The Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) has announced that its Innovation Center has awarded seven Innovation Grants worth $250,000 and seven Ignition Grants worth $50,000. The total dollar amount of these grants is approximately $1.55 million.
Modeled after the MIT Deshpande Center, the SMART Innovation Centre has been on the cutting edge of bringing new innovations to the marketplace. It has so far awarded $10 million in grants.
Director Howard Califano says, “Each year the quality of the applicants and awardees is getting better. We see a maturing of the innovation ecosystem in Singapore.”
The Innovation Centre uses Catalysts — mentors selected from the local Singapore business community who have expertise working with emerging technology companies — and i-Teams — multi-disciplinary teams involving MBA students who work with the faculty inventors — to develop a “go-to-market” strategy and “de-risk” the technology by developing prototypes or conducting proof-of-concept experiments
The Innovation Center provides an excellent laboratory in which to teach innovation and entrepreneurship in the emerging technology area. Not only is it very valuable to use student teams to provide “go-to-market” strategies, but it is also an excellent opportunity for students to have such hands-on experience. In the works is a post-graduate certificate in innovation and entrepreneurship aimed at the postdoc and junior faculty community.
The next applications for entrepreneurship grant proposals will be accepted starting in the fall. Visit the SMART website for details.
