The Innovation Academy (IA), UNM’s entrepreneurial program for students, has just published its 2018-2019 Annual Impact Report. The program is located in the Lobo Rainforest Building and partners with STC on the NSF-funded UNM Lobo Rainforest I-Corps program and the EDA-funded NM Rainforest University Center program. The center program offers entrepreneurial training to students at all UNM campuses and is available to the public as well. To read about all of the innovative and exciting programs IA has to offer, see their August 21, 2019 press release, “UNM’s Innovation Academy releases 2018-2019 Impact Report,” from UNM Newsroom, below. The article contains a link to the report. Interested students should contact Tiffini Porter at tjp0217@unm.edu. Below are some program metrics from the report.
| Students enrolled in the program | 950+ |
| Student demographics participating | >50% female students, >65% first-generation college students, >50% students of color |
| Majors represented | 85 |
| IA-affiliated courses | 148 |
| Faculty participation | 217 |
| Students receiving academic credit to start their business | 182 |
| Pitch competition participants currently in business | 91% |
| Student companies in operation | 54 |
| Money awards to students by IA | $321,300 |
| Outside investor awards to IA students | $1.3 million |
UNM’s Innovation Academy releases 2018-2019 Impact Report
The University of New Mexico’s Innovation Academy published its 2018-2019 annual impact report this week. The report illustrates and highlights the positive impact the academy continues to have on students at the University.
The 20-page report outlines the Innovation Academy’s growth, both in terms of student participation numbers and in the number of successful student-run companies during the 2018-2019 school year. Again, this year’s report showcases the Academy’s exponential growth, going from 36 student-run companies in 2017-18 to 54 in 2018-2019.
“We have had another successful year of seeing our students transform into entrepreneurs and creative problem solvers,” said Innovation Academy Executive Director Rob DelCampo.
Programs like the academy’s second Tech Navigator Challenge, where students worked to commercialize technologies from national labs, saw larger participation from more majors than before and produced several viable commercialization ideas that are currently moving forward.
The Innovation Academy plans to continue to grow and offer more support to students seeking a way to integrate innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship into their degree programs at UNM.
“We have some exciting programs on tap for the coming year; we run this program entirely on grant and gift funds—we are so grateful for all the community support we’ve received and so proud of our student outcomes,” DelCampo said.
The report is available, both online and print formats, on the Innovation Academy website. Interested individuals may also stop by the Innovation Academy office, located in the Lobo Rainforest building at 101 Broadway NE, for a printed 5×7 booklet.
For more information, contact Tiffini Porter at tjp0217@unm.edu.