STRIDE Fellow, Stephanie Taboada Accepted into NSF Innovation Corps

Stephanie Taboada, a PhD student in the Department of Chemical Engineering  and STRIDE Fellow, was recently accepted into the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps™) program, which uses experiential education to help researchers gain valuable insight into entrepreneurship, starting a business or industry requirements and challenges. The program is meant to help teams consisting of the PhD student, their research advisor and an industry mentor take their technology from the lab towards commercialization.

Stephanie’s research focuses on replacing fossil fuels, which are harmful to the enviroment, with renewable natural gas (RNG), the benefits of which are that it has no impact on climate change when combusted and utilized in the same applications as fossil natural gas. 

I-Corps allows for the transformation of invention to impact. The curriculum integrates scientific inquiry and industrial discovery in an inclusive, data-driven culture driven by rigor, relevance, and evidence. Through I-Corps training, researchers can reduce the time it normally takes to translate a promising idea from the laboratory to the marketplace. Stephanie reports that the next step for her team is to apply for Partnerships for Innovation (PFI), a platform for education and leadership development in innovation and entrepreneurship of promising students who are committed to the commercialization of NSF-funded research in science and engineering.

Aside from her own hard work and determination, Stephanie credits her participation in the STRIDE program and the support of the STRIDE community for reaching this achievement.

For more about Stephanie, please check out her science communication blog, Latina PhDing. As a first-generation Latina, Stephanie developed this blog for other Hispanic students and professionals where she covers STEM topics related to education, careers and lifestyle.