News

The NSF I-Corps Mid-Atlantic Hub, led by the University of Maryland, completed a short-course customary discovery cohort on August 28. The cohort was hub-wide, including 15 teams from the University of Maryland, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Carnegie Mellon University, Morgan State University, and Frostburg State. 

Company innovations ranged from biotechnology to arts and entertainment, including augmented reality smart phone applications and wireless bioimpedance-sensing capsules.

The cohort collectively completed over 239 customary discovery interviews, with an average of 16 interviews per team. Five teams are currently eligible for the national I-Corps Teams program, which offers teams $50,000 in additional customer discovery funding. 

Team Arca Learning conducted research on their AI facilitator technology for collaborative writing feedback among young writers, and finished the program with the most customary discovery interviews, at 22 total.

The next hub opportunity is the University of Pennsylvania Fall 2026 Cohort, a hub-wide in-person cohort hosted from October 22 to November 19 on the university's campus.