Applications will reopen Fall 2025
Program Overview:
TAMIU AIRES challenge TAMIU upper-level STEM undergraduate students to come together in groups of 3-5 members to foster their entrepreneurial spirit and develop a novel business idea. Students will be provided the support and resources they may need to see their idea come into fruition.
Student Responsibilities:
- Present proposal and relevant work alongside faculty member of their choice to TAMIU AIRES Grant team and relevant stakeholders.
- Submit monthly progress reports to the TAMIU AIRES team.
- If students are a team, one team member can submit a progress report on behalf of the team.
- Reports must at least 750 words long and follow proper APA guidelines (7th edition) to ensure academic integrity.
- Reports are due on the last Friday of every month by 11:59 pm (3 in total – one for each month).
- A Blackboard submission portal will be provided for students to submit their documents.
- The goal of the reports is to provide students an opportunity to reflect on their progress, how the incubatorship is helping develop their career and academic readiness skills, and how this opportunity will upscale their resume in comparison to other graduates/candidates in the job market/graduate school.
- Students must present to relevant stakeholders twice during their participation in the incubatorship.
- Once at midpoint and once at endpoint.
- These presentations have the goal of showcasing the progress of the project to relevant stakeholders and serve as an opportunity to receive feedback from students, faculty, and industry experts.
- Only the students will present during these meetings. Faculty members (if applicable) are NOT allowed to present. This is so students practice their public speaking and presentation skills, a core career-readiness skill.
- Attend one-to-one meetings with Career Readiness Coordinator and Academic Success Coach as required.
Incubatorship Phase 1: Creating a Blueprint
- The first phase of the incubatorship process will span across every Fall semester.
- Students will be provided with a membership to MileOne's Incubator, an open concept workspace.
- Students will work with a Faculty Mentor.
- Students will receive their $3,500 consideration in two disbursements and the quarter point and end point of the incubatorship.
- At the end of the incubatorship process, students will be asked to present the blueprint of their idea to a panel of TAMIU AIRES personnel to determine if the idea is feasible.
Incubatorship Phase 2: Creating a Prototype
- If determined feasible, students will be extended support to continue developing their idea further by producing a prototype.
- This second phase of the incubatorship will span through the Spring semester.
- TAMIU AIRES will provide MileOne's LaunchPad access for an additional year.
- Students will be invited to participate in a national and/or regional academic conference to present their work.
- Must be a Junior or Senior undergraduate student at TAMIU
- Must be a U.S. Citizen/National and/or Permanent Resident
- Must be 18 years or older
- Must have a STEM major declared: Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Systems Engineering, Computer Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, Pre-Engineering, Science with Grades 7-12 Certification, Mathematics with Grades 7-12 Certification, and Management Information Systems.
- Must remain in good standing throughout participation in the incubatorship program.
- Must have GPA of at least 2.50
- GPAs between 2.0 and 2.5 will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
- Provide students with a platform to develop their career-readiness skills
- Provide students with the opportunity to participate in a high-quality work-based learning experience that will upscale the students’ resume.
- All students receive a consideration of up to $3,500.
- Provide students with the opportunity to participate in a regional and/or national academic conference to present their work
- Allow students to gain real-life STEM job-related experience supported by professionals on campus and the local community.
- Provide students with access to MileOne’s LaunchPad service, which allows students 24/7 access to conference rooms and individual office spaces for the remainder of their senior year.
- MileOne provides an incubator for students to grow their “business” by providing 24/7 office spaces, resources such as internet and business address, and expert support and guidance. For more information, head on over to https://www.mileoneinc.com
An Incubatorship is a membership providing access to a dedicated office space and associated services. The Incubatorship will be offered by TAMIU AIRES to undergraduate STEM Seniors (in groups of 3 or more) who present a novel business idea that is selected to be further explored and developed.
An Incubator is an open-concept collaborative workspace where business ideas incubate, i.e., develop and come into fruition. Incubators are facilities typically stocked with the resources needed for entrepreneurs to develop their small business or novel ideas. Such resources include open-concept worktables and seating, conference rooms available for reservation, unlimited coffee and water, access to computers, printing services, and mail processing services. Typically, incubatorships allow small business owners to bring in clients to the incubator in lieu of an office. It is intended to be a place where entrepreneurs can meet with other business leaders and build their professional network. Trainings related to small business development and entrepreneurship are made available in the incubator on a regular basis. In sum, it is a hub for business-minded individuals to congregate and collaborate in order to realize their ideas.
During the duration of the grant, TAMIU AIRES will be working collaboratively with Laredo's very own MileOne, a local non-profit organization that offers coworking and business incubatorship programs. For more information about MileOne, check out their website here. Students who are selected will be provided with the Incubator membership, at no cost to them. Those whose ideas go on to the next level will receive access to the LaunchPad membership for the duration of their Senior year, also at no cost to them.
TAMIU AIRES is a Comprehensive Readiness Program for upper-level STEM students at TAMIU aimed at ensuring degree completion and preparation for success in the workforce upon graduation. TAMIU AIRES provides academic support services and career-readiness opportunities, such as work-based learning, professional development, financial literacy training, networking, collaboration, and conferencing experiences. The 5-year grant funded by the Department of Education, Title V, aspires to institutionalize the academic support services and career-readiness opportunities the project provides so that they are readily available to future upper-level STEM students at TAMIU.
