Our Crowdfunding Groups
The Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program is the next revolution in research in higher education. It unites undergraduate education and faculty research, innovation, design, and entrepreneurship in a team-based context that creates long-term, large-scale projects. The VIP Program started at Purdue in 2001 and found a new home at Georgia Tech in 2009. Since then, the program has expanded to a consortium of 28 universities, with NYU Tandon School of Engineering as the only New York City-based institution.
The essential characteristics of the VIP Program are: (1) projects based on faculty mentor’s innovation projects; (2) undergraduate participation for course credit; and (3) learning outcomes focused on the development of disciplinary and professional skills. In VIP courses, multidisciplinary groups can tackle large-scale, grand challenges outside the time constraints of the academic calendar. NYU’s core missions of education, research, and service are inherently integrated through VIP courses.
VIPs are a transformative force in experiential learning. Students gain a more well-rounded learning experience when they can apply concepts to real-world problems. Through VIPs, students interact with the professor’s industry partners (i.e., potential employers), have the opportunity to commercialize their ideas, and receive course credit. Additionally, VIP courses help students develop professional skills such as written and oral communication, teamwork, and creative problem-solving. Undergraduates gain from the long-term activity in a research topic and they get to contribute to the research project in a meaningful way. As students progress through the courses, their seniority on the project demands leadership, management, and mentorship roles that prepare them for the workforce. Many of these skills are passed down from professor to graduate student to undergraduate student creating a sustainable environment for projects to flourish. These advantages are why so many universities have adopted the VIP consortium, and why NYU is working to expand our VIP program.
We greatly appreciate your donation and it will go towards funding project materials.
Your donation is very valuable and will contribute towards student travel to conferences and research presentation opportunities.
At this level you have become one of our honorary donors and you will be featured as a highlight on our social media. Your donation will go towards creating more opportunities for students outside the classroom, from expos to guest speakers, to technical workshops and more.
Your generous donation will be recognized as a key contribution to the development and expansion of the program. Primarily, you’ll help us host Tandon’s first VIP Mid Atlantic conference and allow us to populate our new working space with necessary equipment. You will be added to our list of VIP Sponsors and published on all marketing material including the website.
