November 27, 2013
The M.C.Gill Composites Center i-Diploma team consists of six graduate and undergraduate students led by Ph.D. student Bo Jin, was chosen for the USC Diploma in Innovation, a one year program administrated by USC Office of the Provost, and was awarded a monetary research funding of $5,000.
A photo of the M.C.Gill Composites Center i-Diploma Team from left to right: Ming-Sung Wu (PhD student), Jennifer Dyer (USC Stevens Center for Innovation), Xiaochen Li (Masters student), Bo Jin (PhD student), Alison Beck (USC Office of the Provost), Jack Lerner (USC Intellectual Property and Technology Law Clinic), Gus Lang (Undergraduate student). Missing in the photo: Yuzheng Zhang (Ph.D. student), Sidi Huang (Undergraduate student)
The USC Diploma in Innovation is a highly selective program for current Ph.D. and Master’s students designed to complement their disciplinary scholarship with the practical skills and creative perspectives that will help them become leaders at the vanguard of their chosen fields. This one-year program is designed to enable current graduate students to engage in innovative scholarship with any other individual or organization capable of providing collaborative support. Throughout the program team members will also participate in a series of seminars focused on various topics related to innovation such as: creative thinking, the process of innovation, methods of collaboration, social entrepreneurship, developing a business plan, intellectual property law and other issues that will be of use to teams as they pursue their projects.
A $5,000 grants are awarded to the M.C. Gill Composites Center i-Diploma team, whose proposed project “Chemical Ageing and Mechanical Properties of the Next Generation of Overhead Hybrid Composites Power Line” demonstrated the potential to push the boundaries of existing scholarship by translating novel ideas into tangible benefits to society. Upon completion of the program, the outstanding project will earn the graduate students the Diploma in Innovation, a signature honor that USC Office of the Provost awards to graduate students who have demonstrated exemplary ability to collaborate in pursuit of innovative solutions or scholarship that will have lasting impact. Only 15 projects were funded this year throughout the entire university.
