Post by Rhonda Shrader

“This program changed me from a researcher into someone who solves problems.” 💎 💎 Literally teared up, as we closed out Summer #3 National NSF #ICorps on Friday.  As instructors, that’s our #1 goal in poking/prodding/pushing teams to find evidence for/against their proposed research solutions. We were blessed with the best teaching team in the business: Marquita M. Qualls, PhD Weston Waldo, MBA Annam Quraishi Soraya Bailey Chris Bush. Your experience, empathy & high standards make everyone *want* to live up to those expectations.  Supported by the dream team of TA Adeeba Fazil & VentureWell team led by Katie Dzugan. Props to Molly Wasko for getting us kicked off & for our fearless leader Ruth Shuman for wrapping us up. ⚡ 💡 From fiber recycling to construction dust mitigation to wireless lunar power, Summer #3 cohort kept us on our toes…and now on the edges of our seats as teams move forward to solve the shark bite problems they validated, pivot away from ones they didn’t or search for more evidence about who/why/how much customers care.  In the words of my friend & Hub Council leader Charleson Bell….that’s impact. 🤩 🛍️ We had a grab bag of NASA, lineage & PFI teams, all starting from different points, but all quickly aligning on the mission of answering “Does anyone *really* care?”  All of the teams finished the 7 wks with 100+ interviews, but more importantly, all were intellectually honest about their paths forward.  Doesn’t get any better than that... 🙀 ...except for a post-pandemic record of 170 (!!) interviews from AR Connections (tool to fix stuck catheter lines) & Industry Mentor Catherine Corley, back for her 8th (!!!) time with team Atomic Sandwiches ("we make quantum tasty") 😆 ⭐ Special shout out to the inventor PI/TLs back for the 2nd+ time from our mighty NSF I-Corps Hub Northwest, Hub Partners University of Washington & University of California, Berkeley UC Berkeley Innovation & Entrepreneurship