Mays Appoints New Director of Innovation Partnership
The Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship (CNVE) at Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School has named Charles “Chuck” Hinton Jr. as its new director for I-Corps Programming. Hinton will be primarily responsible for promoting the Innovation Corps (I-CorpsTM) program from the National Science Foundation. I-CorpsTM is a set of entrepreneurial exercises that prepare engineers and scientists to extend their projects beyond the laboratory and thus increase the real impact of National Science Foundation-funded projects in basic research.
I-CorpsTM chooses three-member teams to attend a seven-week intensive that takes place onsite and online and helps the teams determine whether and how their innovations can be commercialized. The teams must consist of an academic researcher, an industry mentor, and a student entrepreneur. Selected I-Corps teams with viable innovations will be eligible for as much as $50,000 in grant funding from the National Science foundation to support their commercialization efforts.
CNVE is part of the Southwest I-Corps Node. The Southwest Node is one of the seven regional partnerships of universities to support the expansion of the I-Corps program. Texas A&M University will work with Texas Tech University, Rice University, and the University of Texas at Austin to promote the I-Corps program and recruit I-Corps applicants.
“Chuck’s efforts for the CNVE will focus first on recruitment and preparation of Texas A&M teams for enrollment in this elite program,” said CNVE Director and National I-Corps Faculty Member Blake Petty. “He’ll then be responsible for expanding I-Corps participation throughout the Texas A&M System, around the state, and ultimately, across the southwestern U.S.”
Hinton received his bachelor’s degree in business in 1976 and his MBA in 1978 from Texas A&M. Hinton became a volunteer mentor for CNVE working with students at Startup Aggieland (the Texas A&M University student business accelerator) after a successful career in natural gas production.
“We’re very fortunate to add someone of Chuck’s caliber to the CNVE team,” said Petty. “His expertise and enthusiasm for I-Corps will be infectious to everyone he engages.”
