The Alabama A&M University College of Business and Public Affairs and its Center for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Development (CEIED) will host a 4 p.m. February 25 workshop to provide strategies and best practices that enhance research competitiveness and economic development at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) by strengthening STEM innovation capacity and capability.

The overall goal of this workshop is to engage representatives from numerous HBCUs in 11 areas targeted for National Science Foundation research and development funding that will strengthen HBCU STEM capacity and capability.  More specifically, the conference will: 

• Address the gap in the literature regarding STEM innovation and entrepreneurship infrastructure and capacity building at HBCUs.
• Encourage STEM innovation through establishing best practices for institutional capacity-building, faculty development, and strategic planning;
• Catalyze research capability across and among EPSCoR jurisdictions to foster innovation and entrepreneurship across HBCU campuses in a manner that improves the R&D profile, commercialization activities and tech-entrepreneurship performance of HBCUs;
• Connect HBCU campuses to economically productive innovation and tech-ecosystems around the country; and
• Promote a sustainable and viable pipeline of entrepreneurs from underrepresented populations into the national and global STEM research enterprise.

The February 25 webinar will be the launchpad from which several future meetings are structured relating to innovations within the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and entrepreneurship.

For additional information, contact Dr. Teresa Merriweather Orok, executive director of CEIED, at (256) 372-5603 or e-mail teresa.orok@aamu.edu.