2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Cultivating Entrepreneurial Innovation: NSF I-Corps Training for Engineering Education Researchers

Presented at Entrepreneurship & Engineering Innovation Division (ENT) Technical Session 8- Institutional Programs & Ecosystems

Engineering education research (EER) training prepares graduate students and postdocs to be successful in academic careers. However, the research skills developed through EER readily transfer into other promising, but underexplored, professional opportunities, including entrepreneurship. The reality of the current research funding climate led us to reevaluate our existing support systems and consider alternative possibilities. After exploring and brainstorming, we decided to apply to the NSF-supported regional Innovation Corps (NSF I-Corps). The NSF I-Corps offers an experiential learning experience for researchers interested in translating their intellectual property and technical innovation into a viable commercial product. Through the customer discovery process, we interviewed over 30 stakeholders and iteratively refined our value proposition and understanding of the market for our technical innovation. By the end of the program, these interviews, coupled with feedback from the program mentors, were instrumental in shifting our perspective towards a more entrepreneurial mindset.
In this paper, we reflect on our preparation and participation in the NSF I-Corps as a team of engineering education researchers. Our team had varying levels of prior exposure to entrepreneurship before participating in the program. In addition to our key takeaways, we discuss some overlapping competencies between EER and entrepreneurship, based on our experience with the NSF I-Corps. These include conducting evidence-based research, leveraging personal and professional networks, and pitching ideas to different stakeholders. Finally, by sharing our experience, we hope to encourage more engineering education researchers to develop entrepreneurial competencies and participate in startup incubation opportunities like the NSF I-Corps program.

Authors

AraOluwa Adaramola http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2322-7932 Tufts University [biography]

AraOluwa Adaramola is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Chemical and Biological Engineering department at Tufts University.
Alexandra Werth http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0310-2654 Cornell University [biography]

Alexandra Werth is an assistant professor at the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, specializing in Engineering Education Research (EER). She focuses on developing evidence-based teaching methodologies to foster authentic learning environments. Dr. Werth holds a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Princeton University, where she developed a non-invasive mid-infrared glucose sensor. She later conducted postdoctoral research in physics education at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she helped develop the first large-enrollment introductory physics course-based research experience (CURE).
Dr. Campbell James McColley Cornell University [biography]

Dr. Campbell McColley is a NSF Postdoctoral STEM Ed Research Fellow in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Cornell University in the Biomedical Engineering Education Assessment and Research (BEEAR) Group. He received his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Oregon State University, where he investigated microplastics transformations and behavior in aquatic environments. His work focuses on developing and supporting college-industry partnerships in engineering curricula with the wastewater treatment sector.
Stephanie Fuchs Cornell University [biography]

Dr. Stephanie Fuchs is an Active Learning Initiative (ALI) Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Cornell University. She received her Ph.D. in Biological Engineering from Cornell University, where she focused on developing glucose-sensitive materials for electronics-free insulin delivery devices. As an ALI postdoc, her work focuses on developing and implementing engineering studio modules for core BME courses and developing tools to support student learning in the studios via active learning techniques. She is particularly interested in researching the impact of the engineering studio environment on student learning, engagement, and motivation, and investigating how the new studio curriculum impacts student’s perception of their engineering identity.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026

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