Physics Student Innovators (*and Alumni)
This is the development website for the student organization called PSI*, conceived years earlier and launched formally in September 2016 at the University of Colorado Denver and Metropolitan State University of Denver.
Purpose
The purpose of Psi* is to bring physics students’ inventiveness to fruition through material and creative support; to foster employer, investor, and community awareness of the potential for innovation by physics students in the service of human needs; and to engage physics alumni to use their experience to aid student innovators.
Participants
The core of Psi* will consist of undergraduate physics majors and physics graduate students exploring wider career options. However, Psi* will be broadly inclusive, attracting physics minors and non-majors taking physics courses, pre-college students exposed to physics in or before high-school, and adult learners who are curious about the practical applications of physics. Physics alumni within industry, government labs, and universities will be sought as mentors and co-participants in physics-enabled innovation.
Concept essays
In order to better define the relationship of physics to innovation, the following essays explore some of the ideas.
What does it mean to be a physics student innovator?
(more coming)
Key activities
ACTIVE STUDENT INNOVATION
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
KNOWLEDGE
ORGANIZATIONAL ECOSYSTEM
Further information
Acknowledgement
Development of the PSIstar concept and early implementation as a student organization at the University of Colorado Denver was funded in part by the National Science Foundation IUSE program under grant DUE-1624938. This grant was part of the PIPELINE network of collaborating institutions working to foster learning and experiences combining physics, innovation, and entrepreneurship.