Have a marketable idea?
JHU supports student entrepreneurs.
JHU Engineering students are encouraged to dream big. And with the support of peers, faculty, mentors, alumni, and student-focused centers for idea and career development, students can see those dreams become reality.
Highlighting
Successful Student Startups
Student Spotlight - Materials science alumna Lauren Choi, ’20, was on the Kelly Clarkson Show to share how her startup, The New Norm, is recycling those red plastic party cups into sweaters. Starting in her garage as an undergrad—collecting cups from parties and running them through her custom built “3D Knit” extruder in the garage—Lauren won the JHU Business Plan Competition and placed second in the Bisciotti Foundation Prize, earning $26k.
Undergraduate Entrepreneurs - A standout team of student entrepreneurs from 2022’s annual Engineering Design Day invented Tastee Tape, an edible adhesive that keeps your burrito wrapped tightly, garnering attention from Newsweek, NBC, and Jimmy Fallon.
Find Funding - Through pitch events, fuel funding, and corporate sponsors, explore various opportunities for realizing your next big idea.
By the Numbers
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100+startups launched
by JHU students every year
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1/2The Pava Center’s venture teams
come from the Whiting School of Engineering
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$365k+in direct funds
for JHU student entrepreneurs
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150alumni mentors
in our entrepreneurial network
Timeline to entrepreneurship:
1) Student develops idea for a startup
2) Student contacts the Pava Center for mentorship and funding opportunities
3) Student attends pitch events with alumni
4) Student competes and gets awarded with accelerator funding for their tech venture startup
“Student entrepreneurship and innovation continues to grow exponentially at Johns Hopkins, thanks to our invested faculty and staff leaders across campus, and we look forward to our brilliant student ventures continuing to attract the attention they deserve. ”
Student entrepreneurs are supported in a variety of ways
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Engineering students built a printer to be operated by blind or visually impaired people, in partnership with Blind Industries & Services of Maryland
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Blue Jay Racing achieves a breakthrough third-place finish while developing self-driving technology for their off-road competition vehicle
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Johns Hopkins students create an innovative device that combines smell testing and training