The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Making and Innovation Initiative
The HBCU Making and Innovation Initiative is in alignment with NSF priorities and is supported by the HBCU-UP program.
Today's innovation economy requires the ability to apply entrepreneurial thinking and an invention mindset to address societal challenges that impact us locally, nationally, and globally. We must be intentional about ensuring the innovation ecosystem is inclusive and represents ALL of America’s talent and promise. The higher education landscape can serve as a powerful catalyst for building that inclusive innovation ecosystem, an urgent need since the faces behind innovation predominantly stem from universities and institutions with small minority populations. Specific challenges that HBCUs and minority innovators face include inadequate access to capital, inequities in funding – specifically, disparities in research and innovation grant proposal acceptance, and access to innovation resources, training, mentoring, and pd. These obstacles and barriers not only impede institutional capacity at HBCUs, but they also prevent the US from realizing its full innovation potential. For the US to retain its competitiveness, it must engage ALL its human capital to solve critical national and global issues. In addition to an inequitable distribution of research and innovation resources and access to capacity-enabling opportunities, there is a dearth of research on best practices for inclusive innovation - specifically on advancing capacity at HBCUs.
To that end, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) through funding supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) were awarded a three-year grant, “Strengthening an Inclusive Innovation Ecosystem through an HBCU Community of Practice.” This project is funded by, supported by and in alignment with the NSF HBCU-UP Program via Grant No. HRD-2332409.
Our Program
HBCU Making & Innovation Showcase
The Making and Innovation Showcase offers students an opportunity to immerse themselves in the product invention lifecycle, culminating the demonstration of prototypes for investment and go-to-market development. The mission of the Showcase is to support and expand participation in STEM-related innovation and entrepreneurship endeavors for students of all backgrounds.
Showcase Summary
The American Association for the Advancement of Science, with funding from the National Science Foundation, supports students and faculty from Historically Black Colleges and Universities to participate in the Making & Innovation Showcase. The showcase coincides with the Emerging Researchers Network Conference (ERN) (http://new.emerging-researchers.org). The showcase is designed to provide an opportunity for students to showcase the talent and innovation at their institution.
Participants receive a travel award that covers the ERN conference registration fee, housing, airfare, and ground transportation.
Students will design and implement prototypes using hardware and software to address one of the seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
