Dr. Feng Jao, Ohio Northern University associate professor of technology, is serving as entrepreneurial lead on a National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps) Teams project under a $50,000 grant received by Old Dominion University Research Foundation.

Jao will oversee “I-Corps L: Transforming an Innovative Embedded Design Educational Training System into a Commercially Available Product.” ONU’s portion of the grant is $6,000, which will cover Jao’s effort on the project. The additional grant money covers travel expenses related to the project. Jao previously worked with the Old Dominion team as a consultant.

The purpose of a NSF I-Corps Teams grant is to give the project team access to resources to help determine the readiness to transition technology developed by previously funded or currently funded NSF projects.

The outcomes of I-Corps Teams projects are threefold. They include a clear go or no-go decision regarding viability of products and services, and should the decision be made to move forward, a transition plan for those projects will be implemented. The final step is a technology demonstration for potential partners.

The NSF is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 “to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; [and] to secure the national defense.”

With an annual budget of $7.3 billion (FY 2015), NSF is the funding source for approximately 24 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America’s colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing.