What We Do

Student Resources

Student Resources Overview

Often undergraduate students are not employees of the university and are not working in a research lab. Thus, these students typically own the intellectual property related to their innovations. While CoMotion is unable to provide patenting and licensing services for this individually-owned property, there are many resources available across the ecosystem.

We at CoMotion engage with the entire UW innovation community, and students are a vital part of our work. In partnership with the Foster School of Business, CoMotion offers a number of exciting opportunities for students at all levels to get real-world experience while completing their degree.

We also partner with the UW Law School on their Entrepreneurial Law Clinic, which teams students with pro bono attorneys and business advisors.

General Student Resources

Research Funding

There are a variety of opportunities for undergraduates to apply for and obtain research funds. The link above has a comprehensive list as well as links to other national opportunities.
CoMotion also hosts the Amazon Catalyst program which is open to all university members and provides funding for big ideas that have a positive impact, and the NSF I-Corps Site program for teams pursuing customer discovery.
Prototyping and MakerSpace

Do you want to try out some new ideas and/or make a prototype? Visit the MakerSpace to find out about their equipment, classes they offer, and their new equipment lending program.
Startup space

CoMotion Labs at Startup Hall rents space to IT and software start-ups.
Local business groups and resources

Life Sciences Washington has a number of life sciences events and a job site, as well as offering one free consulting session with their business advisors. Washington Technology Industry Association also has frequent events and job postings.

Intellectual Property (IP)

If you have general questions about the various intellectual property types, please see our links here:

Quick Facts About Patents
What is a copyright and what is copyrightable subject matter?
Patents, Copyrights, and Your Software Innovation
If you are interested in determining whether you have intellectual property

You may find some of the patent and copyright links at the UW Libraries useful: Patent and Trademark Information
If you have IP and are questioning whether the UW may have rights in it

Please see the UW policy here
If you would like to consult with someone about how to best protect your IP

You can contact the Entrepreneurial Law Clinic

Entrepreneurship

The Buerk Center

Business plans, company formation, and funding Center for Entrepreneurship and Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs
They have resources related to mentoring, business plan creation, company formation, and funding, including the Dempsey Startup Competition (Dempsey Startup), a platform for student-led ventures. The competition provides student teams with mentoring from entrepreneurs and investors, the opportunity to tell their stories to the Seattle startup community, and the visibility they need to get going. More than 5,190 students have participated in this annual new venture competition since its inception in 1998, and the Buerk Center has awarded 183 teams with $1,458, 240 in seed funding awarded.
Learn more:
http://foster.uw.edu/centers/buerk-ctr-entrepreneurship/undergraduate-entrepreneurship/
Entrepreneurial educational programs

CoMotion Labs, UW’s incubator program, offer talks and networking open to anyone. For example, "Fundamentals for Startups Friday" is a weekly presentation series covering topics from raising capital to scaling to exit strategies, presented by seasoned guest speakers who deliver valuable content designed to help startups and entrepreneurs thrive. Lectures are typically 30-40 mins, followed by open Q&A.
Click here for an archive of videos from Fundamentals for Startups Friday .
Here’s also a link to the events page so you can learn about this and other start-up related events.
SEBA helps to develop science and engineering students into business professionals, and to which business leaders come to engage professionally-minded students.
Entrepreneurial Law Clinic
From their website - “The ELC is a transactional and counseling clinic, which means that we do not represent clients in litigation, arbitration, mediation, or any other active dispute. Instead our services center on providing your business with a comprehensive “legal and business audit” that will help you identify issues before they become serious problems. We will provide you with a confidential report, generally at the end of the academic quarter in which you or your business became a client. This report will also give you guidance on how to proceed to remedy potential problems and/or establish systems to limit or prevent standard business formation and growth pitfalls. Our standard representation includes a commitment only to this audit process.
Upon mutual written agreement between you and ELC, we may extend our representation to assist you in basic entrepreneurship-focused legal service, such as:
- Forming a corporation, limited liability company (LLC), or other legal business entity as appropriate
- Filing simple intellectual property (IP) documents such as provisional patent applications, copyright registrations, and trademark registration applications
- Reviewing, negotiating, and/or drafting contracts such as commercial leases and loans, vendor agreements, services agreements, or employment agreements
- Assisting in compliance with state and local business licenses and taxes
- Drafting and execution of trademark and copyright registrations, provisional patent applications, and licensing or assignment agreements
- IP counseling regarding branding, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, freedom to operate, unfair competition, antitrust, publicity rights, and privacy rights”
Contact info:
Phone: (206) 616-5854
Email: elcinfo@uw.edu
Entrepreneurship/Innovation Competitions

The Dempsey Startup Competition (Dempsey Startup) is a platform for student-led ventures. The competition provides student teams with mentoring from entrepreneurs and investors, the opportunity to tell their stories to the Seattle startup community, and the visibility they need to get going. More than 5,190 students have participated in this annual new venture competition since its inception in 1998, and the Buerk Center has awarded 183 teams with $1,458, 240 in seed funding awarded.
The Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challenge (EIC) mobilizes students to apply their knowledge and ingenuity to solve environmental problems. Since 2009 the Buerk Center has awarded $416K in prototype funding and prize money to teams whose innovations address alternative energy production, clean water, fuel efficiency, etc. This annual challenge is open to students from colleges and universities across the Pacific Northwest.
The new UW Health Innovation Challenge (HIC) builds on the strengths of the University of Washington to provide a platform for interdisciplinary student teams to work on new solutions to existing health/healthcare problems, new approaches to helping people live healthier lives, new opportunities for care and treatment, and new product or services to bring to market.
DubHacks is a 24-hour collegiate hackathon held at the University of Washington in Seattle. We bring together undergraduate students of all backgrounds to inspire individuals to develop creative tools to solve society’s biggest issues.