The Andrews University Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship has received a three-year, $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to help it seek more collaborative partnerships.
Andrews Director of Innovation Matias Soto tells us the center teaches advanced technical skills to students. This grant from the NSF will enable the center to find more partners in the business world, not only to create learning opportunities for students, but for faculty to lend their expertise to those companies.
“We decided to pursue a grant to help us hire a full-time person that can drive the business development, connect with different companies, manufacturers, etc. and develop those relationships and in turn, find ways to be of mutual value to each other,” Soto said.
Soto says with a full-time person on hand to help find business partners, the center at Andrews can benefit all parties.
“Some of the areas of industry that we’re interested in are related to product development, AI, cybersecurity, medical devices, space technologies, sensors and semiconductors, energy and sustainability, advanced mobility, which includes drones, self-driving vehicles, and advanced manufacturing.”
Andrews teamed up with four other universities to create the EXPAND Consortium to seek the funds. Those partners are the Milwaukee School of Engineering, the University of Detroit Mercy, Western New England University, and the University of St. Thomas. Soto says the institutions will all support and learn from each other as they expand their innovation capabilities.
Soto says he wants high-tech industries to look to Andrews as a resource to be drawn on for innovation solutions.
