ECU I-Corps Innovation Ambassador Program

The ECU I-Corps Innovation Ambassador Program is a hands-on internship program made available through a grant from the National Science Foundation. The program is available to highly motivated graduate students in the physical and life sciences, engineering, and technology fields who are interested in learning skills essential for identifying and assessing innovations for future development potential.

Offered by ECU’s Office of Licensing and Commercialization, the ECU I-Corps Innovation Ambassador Program offers a paid internship ($2,000) for five hours per week over the course of 3 months. Following successful completion of the training program, I-Corps Innovation Ambassadors will identify and assess novel innovations from ECU’s research community, explore commercialization opportunities, and serve on an I-Corps team for an ECU innovation. Ambassadors are also given the opportunity to attend conferences and to network at various events. This past Fall, Innovation Ambassadors attended the BioPharm America Conference, Ocean Innovation Conference, Internet Summit, Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, and other events.

Click to Apply

If you are looking for non-paid volunteer opportunities, visit https://rede.ecu.edu/innovation/volunteer/

Benefits for the Ambassador

Exposure to translational research and to the role of intellectual property protection;
Understand the commercialization process;
Build skills related to innovation evaluation, communicating with industry experts, and customer discovery;
Establish a network of connections; and
Learn about alternative career paths in the field of technology transfer (Patent Attorney, Investment, Licensing, etc.).

Outcomes from the Program

Program Start: Jan. 2021
Total Number of Ambassador Trained: 16
Number of Total Customer Interviews Completed by Ambassadors: 465
I-Corps teams assisted with the Innovation Ambassador as the Entrepreneurial Lead: 32
Number of Faculty Engaged: 212
Number of Innovation Disclosures: 52
Number of New Patents: 5
Number of Licenses: 3
Number of New Digital Market Products: 5