The National Science Foundation (NSF) today announced a multi-million dollar grant to promote innovation throughout Southern California. As part of the NSF Innovation Corps (I-Corps) initiative, the newly created I-Corps Node will be administered by Caltech, the University of South California, and the University of California, Los Angeles. Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-27), whose district includes Caltech, released the following statement: “This grant recognizes Southern California’s role as a leader in research and innovation. Our institutions, particularly Caltech, are attracting the brightest minds and producing next generation discoveries. By encouraging new partnerships beyond the labs, the new I-Corps Node will help generate more entrepreneurship, transforming the Southern California landscape into an even more research-friendly area and bringing new opportunity to the Los Angeles region,†said Rep. Chu. “With Caltech’s existing success in creating new startups and their role with the Jet Propulsion Lab, the I-Corps Node will mean new advancements from space travel to consumer goods.†The regional innovation center will be headquartered in Los Angeles. The NSF hopes to create a network of innovation hubs throughout the country, connecting Southern California institutions to existing Nodes in the bay Area, New York, Washington, DC, Georgia, and Michigan. NSF is also adding a Node in Texas. The funding initiative will create an I-Corps Node that will have a social and economic impact by uniting public and private institutions located in the Los Angeles region.