Ask HN: How do solo founders find academic co-founders for STTR grants?

2 points

3 months ago

I am a solo software founder building an open-source AI pipeline for the HVAC industry. Specifically, I've bridged a Deep Reinforcement Learning agent (PyTorch) with a native physics solver (FEniCSx) to autonomously generate fatigue-resistant, 3D-printable elastocaloric heat exchangers.

The software architecture and manufacturing constraints (0.2mm LPBF limit) are fully functional [1].

However, to upgrade the physics from linear elasticity to true non-linear hyperelasticity/phase-field modeling (so the AI can learn Nitinol's hysteresis loop), I need a domain expert in shape memory alloys.

My goal is to partner with a US-based academic lab to jointly apply for a DOE/NSF STTR Phase 1 grant. I bring the AI architecture and startup vehicle; they bring the non-linear math and physical testing lab.

Has anyone here successfully navigated finding an academic co-founder for an STTR grant? Do cold emails to university PIs actually work, or should I be looking at specific deep-tech accelerators? Any advice is appreciated.

[1] GitHub repo:https://github.com/rao-atreya-01/elastocaloric-ai-optimization

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