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Graduate Track: Analogical Engines

First Place Morgenthaler Prize

$50,000 + $100,000 AWS Credits

are accelerating breakthrough innovations with AI.  Team Members: Vikram Mohanty, Cole Biehle, Dafna Shahaf, Nikolas Martelaro, and Aniket Kittur

Graduate Track: Hermes Vision

Second Place McGinnis Prize

$25,000 + $25,000 AWS Credits

is automating invasive weed management in pastures, rangelands, and rough terrain using drone-based precision.  Team Members: Grant Wilkinson, David Seong, and Aditya Pratama

Graduate Track: RapidEye

Second Place McGinnis Prize

$25,000 + $25,000 AWS Credits

is an AI-powered property inspection platform that automates quality assurance for vacation rental managers, reducing inspection time by 75% and eliminating costly guest complaints.  Team Members: Rohan Nagabhirava and Samuel Parks

Undergraduate Track: Basics OS

First Place Morgenthaler Prize

$5,000 + $25,000 AWS Credits

 is the open-source company operating system, built to be customized by coding agents.  Team Members: Akeil Smith and Arav Bhardwaj

Undergraduate Track: OS Keyboard

Second Place McGinnis Prize

$4,000 + $10,000 AWS Credits

is a split ergonomic keyboard integrated with analog input devices, optimized for FPS gaming.  Team Members: Sida Cheng and Alan Yan

Undergraduate Track: Caboodl

Third Place McGinnis Prize

$2,500 + $10,000 AWS Credits

is a two-sided platform that connects beauty consumers and brands by offering users a mobile app to log products, rate them, and receive AI-driven recommendations within a trusted community, while helping brands generate incremental revenue through targeted in-app promotion and a proprietary data dashboard with customer and market insights.  Team Members: Arianna Martinelli, Zaina Saif, and William Montague

Social Enterprise Prize: Pulse

Social Enterprise Prize Graduate Prize

$10,000 + $25,000 AWS Credits

Pulse is a political technology company building campaign simulators for small to mid-size political campaigns to rehearse their races.  Team Members: Avalon Sueiro and Aaryan Lalwani

Gebhardt Sandbox Fund: HeartTech

Gebhardt Sandbox Fund Prize

$1,000

enhances existing implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) with intelligent software that shifts cardiac care from reactive to proactive, delivering one-tap emergency response, AI-powered guidance, and real-time vitals tracking through a seamless mobile and web platform that helps patients reduce the risk of accidental discharges and confidently manage serious heart conditions.  Team Members: Alex Pichi, James Geric, Jose Zarate, and Sean Jepsen

Gebhardt Sandbox Fund: MedQ AI

Gebhardt Sandbox Fund Prize

$1,000

is harnessing AI to make professional learning efficient, evidence-driven and always in step with advancing knowledge.  Team Member: Christopher Lee Taicher, MD

Gebhardt Sandbox Fund: Pierogi Therapeutics

Gebhardt Sandbox Fund Prize

$1,000

is an AI drug discovery company bringing AI-accelerated virtual screening to the radiopharmaceutical space.  Team Members: Ben Koby and Filipp Gusev

Crowd Favorite: SpoilSafe

Crowd Favorite

$1,000 + $5,000 AWS Credits

is an industrial IoT and AI quality assurance platform for warehouses and distribution centers that uses real-time sensor data and predictive models to detect, assess, and prevent spoilage risk before losses occur.  Team Members: Vivaan Sawant, Aneesh Pataballa, Advika Vuppala, Rohan Ganesh, and Troy McBride

Coaching

The competition includes coaches for each team that declares participation in the McGinnis Venture Competition. The Swartz Center staff will match the appropriate team with an appropriate coach. If a team is not registered by the deadline the Swartz Center cannot guarantee that a coach will be assigned.

Networking Opportunities

Meet and interact with peers who are also passionate about entrepreneurship, and gain access to Carnegie Mellon’s amazing entrepreneurial alumni network. Teams from all rounds enjoy access to exclusive networking events.

Help Along the Way

CONNECTS events are held throughout the year to help teams prepare. Please try to attend the seminars that are focused on the McGinnis Venture Competition & the Social Enterprise Prize.

Here are a few video resources that we suggest to help with your video pitch: 

Intro to CMU Libraries Databases for Market & Competitive Research with Jennifer McKeeJen McKee

Wednesday, December 3, 2025
11:30 a.m.  - 12:30 p.m. EST
Virtual

Facilitated by CMU's Business & Entrepreneurship Librarian -  - in this session, attendees will receive a guided overview of various business resources which the Libraries provides access to. These tools and databases will heavily supplement your market research, and help competition participants save time and develop stronger pitches!