SBU Researchers Advance Innovation Through NSF I-Corps™ Hub Partnership
Stony Brook University is helping researchers move discoveries from the laboratory into the marketplace through its participation in the New York I-Corps™ Hub, one of 13 regional hubs nationwide supporting innovation and entrepreneurship.
Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps™) program, the initiative provides researchers, faculty, and graduate students with training, mentorship, and resources to evaluate the real-world potential of their technologies. Through customer discovery and market research, participants learn how to identify industry needs and develop pathways for commercialization.
Anurag Purwar, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Computer-Aided Design and Innovation Lab and Kevin Moriarty Sr., Assistant Professor of Practice and Director of the Undergraduate Program in the Department of Technology and Society serve as co-faculty leads for Stony Brook’s involvement in the program. Purwar is the PI of the NSF subaward from the CUNY.
Purwar also experienced the impact of the I-Corps process firsthand. After participating in the national I-Corps program, he used those lessons to advance SnappyXO Robotics, a hands-on robotics education platform developed at Stony Brook that was later acquired by a private company. He also became a Lean Launchpad Certified Educator trained by the Silicon valley guru, Steve Blank.
Purwar said the I-Corps experience has fundamentally shaped his approach to innovation and entrepreneurship.
“I have experienced firsthand how the I-Corps process can transform the way researchers think about innovation. As academics, we are often deeply focused on the technology we are developing, but customer discovery challenges us to step outside the laboratory, listen carefully to potential users, and determine whether we are solving a problem that truly matters. That process was instrumental in helping me advance SnappyXO from a university research and education initiative toward commercialization. Through Stony Brook’s participation in the New York I-Corps Hub, we are helping more researchers develop this entrepreneurial mindset and create pathways for their discoveries to achieve meaningful societal and economic impact.”
Moriarty recently became the first Stony Brook faculty member to teach at the national level through the New York I-Corps Hub. He emphasized that the program focuses not on selling a product, but on understanding the needs, challenges, and values of potential users.
Through the New York I-Corps Hub, Stony Brook researchers gain access to a network of mentors, educators, and commercialization resources designed to accelerate the development of technologies that address societal needs.
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