School:New York University School of Engineering

New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering (NYU| SOE) founded in 1854, is the second oldest private engineering and technology school in the United States. NYU| SOE is one of the 18 schools and colleges that comparise New York University (NYU). The campus is located in Brooklyn, centrally located at MetroTech Centre, an urban university-industry science and technology park. The school offers about 60 academic programs at bachelor's, masters and doctoral levels. 

The Urban-Campus

NYU- SOEis located in the heart of Brooklyn Downtown, that completely blends with the corporate world and gives students an exposure to resources beyond the university gates and increases their opportunities and prepares them for the future. The students can easily tap into vast array of resources from NYU-SOE and as well as from the entire ecosystem of all NYU-Washington Square Schools (17 schools) which are few stops away in NYC-Metro(approx:10mins). NYU is a global university, which means when a students joins one school under the NYU umbrella, he/she can access resources across all the schools (Including the global campuses).

Spaces that Inspire Innovation

Leslie eLab

Recently, NYU added a new space called the Leslie eLabat the heart of the university campus. This is a collaborative space for entrepreneurial students across 18 schools of NYU. This space features flexibly configured co-working spaces, meeting rooms, an event space, and a fabrication lab to encourage interaction, prototyping, and collaboration.  The Leslie eLab serves as the headquarters for the NYU Entrepreneurial Instituteand NYU Innovation Venture Fund. Just from the idea of possibly building the space, it has inspired a lot of students and faculty towards innovation and entrepreneurship. Now, after physically building the space it is believed it will instill a stronger sense of community among NYU’s budding entrepreneurs in its many schools.

Greenhouse

The Greenhouse is a home for ideation and collaboration at NYU-SOE. It is a space that stimulates interdisciplinary collaboration, prototyping and innovation. The culture of the greenhouse aims to nurture seedlings of ideas and bring ideas to life through iteration and experimentation. The space is a blank slate for creative thinkers with occasional talks (Youth Cafe) , skill shares, and opportunities to meet with professionals from NYU-SOE incubators and industry.

NYU-SOE Incubators

NYU-SOE Incubators are the spaces dedicated to NYU based and NYC startups and early stage companies. These incubators other than providing space to work, they also provide the guidance, expertise and resources that organizations need to grow into successful ventures that bring economic growth to New York City or the Nation. NYU-SOE has three functional incubator spaces DUMBO, NYC ACRE, and Varick Street. There are about 80 organizations incubating at NYU-SOE Incubators. Most recently, New York State added NYU-SOE incubators as start-up NY development zones. Article  

Game Innovation Lab

The Game Innovation Lab brings together faculty and students from all NYU school doing research focused on games as an innovation challenge. The mission is to develop next generation gaming. Some of the various projects includes user interface innovation (sensor-based tracking, multi-touch), network & video quality research, and research on gaming for learning.

Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship

NYU - SOE students are ingrained, with a strong sense of innovation and entrepreneurship. Here, Students are constantly applying the I2E ("I squared E" - invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship) philosophy in our classrooms, competitions, organizations, workspaces, career development opportunities, and funding.

The premier organizations on campus supporting this ideology are The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Association (EIA) and the Design Tinkering Club (DTC). EIA seeks to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem based on the I2E philosophy by hosting a student-faculty forum to “learn the concepts of entrepreneurship, provide the benefits of self-employment, and the step-by-step path involved in launching and commercializing own ideas. Each year they host events, workshops, and challenges such as Inno/Vention, Risky Ideas and App Challenge. In addition, they are active participants in the NYU Entrepreneur Challenge.

The Design Tinkering Club, originally the OpenIDEO Student Chapter, uses design thinking processes to cultivate viable solutions for social issues. Each year, DTC champions the OpenIDEO Challenge across campus to spark engagement and awareness of the world’s most pressing social issues. In conjunction with NYU-SOE administrators and stakeholders such as NCIIA and NSF, DTC launched The Greenhouse, a collaborative workspace for students and faculty to inspire, ideate, prototype, and share their newest innovations and entrepreneurial ventures. The Greenhouse wants to further educate and cultivate design thinkers through its Youth Cafe, bi-weekly workshops and talks featuring professionals in entrepreneurship and innovation worlds. The Youth Cafegives the NYU community a chance to listen, share, and network with change makers from around the world.

