Innovation Lab - Energy I Corps

This is Innovation Lab, which is an energy I-Corps project that we put together with PNNL and WSU. This exciting project was five weeks of PNNL researchers, WSU students, using lean startup strategies to take a look and build four value creation plans, to conduct 16 real industry interviews, and to push forward exciting technologies into the real world. Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory discover amazing inventions and processes every day. We can change the world if we can make those available outside of the laboratory. Transferring important technologies to the private sector is a key mission of our laboratory. That's where the Energy I-Corps program comes in, teaching you how to develop market pathways for promising technologies. The Energy I-Corps Innovation Lab harnesses the experience of the entrepreneur-in-residence at Washington State University Tri-Cities and pairs researchers with senior level business students to hone everyone's marketing moxie. So we learned that it is not important to talk, but actually to listen. It's not about selling our technology, it's about understanding the market needs and the competition. Once I got over the steep learning curve of the technology, it was really crazy to see all the applications that this method can be used in. We originally thought our intended customers were the gear manufacturers. During our discovery calls, we found out those companies are too small and we need to target the tier one suppliers for the automotive industry because they are the ones who can adapt the technology to manufacture at a scale if they are interested. I think what I learned was like scientists, you know, we're really passionate about our research and we really, even the most brilliant ideas we might have don't necessarily fulfill a market need and that's the most important thing is to actually go do your homework and actually see that your product does fulfill that market need. The business students were creative. They provided a unbiased and unique perspective. Actually, they forced us to cut to the chase. Being able to be a part of the path towards commercialization to a successful technology, that to me is something and it's just so valuable like where else can you get that in an undergraduate level. Join us for the next Energy I-Corps session to learn how to position and maybe even adapt your technology with industry input for maximum impact on the world.