Partners and Resources
The Engineering Innovation Institute works in concert with partners internal and external to campus with which the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering has a history of successful collaborations in innovation/entrepreneurship programs:
UF Resources
The UF Innovation Academy (IA) was developed to equip students with the 21st-century skills needed to thrive in an innovative culture. IA is a living-learning community embedded within the traditional University of Florida experience. Students select from over 30 UF majors and earn their degree with a minor in Innovation. The academic calendar operates on a Spring-Summer schedule, giving students the opportunity to enjoy Fall co-curricular activities, pursue internships, study abroad, or enjoy the break at home.
The UF Warrington College of Business / Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center and the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering have a long history of broad collaboration on entrepreneurship and innovation programs. The combination brings together deep analytical talents with broader business perspectives for a more complete educational experience for engineering and business students alike.
UF Innovate supports an innovation ecosystem that moves research discoveries from the laboratory to the market, fostering a resilient economy and making the world a better place. Based at one of the nation’s leading research institutions, UF Innovate comprises four organizations: Tech Licensing, Ventures, and two business incubators, the Hub and Sid Martin Biotech. Organized under UF’s Office of Research umbrella, this quartet forms a comprehensive commercialization system that brings together five critical elements: facilities, capital management, talent, intellectual property, and technology transfer expertise.
The Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering Alumni are making strides in shaping society, creating a foundation of innovation and leadership that is making an impact on our world, and serving the Gator Good for generations to come. These alumni pay it forward to current engineering students through mentoring students, providing internships, funding learning opportunities, and speaking with students.
Diversity is critical to the success of innovation in the U.S., and research shows that there is still a significant disparity in the numbers of women entrepreneurs and innovators. The Collaboratory for Women Innovators seeks to bridge that gap by supporting participants at various stages of personal and professional development. A portfolio of resources and training opportunities ranging from structured programming to informal networking, workshops, and special topic speakers are offered, designed to address diverse goals and objectives. While the Collaboratory has a focus on women, many of the programs offered are non-gender specific.
The UF Creative Campus Initiative establishes educational settings that foster creativity in all disciplines, promote new interdisciplinary interactions, and encourage new ways of solving problems and formulating ideas. These, in turn, support the larger UF goal of fostering an educational institution in which creativity, innovation, collaboration, and empathy permeate academic life and impact education.
Community Resources
Coordinated by UF Innovate’s Innovation NaviGator, the community calendar is the best place to discover local events of interest to entrepreneurs.
StartupGNV’s mission is to encourage technology enterprises to start up and develop in the Gainesville area by providing them with support through networking and educational opportunities.
The Cade Museum of Innovation and Invention is named for James Robert Cade, the physician, musician, researcher, and inventor best known for leading the University of Florida team that created Gatorade. The mission of the Cade Museum is to promote a culture of creativity and innovation. The museum’s programs include workshops for inventors of all ages to highlight the inventive process from idea conceptualization to commercialization, from the laboratory to the marketplace.
Enterprise Florida acts as the official economic development organization for the state of Florida, helping innovative, high-growth businesses start up, locate, or expand in Florida.
INCUBATORS
Incubators are companies that act as catalysts to help startup companies develop and grow by providing services and resources such as management training or office space. Gainesville is home to more technology business incubators per capita than any other U.S. city.
UF INCUBATORS
The Gator Hatchery is a Student Incubator that offers student entrepreneurs workspace, office support, mentors, and other resources necessary for a startup to succeed faster. Hatchery businesses will have access to free office space, the Entrepreneurship Center’s network of individuals, peer-to-peer networking, conference rooms, and other resources fledgling companies may find valuable. The Gator Hatchery is open to all students at UF!
Since the addition of UF Innovate| The HUB, the entrepreneurial landscape and culture of Gainesville have experienced an amazing transformation, and the incubator is recognized as a major catalyst in helping propel the university city to become one of the top energized tech communities in the Southeast. Much more than a building, the Hub provides a complete growth ecosystem that leverages the prestige of the university’s research and technology commercialization prowess and combines that with programming, resources, and networking opportunities designed to support small startups and growth companies.
UF Innovate | Sid Martin Biotech is a world-recognized leader in biotechnology business incubation – and with well-equipped laboratories and specialized equipment, plus an outstanding network of mentors, advisors, and collaborators, it’s the perfect place for you to grow your biotech business. The incubator to assists in the growth of therapeutics, diagnostics, medical devices, agricultural biology, clean energy, and/or biopharma enterprises.
SANTA FE INCUBATORS
The Center for Innovation and Economic Development (CIED) is located in the Santa Fe College Blount Center in downtown Gainesville, Florida. The CIED Entrepreneur Incubator serves early-stage startups across a broad spectrum of sectors, from traditional service-oriented businesses like catering and furniture to training, education, and exam preparation businesses, as well as more technology-focused businesses like the web, app, and game development.
The Gainesville Technology Entrepreneurship Center (GTEC) is a community program providing early-stage startup companies with tools, training, and infrastructure to help them get started, grow and develop into financially viable enterprises. The primary goal of the GTEC incubator is to increase the number of service, technology, and light manufacturing firms established in Gainesville, Florida.