Nine graduating seniors were awarded the 2025 President’s Engagement, Innovation, and Sustainability Prizes, which provide $100,000 in funding for projects designed to make a positive, lasting difference in the world. Each team member also receives a $50,000 living stipend and mentorship from a Penn faculty member. The largest of their kind in higher education, the annual prizes have launched the careers of many entrepreneurs since 2015 [“The Unexpected Entrepreneurs,” Sep|Oct 2024]. Here are this year’s winning projects:
PRESIDENT’S ENGAGEMENT PRIZES
PIXEL | Ejun Hong C’25 and Jack Roney C’25 will focus on building bridges between the creative industries and under-resourced public high school students in the greater Philadelphia area through photography and film. Mentor: Jarrett Stein C’09 SPP’17, UACS Director of Health Partnerships and Social Ventures at the Netter Center for Community Partnerships.
Nourish to Flourish | Imani Nkrumah Ardayfio C’25, Inaya Zaman C’25 W’25, and Rashmi Acharya C’25 GM’26, will implement nutrition programs in West Philadelphia schools by helping parents obtain fresh produce from local farmers, working to redesign school cafeteria space and changing food marketing to promote healthy food choices, and offering interactive nutrition education during and after school hours. Mentor: Heather Klusaritz SW’02 GrS’12, associate professor of family medicine and community health at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
PRESIDENT’S INNOVATION PRIZE
Sync Labs | Melanie Herbert EE’25 GEng’26, Nami Lindquist EAS’25 W’25 GEng’26, and Alexandra Popescu EAS’25 GEng’26 will address eldercare with a privacy-centric AI system that reduces staff exhaustion, fixes caregiving gaps, and offers solutions for other issues. Mentor: Jeffrey Babin C’85 WG’91, professor of practice and associate director of engineering entrepreneurship at SEAS and the engineering faculty director for Venture Lab.
PRESIDENT’S SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
Nirby | Piotr Lazarek EAS’25 W’25 will grow his soil analytics and farmland-management system that’s designed to address inefficiencies in fertilizer usage by integrating satellite data and drone-enabled soil measurements to provide real-time insights into field productivity and nutrient distribution. Mentor: Jeffrey Babin C’85 WG’91.
