Engage
Building a World-Renowned Program for Climate Innovation
At Design Climate, we are proud to seed ventures and train leaders to take on the epic challenges of the climate crisis. But none of this is possible without the partnership of our Co-Designers, Mentors, and Subject Matter Experts. These brilliant entrepreneurs, community leaders, and professors steer our student teams, guide financial modeling and prototype development, make stakeholder introductions, and much more. Below, you’ll find the opportunities to engage with our program.
Interested in Being a Part of Design Climate?
Design Climate trains future leaders, builds products and startups, and drives progress in meeting the world's sustainability goals. If you are interested in becoming a Co-Designer, a Mentor, or a Subject Matter Expert for our program, reach out to Judy Ledlee, Executive Director.
Co-Designers
The Design Climate course partners with "Co-Designers"—professors, entrepreneurs, and other innovators—who bring promising ideas or early-stage ventures into the course. Following evaluation by Design Climate instructors and advisors, each innovation is matched with a student team. Over the course of two semesters, these student teams scale their assigned innovations through a structured curriculum and translational activities such as needs assessments, stakeholder interviews, ecosystem mapping, grant discovery, and prototyping, thereby accelerating the venture along the path toward commercialization. Below is more on the benefits, requirements, and commitment associated with being a Design Climate Co-Designer.
Co-Designer Benefits: Receive comprehensive market research; financial models; prototyping data; and new/deeper stakeholder relationships with collaborators and industry leaders.
Project Requirements: Propose a novel product idea that addresses an energy, climate, or sustainability challenge. Students in the Design Climate course will conduct market testing around this idea and report back their insights.
Co-Designer Commitment: Provide background information (grant applications, decks, papers) and a contact from your lab who can answer questions and meet with our teams twice monthly.
Design Climate has provided incredible opportunities to further my business, with access to lab space and the unparalleled resources that Duke has to offer. Working with the students has been rewarding and impactful.
Mary Lempres, Founder & CEO, Reefcycle
Professors like to work with students who are smart and dream big. This group of students is what I was hoping for. They are energetic, curious, and motivated, and they helped me believe more in the potential for commercializing this technology.
Dr. Jie Liu, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Duke University
Design Climate has been a game-changer for us. Our student and instructor team helped us brainstorm the best approach to bring our tech to market, identified key barriers and ideated possible solutions, and connected us with potential investment opportunities. They were also keen to partner with our Bass Connections team, which was motivational for our undergraduates to see the real-world applicability of the research they are undertaking."
Dr. Jason Somarelli, Assistant Professor and Director of Research, Duke Comparative Oncology Group
Mentors
The entrepreneurial experiences offered to students through Design Climate are extraordinary chances to grow professionally and make a lasting impact. Our program immerses participants in the dynamic, risk-and-reward environment of a real startup—complete with all its challenges and rewards. As a mentor with Design Climate, you'll join students on this journey and help to shape the next generation of climate leaders.
Our mentorship program welcomes professionals from diverse fields, including academia, entrepreneurship, investment, and business leadership. Each mentor has the freedom and flexibility to determine their role — some mentors give guest lectures to our students or lead workshops on entrepreneurship, while others may focus their work with the team on a particular skillset or deliverable, like building a prototype or creating a pro forma.
Subject Matter Experts
Design Climate's programming is inspired by the U.S. National Science Foundation's Innovation Corps ("I-Corps"), a curriculum using experiential education to help researchers explore the commercial potential of their scientific and technological discoveries. Connecting university-based researchers with training in entrepreneurship, I-Corps helps potential founders determine the commercial viability of their technologies.
Stakeholder interviewing is fundamental to this work. At Design Climate, we train our teams of students on the tenets of stakeholder and empathy interviewing, as well as design thinking. Through this process, students uncover new business opportunities, identify risks, and build ecosystems of supporters for their venture.
