Industry Fellows
The Student Industry Fellows Program (SIFP) cultivates innovation competencies among
UGA graduate and undergraduate students and fosters mutually beneficial industry partnerships. Through this process, UGA plays a vital role in building the talent of today and empowering them to solve tomorrow’s challenges.
The UGA Innovation District is part of UGA’s unique ecosystem of talent, creativity, and infrastructure that brings students from a range of disciplines together to turn ideas into inventions, startup companies, and solutions to some of the world’s grand challenges. The SIFP cultivates innovation competencies among UGA graduate and undergraduate students and fosters mutually beneficial partnerships with industry stakeholders, start-ups, and other organizations which are seeking to solve emergent and pressing challenges through unique, cross-disciplinary courses and experiences.
Innovation Catalyst & Design
Open to undergraduate and graduate students in any discipline, this one semester course provides students with foundational training in the theory and practice of innovation, including competencies such as design thinking, project management, analytics, or business strategies. This course will also serve as a cross-disciplinary pipeline of students into the Industry Project Management experiences.
Industry Project Management
Open to selected, successful graduates of the “Innovation Catalyst & Design” course, this program places students in cross-disciplinary teams that work on real-world projects identified by industry-partners, where they apply and sharpen their innovation abilities and competencies.
Students selected as fellows will receive targeted training and support, serve as campus ambassadors for UGA’s innovation ecosystem, and have the opportunity work on hands-on projects with industry partners and student colleagues from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds. Up to 25 student applicants will be selected annually to enter the SIFP program, which will require one semester of training/preparatory coursework and one or more semesters of Innovation District service and team-based project work. Students:
- Lead industry project teams (1-2 per semester) and complete projects on time and to a high degree of quality/accuracy.
- Serve as Innovation District ambassadors, staffing programs and events, hosting speakers or visitors as needed, and periodically planning programs or events which are intended to enhance the innovation ecosystem at UGA.