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| CORE SWARTZ CENTER EVENTS, PROGRAM DEADLINES & ANNOUNCEMENTS
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The Ultimate Draft Pick: CMU Showcases the Winning Power of Sports Innovation
Pittsburgh once powered America’s industrial economy, and it is now galvanizing the era of artificial intelligence. This past Wednesday, Carnegie Mellon University—the birthplace of AI—and the AI Strike Team hosted a first-string lineup of global visionaries to highlight the city's power at the intersection of sport and innovation during NFL draft week.
"Powering the Future of Sport: A Draft Week Showcase," was a sports-themed day of engaging discussions, live robotics demonstrations and industry innovations on AI’s extraordinary potential to transform the future of sports. Hosted at CMU’s Robotics Innovation Center (RIC) at Hazelwood Green, CMU President Farnam Jahanian said the site reflects the evolution of the Steel City and its vitality.
Hundreds looked on from chairs draped with Terrible Towels as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro took the stage at the Showcase and talked about making the region and the state more competitive for investment and development. He underscored CMU’s role in driving that change. A highlight was hearing from NFL legend Jerome Bettis, whose perspective grounded the conversation in how these innovations connect back to the athletes and the game itself.
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|  | Swartz Center Managing Director Meredith Meyer Grelli, emceed The Forge to Field AI Pitch Competition
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What stood out most wasn’t just the technology—it was the collaboration and conviction in the room. The Forge to Field AI Pitch Competition, emceed by the Swartz Center’s own Meredith Meyer Grelli, brought that energy to life—while investors and executives made real, game-time commitments to back top AI founders from across the nation, signaling that this isn’t just exploration—it’s execution at speed.
The six finalists that pitched were: MyoVerse (CMU), Peachy Day, Perforated AI (CMU), Sensi Fit, ServeSense (CMU) and Flowstate (CMU).
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|  | Joanna Doven, CEO of AI Strike Team and founder of AI Horizons with Mark Cuban
| |  | David Hershenson (center) with ServeSense co-founders pitch at Forge to Field AI Pitch Competition
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VentureBridge Startup Quivly PIcks up $100K at the Chargebee's Beelieve AI Pitchoff
Quivly AI, a VentureBridge '25 startup building the AI workforce for post-sales teams and co-founded by CMU alumni Tanay Agrawal and Chandrika Maheshwari, recently took home $100K at the Chargebee-sponsored AI startup pitchoff. Quivly's AI agents help companies like Union AI, Mycroft and Upflex scale their customer base 3-4x without adding headcount.
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Descartes Acquires CMU Spinoff Idelic
Descartes Systems Group (Nasdaq:DSGX) (TSX:DSG), the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, announced that it has acquired CMU spinoff Idelic, a leading provider of AI-powered driver safety and performance management solutions co-founded by Tepper School of Business alumni Nick Bartel, CEO and Hayden Cardic, CTO.
Idelic’s safety intelligence platform unifies day-to-day safety management activities such as training, monitoring, reporting and coaching into a single solutionw with an AI analytics workflow designed to measurably impact driver behavior.
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|  | Niche headquarters in Pittsburgh's Strip District
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| CMU Spin-Out, Niche Partners with Huron to Merge Student Behavior Data with Financial Aid Insights
Niche, the Strip District-headquartered college and school search platform, announced a new collaboration with consulting group Huron to connect data sets on higher education. The two will combine their data sets to allow higher education institutions to have a broader understanding of both the general interests of students and their financial needs.
Niche, founded in 2002 as College Prowler, is a CMU spin-out founded by CEO Luke Skurman.
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The Swartz Center Hosts Final Family Business Initiative Peer Advisory Group Session of the Year
The Swartz Center closed out this year’s Family Business Peer Advisory Group with CMU Professor Brandy Aven, who challenged the group to think more intentionally about AI, change management and how family businesses evolve without losing their identity.
Key themes included how organizations adopt AI responsibly; the role of networks and internal champions in change; where resistance originates—and how to anticipate it; and
how family governance structures uniquely shape adaptation.
A reunion and wrap-up gathering will take place on May 28.
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|  | Innovation Scholars from left: Surabhi Komanduri, Aanya Chidananda, Vivaan Sawant and Pranavi Rohit
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The Swartz Center Welcomes the New Cohort of Undergraduate Innovation Scholars
The 2026-28 Undergraduate Innovation Scholars were welcomed at a special Proseminar lunch ceremony at the Swartz Center on Friday, April 17. During the event, each of the fourteen students from across various CMU disciplines introduced themselves, while listening to a talk given by CMU alumnus and James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellow Hayden Cardiff, founder and CIO of Idelic.