NYU-SOE students can learn first hand what it takes to be a working entrepreneur through their Skill-based Program for Incubator Knowledge and Employment (SPIKE). This program aims to support early-stage companies developing in SOE's incubators while simultaneously providing an opportunity for students to learn the skills necessary to find employment after completing their studies (SPIKE Homepage). These internships are held at one of the three offices in the NYU-SOE Incubators. These spaces are also open to current NYU & NYU-SOE students to work on their own ventures, free of charge. In addition, to career development, NYU-SOE is also a part of the NYU Summer LaunchPad, a 10 week summer program for graduating NYU and NYU-SOE student teams to accelerate their new ventures forward.

NYU-SOE students have access to a variety of funds to get their ideas and ventures of the ground, such as the Prototyping Fund and the Innovation Venture Fund to name a few. You can find a robust listing here.

Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurship

NYU-SOE is the home to the Center for Faculty Innovations in Teaching and Learning (FITL), a faculty-centered enterprise dedicated to the advancement of educational practice. Its mission is to partner with the NYU-SOE community to promote innovative teaching strategies and technologies for learning. FITL was created through a 5-year, $1.92 million Title III Strengthening Institutions grant the US Department of Education awarded NYU-SOE in October 2008. Its objective is to increase NYU-SOE’s reputation as a leader in STEM higher education through extensive faculty training and providing resources to incorporate educational technology within the classroom and curriculum.

University Technology Transfer Function

Technology transfer at NYU-SOE and NYU is governed through the NYU Office of Industrial Liaison (NYU OIL). NYU OIL’s mission is to promote the commercial development of NYU technologies from its Langone Medical Center, Washington Square and NYU-SOE campuses into products to benefit the public, while providing resources to the University to support its research, education, and patient care missions. The Office also facilitates research collaborations between NYU researchers and industry on projects of mutual interest.

NYU OIL actively seeks commercial partners to develop NYU technologies, and works to establish mutually beneficial long-term relationships. Almost 60% of NYU patents have been licensed to companies for development and commercialization. Over the past five years, NYU has ranked first among all U.S. universities in income from technology licensing, which is plowed back into further research. NYU actively promotes entrepreneurship with more than 70 companies created based on NYU technologies. In the most recent published comparative data on technology commercialization activity at U.S. universities, NYU created 87% more new start-up companies per research dollars expended than the national average (NYU OIL).

Regional and Local Economic Development Efforts

CATT - Created in 1983 as one of the State of New York's 4 original Centers for Advanced Technology, CATT continues to fulfill its mission to stimulate economic development in information technology through research and education.

CITE - Former NYU-SOE President Hultin once stated that “With CITE, NYU-SOE’s researchers, students and industry partners are well poised to contribute to the economic growth of New York. CITE will facilitate the collaborative development of ground-breaking digital gaming innovations and new media technologies with tangible commercial applications.” (CITE Press Release)

In addition to CATT and CITE, NYU-SOE Incubators have an impressive track record with local economic boom having generated more than $250 million in economic activity and 900 jobs since 2009 (NYU-SOE Incubator). Named one of the Top 10 Idea Labs in the U.S. by Worthmagazine, the NYU-SOE Incubators—Varick St., DUMBO and NYC-ACRE, Greenhouse—are changing the landscape of New York City for the better. As the first NYC-sponsored Incubators and cornerstones of the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute, the programs are designed to empower entrepreneurs from across NYC and NYU who are creating jobs, launching new technology products and services and diversifying the local innovation ecosystem (NYU-SOE Incubator). Since 2009, the Incubators have served more than 100 companies, with 7 of those acquired by established public and private companies. Program graduates have raised more than $60M in equity funding and economic growth is projected to reach nearly $720 million by 2015 (NYU-SOE Incubator). NYU-SOE’s Incubators leverage support from NYCEDC, NYSERDA, and other government entities, as well as from Trinity Real Estate and Two Trees Management Company, and now Forest City Ratner Companies. Most recently, New York State added NYU-SOE incubators as start-up NY development zones. Article 

Entrepreneurship & Innovation Landscape Canvas