Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), the nation's oldest technological university, today announced the inaugural winners of the Ajit Prabhu '98 Catalyst Fund Apex Awards, administered through the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship. The three awards totaling $75,000 recognize the most promising student- and faculty-led innovations at RPI with the highest potential for real-world commercial impact.

The Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has named the founders of Ecovative Design the 2025 recipients of the William F. Glaser ’53 Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Intuit, Ecovative, Optum Labs, Nancy’s Specialty Foods, and Vicarious Visions, which was acquired by Blizzard Entertainment, all have something in common: they were founded by alumni of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. They are also previous William F. Glaser ’53 Entrepreneurs of the Year through Rensselaer’s Paul J. ’69 and Kathleen M. Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship.

Students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are challenged with the slogan, “Why not change the world?” Through the course of their education and co-curricular activities, they learn practical ways to make their innovative ideas a reality.

Jason Kuruzovich, an associate professor of business analytics and the director of the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was awarded a grant from the New York State Center of Excellence (COE) in Data Science to study the potential of auto auction data for being a leading indicator of economic activity.

At Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, students are challenged with the slogan, “Why not change the world?” Each semester since the fall of 2017, the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship at Rensselaer’s Lally School of Management has hosted the Problem Pitch Competition. The goal is to encourage students to, first and foremost, identify problems if they want to become a change-makers.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is joining the National Science Foundation New York I-Corps Hub as a new partner institution. The designation comes with a nearly $700,000 award over five years to help faculty and students commercialize their deep tech STEM-based ideas. Rensselaer’s participation in the program is facilitated by the Lally School of Management’s Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship.

Winners have been announced for the end-of-year entrepreneurship competitions at the Paul J. and Kathleen M. Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.