The new cohort will kick off programming in the Fall semester, along with the new cohort of Swartz Fellows at a joint ceremony to be held at the Swartz Center.
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STARTUP JOB OPPORTUNITIES
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| ARM Institute Seeks Business Development Intern
The ARM Institute is looking for a motivated Business Development Intern to accelerate the adoption of robotics in U.S. manufacturing. You’ll work directly with the leadership team to identify growth opportunities, support technical scouting and outreach, and help bridge the gap between cutting-edge technology and industrial application. This internship offers not only the opportunity to grow your skills, but also the chance to grow your network within the US robotics ecosystem. The internship will conclude with the preparation of a personal portfolio demonstrating your contributions and their concrete impact on the ARM Institute and US Manufacturing. This intern will work directly under the Director of Business Development with daily interactions and weekly one-on-one meetings to discuss progress, strategy and career development.
Find out more and apply here (doc).
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| CMU × YC Founder Mixer
We're bringing together CMU’s most technical founders with the YC community - early-stage, deeply technical, and actively building. Come spend an evening with others in the trenches. Meet fellow founders, stay close to what others are building, and plug into the community.
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| Dentons 2026 Corporate Innovation & Entrepreneurship Summer Kick-off
Date: May 21, 2026
Time: 5:00 - 7:00 PM | ET
Location: Dentons Cohen & Grigsby P.C.
Jump into summer with an evening hosted by Dentons! We are excited to have you once again join us for our annual summer kickoff networking event among the city's innovation and entrepreneurship community.
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| CONNECTS/START SMART LEGAL SEMINARS
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| Can't make a CONNECTS? Watch on our YouTube channel.
See the full schedule and register for ALL of the seminars here!
The CONNECTS/START SMART Legal Seminars will resume in the
Fall 2026 semester.
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CMU ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUBS
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| Click the images to find out more about each of the Clubs!
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PHL & NJ - T&E Brunch
Date: April 25, 2026
Time: 11:00 am - 2:00 pm | ET
Location: Ficus, 235 Nassau Streeet, Unit A, Princeton, NJ
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The CMU T&E has a jobs board, available for people across the community to share and seek new opportunities in the startup and entrepreneurship ecosystem. Find out more and visit the website here.
The CMU Tech & Entrepreneurship group aims to build a bridge between CMU students and alumni across the startup and tech continuum. With main chapters in NYC, Pittsburgh, and SF, we offer a range of in-person and online events and programming in the form of panels, workshops, founder/investor engagements, startup support, and socials to foster collaboration, innovation, and networking opportunities.
Join 7,000+ Tartans on our Slack workspace and mailing list for resources and updates on how you can engage in the community and CMU entrepreneurial ecosystem.
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The following companies help directly support our programming and entrepreneurs.
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Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
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Legal Services Weekly Virtual Office Hours with Matt Kirmayer
Mondays 1:00-3:00 PM ET (10-12 PT)
Matt Kirmayer of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, is offering office hours for newly established startup and emerging companies. Matt specializes in representing technology startups and emerging growth companies, assisting with entity formation, fundraising and overall growth needs. Startup companies with a founder who is a CMU graduate, undergraduate or alumni is eligible to register for
an appointment. Complete the Signup Form for a 30 minute session by the Thursday prior to your
desired appointment.
Contact Daria Stokes or Sean Mawhinney for office hours outside of these regular hours.
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Steptoe & Johnson PLLC
Steptoe & Johnson PLLC is a multi-jurisdictional, full-service law firm that takes a progressive approach to providing counsel at each stage of a client’s life cycle. Our dedicated team works closely with our clients to form entities, advise on the most advantageous entity type, and design and negotiate joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions. If a client has a dispute, Steptoe & Johnson has a team of business and product liability litigators and labor and employment lawyers to guide clients through these often stressful and disruptive situations.
Steptoe & Johnson brings a strong skillset for data privacy, cyber security and intellectual property matters which are frequent concerns for startups and technology companies. We offer competitive and flexible rates and aim to provide value to our clients.
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| HOW TO WORK OUT OF THE SWARTZ CENTER
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Swartz Center Education and Resources
No matter what phase of the entrepreneurship cycle you're in, there are programs and resources at the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship that will take your idea to the next level.
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COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES/RESOURCES
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FIND OUT WHAT OUR PARTNERS ARE DOING
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Have startup news or opportunities to share? Have questions about the Swartz Center Weekly Bulletin? Send news, opportunities or questions to Sonya Ford, Program Manager.
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Carnegie Mellon University Swartz Center For Entrepreneurship
5000 Forbes Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890 |
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