College of Arts and Sciences

The Incubatorship Experience

Program Overview:

TAMIU AIRES challenge TAMIU upper-level STEM undergraduate students to come together in groups of 3-5 members to foster their entrepreneurial spirit and develop a novel business idea. Students will be provided the support and resources they may need to see their idea come into fruition.

Student Responsibilities:

• Present proposal and relevant work alongside faculty member of their choice to TAMIU AIRES Grant team and relevant stakeholders.  
• Submit monthly progress reports to the TAMIU AIRES team.
  • If students are a team, one team member can submit a progress report on behalf of the team.  
  • Reports must at least 750 words long and follow proper APA guidelines (7th edition) to ensure academic integrity.  
  • Reports are due on the last Friday of every month by 11:59 pm (3 in total – one for each month).  
    • A Blackboard submission portal will be provided for students to submit their documents.  
  • The goal of the reports is to provide students an opportunity to reflect on their progress, how the incubatorship is helping develop their career and academic readiness skills, and how this opportunity will upscale their resume in comparison to other graduates/candidates in the job market/graduate school.  
• Students must present to relevant stakeholders twice during their participation in the incubatorship.  
  • Once at midpoint and once at endpoint. 
  • These presentations have the goal of showcasing the progress of the project to relevant stakeholders and serve as an opportunity to receive feedback from students, faculty, and industry experts.  
  • Only the students will present during these meetings. Faculty members (if applicable) are NOT allowed to present. This is so students practice their public speaking and presentation skills, a core career-readiness skill.  
• Attend one-to-one meetings with Career Readiness Coordinator and Academic Success Coach as required.  

Stipend Qualifications:

• Must be a Junior or Senior undergraduate student at TAMIU 
• Must be a U.S. Citizen/National and/or Permanent Resident 
• Must be 18 years or older 
• Must have a STEM major declared: Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Systems Engineering, Computer Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, Pre-Engineering, Science with Grades 7-12 Certification, Mathematics with Grades 7-12 Certification, and Management Information Systems.  
• Must remain in good standing throughout participation in the incubatorship program.  
• Must have GPA of at least 2.50  
  • GPAs between 2.0 and 2.5 will be considered on a case-by-case basis.  

Benefits of participating in the Incubatorship Program:

• Provide students with a platform to develop their career-readiness skills  
• Provide students with the opportunity to participate in a high-quality work-based learning experience that will upscale the students’ resume.  
• All students receive a stipend of up to $3,500.  
• Provide students with the opportunity to participate in a regional and/or national academic conference to present their work 
• Allow students to gain real-life STEM job-related experience supported by professionals on campus and the local community.  
• Provide students with access to MileOne’s LaunchPad service, which allows students 24/7 access to conference rooms and individual office spaces for the remainder of their senior year.  
  • MileOne provides an incubator for students to grow their “business” by providing 24/7 office spaces, resources such as internet and business address, and expert support and guidance. For more information, head on over to https://www.mileoneinc.com

Incubatorship Phase 1: Creating a Blueprint

• The first phase of the incubatorship process will span across 13 weeks from May 16 to Aug 12, 2022 (Maymester through summer session 2).
• During 8 of those 13 weeks, students will be provided with a membership to MileOne's Incubator, an open concept workspace.
• Students will work with a Faculty Mentor.
• Students will receive their $3,500 stipend in two disbursements and the quarter point and end point of the incubatorship.
• At the end of the 13 week incubatorship process, students will be asked to present the blueprint of their idea to a panel of TAMIU AIRES personnel to determine if the idea is feasible.

Incubatorship Phase 2: Creating a Prototype

• If determined feasible, students will be extended support to continue developing their idea further by producing a prototype.
• This second phase of the incubatorship will span through Fall 2022. 
• TAMIU AIRES will provide MileOne's LaunchPad access for an additional year. 
• Students will be invited to participate in a national and/or regional academic conference to present their work.