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As a non-profit organization with the purpose of advancing technological entrepreneurship in U.S. higher education, the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) combines a clear educational vision with successful programmatic experience and responsiveness to the resource needs of our membership.
The NCIIA was established in 1995 with support from The Lemelson Foundation, the legacy of prolific inventor Jerome Lemelson (1923-1997). Lemelson believed that teaching invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship to young people is the most effective way to bring forth the next generation of innovators–generating new products, creating employment opportunities, and strengthening the national economy. With this vision in mind, The Lemelson Foundation helped create the NCIIA, an organization that would support and encourage invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship education at institutions of higher learning throughout the United States by offering grants for curricular development, and by supporting E-Teams ("E" is for excellence and entrepreneurship), multidisciplinary teams of students, faculty, and industry mentors.
The NCIIA is structured as a membership association, with more than 200 institutional members nationwide. NCIIA members include many top colleges and research institutions, public and private, in each region of the U.S. In addition to a semi-annual grants program, we offer resources and networking opportunities to our members. Over the seven years since its establishment, the NCIIA has become a key player in the higher education community, and an important source of both idea-sharing and essential resources.
Since 1999, the NCIIA has operated under the umbrella of Five Colleges, Inc., a 501(c)(3) consortium comprising Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
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