If you are a student interested in building tech products or a founder/partner looking for student support on a project, we’d love to connect!
The Christensen Family Center for Innovation (CFCI) supports the next generation of technology product leaders by equipping Duke students and alumni with the skills, experiences, and mentorship needed to build impactful ventures.
Through immersive programs, hands-on courses, and founder-focused initiatives, the Center helps engineering and business students — including recent Pratt graduates — learn how to identify customer needs, design innovative solutions, and bring new products to market.
By connecting technical training with entrepreneurial practice, the Christensen Center fosters a community where aspiring product leaders and engineering founders can grow from idea to execution.
We empower communities of innovation to build technology products together.
We develop products, product leaders, and founders to catalyze Duke’s technology venture pipeline toward bold societal impact focused on the public good.
Joyful innovation – We embrace creativity and approach challenges with a spirit of curiosity and fun, turning every idea into an opportunity to innovate
Outcome-oriented – We thrive on collaboration, tackling obstacles with a solutions-first mindset, quickly adapting and evolving for the best outcomes
Collaborative Learning – We are committed to constant growth — personally, professionally, and as a team — always striving to learn, improve, and push boundaries
Catch up on what’s happening around CFCI.
Oluwadarasimi (Dara) Ajiboye, Class of 2028, is a Computer Science major with an Innovation & Entrepreneurship Certificate who discovered his passion for product management early at Duke and has since built end-to-end PM experience through Product Lab, Code+, and coursework. Now a CFCI Fellow, Dara is excited to give back as a mentor and leader while continuing to grow as a product manager and educator within the Product Lab community.
Student-led startup pursues award-winning treatment for patients with disruptions to their autonomic body processes.
“Joining the Christensen Family Center for Innovation’s Accelerator Program was one of the most exciting parts of my PhD journey. I’ve always loved research, but I’ve also felt a little frustrated that so much great work ends up confined to journal articles instead of being put to use in the real world. That’s actually why I joined the Chilkoti Lab at Duke—because their translational research has a strong track record of spinning out real startups. By the time I reached the final year of my PhD, I was eager to see if my own research could take that path too. The Accelerator seemed like the perfect way to learn how to bridge the gap between the lab and the marketplace.”
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