UCF I-Corps Welcomes Pioneer of Lean Startup Movement

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0- 256UCF plans to debut its I-Corps program in a big way.  Jerome “Jerry” Engel, Ph.D. – co-founder and leader of the Lean Startup movement – will make special appearances at the UCF campus and at a community mixer downtown, in partnership with Canvs and Starter Studio, to help officially kick-off the UCF I-Corps program.

UCF I-Corps – administered by the UCF Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (UCF CIE) – is a statewide program designed to foster, grow and nurture an innovation ecosystem through partnerships between the National Science Foundation, Florida universities and venture capital and entrepreneurial communities.

Central Florida is poised to become the epicenter of the Lean Startup movement in Florida.

This hands-on methodology emphasizes engagement and experiential study. The approach requires teams of researchers and students to propose and test their business hypotheses in “real-world” scenarios. Industry mentors review findings with students, helping them make appropriate adjustments to their innovation and/or commercialization plan in preparation for bringing their ideas to market.

Ivan Garibay, Ph.D., serves as Program Director for UCF I-Corps.

“The I-Corps program will help promote and facilitate innovation and research throughout the entire state of Florida,” explains Dr. Garibay.  “UCF is honored to have been selected as one of 15 sites I-Corps sites across the nation.  Having the opportunity to bring the co-founder and leader in the Lean Startup movement here to Central Florida solidifies the foundation of this very exciting and promising program.”

Jerry Engel collaborated closely with Steve Blank, chief architect of the Lean LaunchPad method, to help develop the curriculum and co-author the LaunchPad Educators Guide. Engel is a leader in entrepreneurship education, venture capital, corporate innovation and regional economic development. He joined the University of California at Berkeley in 1991 and founded the Lester Center for Entrepreneurship. As an adjunct professor at the Haas School of Business he has instructed in both the School’s MBA and Executive Education programs specializing in Entrepreneurship, New Venture Finance, Corporate Innovation, and Venture Capital. He has taught the Lean LaunchPad at U.C. Berkeley and across the U.S. as National Faculty Director of the National Science Foundation’s I-Corps program, which has trained over 300 teams of the nation’s leading scientists. Internationally he is supervising programs in Asia and Europe.

For more information about UCF I-Corps, please contact us.