Spin In Showcase 2023

Spin In

Spin In® is an experiential learning program to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship in the student community. The program utilizes University assets and partnerships to provide interdisciplinary teams of students with unique opportunities to solve real-world business problems within a real-world entrepreneurial start-up environment. This results in the development of new products, businesses with scalable opportunities, jobs, and a highly skilled workforce to support regional industries and initiatives.

TRIC Robotics' Spin In student product development team
TRIC Robotics, a company launched out of UD, provides strawberry farmers with a mulitasking field robot that provides, data on plant health, and pesticide and weed control while reducing costs and improving productivity. TRIC's Spin In product development team assisted with a few unexplored ideas.

What We Do

 

The Spin In Program:

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Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Stimulates innovation and entrepreneurship in the student community through practical, real-world experiences.

 

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Workforce Development

Supports workforce development through experiential learning to maximize job success and career pathways.

 

Economic Development

Contributes to economic development through the potential creation of new products, businesses and/or jobs.

 

How We Do It

 

Spin In partners interdisciplinary teams of students with research faculty, experienced entrepreneurs or innovative companies to solve or recommend solutions to technical and business challenges. Teams consist of qualified students with required skill sets based on the entrepreneur’s proposal and preliminary research indicating market potential. Each Spin In team experience is unique to its goal, its plan and team size. Together, with Spin In leadership and mentors, entrepreneurs remain an integral part of the program and guide student teams as they develop an entrepreneurial approach to solutions and develop workforce readiness skills.

 

With appropriate mentoring, students not only develop solutions to challenges, but generate economic development that can result in potential to create new products, new businesses, new opportunities.  

Who Should Participate

STUDENTS

Undergraduate and graduate students seeking experiential learning opportunities with backgrounds in business, engineering, development, policy, entrepreneurship, and many other fields.

Eager to engage with entrepreneurs and companies to develop innovative solutions to technical challenges


BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATING

  • Mentored opportunity to apply classroom knowledge to world challenges creating real-world impact

  • On campus employment opportunity in your field of study.

  • Work as an interdisciplinary product development team while gaining experience in areas of project management, leadership, engineering design, data management, market planning, and methods to advance commercialization. 

ENTREPRENEURS

With an early innovation concept ready for development that isn’t crucial to the overall business

Willing to engage with an interdisciplinary student team in a mentoring role

 

BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATING

  • Engage with students and coach them through an entrepreneurial process to build real-world working skills
  • View one’s own innovation through a different lens
  • Access to the resources UD can provide.
  • A chance to see talent and ideas that you might incorporate into your company

MENTORS

With prior startup or entrepreneurship company experience?

Willing to engage with an interdisciplinary student team in a mentoring role throughout the process.

 

BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATING

  • Inspire creativity in yourself and others 

  • Engage with faculty and entrepreneurs in the commercialization of new technologies

  • Contribute to OEIP’s growing Spin In program with  potential to create new products, businesses, and opportunities at UD, a first-class research institution

What others are saying

STUDENT TEAM SPOTLIGHT

Amy Lalime, Product & Marketing Mgr., mTrigger, LLC 

"In 2015 the University provided capstone classes, but experiential learning was rare other than off-campus internships. Spin In was a perfect fit. It is on campus, conforms to your schedule and connects classroom theory with real-world practice. The collaborative nature allowed team members to have a real impact while mastering skills both in and outside of one’s individual field of study. Skills I developed in Spin In - such as collaborative work, goal-setting, identifying project parameters and scope, and creating informative deliverables – have brought value to my career post-graduation."

Here is Amy Lalime's story

ENTREPRENEUR SPOTLIGHT

Brian Pryor, co-founder and CEO at LiteCure

"​​[I have found that] the Spin In program offers many benefits to both students and mentors. It establishes a unique connection between education and entrepreneurship. As an entrepreneur, you can gain access to new perspectives and talent, which could create short- and long-term opportunities for your company. Through mentorship, you also get the chance to reflect on your own roles and experiences while helping students gain real-world skills."

Here is Brian Pryor's story

MENTOR SPOTLIGHT

Sara Parkison, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on environmental justice engagements fellow

“As a Ph.D. candidate and fulfilling a mentor role of a Spin In team I was able to publish a paper that grew from the work we [Spin In team] had done together. The detail of the diverse engineering thinking and that of policy and data management brought expertise into the interdisciplinary team I would not have considered myself. At times I taught the principles of entrepreneurial processes but shortly into the first semester weekly meetings became about sharing results that week and reorganizing for the next week. All the expertise in one group self-created the avenue to discovery. Working with the students was an opportunity that I am so grateful for.”

here is Sara Parkison's story

Spin in® Stories and News

 

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International Students

If you are an F-1 or J-1 international student considering work, volunteering, self-employment, or start-up ventures (even if they are part of a class project or as part of your program of study), please contact an immigration advisor at the Center for Global Programs & Services (CGPS) to discuss your options and requirements for maintaining status in the U.S. Additional information can be found on the ISSS Employment page.

Dr. Chandra Narayanan

Available Student Roles


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Program Sponsors

EDA University Center

 

In 2021, the University of Delaware Spin In Program was awarded and designated as an EDA University Center.

For more information, please visit the EDA website or learn about the University of Delaware’s designation as an EDA University Center.