By: Cassidy Delamarter, University Communications and Marketing
The University of South Florida has been selected as a partner in the newly funded $15 million National Science Foundation Southeast I-Corps Hub, an initiative that will advance innovation and entrepreneurship across the southeast. As part of the eight-university hub led by Georgia Tech, USF will receive $1.6 million to support its groundbreaking efforts.
"USF has a strong history of engagement with I-Corps, and we are thrilled to hit a new milestone as part of the Southeast I-Corps Hub," Provost Prasant Mohapatra said. "This achievement aligns perfectly with USF's mission to be at the forefront of research-driven innovation, empowering our faculty, students and the community to shape the future of technology and entrepreneurship."
NSF's I-Corps program aims to prepare scientists and researchers to extend their focus beyond the laboratory through customer delivery, and to broaden the impact of basic research projects by translating technology into commercial products and processes.
Since 2015, USF has been a pivotal player in the NSF I-Corps program, serving as one of the earliest sites in the nation and the largest in Florida. The program has since had a transformative impact, providing 380 teams, including 68 student incubator startups, invaluable experience in commercializing their research. In addition to the student- founded startups, 24 teams started companies and raised a combined $12.5 million in funding.
"This is an extraordinary opportunity for USF and our innovators," said Sudeep Sarkar, USF's co-principal investigator for the grant. "Our university has a rich history of leading in the I-Corps program, and this new funding will allow us to expand our work in guiding researchers and inventors to bring their ideas to life."
USF I-Corps's fall cohort includes 15 researchers and a variety of inventions, including the Smart Mosquito Trap, an automated trap that will identify and classify mosquitoes carrying deadly diseases, and Eco-Regen, a design to significantly increase energy recovery in electric vehicles during braking.
In 2023, John Licato, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, joined the I-Corps program shortly after founding his startup, Actualization AI. The startup's core idea, developed from years of research in Licato's lab, focuses on combining natural language processing with human and legal reasoning to ensure that AI systems, such as help desk agents and chatbot assistants, follow rules.
"We are very comfortable with the artificial intelligence and technology side of the work, but we're not businesspeople, so we didn't know much about how to actually start the company," Licato said. "The I-Corps program really helped us and I think the process also increased our chances of getting additional funding."
Kyle Reed, an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, completed the I-Corps program in 2019. This experience helped him commercialize
the iStride Device - a portable, lightweight device designed to improve mobility in stroke patients. Reed's innovation is already transforming lives, including a stroke survivor in Mexico. His company, Moterum Technologies Inc., is now working with health care providers and insurers to make iStride and related wearable sensor technologies more widely available this year.
In 2020, Shelly Wagers, an associate professor of criminology, joined the I-Corps program to help advance the University of South Florida's Trafficking In Persons (TIP): Risk to Resilience Research Laboratory. Her work in the I-Corps program helped to develop and advance two of the lab's larger projects: TIPSTR, a statewide database to assist law enforcement in human trafficking investigations, led by criminology Professor Joan Reid, and the BRIGHT Network, an online platform that provides critical resources to trafficking survivors as they transition into a new life, led by Wagers. Both secured federal funding in 2024.
George Spirou, professor in the Department of Medical Engineering
