ART Track 2: GROW: IL-TechForward

Our nation’s long-term economic competitiveness and staying at the cutting edge of technologies depends on the ability of universities to move research discoveries into products, services, and ventures that benefit society. Illinois Tech seeks to enhance its capacity for research translation by launching and scaling IL-TechForward. This program will create sustainable pathways for faculty discoveries to reach real-world deployment in nationally significant areas including energy systems, cybersecurity, cyberinfrastructure, precision nutrition and food safety, quantum information science, and health information technology. IL-TechForward leverages Chicago's innovation economy through several industry partners. The program also develops professional and translational science skills in graduate scholars and postdoctoral researchers. By demonstrating how shared-services models and cross-institutional collaboration can overcome structural bottlenecks, IL-TechForward advances the national interest in scientific progress, workforce development, and economic growth. IL-TechForward is anchored by two strategic objectives implemented through a four-year, stage-gated research translation model. Objective 1 builds the infrastructure for broader faculty participation. It adopts a tiered funding framework spanning Stage 1 (proof of concept), Stage 2 (minimum viable solution and pilot engagement), and Stage 3 (pilot in intended-use environment). It also restructures technology transfer operations through a fractional expertise model developed in partnership with the University of Illinois Chicago. This model increases intellectual property management capacity, improves responsiveness, and distributes licensing authority to reduce bottlenecks. Objective 2 increases the likelihood of successful translation. It launches industry-driven Seed Translational Research Project (STRP) solicitations aligned with documented partner needs, and embeds interim business expertise and student talent into research teams. By Year 4, the program will increase annual invention disclosures to at least 20, maintain a minimum of five active industry partners, and advance at least 40% of funded STRPs to a defined commercialization milestone within two years of initial funding. Milestones include executed licenses, industry partnerships, investment, or successful customer pilots. The program will also secure at least $5 million in philanthropic, corporate, and licensing revenue to sustain operations beyond the award period. Over a ten-year horizon, IL-TechForward will generate a continuous pipeline of translational researchers, industry-ready graduates, licensed technologies, and new ventures that advance national priorities and strengthen U.S. competitiveness. The ART Program, supported by the NSF TIP Directorate, seeks to advance the U.S. scientific and economic leadership by building capacity and increasing the number of robust translational research ecosystems in Institutions of Higher Education that span across the full geography of our nation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.