National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance
Encyclopedia
The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) is a private 501(c)(3) organization that funds and trains faculty and student innovators to create successful, socially beneficial businesses. The organization's mission is to create experiential learning opportunities for students, and to catalyze student-led ventures that create positive social and environmental impact.
NCIIA's early stage funding and training opportunities have led to the creation of more than 130 new businesses across an array of industries, which have leveraged more than $140 million in additional funding.
in Amherst, Massachusetts to discuss how universities might provide students with the tools they need to transform their ideas into viable businesses. Jerome Lemelson, one of the U.S.’s most prolific inventors, convened the meeting.
In the meeting, Lemelson described his vision for an organization that would support educators in implementing a hands-on approach to learning while at the same time helping students develop new products and boost them toward commercialization.
The NCIIA was created out of this vision. The NCIIA, initially part of Hampshire College’s
Lemelson National Program and funded primarily by The Lemelson Foundation, became a stand-alone non-profit entity in 2007. It has grown to include a membership of nearly 200 colleges and universities from across the U.S., engaging over 5,000 undergraduate and graduate student entrepreneurs each year.
NCIIA training workshops include VentureLab, a program developed by James Barlow and first delivered in the United States at the Microsoft NERD facility in April 2010 to a cohort of twenty emerging student venture teams.
In 2009 the organization started a new initiative, VentureWell, to provide advisory services and seed funding to some of the best of its emerging ventures. Two featured ventures are Whole Tree, which makes more sustainable alternatives to traditional plastics and insulation, and Therapeutic Systems, producing a therapeutic vest for autistic children.
, got a $16,000 NCIIA grant that funded a few critical months of development. Ecovative Design—their company makes building insulation and packaging materials from mushrooms, a material they call Greensulate
—went on to win awards from the state of New York and Europe's PICNIC Green Challenge, among others.
Another NCIIA-sponsored team from the University of Portland
turned a $12,500 grant into a company with more than $2.5 million in annual sales. The company, Keen Healthcare, was founded to commercialize a shock-absorbing crutch and now sells twenty-five different products that help injured, disabled, and elderly people move around more easily.
NCIIA's early stage funding and training opportunities have led to the creation of more than 130 new businesses across an array of industries, which have leveraged more than $140 million in additional funding.
Origins
In 1995, a group of higher education faculty and administrators gathered at Hampshire CollegeHampshire College
Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1965 as an experiment in alternative education, in association with four other colleges in the Pioneer Valley: Amherst College, Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Massachusetts...
in Amherst, Massachusetts to discuss how universities might provide students with the tools they need to transform their ideas into viable businesses. Jerome Lemelson, one of the U.S.’s most prolific inventors, convened the meeting.
In the meeting, Lemelson described his vision for an organization that would support educators in implementing a hands-on approach to learning while at the same time helping students develop new products and boost them toward commercialization.
The NCIIA was created out of this vision. The NCIIA, initially part of Hampshire College’s
Lemelson National Program and funded primarily by The Lemelson Foundation, became a stand-alone non-profit entity in 2007. It has grown to include a membership of nearly 200 colleges and universities from across the U.S., engaging over 5,000 undergraduate and graduate student entrepreneurs each year.
Activities
The NCIIA funds and trains student and faculty innovators grants, competitions and workshops, committing $1.5 million every year to assist student innovators and the faculty that enable their work.NCIIA training workshops include VentureLab, a program developed by James Barlow and first delivered in the United States at the Microsoft NERD facility in April 2010 to a cohort of twenty emerging student venture teams.
In 2009 the organization started a new initiative, VentureWell, to provide advisory services and seed funding to some of the best of its emerging ventures. Two featured ventures are Whole Tree, which makes more sustainable alternatives to traditional plastics and insulation, and Therapeutic Systems, producing a therapeutic vest for autistic children.
Success stories
In 2007, Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre, two graduating students at Rensselaer Polytechnic InstituteRensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Stephen Van Rensselaer established the Rensselaer School on November 5, 1824 with a letter to the Rev. Dr. Samuel Blatchford, in which van Rensselaer asked Blatchford to serve as the first president. Within the letter he set down several orders of business. He appointed Amos Eaton as the school's...
, got a $16,000 NCIIA grant that funded a few critical months of development. Ecovative Design—their company makes building insulation and packaging materials from mushrooms, a material they call Greensulate
Greensulate
Greensulate is a renewable and biodegradable material that can be used for thermal insulation, fire insulation and also as a substitute for styrofoam and other plastics used in packaging and other applications....
—went on to win awards from the state of New York and Europe's PICNIC Green Challenge, among others.
Another NCIIA-sponsored team from the University of Portland
University of Portland
The University of Portland is a private Roman Catholic university located in Portland, Oregon. It is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross and is the sister school of the University of Notre Dame. Founded in 1901, UP has a student body of about 3,600 students...
turned a $12,500 grant into a company with more than $2.5 million in annual sales. The company, Keen Healthcare, was founded to commercialize a shock-absorbing crutch and now sells twenty-five different products that help injured, disabled, and elderly people move around more easily.