91ÊÓƵ

91ÊÓƵ
Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship Ìý›  Events Ìý›  Lab to Market
KN 

91ÊÓƵ Lab to Market, Fall 2026

Join us in Pittsburgh, PA at on Tuesday, September 15, at Simmons Auditorium (4765 Forbes Ave) in the Tepper Quad Building for an inside look at breakthrough technologies and spinouts emerging from Carnegie Mellon across AI, robotics, cybersecurity, energy and healthcare. Hear from 40+ leading researchers, founders, investors and industry executives. Meet the people shaping what comes next, before the research reaches the broader market.

Featured Keynote Conversations

andrew moore

 

s

FEATURING 35+ LEADERS ACROSS RESEARCH, INDUSTRY AND VENTURE CAPITAL

Hear from Carnegie Mellon researchers and leaders from Abridge, Lovelace AI, Obvious Ventures, J.P. Morgan, Accenture Ventures, Construct Capital, Honda Ventures, Yosemite, Carnegie Foundry, Stratus Materials and more.

Rob Ackerman, Managing Director, DataTribe

Rob Ackerman, Managing Director, DataTribe

Burcu Akinci, Dean, College of Engineering, 91ÊÓƵ

Burcu Akinci, Dean, College of Engineering, 91ÊÓƵ

Laurence Ales, Interim Dean, Tepper School of Business

Laurence Ales, Interim Dean, Tepper School of Business

Michael Benedict, Robotics Developer Relations Manager, Research, NVIDIA

Michael Benedict, Robotics Developer Relations Manager, Research, NVIDIA

Alexandra Bremers, Postdoc, Dietrich College, 91ÊÓƵ

Alexandra Bremers, Postdoc, Dietrich College, 91ÊÓƵ

Tzahi (Itzhaq) Cohen-Karni, Professor, Biomedical Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering, 91ÊÓƵ

Tzahi (Itzhaq) Cohen-Karni, Professor, Biomedical Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering, 91ÊÓƵ

Troy Demmer, President & Co-Founder, Gecko Robotics

Troy Demmer, President & Co-Founder, Gecko Robotics

Julie Downs, Dept. Head, Social and Decision Sciences, 91ÊÓƵ

Julie Downs, Dept. Head, Social and Decision Sciences, 91ÊÓƵ

Meredith Meyer Grelli, AVP & Vice Provost, Entrepreneurship, 91ÊÓƵ

Meredith Meyer Grelli, AVP & Vice Provost, Entrepreneurship, 91ÊÓƵ

Derek Ham, Director, Entertainment Technology Center, 91ÊÓƵ

Derek Ham, Director, Entertainment Technology Center, 91ÊÓƵ

Martial Hebert, Dean, School of Computer Science

Martial Hebert, Dean, School of Computer Science

Chunshan Hu, Chief Technology Officer, Power 3D

Chunshan Hu, Chief Technology Officer, Power 3D

Meela Imperato, VP of Marketing, Redesign Health

Meela Imperato, VP of Marketing, Redesign Health

Sara Ittelson, Partner, Accel

Sara Ittelson, Partner, Accel

Jana Kainerstorfer, Professor, Biomedical Engineering Associate Department Head for Faculty and Graduate Affairs, 91ÊÓƵ

Jana Kainerstorfer, Professor, Biomedical Engineering Associate Department Head for Faculty and Graduate Affairs, 91ÊÓƵ

Matt Kirmayer, Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Matt Kirmayer, Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Aniket Kittur, Professor & Associate Director for Strategy and Partnerships, HCII, 91ÊÓƵ

Aniket Kittur, Professor & Associate Director for Strategy and Partnerships, HCII, 91ÊÓƵ

Zico Kolter, Professor and Director, Machine Learning Department, 91ÊÓƵ

Zico Kolter, Professor and Director, Machine Learning Department, 91ÊÓƵ

Justin Krauss, Managing Director, Security & Resiliency Initiative, J.P. Morgan

Justin Krauss, Managing Director, Security & Resiliency Initiative, J.P. Morgan

Zack Lipton, Co-Founder & CTO, Abridge

Zack Lipton, Co-Founder & CTO, Abridge

Changliu Liu, Associate Professor, Robotics Institute, 91ÊÓƵ

Changliu Liu, Associate Professor, Robotics Institute, 91ÊÓƵ

John Lowman, Senior Associate, Portfolio Development, UPMC Enterprises

John Lowman, Senior Associate, Portfolio Development, UPMC Enterprises

Danith Ly, Director, Institute for Biomolecular Design and Discovery (IBD), 91ÊÓƵ

