CSC News

Laboratory for Accelerating Innovation Proposed

A partnership, currently composed of the NCSU Department of Computer Science, the College of Design , the Industrial Extension Service Business Development Unit, Hampton University , and CI Partners LLC, plans to submit a proposal to the NSF Partnerships for Innovation program to establish a Laboratory for Accelerating Innovation. The purpose of the Laboratory is to investigate and improve the innovation process, to disseminate the results nationwide, to improve the standard of living of humankind, and to create jobs through innovation. A secondary goal is to demonstrate the excitement and potential in careers in industrial design and computer science.

The Laboratory would focus on market-pull, need-driven innovation by assembling the diverse requisite domain experts from university faculty to create a solution. This strategy contrasts with the typical technology push approach used by most universities for technology transfer. It will have similarities to the Media Lab at MIT, but will be problem driven rather than technology driven. As part of the Laboratory, students would be taught the process of innovation, e.g., as in CSC 485 Innovating in Technology, http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/reg_records/crs_cat/CSC.html#CSC485 

 
Companies interested in joining this partnership or learning more about the laboratory should contact Dr. Alan Tharp (alan_tharp@ncsu.edu) by May 15.