Extension team and partners collaborated on the following programs:
- UMD Regional I-Corps Cohort: May 17-31, 2024; 17 teams total, including from TEDCO (4), University of Baltimore (1), Johns Hopkins University (1), and University of Maryland (6)
- Coppin State Summer Launch II: June-July, 2024; two student teams from Coppin State University
- UMD I-Corps Next: July 1-29, 2024; 16 teams total, including from the University of Baltimore (2), Bowie State (1), Johns Hopkins University (1), University of Maryland, Baltimore County (1), and Morgan State University/University of Maryland VentureWell teams (4)
- UMD Rolling Cohort Pilot Program: launched July 10, 2024; twice monthly; 10 teams to date, including the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (1), University of Maryland (2), and Maryland Community Entrepreneurs (2)
- UMD Regional I-Corps Cohort: August 16-20, 2024; 18 teams total, including from Morgan State University (1), Frostburg State University (1), Johns Hopkins University (1), University of Maryland, Baltimore County (1), and University of Maryland (4)
- Two regional I-Corps cohorts with Morgan State University
- Monthly I-Corps information sessions: 208 registrants (up 166 percent compared to last reporting period, with 61 percent attendance). Attendees came from UMD, UMB, Morgan State, Coppin State, Bowie State, and other partner schools.
- The YouTube Channel hosted by UM Ventures, Startup UMD Business Fundamentals, continued to grow:
- Views: 10,924; total videos: 116; watch hours: 1,000; subscribers: 485 (+33)
- 25 Startup Fundamental Workshops, with 591 registrants and 300 attendees.
- The extension team participated in the UIDP Annual Conference, held April 16-17, 2024, in Baltimore.
- 70 unique HBCUs, 205 unique universities (including HBCUs), 77 companies, 33 government agencies attended
- The extension team led a session “Supporting Current and Aspiring Maryland Entrepreneurs through the UMD I-Corps: Maryland Innovation Extension.”
- The extension team presented at the 13th Annual Deshpande Symposium on June 14, 2024, hosted at the University of Maryland.
- The team gave a talk titled “Your Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship as a Vehicle for Regional Impact,” highlighting specific programs and initiatives from different universities and regions, including celebrations of cultural heritage, diversity, and targeted community engagement.
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Pictured: Vice President for Research Gregory Ball, center, poses with members of the University of Maryland Office of Innovation at the 2024 Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education.
Pictured: Vice President for Research Gregory Ball, center, poses with members of the University of Maryland Office of Innovation at the 2024 Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education.
- Mildred Diggs, founder of Journiy and participant in regional I-Corps and I-Corps Next in 2023, won top prize for the Robyn and David Quattrone Tech Track during the Pitch Dingman Competition in April 2024 for $25,000.
- Joyson Balisamore, a 2024 regional and I-Corps Next student participant from the University of Baltimore, pitched in the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation’s 12th Annual “Rise to the Challenge” business pitch competition in May 2024, and won a Baltimore Fund Award for $6,000.
- Astek Diagnostics Inc., led by Mustafa Al-Adhami, a graduate student from UMBC who participated in regional I-Corps in 2022, received a $90,000 MIPS project award in August 2024.
- In August 2024, Paul Aiyetan, founder of NEOPATHOLOGY CORP, who participated in regional and I-Corps Next in 2023, received TEDCO RBII funding for $25,000. TEDCO’s RBII was designed to enhance technology commercialization and provide technical and business assistance to small and early-stage companies based in rural Maryland.
- In August 2024, Alyssa Lucero, Siyoung Ha, and Peter (Bi-dar) Wang, researchers and faculty members at UMES, were awarded $50,000 to participate in NSF National I-Corps Teams for their RNA-based cancer therapy technology.
- In August 2024, Ziping Wang and Gregory Ramsey, researchers and faculty members at Morgan State, applied for a $50,000 NSF National I-Corps Teams grant to support MythoLogix, an educational technology solution for supply chains.
Extension UMD EIRs are trained in accordance with standard procedures (per UM Ventures), including an overview of innovation and entrepreneurship resources and recommended pathways, Extension-UC programs, and introductions to innovation managers and other entrepreneurship and innovation team members.
- University of Maryland EIRs held 13 one-hour sessions
- Bowie State University EIRs held 72 thirty-minute sessions
- The University of Baltimore’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation EIRs held 2 one-hour sessions
DataStream Content Solutions (DSCS) offered data conversion and enrichment services for a broad segment of government and business entities. DSCS was acquired by the Dolan Company in December 2010 for $20.5 million.
Digene developed the first gene-based test for human papillomavirus (HPV). The company’s test screened for the presence of high-risk types of the virus shown to be the cause of cervical cancer. The company was acquired by Qiagen NV in 2007 for $1.6 billion.
InventWood develops high-performance, cost-effective, and carbon-sequestering SuperWood and cellulose materials to replace unsustainable alternatives that are widely used today. The company’s lead product, SuperWood, is stronger and lighter than steel. InventWood is opening a 90,000-square-foot production facility slated to produce 1,000,000 square feet of boards and veneers annually.
Ion Storage Systems develops solid-state batteries that are safer, lighter, and enable form factors with tighter packing density that enhance system performance. The company recently commissioned one of the largest solid-state battery manufacturing facilities in the U.S., in Beltsville, Md.
Martek Biosciences developed and commercialized life’s DHA, a vegetarian source of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), for use in infant formula, pregnancy and nursing products, foods and beverages, dietary supplements and animal feed. At one point, Martek supplied DHA to infant formula companies representing 75 percent of the worldwide and nearly 100 percent of the U.S. retail markets. More than 200 domestic and international companies launched non-infant formula products containing Martek’s DHA product. Martek was acquired by Royal DSM for $1.1 billion in 2010.
Medcura is a commercial-stage medical device company developing versatile hemostatic products serving large surgical, medical, and consumer market opportunities. The company’s proprietary technology platform combines the use of safe, inert ingredients with patented chemistries, all aimed at introducing disruptively lower cost products capable of safely and effectively controlling bleeding across a broad spectrum of clinical applications.
NovaScreen Biosciences provided screening, profiling, and assay development services for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide, as well as for government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health. The company was acquired by Caliper Life Sciences, Inc. in 2005 for $30 million.
PAICE, a company formed in 1992 to develop hybrid vehicle technology that promoted lower emissions, superior driving performance, and the fuel-efficient operation of internal combustion engines, licensed all 23 of its domestic and foreign patents to Toyota in 2010. PAICE also licensed its breakthrough 1994 hybrid vehicle patent (U.S. Patent 5,343,970) to Ford Motor Company in 2010, and more automobile manufacturers after.
Pixelligent manufacturers tunable, high refractive index (RI) nanocrystal formulations that enable next-generation electronics, including extended reality devices, OLED and MicroLED displays, and sensor applications. The company’s Baltimore-based 18,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art manufacturing and laboratory facility is supported by sales offices in the Republic of Korea and Taiwan. Pixelligent has acquired $88 million in funding and has 44 employees.
The NSF I-Corps Mid-Atlantic Hub has guided 1,360 teams through the I-Corps customer discovery process. Those teams have created 402 companies, generating 1,686 jobs and acquiring $420 million in funding. Select companies are highlighted below.
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