Danith Ly, Director, Institute for Biomolecular Design and Discovery (IBD), 91ÊÓƵ

Robert W. Mays, CEO, CytoSage

Robert W. Mays, CEO, CytoSage

Amanda McBride, Managing Director, Accenture Ventures

Amanda McBride, Managing Director, Accenture Ventures

Jonathan S. Minden, Founder, Impact Proteomics and Professor, 91ÊÓƵ

Jonathan S. Minden, Founder, Impact Proteomics and Professor, 91ÊÓƵ

Nick Naclerio, Founding Partner, Illumina Ventures

Nick Naclerio, Founding Partner, Illumina Ventures

Graham Neubig - Co-Founder, OpenHands & Associate Professor, 91ÊÓƵ

Graham Neubig - Co-Founder, OpenHands & Associate Professor, 91ÊÓƵ

Rebecca Nugent, Fienberg University Professor of Statistics & Data Science/Department Head, 91ÊÓƵ

Rebecca Nugent, Fienberg University Professor of Statistics & Data Science/Department Head, 91ÊÓƵ

Jean Oh, Associate Research Professor, Robotics Institute, 91ÊÓƵ

Jean Oh, Associate Research Professor, Robotics Institute, 91ÊÓƵ

Burak Ozdoganlar, Ver Planck Professor, Mechanical Engineering, 91ÊÓƵ

Burak Ozdoganlar, Ver Planck Professor, Mechanical Engineering, 91ÊÓƵ

Charlie Ren, Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, 91ÊÓƵ

Charlie Ren, Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering, 91ÊÓƵ

Ellie Schriner, Venture Lead, Honda Xcelerator Ventures

Ellie Schriner, Venture Lead, Honda Xcelerator Ventures

Vyas Sekar, Co-Founder, Rockfish Data, Tan Family Chair Professor, 91ÊÓƵ

Vyas Sekar, Co-Founder, Rockfish Data, Tan Family Chair Professor, 91ÊÓƵ

Kahini Shah, Partner, Obvious Ventures

Kahini Shah, Partner, Obvious Ventures

Yaser Sheikh, Chief Executive Officer, Sooth Labs

Yaser Sheikh, Chief Executive Officer, Sooth Labs

Damion Shelton, Associate VP and Executive Director of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship

Damion Shelton, Associate VP and Executive Director of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship

Barbara Shinn-Cunningham, Dean, Mellon College of Sciences, 91ÊÓƵ

Barbara Shinn-Cunningham, Dean, Mellon College of Sciences, 91ÊÓƵ

Ryan Sullivan, Professor, Chemistry and Mechanical Engineering, 91ÊÓƵ

Ryan Sullivan, Professor, Chemistry and Mechanical Engineering, 91ÊÓƵ

Robert Szczerba, Co-Founder and CEO, Carnegie Foundry

Robert Szczerba, Co-Founder and CEO, Carnegie Foundry

Eugene Wan, Partner, Construct Capital

Eugene Wan, Partner, Construct Capital

Chenxi Wang, Managing Partner, Rain Capital

Chenxi Wang, Managing Partner, Rain Capital

Jay Whitacre, CEO, CTO, and Founder of Stratus Materials

Jay Whitacre, CEO, CTO, and Founder of Stratus Materials

Lauren Cantor Wright, Principal, Yosemite

Lauren Cantor Wright, Principal, Yosemite

Stephen Wu, Founder and Managing Partner, Carthage Capital

Stephen Wu, Founder and Managing Partner, Carthage Capital

Ron Yurko, Assistant Teaching Professor, Director of Carnegie Mellon Sports Analytics Center, Department of Statistics & Data Science, 91ÊÓƵ

Ron Yurko, Assistant Teaching Professor, Director of Carnegie Mellon Sports Analytics Center, Department of Statistics & Data Science, 91ÊÓƵ

