Scientists, Engineers: Entrepreneurial Training Program Starts Wednesday, 2/28

January 8, 2024

Photo of Thom Martin and Robert Wines

Thom Martin (L) and Robert Wines of FedTech will facilitate this year's program.

Since 2017, Office of Technology Transfer with awards from DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), has hosted entrepreneurial workshops designed to equip scientists and engineers with screening tools and skills necessary to determine the commercial impact of their technology/research. This year’s entrepreneurial workshop will be facilitated by FedTech, a deep tech accelerator, whose clients include DOD, DOE, DHS, NASA, BARDA, NIST, universities and corporations. Through a 2-day on-site workshop and four weeks of coaching support, while identifying and connecting with industry partners, participants will get a broader understanding of the crucial challenges that must be considered when translating lab innovations.

Why Attend?

To learn how to:

  • Frame problems and key elements of value for a solution to be adopted.
  • Conduct stakeholder discovery interviews to gather insights and understand the competition.
  • Leverage industry trends and industry peers while identifying industry collaborators.
  • Articulate complex innovations to partners and potential funders.

Who Should Attend

Scientists and engineers who are thinking about an “idea” in terms of “products/applications” and are curious about commercialization: what it means, the steps, how their ideas might hold up.

Programming Highlights:

  • Two-day on-site workshop (February 28, 2024, and February 29, 2024)
  • Interactive lectures with breakout sessions to learn and practice framing value propositions, and validating core assumptions through stakeholder discovery. Though it is not mandatory, we strongly encourage the participants to bring product ideas to evaluate at the workshop (the idea can just be at the concept stage).
  • Thirty minutes of weekly coaching (week of March 18, 2024, to week of April 8, 2024). During this period, course facilitators from FedTech will support researchers conduct market research and stakeholder interviews and provide pitch coaching for the final pitch event.
  • Pitch event (April 22, 2024). Two participants with top ideas vetted through the program will receive technology maturation funds to develop their ideas further ($50,000 to the finalist and $30,000 to the semifinalist).

Commitment by participants to:

  • Attend the 2-day workshop (February 28, 2024 & February 29, 2024)
  • Conduct stakeholder interviews and pitch development on either their idea or one of the ideas brought by the participants (March 4, 2024, to April 19, 2024 – approximately 2 hours per week).
  • Work in a team setting and take feedback from facilitators to evolve the concept.
  • Attend/present at the Brookhaven pitch event (April 22, 2024 - approximately 2 hours)

Course Facilitators

Thom Martin, Director of Innovation, FedTech
Robert Wines, Associate of Innovation, FedTech

To Apply

To apply or more information, contact Poornima Upadhya, pupadhya@bnl.gov , 631-344-4711.

Attendance is limited (maximum participants 20) and only a maximum of five top ideas (4 participants per team) will be included for the program. Please call and apply soon.

The workshop is funded by the Office of Technology Transitions at the U.S. Department of Energy. The primary goal of the workshop is to provide researchers with a lite entrepreneurship training program that includes training, individualized mentorship, and an opportunity to participate in Energy iCorps and enhance commercial impact. “Energy I-Corps is a key initiative of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Technology Transitions (OTT), which sends teams of researchers and industry mentors through an immersive two-month training where the researchers define technology value propositions, conduct stakeholder discovery interviews, and develop viable market pathways for their technologies. Researchers return to the lab with a framework for industry engagement to guide future research and inform a culture of market awareness within the labs. In this way, OTT's Energy I-Corps program is ensuring our investment in the national labs maintains and strengthens long-term U.S. competitiveness.”

2024-21653  |  INT/EXT  |  Newsroom