The mission of the funder, while not explicitly detailed in the provided text, can be inferred to focus on supporting innovation in digital manufacturing by offering resources to transform promising ideas into tangible outcomes. They aim to provide practical support to early-stage companies, entrepreneurs, and educational research groups in the realm of digital manufacturing.
The Cool Idea Award program offers a manufacturing grant designed to support innovative ideas within the field of digital manufacturing. Targeted beneficiaries include student groups/clubs, undergraduate and graduate researchers, and faculty researchers within academia. The grant provides Protolabs services, one-on-one engineer support, and promotional efforts to help the recipients bring their projects to fruition. The program is directed towards ideas that are at a relatively advanced stage of development, as indicated by the existence of a business plan, competitive analysis, and initial prototyping.