Yongxin (Leon) Zhao, Associate Professor, Mellon College of Science, 91ÊÓƵ

Yongxin (Leon) Zhao, Associate Professor, Mellon College of Science , 91ÊÓƵ

Kevin Zollman, Herbert A. Simon Professor of Philosophy and Social and Decision Sciences and Director, Institute for Complex Social Dynamics, 91ÊÓƵ

Kevin Zollman, Herbert A. Simon Professor of Philosophy and Social and Decision Sciences and Director, Institute for Complex Social Dynamics, 91ÊÓƵ

Program Themes

Featured conversations will explore:

  • Technology and the Future of Sports Entertainment

  • General vs. Domain-Specific Foundation Models for Robotics

  • AI Systems That Anticipate Complex Outcomes

  • Decision-Making Under Risk and Uncertainty

  • Physical AI in the Real World

  • New Battery Materials and Architectures

  • New Frontiers in Medical Technology and Bioelectronics

  • New Tools for Understanding Cancer Earlier

  • How AI Is Reshaping Cybersecurity

Want to be a part of the action?

Featured Keynotes

Past Events

91ÊÓƵ Lab to Market - Spring 2026

Thursday, February 11, 2026
Pear VC, 1800 Owens St, San Francisco, CA 94158

L2M Schedule

Thank you to our Event Hosts, Accel and Pear VC!

91ÊÓƵ Lab to Market - Fall 2025

Thursday, September 25, 2025
Simmons Room A, Tepper School of Business 91ÊÓƵ

9:00 - 9:10 a.m. - Welcome & Opening Remarks

  • , VP of Research, 91ÊÓƵ
  • , Managing Director & Interim Exec Director, Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship; Assistant Dean of Entrepreneurship Initiatives, School of Computer Science; Director, Project Olympus; Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Tepper School of Business

 9:10 - 9:50 a.m. - Panel: Intelligent Systems & Advanced Materials for Industrial Transformation
Panel Moderated by , Senior Director of Research Partnerships & Entrepreneurship, College of Engineering

  • , Founder & CEO, SeaLion Energy; Professor of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
  • , Co-Founder & CEO, Efficient Computer; Kavčić-Moura Professor, ECE
  • , Founder & CTO, Arieca; Clarence H. Adamson Professor, Mechanical Engineering
  • , Associate Fellow, PPG Industries
  • , Managing Director, Salience Capital

10:10 - 10:50 a.m. - Panel: Embodied AI
Panel Moderated by  Dean and University Professor of Robotics, School of Computer Science

  • , JPMorgan Chase Associate Professor of Computer Science in the Machine Learning Department
  • , Stealth Angel Investor
  • , Founder, Instinct Robotics; Associate Professor, Robotics Institute
  • , Founder, President, and CEO, Strategy Robot, Inc.

10:55 - 11:00 a.m. - Demo Video & Tech Talk Featuring Newell Washburn, Ansatz

  • , Co-Founder & President, Ansatz

11:00 - 11:40 a.m. - Panel: Agents Gone Wild: Robustness of Security & Reliability
Panel Moderated by , Partner, Hyde Park Venture Partners

  • , Co-Founder & CEO, Gray Swan; Associate Professor, School of Computer Science
  • , Co-Founder & CEO, XetHub (acquired by Hugging Face)
  • , Senior Director, Responsible AI, BNY Mellon
  • , Co-Founder, Woodwide AI; Professor Machine Learning Department, School of Computer Science
  • , Founding CEO, Wombat Security Technologies (Sold to Proofpoint); Professor of Computer Science, Software and Societal Systems Department; Co-Director, Privacy Engineering Program 

12:00 - 12:40 p.m. - Fireside Keynote: Abhay Parasnis
Interviewed by , Dean and Richard P. Simmons Professor of Finance, Tepper School of Business

  • , Managing Partner, Salience Capital; Founder & CEO, Typeface; Former CTO & CPO, Adobe

12:55 - 1:00 p.m. - Demo Video & Tech Talk Featuring Marios Savvides, Ultron AI

  • , Founder & CEO, Ultron AI; Bossa Nova Robotics Professor of Artificial Intelligence, Electrical and Computer Engineering; Director, CyLab Biometrics Center

