Dr. Michael Walter and Meesha Kaushal Create High School STEM Education Kit

Dr. Michael Walter and recent Nanoscale Science PhD student Meesha Kaushal completed the Ventureprise Launch NSF I-Corps program at UNC Charlotte, participating in over six weeks of entrepreneurial seminars and programming.

After determining the kits could be commercially viable, they successfully competed for a national I-Corps Team Award. A $50,000 grant has provided financial support for immersive training and even more extensive customer research and discovery throughout the country. They have documented insights from 111 interviews with potential customers, partners and competitors. They have worked closely with their I-Corps mentor and business entrepreneur, Laura Smailes, who is Ventureprise’s assistant director.

Their discovery process suggests they should form a company, rather than a non-profit, and they want to conduct pilot workshops as another next step. They are determining business partners; their discovery process suggests that higher education institutions and nonprofits focused on secondary education are good options.

The full article may be read here.

More information on Dr. Walter’s lab and research may be found here.