Leading holistic workforce development and integration through industry-academic  collaborations.

The Accelerate to IndustryTM is a professional program offered by the NC State Graduate School that represents the interests of more than 10,000 graduate students and postdoctoral associates.

A2i offers you opportunities to collaborate with NC State University to shape the future of holistic and integrated workforce readiness at your company and in the United States. Through A2i, you can directly impact the training of graduate and postdoctoral researchers and ensure skill readiness in areas including–

  • Leadership, teamwork, and communication
  • Intellectual property and regulatory affairs
  • Market and technology evaluation
  • Project management
  • Commercialization
  • Finance

We offer an Annual Corporate Membership program that rewards our partners for their support through the features listed below.

  • A2i Recruitment Support: we work with sponsoring companies to identify the disciplines and other educational features that align with each company’s recruitment needs. We then recruit doctoral and postdoctoral candidates who closely match the needs identi ied by the partnering company. We also work with sponsors to facilitate on-site interviewing of program participants
  • Local, regional, and national recognition features
  • Recognition on our website
  • Individual, quarterly meetings with A2i leadership, and a seat on the A2i Advisory Board
  • Participation in the A2i Executive in Residence – Leadership (ERL) Program, A2i Industry Influencers leadership series, and A2i Bridging the Gaps workshops
  • Semester and year-long cross-disciplinary team projects, visits to company sites, and internships
  • Lecture and exhibit opportunities during the A2i Industry Immersion Week, including the company fair
  • Tailoring of A2i program content, project work, and activities to the topics that best suit company needs
  • Participation in meaningful and robust engagement opportunities that include events that allow companies to recruit from our diverse pool of talented graduate and postdoctoral researchers from across all disciplines and colleges at NC State

Please send any questions regarding A2i corporate partnerships to Laura Demarse at ledemars@ncsu.edu or (919) 515-0326

A2i Industry Immersion Week provides a much-needed venue for companies to showcase their values, ideas, and employees to a diverse pool of talented and enthusiastic researchers. The program provides a substantive opportunity for industry partners to work with participants in a collaborative setting and to expose them to the insights and skills that will help them to thrive early in their careers. – Nicholas A. Kraft, Ph.D. (Principal Lead Scientist, ABB)


The A2i program includes several modules that offer a broad range of distinctive partnership opportunities:

2018 A2i Partners