Twelve projects involving 64 researchers and professionals from nine institutions took part in the University of California, Riverside entrepreneurship training, which enables a better and earlier connection between science and industry.
Chile has top-level researchers, recognized worldwide for the quality of their scientific publications. However, science- and technology-based innovation is an area that still needs to be developed in our country. This type of innovation has been shown to have a positive impact on local economies, create jobs and attract new resources for research.
To address this situation, Know Hub Chile has spent the last three years working with its strategic ally, the University of California, Riverside (UC Riverside), to adapt to the Chilean context the entrepreneurship training course based on this US university’s iCorps methodology. First, it implemented this methodology as one of the pillars of the Know Hub Ignition entrepreneurship program. In 2020, the idea of delivering it to research teams from universities and research institutes took shape under the Know Hub Building program. The goal was clear: to drive a culture of innovation among knowledge generators.
How? By training researchers for six weeks to consider, ideally from the very conception of their research hypothesis, the real conditions in which their technology will be applied, and thus achieve a value proposition that is attractive to companies. Researchers make this journey by interviewing key players in industry and the innovation ecosystem every week in order to discover their real customers (customer discovery) and validate their idea. All the teams have the support of a network of international mentors and experts from the institutions involved.
Javier Ramírez, executive director of Know Hub Chile, added that the program seeks to generate “a cultural change that helps drastically increase the technologies created by researchers, with a positive impact on the productivity of our industry, on jobs and, in general, on the quality of life of all Chileans.”
As a concrete example of collaborative work, Hub APTA joined this dream and the program was extended to its member institutions. In total, 12 teams and 64 researchers and professionals from nine different institutions took part: the Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIA) and eight universities: Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana, Universidad de Talca, Universidad Católica de Temuco, Universidad Católica del Norte, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Universidad Mayor and Universidad de Concepción.
“We are very happy to take part collaboratively in this program, which seeks to have Chilean researchers’ R&D projects focus on solving industry problems. We are convinced that the science-business link is essential for Chile to take the path of innovation and transform its economy from one based on the exploitation of natural resources to one grounded in knowledge,” said Hub APTA executive director Varinka Farren.
About the training program
UC Riverside’s entrepreneurship program is based on the iCorps methodology. It all began in 2011, when the US National Science Foundation (NSF) created the Innovation Corps (iCorps) model to promote the commercialization of technologies developed in academia.
The NSF has certified several US universities, such as UC Riverside (in 2016), to deliver iCorps training and add their own ‘personal touch’ to the methodology. This allowed UC Riverside to take on the same challenge we face in Chile today: establishing a culture of innovation among its researchers to boost science- and technology-based entrepreneurship. The goal is to contribute to the economic development of Riverside, a city in the “Inland Empire” whose reality differs from that of nearby San Diego and which is far from innovation hubs such as San Francisco. UC Riverside has already trained more than 150 teams and supported nearly 400 projects or startups, raising more than USD 26 million in capital.
The participants
From early November until December 16, 2020, the 12 teams attended weekly classes led by Rosibel Ochoa, associate vice chancellor for Technology Partnerships, and Alexandra Orozco, director of international partnerships at UC Riverside, together with the team of experts from Know Hub Chile and Hub APTA.
The sectors represented by the teams range from the agri-aquaculture and biotechnology industries to mining and electromobility, as well as education and entertainment.
- BioAg Tech, a fungus-based biocontrol agent for controlling various pests, such as the painted bug (Bagrada Hilaris). Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias de Chile (INIA)
- Green soil: a device that quantifies online and in real time the bioaccessibility of heavy metals in mining soils. Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana (UTEM).
- Easygraphen Asygraphen: recyclable network-shaped nanocomposites obtained from carbon derivatives, which serve as an additive or matrix for manufacturing materials. UTEM
- UPT Project (IVS): Automatic speech recognition systems. UTEM
- Virtual 360°, 360° tours with high image quality. Universidad de Talca.
- En Biotech: a service for designing and producing new enzymes for the agri-food industry. Universidad de Talca.
- Geokimün lab: Automatic detection of earthquake sources in volcanic-tectonic environments of the Southern Andes. Universidad Católica de Temuco.
- Hollow Drop: A device for carrying out extraction processes using a swarm of coated bubbles, with HSEC protocols. Universidad Católica del Norte.
- Extend: Smart monitoring of electric bus and vehicle fleets to maximize operational performance and battery life. Universidad de Santiago de Chile.
- Gibmar: An algae-based paste that protects vineyards from phytopathogenic fungi after pruning. Universidad de Concepción
- Pisci Detector, a colorimetric kit for detecting the bacterium Piscirickettsia Salmonis in Atlantic salmon. Universidad Mayor.
- Skills, a system that automatically analyzes oral presentation skills, providing feedback and recommendations. Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María.
