Doctorate levels. It emphasized the need to have teams that are diverse and non-traditional. In speaking about diversity, she said that the teams have an “Academic, moral and economic obligation to develop diversity.” The program provides training throughout the summer and helps to develop proposals.
Rabinowitz informed the current Summer Sprint teams that they should aim for a nomination to move forward at the regional and national level. If nominated, teams may receive up to $50,000. She also mentioned that NYCRIN will provide support and help find industrial mentors as well as assist with developing site-specific training.
She expressed that the “future will be different from the past. We need expertise and backgrounds of all kinds to succeed in any venture. It’s a strategic and moral commitment to diversify teams.” One recent development Rabinowitz highlighted was NYU Tandon’s efforts with training veterans in entrepreneurship. She commended this work and commented on how such programs enrich the diversity in STEM entrepreneurship by including people with disabilities.
Gilda Barabino, Dean & Daniel and Frances Berg Professor at CCNY, urged the audience to be inclusive and highlighted the importance of diversity in innovation. She presented statistics around the innovators of today with only 12% of innovators in the US being women. However, immigrants accounted for about 35.5% of innovators, indicating that diversity is key to innovation. According to her, diversity as a driver for innovation includes the following factors: a sense of belonging, socialization and recognition—something we all should consider.
Barabino pointed out that bias can often be a hindrance in innovation. She illustrated that women of color (WOC) in STEM & entrepreneurship have an underrepresented presence with fewer than 1 in 5 employed engineers & scientists being WOC. She informed the audience that we must understand the intersectional lens in order to bring together diversified groups, i.e. investors, entrepreneurs, students, politicians.
Barabino shared her research on a NSF-funded project called Forum on Inclusive STEM, with a focus on WOC. Factors learned in the process could then be capitalized for other underrepresented communities. Storytelling and developing a narrative are critical parts of the project. The project with an effective story produced will have a more effective result overall.
Lastly, David Lefer, co-director for the CIE Institute and NSF I-Corps Sites Program, provided a concluding message by showing a picture of a small girl in a library, standing on a pile of books reaching for the top shelf. He asked the attendees: “What does she need?” The answer ranged from a book to a ladder. He then asked, “What’s the real problem?” Instead of directly attempting to solve problems, Lefer urged the audience to look at a specific area and then ask what issues the research should address.
This provided a perfect prelude to the Summer Sprint that the student teams were about to begin. Then he posed this question to challenge the audience: “What’s your problem?” While he noted that about 75% of startups or new products fail; failure is also the process of learning. He advised the teams that getting out of the building is important and a large part of the Summer Sprint.
A special thank you to our CIE Team Lead and Research Fellows who hosted, arranged and organized this event: Christina Moazed, Manish Kumar and Shamim Reza.