|
|
| CORE SWARTZ CENTER EVENTS, PROGRAM DEADLINES & ANNOUNCEMENTS
| |
| The Swartz Center Powers National AI Showcase During
NFL Draft Week
| |
| As we build toward the Pitch Competition during NFL Draft Week in Pittsburgh on April 22, we’re proud to recognize our Hall of Fame-level sponsor, AWS Startups. Through a generous contribution of $1M in cloud computing credits, AWS Startups is helping to equip founders with the infrastructure they need to build, scale and succeed—turning bold ideas into impactful companies.
We’re also excited to welcome Deap Ubhi, Director and Global Head of Solutions Architecture for Startups at AWS, who will join the judging panel for the competition.
Their partnership reflects a shared commitment to advancing innovation and supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs.
| |
| The Swartz Center Announces the Newest Cohort of
Undergraduate Innovation Scholars
The CMU Swartz Center is excited to announce the newest cohort of Undergraduate Innovation Scholars. The 2026-28 cohort, a mix of fourteen student entrepreneurs from across CMU's campus, was chosen after a competitive application process which included over 70+ undergraduate applicants. Each of the students are actively exloring their own startup and will continue working with the Swartz Center's resources and EIR's to further their progress.
The students in the cohort are (in order of the above photo):
Garrett Arendt, Tepper School of Business
Daniel Baytin, Tepper School of Business
Caden Chico, School of Computer Science/Tepper
Aanya Chidananda, Tepper School of Business
Ivan Cornejo, Dietrich College
Trisha Jha, Tepper School of Business/Dietrich College
Abhay Kadambi, School of Computer Science
Manya Khemka, Dietrich/Information Systems
Surabhi Komanduri, School of Computer Science/Tepper
Pranavi Rohit, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Vivaan Sawant, Electrical & Computer Engineering/Robotics
Vir Toolsidass, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Ariana Watson, Mechanical Engineering/EDIE
Advika Vuppala, Electrical & Computer Engineering
The new cohort will be welcomed at the final Spring semester Proseminar on Friday, April 17, where they will meet and network over lunch with current and past Innovation Scholars and graduate Swartz Fellows. The students will officially begin the program in the Fall, which will be the start of their junior year.
| |
Aimee Langevin Transforms Personal Acne Struggles
into Smart Skincare Solutions
For more than 50 million people, acne appears as a prolonged negotiation with uncertainty, one that CMU alumna and James R. Swartz Fellow Aimee Langevin, the founder of Skintuition AI, knows all too well.
She founded Skintuition AI, a platform designed to follow the full arc of a user's experience, encompassing daily habits, product usage, environmental factors and professional input, all working in tandem. "The goal is to connect people to an expert and actually give them context," Langevin explains.
Want to learn more? Reach out to Aimee at aimee@skintuition.ai.
| |
|  | Steven Guo, Program Manager, Swartz Center (Photo credit: Jim Harris)
| |
| | |
Swartz Center's Steven Guo Honored with
Pittsburgh 30 Under 30 Award
Some members of the Swartz Center team attended the PIttsburgh 30 Under 30 awards ceremony held at the Sea Monkey venue in the Strip District on Tuesday to celebrate Steven Guo, Program Manager for the Swartz Center's VentureBridge program, who was an honoree. Not only did Steven choose the best walk up music to the podium (Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Someoby"), he also added a spirited dance move that captured his personality perfectly.
Congratulations again Steven!
| |
|  | Swartz Center Program Managers with Steven: From left: Matthew Katsaros, Aleks Petkov, Steven Guo and Sonya Ford (Photo credit: Jim Harris)
| |
| | |
Support CMU Startup ~ DualCore
Meet DualCore, the world’s first true dual-simultaneous 3D printer co-founded by CMU alumna Naram Hajjar. Designed to print smarter and faster, DualCore delivers up to 10× the speed of standard IDEX systems without sacrificing quality. With intelligent dual coordination, stronger parts via advanced anchoring, and free continuous software updates, this is a leap forward in desktop manufacturing.
Built by Anabolic Mechanics for makers who want real innovation. A few Super Early Bird packages are still available.
| |
Join CMU's ScottyLabs For Two Special Events this Sunday!
| |
ScottySpark Expo
Sunday, April 19 | 12PM ET
ScottySpark is an annual, campus-wide showcase of the projects CMU student builders have spent their year pouring themselves into. This year's expo features work from students across ScottyLabs, UEA, SEP ShipIts, and other campus communities spanning software, hardware and everything in between, alongside a strong cohort of student-led startups.
| |
| |
F-ADA Recruiting Visit
Sunday, April 19
F-ADA is an exciting defense technology startup that recently closed a $6M seed round. They're hiring 5 full-time engineering roles + summer interns. Drop your resume below by Friday, April 17 at 11:59 PM ET to be considered for a one-on-one recruiting chat with the founders on Sunday, April 19.
F-ADA builds software that retrains mission-specific, AI models in the field and runs them on ultra-low-cost edge hardware. Open roles span controls, robotics engineering, computer vision and machine learning, full-stack, flight test and technician work. All roles require U.S. citizenship.
| | |
STARTUP JOB OPPORTUNITIES
| |
Former Modsy Founder Hiring Founding Team Members
for New Startup
CMU alumna and Founder/CEO Shanna Tellerman is building the AI-native tool that replaces multiple workflows for architecture, engineering & construction, specifically starting in production homebuilding. It is a $400B+ opportunity in an industry using 40 year old software that is ripe for full disruption by AI. Shanna previously founded two companies (acquired by Autodesk and Lennar) and served as CPO at Lennar, so she knows this industry inside and out. Her new company is backed by top tier Silicon Valley investors and it already has three founding team members on board in the first month. The company is actively searching for an AI Engineer and Forward Deployed Engineer, who are passionate about this opportunity and want to work at the earliest stages of a new company.
Email shanna@architxt.ai if interested and for more information.
| |
OTHER APPLICATION DEADLINES
| |
| Apply by Tuesday, April 21!
Apply for this summer’s Patient Safety Fellowship, focused on advancing the blueprint for an Ambition Health System—an ideal yet feasible health system that prevents harm before it occurs.
| |
| 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.
| |
| CONNECTS/START SMART LEGAL SEMINARS
| |
| 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.
| |
CMU ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUBS
| |
| Click the images to find out more about each of the Clubs!
| |
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
| |
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.
| |
The following companies help directly support our programming and entrepreneurs.
| |
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
| |
|
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.
| |
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.
| |
| HOW TO WORK OUT OF THE SWARTZ CENTER
| |
|
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.
| |
COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES/RESOURCES
| |
FIND OUT WHAT OUR PARTNERS ARE DOING
| |
|
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.
| |
|
|
|
Carnegie Mellon University Swartz Center For Entrepreneurship
5000 Forbes Avenue | Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890 |
|
|
|
