The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) encourages and supports invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship education at institutions of higher learning across the United States. The NCIIA supports the work of its members through grants, training, and other resources. NCIIA programs complement a traditional educational and career path through hands-on learning and practical experience that generate new technologies to benefit humans and the environment, and innovative businesses and business models.

The NCIIA was established in the mid-90s with support from the Lemelson Foundation. With over 200 institutional members comprising colleges and universities, public and private, large and small, in every region of the US, the NCIIA has become an important force for educational innovation and institutional change. A current list of members is available at www.nciia.org

The NCIIA’s ongoing programs include:

• Course and program grants for developing and strengthening curricular initiatives
• Advanced E-Team grants to help student/faculty teams bring innovations from idea to prototype to market
• Invention to Venture, the NCIIA’s acclaimed workshop series, bringing students, faculty, and members of the local entrepreneurship community together for an intensive day of learning how to turn an idea into a business (co-sponsored by The Lemelson Foundation, the Kauffman Foundation, and local businesses affiliated with hosting institutions)
• BMEidea, an annual student biomedical innovation design competition
• The Kern Entrepreneurship Education Network (KEEN), a new program designed to help small Midwestern institutions bring entrepreneurial enrichment to engineering curricula (co-sponsored by the Kern Family Foundation)
• Annual meetings for sharing of ideas and best practices among business, technical, and engineering faculty
• Extensive web-based and print resources for the development and dissemination of knowledge in the field of invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship education.