2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This work-in-progress submission describes activities to nurture an innovation ecosystem to improve agriculture, forestry, and fishing (AgFF) occupational safety. This ecosystem will be supported through a research-to-practice (r2p) incubator project entitled “IdeasThatWork” that aims to remove health and safety hazards in AgFF, industries that historically have significantly higher than average occupational injury and fatality rates, as compared to other industries. This paper describes (1) a data gathering effort to identify best practices utilized in existing technology incubators, (2) the recruitment of an expert advisory board representing the range of expertise needed in the AgFF occupational safety innovation sphere, (3) the development and release of the initial request for applications under this incubator, (4) activities in support of the first recipient of seed funding under this effort, (5) nuances associated with the AgFF safety domain that differentiate this effort from traditional technology incubators, and (6) next steps for the IdeasThatWork Incubator.

Through a transdisciplinary lens at the interface of manufacturing and engineering, epidemiology, and entrepreneurship, we seek to improve occupational safety outcomes for this vital community of AgFF workers. With an incubator-based approach, we are encouraging innovation, be it from those with science, technology, or engineering educational backgrounds, or those whose inventive skills are acquired through industry expertise. With this work-in-progress submission, we seek to share progress to date in this pilot effort and invite feedback as we refine a blueprint for this incubator model going forward.