Johns Hopkins engineering students eager to pursue independent projects often need seed funding to get their ideas off the ground.
Thanks to the generosity of WSE’s community, these students can apply to the Student Initiatives Fund for support to turn ideas into reality. Launched in 2006 and funded and overseen by a committee of engineering alumni and friends, the SIF provides grants to engineering student-led teams through a competitive application process.
Only projects unrelated to coursework are eligible, and team projects are prioritized over individual ones. “This is all very intentional,” says Dean Ed Schlesinger. “We want to reward ingenuity and independence and encourage collaboration and community building.”
Schlesinger adds that the fund can also bridge earliest-stage ideas and the start of the commercialization process. “If we can enable a student to build a prototype and define their goals, we’re providing a launch pad for projects that could receive additional support and resources, including mentorship and grants through the Pava Marie LaPere Center for Entrepreneurship.”
“We want to reward ingenuity and independence and encourage collaboration and community building.”
— Ed Schlesinger
Recent fund-supported projects include Agara Bio, a team that is developing a biodegradable and sustainable colorimetric wound dressing, and Oralis, a needle-free mucosal vaccination platform designed for use in low-resource settings. The fund has also helped student teams compete nationally and internationally in rocketry, steel bridge building, and wind turbine design and construction.
To make a gift or learn more about the Student Initiatives Fund, contact the Whiting School’s Office of Development and Alumni Relations at (410) 516-8723 or engineering@jhu.edu.