1:00 - 1:40 p.m. - Panel: Next Frontier Intelligent Life Sciences  
Panel Moderated by , Senior Writer, Google DeepMind

  • , Chief Strategy Officer, Advanced Respiratory Technologies; Professor and Department Head, Director of the Bioengineered Organs Initiative, 91ÊÓƵ
  • , Senior Director of Tissue Therapeutics; Co-Founder, FluidForm Bio
  • , Director, Translational Sciences, UPMC Enterprises
  • , Founder & CEO, Impact Proteomics, LLC; Professor, Department of Biological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering

1:40 - 1:50 p.m. - Closing Remarks

  • , Senior Director, 91ÊÓƵ VentureBridge, Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
  • , Managing Director & Interim Exec Director, Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship; Assistant Dean of Entrepreneurship Initiatives, School of Computer Science; Director, Project Olympus; Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Tepper School of Business

Fall 2025 Planning Committee

  • Meredith Meyer Grelli, Chair, Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, Project Olympus, & Tepper School of Business
  • Namrata Banerjee, Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
  • Jenny Belardi, School of Computer Science
  • Cindy Chepanoske, Center for Technology Transfer and Enterprise Creation
  • Matthew Christian, Office of Research
  • Edward Dunlea, Mellon College of Science
  • Sonya Ford, Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
  • Steven Guo, Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
  • Allyson Hince, Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship
  • Jim Jen, Corporate Startup Lab

91ÊÓƵ Lab to Market - Spring 2025

Thursday, March 27, 2025
Pear VC, 1800 Owens St, San Francisco, CA 94158

11:30 - 11:35 a.m. - Welcome & Opening Remarks

  • , VP of Research, 91ÊÓƵ
  • , Managing Director & Interim Exec Director, Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship; Assistant Dean of Entrepreneurship Initiatives, School of Computer Science; Director, Project Olympus; Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, Tepper School of Business

11:35 - 11:55 a.m. - Breakthrough Research Across Verticals
Panel Moderated by , VP of Research, 91ÊÓƵ

  • , Venture Partner, Cadenza; former Microsoft and Apple
  • , Co-Founder & Chairman, Pearl Street Technologies; Coraluppi Head and Tanoto Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • , Partner, Pear VC

11:55 - 1:30 p.m. - Lunch & Lightning Talks
Introduced by , Managing Director, Head of AppliedTechnology, Innovation Economy, JP Morgan

  • 12:20 - 12:40 p.m.
    • , CTO/CSO at Abridge
    • , Associate Professor of Machine Learning at Carnegie Mellon
    • , Partner, Spark Capital
  • 12:40 - 1:00 p.m.
    • , Co-Founder, Truera; AI at Snowflake
    • , General Partner, Greylock
  • 1:00 - 1:20 p.m.
    • , Co-founder/Chief Technologist Rockfish Data; Tan Family Chair Professor at 91ÊÓƵ,
    • , Managing Partner, Emergent Capital
    • , Founder & General Partner, Foster Ventures

1:40 - 2:25 p.m. - Deep Dive into a Horizontal: Robotics Applied
Panel Moderated by , Director, Robotics Institute; Co-Founder, Refraction AI 

  • , Kavčić-Moura CS Professor of Robotics; Co-Founder, JP Robotics
  • , Director, National Robotics Engineering Center; Co-Founder & CTO, Carnegie Foundry
  • , Co-Founder & COO, Aquatonomy
  • , Research Professor, Robotics Institute; Co-Founder Bloomfield Robotics

2:45 - 3:30 p.m. - Trustworthy AI
Panel Moderated by Dean, School of Computer Science

  • , Co-Founder, Gray Swan; Open AI Board Member; Professor and Director of the Machine Learning Department with the School of Computer Science
  • , Chief Scientist, All Hands AI; Associate Professor of Computer Science
  • , AI Edge; Associate Professor Electrical & ComputeEngineering
  • , Co-Founder & CEO, Augment

3:30 - 3:40 p.m. - Closing Remarks

  • , VP of Research, 91ÊÓƵ
cmu-startup-week-lab2market-wide.jpg