Innovation

Carolina is a place where innovators and entrepreneurs thrive. It's a place where you can make a positive difference by putting your ideas to use for the public good.

Two students use a 3D printer.

Innovate for all

Carolina innovators are helping to solve some of the world’s biggest problems. Through their ingenuity, they provide economic and social value in North Carolina and beyond: creating jobs, finding cures, combating diseases, fighting poverty, eliminating hunger, providing clean water and promoting social justice.

Innovate Carolina is a cross-campus alliance of people and programs that helps UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty and alumni turn their ideas into innovations that improve how people work and live. Led by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, Innovate Carolina ensures that people at UNC-Chapel Hill have the knowledge, tools and resources they need to put their ideas into action.

Now it’s time to take the next step on your own innovation journey. Get involved in the Innovate Carolina Network and learn how you can:

  • 26entrepreneurship-focused undergraduate courses
  • 521Carolina-affiliated startup ventures created since 1958
  • $10 billionin annual revenue earned by UNC-Chapel Hill startups in 2016
  • 256startup companies founded by students and alumni as of June 30, 2017
  • 75startup companies created at Launch Chapel Hill accelerator since 2013
  • 70,225jobs created by Carolina startups as of December 2016
  • 90,000+lives improved by social ventures launched by students since 2013

Innovation at Carolina

  • ‘There’s work to be done’

    BeAM and medical students team up with Duke, NC State to design and produce face shields for health care workers.

  • Carolina student uses 3D printers to enhance PPE

    Second-year physician assistant studies student Alec Fields is creating much-needed brackets for personal protective equipment for health care providers in eastern North Carolina.

  • Child care conundrum

    How can health care workers combat COVID-19 without child care coverage? A UNC-Chapel Hill task force helps them find personal and professional balance.