Magnesis Robotics and Farms for Thought won first place in the General and Social Impact tracks of Innovate@BU’s 2026 New Venture Competition, capping a night that drew 525 students, alumni, faculty, and mentors to Boston University’s George Sherman Union on April 15.
Innovators’ Night is the finale of the annual New Venture Competition and Innovate@BU’s flagship community event. In total, the evening distributed $86,000 in prizes across the NVC finals, Audience Choice awards, the inaugural Abdullah Almarzouq Environmental Entrepreneurship Award, and community recognition.
Co-emcees Trinity Olander (CAS’27) and Meritxell Ortodo (ENG’26) returned to the stage a year after competing as NVC finalists with their venture Averra. Since last year’s competition, they have won a Gold Medal at iGEM in Paris, placed third globally at the iGEM Startup Showcase, and joined Blueprint at MIT’s The Engine. “NVC was the catalyst for our startup,” Olander said.
Johar Singh (Questrom’24) was also no stranger to the stage, having attended multiple Innovators’ Nights, including one when his venture, Astra Wellbeing, won second place in the 2023 New Venture Competition. He returned to give an inspiring, opening talk about his journey as a founder, and how Astra Wellbeing was recently acquired in a 7-figure deal.
New Venture Competition Winners
This year’s ten finalists represented ventures in defense technology, menstrual care, legal tech, agricultural education, and healthcare delivery in rural Ghana. Each advanced through applications, semi-finals, and finals to reach the Innovators’ Night stage.
General Track
- First place, $20,000: Magnesis Robotics, led by Pranav Sultania (ENG’27) and Isabella Santarpia (ENG’27). A squid-inspired electromagnetic propulsion system for underwater vehicles, designed for near-silent operation and significantly reduced power consumption.
- Second place, $10,000: Naya, led by Julia Yusupov (Questrom’25). A reusable, self-disinfecting tampon applicator designed for over 12,000 uses.
- Third place, $6,000: AttorneyAlert, led by Brian Namnoum (MET’26). A legal-tech platform that connects recently arrested individuals with criminal defense attorneys through real-time live phone transfers.
Sultania, a PhD student in mechanical engineering who has moved through the Sustainability Innovation Seed Grant program, the Innovation Pathway, the New Venture Competition, and the Summer Accelerator, said the win caught him off guard.
“Tonight was amazing. Regardless of who won, everyone has been a winner. I wasn’t expecting this — it was truly surreal.”
Pranav Sultania (ENG’27), co-founder, Magnesis Robotics
Social Impact Track
- First place, $20,000: Farms for Thought, led by Emma Hudson (ENG’27) and Maryam Bellakbira. The venture places autonomous vertical farms and STEM curriculum inside schools in communities with limited fresh food access, enabling students to grow and distribute produce to their families at no cost. Hudson, who has spoken publicly about the link between her family’s health and limited access to fresh food, credits that experience with shaping the venture. Farms for Thought recently joined the Camelback Ventures Fellowship and secured a NASA-funded pilot at Ron Brown College Preparatory High School in Washington, D.C.
- Second place, $10,000: JoHIL eKlinics, led by Samuel Amoako-Kusi (SPH’27). The venture operates peri-urban clinics in Ghana combining telemedicine with rotating specialist days to deliver chronic disease care.
- Third place, $6,000: DesignMy Education, led by Aryan Jain (CAS’26). An entrepreneurship platform delivered through public libraries.
Hudson, who took home both first place and the Social Impact Audience Choice award, was still processing the night when she stepped offstage.
“I loved watching everybody’s pitches — I was most excited to see the general track because I hadn’t seen them yet. Having my coach Brigitte here was amazing. The community is great.”
Emma Hudson (ENG’27), co-founder, Farms for Thought
For Jain, who is graduating this spring after moving through the Innovation Pathway, the Summer Accelerator, and the New Venture Competition, the night carried a different weight.
“I’m graduating, so I’m definitely going to miss this. It feels like a full circle moment.”
Aryan Jain (CAS’26), founder, DesignMy Education
Audience Choice
Nearly 1,000 votes were cast to determine the Audience Choice awards, each of which carried a $500 prize. Spectral Autonomy took the General Track honor. Farms for Thought won the Social Impact Audience Choice in addition to its first-place finish.
Abdullah Almarzouq Environmental Entrepreneurship Award
The evening marked the debut of the Abdullah Almarzouq Environmental Entrepreneurship Award, a new $5,000 prize. The spirit of this award is one of global collaboration on environmental improvements. The hope is that environmental innovations will be shared openly, especially in the developing world so that impact can be achieved more widely and rapidly.
