Open to faculty and students at five area universities, Milwaukee I-Corps™ Program links new venture and business mentors with academics to investigate the pathways for commercializing research ideas.
Upcoming: Local I-Corps™ Program
Participants are coached on designing and validating a business model around their idea throughout a four-week workshop. The last session invites teams to present on lessons learned as well as a closing reception. Program participants may be eligible to apply for a $50,000 NSF I-Corps™ grant to support travel, and other customer discovery activities.
Additionally, multiple grants are available after the successful completion of a Milwaukee I-Corps™ program for teams, mentors, and consultants.
NSF Great Lakes I-Corps™ Hub
The Lubar Entrepreneurship Center, home of the Milwaukee I-Corps™ Program, is the affiliate of the Great Lakes I-Corps™ Hub. The NSF I-Corps™ Hub: Great Lakes Region engages academic scientists and engineers in innovation by providing world class educational programs designed to train researchers to extend their focus beyond the laboratory and accelerate the transfer of cutting-edge research into commercial success.
I-Corps™ Bootcamp: Your Work Meets the Real World
Professional Development Bootcamp:
These bootcamps are an intensive synchronous in-person program
- Session 1 Date/Time TBD
- Session 2 Date/Time TBD
- Session 3 Date/Time TBD
Learning Outcomes for Students:
- Ability to formulate and test non-scientific hypotheses
- Ability to identify broader impact of your research work
- Ability to apply these methods to grant writing, job search and career development
- Understanding of the NSF I-Corps™ program
Eligibility:
- UWM RA/TA graduate students enrolled in Ph.D. or M.S. programs
- No business idea or prior experience with I-Corps™ is necessary
- Faculty advisor nomination is required
Regional Partnerships
The Milwaukee I-Corps™ Program supports not only UWM, but other academic institutions in Milwaukee as well – including the Medical College of Wisconsin, Marquette University, the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and Concordia University.
Build your I-Corps™ Team
Teams are composed of three members who can be students, post-docs, staff, faculty, alumni, or members of the local entrepreneurial community. See Below:
Entrepreneurial Lead (EL) is a faculty member, post-doc scholar, a student, professional staff, or alum of one of the partnering academic institutions with relevant knowledge of the technology and a deep commitment to investigate the commercial landscape surrounding the innovation.
Academic Lead (AL) is responsible for overall project management. The AL will typically have an academic appointment that would normally qualify the AL to submit proposals or play the role of a PI in subsequent submissions to NSF.
Mentor is an experienced or emerging entrepreneur with experience in transitioning technology out of academic labs. The Mentor will be responsible for guiding the team forward and tracking progress.
I-Corps™ Spring 2026 Timeline
I-Corps™ Session 1
Date/time: April 6 @ 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. CDT
Location: LECWC 107 – AmFam Dream Studio
I-Corps™ Session 2
Date/time: April 13 @ 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. CDT
Location: LECWC 107 – AmFam Dream Studio
I-Corps™ Session 3
Date/time: April 20 @ 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. CDT
Location: LECWC 107 – AmFam Dream Studio
I-Corps™ Session 4
Date/time: April 27 @ 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. CDT
Location: LECWC 107 – AmFam Dream Studio
I-Corps™ Session 5
Date/time: May 4 @ 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. CDT
Location: LECWC 107 – AmFam Dream Studio
UWM Innovators
Milwaukee I-Corps™ Team
- Director, Lubar Enterpreneurship Center
- avdeev@uwm.edu
- (414) 510-3631
- Lubar Enterpreneurship Center 206 | Engineering & Math Sciences 1181
- Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Lubar Entrepreneurship Center
- lgp@eas-mke.com
- Lubar Entrepreneurship Center 201
- Chief Innovation & Partnership Officer, UWM Office of Strategic Partnerships
- briant@uwm.edu
- Lubar Entrepreneurship Center 210
- Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Lubar Entrepreneurship Center
- mcduffi5@uwm.edu
- Lubar Entrepreneurship Center 201