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<span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Update 2019: The Big Idea Center and Innovation Institute were created in 2018 with a director, Babs Carryer. The center is thriving with dedicated Entrepenuers in Residence (EIR). The Big Idea center participates in a variety of programs from Global Entrepeneurship Week to Hackathons with a mission to increase women in STEM. The Swanson School of Engineering is an integral part of pioneering the way for innovation and entrepeneurship at Pitt by offering engineering students the opportunity to participate in the Innovation and Entrepeneurship certification program (which is just a few credits shy of receiving a minor). The campus overall is flourishing with innovation spaces that can be found with a variety of hardware and resources free to students. </span></span>
= <span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurship </span> =
<span style="font-size:larger;"><span style="font-family:georgia,serif;">Since 1996 Pitt has seen a steady rise in the number of startups occuring each year; 23 startups began in 2018 alone. Many of these start-up companies emerge from life science research conducted by faculty members at Pitt. The faculty research is often funded by large government grants such as the NIH or NSF. However, that funding does not provide a viable means for launching a potential business from a research facility. The University has turned to Coulter program and CMI to facilitate the transition of these ideas to the marketplace. The University of Pittsburgh received $3.54 million from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation in 2011 to fund translational research to be supplemented by $1.5 million dollars from the schools of Medicine and Engineering respectively. The grant covers five years of funding and was awarded to only six universities nationally. The goal of the Coulter program grant is to accelerate the introduction of new technologies to address current clinical deficiencies. CMI (Center for Medical Innovation) is an initiative that is similar to the Coulter program however, is Pitt-specific. CMI was started through the Coulter initiative and is intended to be the perpetual seeding program after the Coulter grant has finished. In addition to these funding opportunities, Pitt is also equipped with the Big Idea Center, run through the Innovation Institute. The Big Idea Center provides students with a space run by faculty where they can share ideas and receive mentoring from an Entrepreneur In Residence (EIR). These EIRs are successful entrepreneurs who are employed by the Big Idea Center specifically to be available to students and assist them with their endeavors. With these programs Pitt faculty has been overwhelming successful in moving their innovative technologies into the marketplace.</span></span>
= University Technology Transfer Function =