News

The Unexpected Entrepreneurs
For 10 years, the President’s Engagement and Innovation Prizes have equipped a select few graduating Penn seniors with a large cash award and faculty mentorship for post-graduation projects designed to make a “positive, lasting difference in the world.” The prizes, unlike anything else in higher education, have catapulted new social entrepreneurs into the world—and created a “community of changemakers” who are leaning on each other (and other alumni) to take their organizations to the next level.
The Pennsylvania Gazette, August 30, 2024

Shinkei’s humane, quality-preserving fish-harvesting tech could upend the seafood industry
Harvesting fish is an inherently messy business, what with being at sea, the slippery creatures wriggling around and everything else. Shinkei is working to improve it with an automated system that more humanely and reliably dispatches the fish, resulting in what could be a totally different seafood economy.
Tech Crunch, April 30, 2024

Class of 2023 President’s Engagement, Innovation Prize winners announced
Six prize-winning teams will design and undertake post-graduation projects that make a positive, lasting difference in the world.
April 21, 2023 / Penn Today

2022 PIP/PEP winners: Where are they now?
Nearly a year after the winners of the President’s Innovation Prize (PIP) and President’s Engagement Prize (PEP) began their projects, a look at how the work of these eight intrepid alumni has evolved.
March 13, 2023 / Penn Today

Streamlining the health care supply chain
William Danon and Luka Yancopoulos, winners of the 2022 President’s Innovation Prize, will offer a software solution to make the health care supply chain more efficient.
May 24, 2022 / Penn Today

Celebrating the newest President’s Prize winners
Interim President Wendell Pritchett noted at the luncheon that this year’s recipients represent the biggest cohort yet—a testament to the “incredible strength of our applicant pool.”
May 5, 2022 | Penn Today

Class of 2022 President’s Engagement, Innovation, and Sustainability Prize winners announced
Six prize-winning teams will design and undertake post-graduation projects that make a positive, lasting difference in the world.
April 20, 2022 | Penn Today

Improving access to at-home health care
With their company Mobility Health, President’s Innovation Prize winners Aris Saxena and Yiwen Li have created a program which connects patients with on-demand health care at their homes.
March 14, 2022 | Penn Today

From wearable light to tech startup
Lumify Care, supported by the 2021 President’s Innovation Prize and co-founded by May graduate Anthony Scarpone-Lambert and NICU nurse Jennifferre Mancillas, launched an app in January and expects version 2.0 of its uNight Light later in 2022.
March 7, 2022 | Penn Today

Nov 17, 2021 / Washington Post
Fighting food waste, one apple at a time
Katherine Sizov is only two years out of college, but her high-tech sensors — which monitor ethylene, a gas key to the ripening of fruits and vegetables — are keeping watch over 15 percent of U.S. apples.

May 07, 2021 | Penn Today
Connecting health care with patients in need
As part of their President’s Innovation Prize project, seniors Aris Saxena and Yiwen Li hope to provide global access to health care with their company, Mobility.

April 28, 2021 | Penn Today
With its flagship light device, Lumify Care improves patient experience from the frontline
Penn Nursing senior Anthony Scarpone-Lambert earned a 2021 President’s Innovation Prize for his company and its first trio of products: uNight Light, the Sleep-First Education Initiative, and the uNightShift Community.

April 19, 2021 / Penn Today
Class of 2021 President’s Engagement and Innovation Prize winners announced
The Prizes enable students to take on post-graduation projects that make a positive, lasting difference in the world.

March 25, 2021 / Philadelphia Business Journal
Strella Biotechnology, whose backers include Mark Cuban, expands its presence at Pennovation Works
The three-year-old company is focused on using data to reduce food waste and spoilage.

March 1, 2021 / Penn Today
The impact of providing hands-on, interactive projects
With inventXYZ, President’s Innovation Prize winner Nikil Ragav has created a high-tech curriculum for high school to motivate future problem-solvers.

May 7, 2020 / Penn Today
Nikil Ragav wants to bring high-tech, hands-on learning to all students
Ragav is the 2020 President’s Innovation Prize recipient for inventXYZ, a program where high school students from all backgrounds across the country take on projects in which they develop 21st-century technology.

