John Weatherford, in collaboration with Dr. Kristina Jaskyte in the School of Social Work, has been awarded a prestigious $10,000 VentureWell grant. VentureWell provides grants to support faculty who are helping students develop and launch STEM-based entrepreneurial inventions.

Using this grant, John will work with Dr. Jaskyte to develop technology-driven solutions for non-profits through design thinking methodologies. In Spring 2019, Dr. Jaskyte’s students are conducting initial research and development working with clients like Books for Keeps, the Athens Access to Justice Initiative, and UGA’s Office of Service Learning to determine community needs. In Fall 2019, John will mentor NMI service-learning capstone teams to develop technology solutions to the problems identified by Dr. Jaskyte’s students.

Innovative interdisciplinary collaborations such as this are at the heart of the NMI. Congratulations, John!