The inaugural award went to Vetra Technologies, a logistics intelligence platform that helps trucking companies maximize trip profitability by automatically finding and ranking the best routes and return loads from more than 220 million annual freight opportunities.
Student Innovators of the Year
Innovators’ Night also recognized the 2026 Student Innovators of the Year, honored across BU’s innovation community for their ventures, research, and contributions to peer learning. Rhett welcomed each recipient onstage to celebrate with them.
- Nevaeh Calliste (COM’26) (Student Innovator of the Year, Innovate@BU). A multi-venture founder (Chromatape and SA Warriors) who has served the Innovate@BU community as an Enlight Fellow, Social Impact Intern, IDEACon Emcee, and Student Ambassador.
- Anna McClean (COM’26) (Student Innovator of the Year, MISI). A research assistant at the Center for Media Innovation & Social Impact who interviewed the center’s inaugural fellows and is now developing a course structure for MISI.
- Robert Pak (SHA’27) (Student Innovator of the Year, SHA). Founder of SustainServ, a B2B meal service that transforms unserved food from large venues into affordable, reheatable meals.
- Mya Kelly (CAS’27) (Student Innovator of the Year, UROP). A researcher whose UROP-funded work examines financial literacy and secondary school choice. Kelly presented at the 2025 National Conference on Undergraduate Research.
- Jolin Edmonson (Wheelock’26) (Student Innovator of the Year, Earl Center). Senior student manager at the Earl Center makerspace, founder of the Maker Mentors peer-learning initiative, and contributor to equity-focused AI design through DELFAI.
- Signable (Student Innovator of the Year Team, BU SPARK!). An ASL practice hub built by Ariel Diaz, Adrian Rojas, Augie Oppenheimer, Bryan Ayala, and Anurag Mathews that uses computer vision and a customized LLM to give learners real-time feedback on their signing.
McClean, who proposed and designed the structure for a new interdisciplinary practicum launching this fall, has described her work at MISI as a study in building from scratch.
“The innovative part is pulling from expertise and bodies of knowledge that already exist to create new structures and new ideas. We’re new, and we’re consistently being unfolded with every action we take.”
Anna McClean (COM’26)
Edmonson, who co-created the Maker Mentors program at the Earl Center, frames innovation in human terms.
“When you ask yourself, ‘I want to make something creative — what do I want it to be? What do I care about?’ — that’s where we’re headed. We’re going to see a lot more emphasis on creative teaching and learning.”
Jolin Edmonson (Wheelock’26)
The physical awards presented to this year’s Student Innovators were designed by Nicolas Bonnet Mcnamara (ENG’27), winner of Innovate@BU’s inaugural 3D-printed award design competition.
Mentor recognition
The Henry Morgan Award, given for outstanding contributions to the Boston University innovation ecosystem, went to Megan M. Trainor, Senior Director of Program Administration at Boston University Metropolitan College. Trainor has served as a mentor, coach, and judge across multiple Innovate@BU programs.
Eric Sun, a Senior Team Lead at Miele whose mentorship spans financial modeling, product management, and technical development, received the Mentor of the Year Award.
Summer Accelerator and Enlight Fellowship Cohorts
Between the NVC finals and the closing awards, Innovate@BU announced its 2026 Summer Accelerator cohort and Enlight Fellowship cohort. Summer Accelerator founders will spend 10 weeks working full-time on their ventures with stipends up to $10,000, structured mentorship, and a final investor pitch. Enlight Fellows will split the summer between interning at a social impact organization and developing a social venture, each with a $10,000 stipend.
The 2026 Innovators’ Night was sponsored by the Red Hat Open Accelerator.
About Innovate@BU
Innovate@BU is Boston University’s hub for student innovation and entrepreneurship, open to all BU students regardless of school, major, or experience level. By participating in extracurricular programs, events, funding, and the popular Innovation & Entrepreneurship minor, students are equipped with the skills and mindset needed to succeed in a rapidly changing world.
Related posts:
Success at Innovators’ Night 2025: $80k in Prize Money, Student Awards, and a Visit from President Gilliam!
New Venture Competition Winners & Innovator’s Night Recap
Announcing the 2026 New Venture Competition Finalists
From Hospitals to Rooftop Farms, How the 2025 Enlight Fellows Spent Their Summer