April 30, 2020 / Philadelphia Business Journal
Philadelphia startup lands $3.3M from investors, including Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban
A Philadelphia-based agricultural biotech startup, founded by a University of Pennsylvania graduate looking to solve the global problem of food waste, has raised $3.3 million in its seed funding round from a group of investors that includes entrepreneur Mark Cuban.

April 30, 2020 / Business Wire
Yamaha Motor Ventures Co-Leads Seed Funding Round for Food Supply Chain Technology Startup Strella Biotechnology
The oversubscribed seed funding round for Strella Biotech co-led by YMVSV and Catapult Ventures raised a total $3.3 million U.S. with additional investments from Union Labs, Mark Cuban Red & Blue Ventures, and supply chain pioneer Art Mesher.

April 20, 2020 / The Daily Pennsylvanian
Nine Penn students win 2020 President’s Engagement and Innovation Prizes
Penn President Amy Gutmann announced this year’s President’s Engagement Prize and President’s Innovation Prize winners last week, providing funding for four community engagement-focused projects.

April 15, 2020 / Penn Today
Class of 2020 President’s Engagement and Innovation Prize winners announced
Nikil Ragav was named this year’s President’s Innovation Prize winner for his project, inventXYZ.

April 8, 2020 / Pennovation Works
InstaHub, Cocoa Press team up to 3D print PPE
A team of social entrepreneurs, Penn alumni, and other community members, including 2019 President's Innovation Prize recipient Michael Wong, are working together with their combined expertise, equipment, and time on a new initiative, called Project SHIELDS, to support and save lives.

February 4, 2020 / The Philadelphia Citizen
Business for Good: The Fruit Hackers
Philly-based Strella Biotech aims to eliminate food waste, a major factor in climate change—and save food distributors hundreds of thousands of dollars

November 26, 2019 / Penn Today
Strella Biotechnology tackles food waste by ‘hacking the fruit’
President’s Innovation Prize awardees Katherine Sizov and Malika Shukurova are expanding their startup and confronting $1 trillion of food waste with their novel biosensing technology.

October 31, 2019 / Penn Today
After President’s Innovation Prize, InstaHub has even more spark
Since earning the award in April, Michael Wong hasn’t looked back. Each day he’s growing his startup to promote a greener tomorrow.

April 3, 2018 / Penn Today
Class of 2018 President’s Engagement and Innovation Prize winners announced
University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann today announced the recipients of the 2018 President’s Engagement Prizes and President’s Innovation Prize.

June 15, 2017 / Medium
SolutionLoft is Driving “The Printing Press Revolution” Within Software
An army of engineers is building a library of reusable code to efficiently produce high-quality software at scale.

May 4, 2017 / Penn News
Honoring the 2017 President's Engagement Prize and President's Innovation Prize Winners
The eight Penn students chosen for the President’s Engagement and Innovation Prizes this year have demonstrated “immense grit, creativity, and leadership,” with projects to take on challenges that “couldn’t be more pressing,” said President Amy Gutmann during their award ceremony.

April 24, 2017 / Penn News
Penn Senior William Fry Aims to Revolutionize the Software Industry
As a President’s Innovation Prize winner, Fry, a senior majoring in international studies and business in the Huntsman Program at the University of Pennsylvania, will receive as much as $100,000 to implement SolutionLoft and a $50,000 living stipend.

March 28, 2017 / Penn News
President's Engagement and Innovation Prize Winners Announced at Penn
President Gutmann announces the 2017 recipients of PEP and PIP.

March 28, 2017 / The Daily Pennsylvanian
President's Engagement and Innovation prize winners want to make coding more accessible and the homeless healthier
Proposed initiatives to make coding more accessible and the homeless healthier are among this year’s President’s Engagement and Innovation Prize winners.

March 28, 2017 / The Philadelphia Inquirer
Penn student projects aim to make the world better, from Philadelphia to Senegal
Over the past two years, the university has awarded $1.5 million for the projects.

July 7, 2016 / Tech Crunch
Penn students’ start-up XEED puts wearables to work against Parkinson’s disease
The internet of things, and wearables in particular, may not be quite living up to the hype, but it turns out they may be just the thing for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

July 6, 2016 / The Daily Pennsylvanian
Innovation Prize winners join Pennovation Center
The Pennovation Center will provide the resources for XEED and Fever Smart, the two 2016 President's Innovation Prize recipients, to take their projects to the next level.

