Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

TennSMART, a public-private statewide consortium with a vision to elevate Tennessee to the forefront of smart mobility solutions, is recruiting intellectual property (IP) and participants for the fall 2023 “Smart Mobility Challenge.” The cohort will kick off with a virtual information session on August 29 followed by an IP showcase on September 5.

The Smart Mobility Challenge is an entrepreneurship education program that uses active IP from Tennessee-based research and academic institutions to foster commercialization. Over 10 weeks, participants create a business based on the supplied IP, gaining hands-on experience in conceptualizing and creating a viable and marketable business opportunity for the technology.

Led by Bryan Barringer, TennSMART’s Director of Entrepreneurship and Commercialization, the “Smart Mobility Challenge’s” goal is to launch real businesses with ongoing support from the TennSMART Mentor Network and other support resources. To achieve its aspirations, TennSMART is recruiting IP and technology from Tennessee-based research institutions and universities with applications for electric vehicles and electrification; connected and automated vehicles; freight and logistics; automotive; cybersecurity; multimodal transit; and aerospace. Universities and research institutions that want to offer IP should email Barringer at bbarringer@tennsmart.org.

Participants can be graduate students and seniors in undergraduate programs, postdocs, fellows and researchers, and even serial entrepreneurs. Interested individuals should complete this form.

After the August 29 (click here. to register) and September 5 sessions, participants will meet virtually for the next seven Tuesday nights for two hours each of educational programming before presenting their business ideas around the IP in a virtual event on November 7. The full schedule can be found here.

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