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The University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS) has announced the recipients of its inaugural class of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (I&E) Fellows, a new program designed to support faculty, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students in advancing cutting-edge research with commercial potential. The fellowships are supported by the CEAS I&E initiative and Venture Partners at ��������Ƶ Boulder. 

Launched in 2025, the fellowships include two tracks: the Faculty & Postdoc/Graduate Student Team Fellowships and the ASCENT Deep Tech Accelerator Fellowships. Both are designed to foster a culture of entrepreneurship within the college by helping researchers translate academic discoveries into real-world impact.

“This inaugural cohort represents the remarkable breadth and depth of innovation within the College of Engineering and Applied Science,” said Wil Srubar, Deming associate dean for innovation and entrepreneurship. “By providing targeted support through these fellowship programs, we aim to empower researchers to transform their groundbreaking ideas into impactful solutions for society.” 

Faculty & Postdoc / 
Graduate Student Team Fellowships

The Faculty & Postdoc/Graduate Student Team Fellowships support collaborative teams of faculty members and graduate students or postdoctoral researchers. It provides funding, mentorship and access to entrepreneurial resources to help translate new technologies and innovations that have a strong commercialization potential.

The inaugural recipients are:

Max Saffer-Meng, graduate student, and Assistant Professor Anthony Straub (Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering - CEAE)

William Franz, graduate student, and Professor Mark Borden (Department of Biomedical Engineering - BMEN)

Grace McFassel, postdoctoral researcher, and Assistant Professor Kaushik Jayaram (Department of Mechanical Engineering - MCEN)

Yunxuan Zhu, postdoctoral researcher, and Assistant Professor Longji Cui (Department of Mechanical Engineering - MCEN)

Maxwell Conway, graduate student, and Professor Nikolaus Correll (Department of Computer Science - CS)

Tsung-Han Wu, postdoctoral researcher, and Professor Scott Diddams (Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering - ECEE)

These interdisciplinary teams are commercializing several new technologies in areas such as advanced materials, robotics, biomedical devices and carbon capture.

ASCENT Deep Tech Accelerator Fellowships

The ASCENT Deep Tech Accelerator Fellowships support individual researchers working on transformative technologies aimed at addressing complex societal challenges. Fellows receive funding and tailored entrepreneurial support through ��������Ƶ Boulder’s ASCENT Deep Tech Accelerator to advance the development and commercialization of their innovations.

The first ASCENT Fellows are:

Sanghamitra Neogi, associate professor (Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences - AES)

Kian Lopez, graduate student (Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering - ChBE)

Aoife Henry, graduate student (Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering - ECEE)

Laila Fighera Marzall, research faculty (Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering - ECEE)

Jason Rivas, graduate student (Department of Materials Science and Engineering - MSE)

Dhiman Nandi, graduate student (Department of Chemistry)

Subrata Pal, graduate student (Department of Chemistry)

These fellows are advancing technologies in areas such as energy systems, advanced manufacturing and materials science.

Learn more about the CEAS Innovation & Entrepreneurship Fellowship programs.

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It doesn’t matter how much public speaking you’ve done or how experienced you are in the spotlight. Pitching your company in front of prospective investors will get your palms sweating.

“I’m an instructor at ��������Ƶ and a former Miss Colorado competitor, so I’m usually pretty good with public speaking. This was the first time that I have actually had some terrible nerves,” said (Psych’11), founder and CEO of .

Moore’s pitch at Investor Day was the culmination of her experience with Catalyze ��������Ƶ. Silk by Laura LLC was one of four ventures in the 2022 Catalyze cohort, a 12-week summer startup accelerator for ideas and technologies by students, faculty and staff at ��������Ƶ Boulder.

“Investor Day was amazing, even more than I anticipated,” said Moore. “I’m still very well connected with many of the investors, and I received validation that my pitch is the right pitch and I’m headed in the right direction.”

This year’s Investor Day was a new culminating event for Catalyze ��������Ƶ. The program has previously celebrated the conclusion of each cohort with a Demo Day capstone.

“This year's cohort all achieved some level of traction, including some companies with initial sales. We decided a dedicated Investor Day would be a great way to finish the program since investment would be the next natural step,” said Karen Crofton, Catalyze ��������Ƶ program director and Stephen M. Dunn Director of Engineering Entrepreneurship & ESCEND®.

The 2022 cohort was also the most diverse in the program’s history, with a majority of participants from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the venture community.

Supportive programs like Catalyze are crucial to building an inclusive innovation community. Program participants get the customized help they need to break through barriers for things like startup capital and gaining access to valuable founder and investor networks. Level the playing field makes entrepreneurship more welcoming and accessible for everyone.

Local investors evaluating the teams’ pitches included Rachel Anderson, associate at Caruso Ventures; Peter Adams, managing partner at Rockies Venture Fund; David Brown, partner at Zintinus;  Kevin Allen, managing director at New Community Transformation Fund; and Shannon Flahive (MBA’21), senior venture associate at Ensemble Innovation Ventures.

“The quality of the pitches was inspiring,” said Flahive. But just as impressive to her was the wide range of support that the university provides for aspiring entrepreneurs.

“I think it’s incredible that ��������Ƶ Boulder offers these programs for students. This type of program and resourcing is not widely available. ��������Ƶ Boulder does a fantastic job supporting entrepreneurial pursuits from both a programming and monetary perspective,” she said.

For (IDEN’23), another participant in this year's cohort, the program’s impact was deeply personal.

“I wanted to be an entrepreneur when I was younger but thought I didn’t have the resources or knowledge to do it. This was one of my most life-changing experiences. It empowered me to pursue entrepreneurship and to pursue greater things,” said Nguyen.

Nguyen gave up a competitive summer internship opportunity to participate in Catalyze ��������Ƶ. The program guided his team through the full spectrum of business planning, from market research to financial modeling and developing a pitch. He’s convinced the experience was more valuable than any internship.

“Even though I gave up my summer internship to do this, it was 100% worth it. You learn from so many people, like CEOs and venture capitalists. The mentorship and support you get—you can’t put a price on that,” said Nguyen.

That’s exactly the experience that Crofton hopes to share with future cohorts of Catalyze ��������Ƶ participants.

“It’s a lot of work for the teams,” she said. “But the lessons and connections our entrepreneurs gain through Catalyze ��������Ƶ will stay with them for a lifetime.”

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