June 30, 2016 / Technical.ly Philly
These 3 companies are coming to the Pennovation Center
XEED and Fever Smart will add to the Pennovation Center's already-burgeoning innovation ecosystem.

June 28, 2016 / Penn News
President’s Innovation Prize Winners, Fever Smart and XEED, Join Pennovation Center
Penn's Division of Facilities and Real Estate Services announced that XEED and Fever Smart will join the new Pennovation Center.

June 7, 2016 / Penn Spotlights
Assisting Parkinson’s Patients With Innovative Motion-tracking Device
Two winners of the inaugural President's Innovation Prize have founded XEED, which makes wearable sensors that track the movement of limbs.

May 24, 2016 / The Chicago Tribune
Lake Forest native wins college innovation prize
A Lake Forest native was awarded $100,000 to implement a project that can help monitor body temperatures in real time and has potential applications for diseases including cancer and Ebola.

May 20, 2016 / Wharton Magazine
Mentoring a Penn President’s Innovation Prize Winning Team
Assistant Professor of Health Care Management Matthew Grennan has made a world of difference by mentoring the Fever Smart team.

May 12, 2016 / Penn News
Innovation Prize Goes to Two Penn Seniors for Device That Continuously Tracks Body Temperature
It took a mix of market research, medical perspective, and personal experience for the Fever Smart team to arrive at what it calls an “early warning system for the human body.”

May 11, 2016 / Penn News
Two Penn Seniors to Aid Parkinson’s Patients With Innovative Motion-tracking Device
Sade Oba and Alfredo Muniz will help Parkinson's patients with XEED, their network of wearable devices.

May 5, 2016 / Penn Spotlights
Celebrating President’s Engagement and Innovation Prize Recipients
Penn Provost Vincent Price described each President’s Engagement Prize and President’s Innovation Prize winner as having immense heart, incredible creativity, and strong leadership skills.

April 28, 2016 / The Pennsylvania Gazette
Finding Pennovation
Among faculty and students alike, innovation is alive and thriving on campus.

April 20, 2016 / The Daily Pennsylvanian
Gutmann announces winners of inaugural President's Innovation Prize
Engineering seniors Sade Oba, Alfredo Muniz, and William Duckworth, as well as Wharton senior Aaron Goldstein, are the inaugural President’s Innovation Prize recipients.

April 20, 2016 / The Philadelphia Inquirer
Penn's Gutmann awards inaugural 'Innovation Prize'
Four seniors whose medical-related projects were deemed “on the vanguard of innovation” by Penn President Amy Gutmann will receive university funding to carry them out.

April 20, 2016 / Penn News
Inaugural President’s Innovation Prize Winners Announced at Penn
XEED and Fever Smart are announced as the inaugural winners of the President's Innovation Prize.

January 29, 2016 / Penn News
President’s Innovation Prize Contenders Vie for $100K Seed Money and Big Perks at Penn
The President's Innovation Prize comes with $100,000 in seed money and a $50,000 living stipend per team member. And that is just the start.

December 3, 2015 / Penn News
President’s Innovation Prize: The Fast Track to Social Entrepreneurism at Penn
The President's Innovation Prize was born out of Penn President Amy Gutmann's desire to create an opportunity that recognizes students’ unparalleled creativity on the largest scale.

November 2, 2015 / The Daily Pennsylvanian
Penn's Innovation Prize is bigger and broader than other Ivies'
Top American universities are becoming the “Shark Tank” for social entrepreneurs, and Penn is no exception.

October 30, 2015 / The Philadelphia Inquirer
Penn offers $100k for profitable, world-improving idea
You can turn a profit and still improve the world, the University of Pennsylvania is seeking to show.

October 28, 2015 / Penn News
Penn Announces Launch of President's Innovation Prize
Penn President Amy Gutmann announced the launch of the President’s Innovation Prize, a competitively awarded annual prize aimed at building on the University’s culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.

October 28, 2015 / Philadelphia Business Journal
Penn president envisions new undergraduate prize like 'Rhodes Scholarship for social impact'
Penn President Amy Gutmann wants the new President's Innovation Prize to be considered the next "Rhodes Scholarship for social impact."

October 28, 2015 / The Daily Pennsylvanian
Gutmann announces President's Innovation Prize
Penn President Amy Gutmann announced the launch of the President’s Innovation Prize, an opportunity for Penn students to apply their entrepreneurial ideas to the real world while also making a difference.