Apps are open for InnovatePGH’s equity-focused, Build Back Better-funded fellowship

InnovatePGH is kicking off a new, free fellowship program to boost diversity in Pittsburgh’s robotics sector this month.

After the Pittsburgh region celebrated securing $62.7 million in Build Back Better Regional Challenge funding in fall 2022, Oakland-based InnovatePGH announced it’d be using its $6.9 million to make the future of robotics a little more inclusive.

At the time, InnovatePGH Executive Director Sean Luther and Director of Workforce Strategies Lindsay Powell told Technical.ly the org would be launching Expanded Pathways to Entrepreneurship, a program aiming to make it easier for women and individuals from marginalized communities who are interested in the robotics and autonomy industries to enter the field. The program would include a fellowship offering participants a subsidized education that sets them up to be candidates worthy of any early-stage firm.

“Being able to create more room in this growing field is really exciting and having the opportunity to launch this work here in Pittsburgh is exciting,” Powell said in September. “We’re excited to bring more folks to the table to make sure that our partnerships are intentional and are reaching the populations we need to.”

Now, that fellowship has a name: The Promoting Emerging Entrepreneurs in Robotics — aka PEER — Fellowship is ready to take applications. According to an announcement this week, the program is designed to not only provide technical skills, but support fellows in the challenges they may face working in the field. This means the program is also calling on community partners, tech-minded organizations and anchor institutions to create the standard for equitable opportunities in robotics and automation.

“We believe that diversity fuels innovation, and the PEER Fellowship is a testament to our commitment to building a more inclusive future for the robotics ecosystem in Pittsburgh,” Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute Director Matthew Johnson-Roberson said in the announcement.

Although the PEER fellowship is run through InnovatePGH, the program was created with the assistance of CMU, Women in Tech PGH and the Equity Impact Center. Over the academic year, fellows will take entrepreneurship-focused classes from CMU’s Robotics Institute, Heinz College for Information Systems and Public Policy, and Tepper School of Business, as well as spend independent study time working on their own startup pursuits.

“Carnegie Mellon is pleased to help launch this bold new initiative in our region with InnovatePGH,”  said CMU President Farnam Jahanian, who is co-chair of the Southwestern Pennsylvania New Economy Collaborative, the consortium managing the regional Build Back Better funding. “Together, we envision this program becoming a model that other regions and research universities across the country can follow to create economic opportunities for entrepreneurs in their communities.”

PEER fellows will receive monthly stipends to help with living expenses. While the Build Back Better funding makes this fellowship possible, for the first year, it’s also being supported by a $25,000 grant awarded by the PPG Foundation.

If this sounds like something that’d help your career and you’re a current or former Pennsylvania resident with a bachelor’s degree and an interest in tech, you can apply here through Aug. 13. The program begins Aug. 22.

Atiya Irvin-Mitchell is a 2022-2024 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of The Groundtruth Project that pairs young journalists with local newsrooms. This position is supported by the Heinz Endowments.