Are you a student at a minority-serving institution (MSI) interested in learning more about NASA’s Technology Transfer program? Do you have an entrepreneurial mindset? Keep reading to see how you could qualify to apply for the Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Innovation and Tech Transfer Idea Competition (MITTIC).
MITTIC is a higher-education spinoff challenge established to develop new ideas for commercialization by seeking concept papers from multi-disciplinary student teams enrolled at a MSIs. Through collaboration with NASA L’SPACE Academy, MITTIC is offering a “concept to commercialization” training opportunity. Learn to effectively write a concept paper that turns innovative ideas into reality.
Go to go.nasa.gov/nasamittic for more information and to see if your institution qualifies. If it does, you’ll have the opportunity to develop an idea to spinoff NASA Intellectual Property (IP) and work with a NASA researcher. Here’s how the MITTIC process works:
- Upon completion of the L’SPACE Academy, teams composed of four to five students must choose one NASA IP from the provided list and submit a concept paper explaining the commercial viability of the proposed concept using MITTIC challenge guidelines. Priority is given to teams partnering with a NASA Small Business Company (SBC).
- Up to eight qualifying teams are selected to participate in an online collaboration tool and funded to travel to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The on-site immersion experience will occur in April 2021. Each team is required to submit:
- Certificate of completion from a least one team member who completed one of the L’SPACE academies
- Concept paper/business plan
- Explanation of team’s concept and business plan during a poster session
- An oral “lightning pitch” presentation, during Space Tank competition
The concept paper, poster session and oral presentation will be reviewed and evaluated by a committee.
- The Space Tank competition winning team will receive travel funding for up to five team members and one principal investigator to visit, tour and present at NASA’s Ames Research Center and various tech companies in Silicon Valley, California. This experience provides the team with an exclusive look at facilities, laboratories, start-up companies and the opportunity to discuss further concept development.
- Each qualifying team could receive incentives of up to $5,000, while the winning team is eligible to receive up to an additional $10,000. Multiple Internship opportunities are also available for qualified MITTIC participants. See the competition guideline document for full details.
The deadline to submit a letter of intent is Aug. 18, 2020. The timeline to apply for MITTIC is Jan. 4- Feb. 16, 2021 at 1 a.m. ET.
Join the MITTIC team for an online information session to learn more about the activity on these dates and times:
- Monday, Aug. 3, 2020 from 4-5 p.m. ET
- Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020 from 1-2 p.m. ET
To learn more about this initiative, visit the MITTIC website at:
Interested people can also email questions to: