Meet the Innovation Scholars
2027 Innovation Scholars
Deepti Agarwal
Mellon College of Science, B.S. in Computational Finance, anticipated 2027
Deepti Aggarwal is an entrepreneur originally from Troy, Michigan, currently studying Computational Finance at Carnegie Mellon University. This past year, Deepti has served as the Vice President of the CMUVC Committee with the Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Association (UEA), and in this role, organized the annual CMU Venture Challenge, a national pitch competition sponsored by Accel, Microsoft for Startups and more. She also represented Scottie Ventures and Carnegie Mellon at the 2025 Regional Venture Capital Investing Competition (VCIC), ultimately helping her team secure a second place finish. Her love for entrepreneurship stems from high school, when she participated in the Conrad Innovation Challenge and built a business to provide tobacco farmers with resources and genetically optimized avocado seeds to assist in the transition towards more sustainable farming practices. It was here that she realized how exciting and innovative startups can be, and she's been hooked ever since!
Outside of these extracurricular activities, Deepti loves to try new restaurants and is an avid Beli user. She also loves to read and watch reality television and knows every word to almost every song in Taylor Swift's discography.
Deepti is incredibly excited to join the Innovation Scholars program and meet this amazing community of like-minded peers!
Naman Chordia
College of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Robotics, anticipated 2027
Naman is an insatiably curious, eclectic and entrepreneurially-minded engineer passionate about building and scaling impactful technology. Currently studying Mechanical Engineering and Robotics, he has advanced R&D for an autonomous e-waste recycling plant and long-range eVTOL aircraft, developed curriculum for an exploratory STEM program and is currently co-founding a startup integrating AI and robotics into firefighting.
Growing up, Naman has always been drawn to learning across disciplines and applying that knowledge to make things real. His goal is to work in the intersection of business and technology, contributing as someone who not only understands the deep technical intricacies of a problem, but also knows how to effectively bring those solutions to market and scale them.
At Carnegie Mellon University, Naman helps lead entrepreneurship organizations like Scottie Ventures and Sigma Eta Pi, works at his robotics lab, and develops DeepTech theses for Soma Capital. When he’s not immersed in startup projects, you can usually find him architecting solutions to complex problems at the Swartz Center, experimenting with new recipes with his friends or (barely) planning his next backpacking adventure.
Carys Doyle
College of Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, anticipated 2027
Carys is an Electrical and Computer Engineering Major with a Minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies. With a passion for systems optimization and environmental sustainability, Carys is driven to leverage her experience in environmental research to improve existing processes and decrease their negative environmental impact.
Carys has explored her commitment to social entrepreneurship through her involvement and success in multiple ventures. Most notably, inspired by the actions of many private universities to divest their endowments from fossil fuels, Carys worked collaboratively with the Principal, Board of Governors and Chair of the Finance Committee of her high school to divest their Endowment from fossil fuels. Carys has also pursued her passion for environmental sustainability through research, most notably publishing a paper investigating the Attitude Behaviour Gap in Adolescent Plastic Consumption in the Young Researcher.
At CMU, Carys can be found working as a Teaching Assistant for the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and as a Residential Assistant for Student Organization Communities. She enjoys spending her time in the Mellon Institute where she is researching Green Energy substitutions and physical prototyping, or chairing CMU’s only all-female Buggy Team. Carys also works as a Vice- President for CMU’s co-ed entrepreneurship fraternity, Sigma Eta Pi.
As an Innovation Scholar, Carys is excited to share her entrepreneurial passions while learning with and from other members of her cohort. She hopes to use this time to find a community of future founders, leaders, and collaborators while creating and building solutions to complex social and environmental problems.
Jiya Gupta
Tepper School of Business; School of Computer Science, B.S. Business Administration and Computer Science, anticipated 2027
Jiya Gupta is pursuing a degree in Business Administration with an additional major in Computer Science. On campus, she spends her time dancing as part of CMU Jiya (competitive fusion dance team), consulting for nonprofits through 180 Degrees Consulting, hosting events with the Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Association and competing at VCIC with Scottie Ventures.
Growing up in the Bay Area, Jiya has been surrounded by tech startups from a young age. Throughout middle and high school, she explored the newest technology to solve problems she noticed around her, from booking courts for her badminton team to finding available parking. She spent her time developing ideas, raising money for them and implementing those ideas at existing startups in the space.
Outside of school, Jiya works on various startup software engineering projects and AI research on campus. She is also active in the Venture Capital space, where she has worked as an analyst, scout, associate intern to lead a team of analysts and is now working with a CMU alumni to launch and expand a new fund.
Post-graduation, Jiya hopes to gain startup experience on the product side as a technical product manager. After a few years, she hopes to move into Venture Capital.
Anika Halappanavar
Tepper School of Business; School of Computer Science, anticipated 2027
Anika is a Business Administration student with an additional major in Human-Computer Interaction. She loves solving problems that will benefit the world around her, both in the field of business and HCI.
Growing up in eastern Washington, Anika was constantly surrounded by STEM, which inspired her love for entrepreneurship. She started studying misinformation back in her sophomore year of high school, and is now working on a startup in that exact field, called Atvida. She is constantly trying to solve issues that are people-centric and social-impact driven to ensure a better future for generations to come.
Now at CMU, she is an exec member of Scottie Ventures, Head of Product in Scotty Labs, and part of various VC programs. Currently, she is working for CMU VentureBridge as a Venture Scout and Analyst through developing their first investment database for VB founders. In her free time, she loves spending time with her close knit friends on campus, exploring new restaurants around Pittsburgh, and practicing yoga!
Thomas Kanz
School of Computer Science, anticipated 2027
Thomas Kanz is an entrepreneurial student at Carnegie Mellon University majoring in Artificial Intelligence, dedicated to using technology to tackle significant societal challenges. Currently, Thomas is the co-founder of Atvida, an innovative social enterprise developing automated fact-checking solutions to combat misinformation directly within social media platforms. Atvida, inspired by the urgent need to address misinformation, has quickly gained recognition, achieving semi-finalist and global finalist status at prestigious competitions, including the TCU Values and Ventures Competition and the Fowler Global Social Innovation Challenge.
On campus, Thomas serves as the incoming Director of Scotty Labs’ Labrador Committee, where he leads students in exploring ambitious "Moonshot" ideas, building solutions, and fostering structured entrepreneurial leadership and mentorship programs. He also heads the cmuGPT team, creating an advanced AI assistant tailored to enhance student life at CMU.
His entrepreneurial journey started with Velroi Catalogs, an AI-driven course recommendation platform he developed after extensive customer discovery and iterative improvement, including participation in Project Olympus' Customer Discovery Kickstart program. Beyond Velroi, Thomas has developed several impactful solutions, including Merit Atlas—an NLP-powered search tool for the Scouts BSA community—and innovative AI projects at TartanHacks, HackHarvard and the Nova Gen AI Hackathon, where his teams earned notable awards.
Thomas has further enhanced his strategic and operational capabilities through an AI Strategist internship at GroundForce Capital and active involvement with Sigma Eta Pi, CMU’s co-ed professional entrepreneurship fraternity. Passionate about continuous learning and collaboration, Thomas is excited to engage further with the entrepreneurial community as an Innovation Scholar, benefiting from mentorship and contributing his extensive experience in startup creation and growth.
Arianna Martinelli
Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Information Systems, anticipated 2027
Arianna Martinelli is a rising junior studying Information Systems who is passionate about building human-centered technology and expanding access to it for young people. She co-founded Tandem, a nonprofit that connects teenagers and senior citizens to combat loneliness and bridge generational divides. Tandem has facilitated over 800 hours of conversation and has been recognized by AARP, MIT AgeLab, and the Governor of Kentucky.
She previously worked with Hack Club, an international nonprofit for teen hackers, and now supports other teen-led initiatives through fiscal sponsorship via HCB, helping young founders bring their ideas to life. Arianna is also committed to making the tech world more inclusive: she was named a National Winner of the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing and has led coding workshops and summer camps for girls through Kode with Klossy and her local high school.
Arianna is currently in her second summer interning at UPS, working on the Data Science and Machine Learning skunkworks team as a software and product management intern. She also previously interned at Moxie Girl, a mobile app startup focused on empowering young girls through peer support. At Carnegie Mellon, she is a member of Sigma Eta Pi, the university’s entrepreneurship fraternity, and is excited to be part of CMU’s entrepreneurial community as she continues working on startups.
Outside the classroom, Arianna has been an officer on the CMU Club Swim Team and competed at Club Swim Nationals. She holds a Vice President and Booth Chair position in her sorority and is a member of CMU’s Grappling Club. She looks forward to joining the Innovation Scholars community to keep creating solutions that empower and connect others.
William Montague
School of Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, anticipated 2027
William Montague is an undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon University pursuing a degree in Artificial Intelligence in the School of Computer Science. Growing up on the South Side of Chicago, William's experiences have shaped his interest in advancing equity in STEAM education, using big data and machine learning to address systemic problems and advance access for underrepresented populations.
Having been a sprinter on CMU's track team in his earlier days, William learned persistence, focus, and adaptability—abilities which now inform his entrepreneurship and research endeavors. His determination in athletics, even during times of battling injury, taught him the importance of knowing when to shift directions and refocus his energies into new pursuits.
William is an executive board member of the School of Computer Science Student Advisory Council to represent students' concerns and help build academic policy; also the co-president at CMU ColorStack to initiate efforts in academically and professionally serving Black and Latino computer science students through career readiness and community; additionally member of Sigma Eta Pi, the entrepreneurship fraternity committed to accelerating the innovation of the student founders.
Apart from his leadership roles, William is a teaching assistant for Ethics and Policy Issues in Computing, mentoring students and facilitating discussions of the ethical applications of technology. His research and outreach work involves collaborations with organizations such as Toyz Electronics and Northwestern School of Social Policy and Education, where he has taught STEAM courses to underprivileged children in Pittsburgh and Chicago respectively and promoted innovation in education; additional research includes AI research in the Robotics Institute, where he develops visualization tools for to refine robotic agents' behavior towards humans. With refining his research skills, he has shifted it into gaining customer insight for the startup he is building, Arendo.
William enjoys running, freestyle rap, martial arts and reading about ethics, math and philosophy during his free time. He has an active book recommendation page on his personal site that he keeps updated. He also enjoys working on side projects in anything under the sun and solving problems that he finds annoying.
William's journey is a blend of technical proficiency, ethical emphasis, and entrepreneurial intent. He is enthusiastic about developing businesses that enhance access to STEAM for underrepresented young people and his present endeavors in educational research, startup development and community engagement further his goal of using technology to enhance social good.
Hamza Pereira
School of Computer Science, anticipated 2027
Hamza is a rising junior at Carnegie Mellon University majoring in Artificial Intelligence, with a deep interest in human-centered technology and the invisible infrastructure that shapes our lives. From motion sensing through WiFi signals to designing systems that streamline bureaucratic workflows, he’s drawn to solving real-world problems in clever, often unexpected ways. He sees technology not just as a tool, but as a medium to genuinely improve people’s lives and effect meaningful change.
Hamza has always wanted to be an inventor. As a kid, he was driven by a need to understand how things worked and a stubborn refusal to accept the status quo. Whether it was inefficient systems or everyday inconveniences, he couldn’t help but see them as problems waiting to be solved. That mindset eventually evolved into a fascination with the hidden structures and rules shaping our society. When he was 11, he discovered programming, the perfect outlet for his obsession with optimization and love for building. Through code, he found a way to reimagine broken systems at the intersection of creativity and logic.
On campus, Hamza has explored intersections of software, data, and design through courses in artificial intelligence, computer vision and startup creation. He’s contributed to projects like Mosaic, an extensible data framework, and experimented with using Raspberry Pis and WiFi signals to sense movement through walls. He pursues his intellectual curiosity beyond the classroom and is currently spending his free time learning about quantum computation.
Outside the classroom, Hamza values curiosity, late-night brainstorms and conversations that challenge assumptions, especially socioeconomics, philosophy and mathematics. He’s drawn to big questions about how systems shape behavior, what makes societies function (or fail) and how logic and structure can help us understand complex human problems. He thrives in interdisciplinary teams where ideas collide, evolve, and turn into action. As an Innovation Scholar, he’s excited to connect with peers who share a builder’s mindset and a belief that meaningful change starts small.
Danely Rodriguez
Tepper School of Business, B.S. Business Administration, anticipated 2027
Danely Rodriguez is a rising junior at the Tepper School of Business, concentrating in product management with a minor in physical computing. She spends most of her time learning new technical skills and coming up with creative solutions whenever she runs into everyday problems. Danely has a growing interest in software development and looks forward to diving into hardware during her junior year. Her passion lies in building and solving real-world challenges, always with the hope that her work can positively impact someone’s life.
Danely's interest in entrepreneurship started when she realized there is no single path to building a meaningful career. Inspired by her parents’ resilience and ambition, she grew up with the belief that she could one day create real change in the world. During her second semester at Carnegie Mellon, it became clear that entrepreneurship was the path where she could channel her curiosity, creativity, and drive. What excites her most is the process of starting something from scratch, learning through trial and error and pushing through uncertainty to reach a breakthrough. She thrives in environments where no two days are the same and where she can have real ownership over what she builds.
At CMU, Danely has taken courses like Engineering Design and Innovation and graduate-level AI Studio Ventures, which helped her sharpen her problem-solving skills and introduced her to the power of AI in startup development. These experiences deepened her love for building and sparked her current startup, CurlyCubs. It is a gamified app that supports kids with curly hair and their parents. The app is designed to teach proper hair care routines while boosting self-confidence and creating a more joyful experience around identity and culture. She currently has a workspace at the Swartz Center and was awarded $1,000 through the Sandbox Fund to continue building the app.
Beyond her entrepreneurial journey, Danely is passionate about community leadership. She will be serving as president of the Black Latino Business Association and loves bringing people together on campus. Whether it's joining spontaneous events, watching movies with friends or exploring a new part of the city, she’s always seeking new experiences. This summer, she will study abroad in Madrid, Spain, further expanding her perspective and creativity.
Danely is incredibly excited to be part of the Innovation Scholars program. She looks forward to growing as a builder, learning from like-minded peers, and using this opportunity to continue creating solutions that uplift others.
Jack Shah
College of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, anticipated 2027
Jack Shah is a rising Junior studying Mechanical Engineering. He is passionate about robotics and mechanical design.
Growing up, Jack always had an innovative mindset, constantly trying to solve problems by building his own solutions. From designing and 3D printing replacement chair wheels using the Boston Public Library's free 3D printers to laser cutting backpack hooks to hold his skateboard, he looks for any way to make lives easier through simple and cost-effective innovation. When he was 13, Jack created an essential oil bug spray and began selling it at his local farmers market, slowly expanding to 5 different product lines by the time he graduated high school. This entrepreneurial experience helped him understand the fundamentals of building a business and was an incredibly exciting opportunity!
On campus, Jack is a part of several organizations such as the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, the CMU Entrepreneurship Association as an executive board member and a member of ChemE Cube. As an innovation scholar, Jack is really excited to grow as an entrepreneur and work together with the other innovation scholars!
Akeil Smith
Tepper School of Business, anticipated 2027
Akeil is an obsessive learner and ambitious builder, known by friends as a “delusionally optimistic” visionary. He’s currently scaling a startup focused on expanding access to quality education, driven by a passion for creating high-impact ventures. At Carnegie Mellon University, Akeil developed a strong technical background through collaboration with peers at the entrepreneurship center. His work focuses on reimagining how people connect and how students engage with feedback, reflecting his commitment to building meaningful, scalable solutions for real-world challenges.
Born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas, Akeil was introduced to entrepreneurship early through his parents, who built companies focused on expanding financial freedom across the country. He grew up taking online classes in their offices, observing firsthand what it takes to build impactful businesses. At 12, he launched his first venture, Refuel, to improve how students bought snacks at school. Since then, he’s built everything from a budgeting app to a farm-to-table delivery service through MIT’s LaunchX program, and education tools to support students with disabilities in navigating the classroom.
At CMU, Akeil is a founding member of the school’s first entrepreneurship fraternity and co-leads one of Pennsylvania’s largest student-run accelerator programs, supporting 13 startups and 50+ students. He also researches tech equity and co-develops a Google-backed, Figma-like programming tool for kids. As a TA, he helps students launch startups through CMU’s intro to entrepreneurship course. Recently, his edtech startup, Avalon, won the McGinnis and CMU Venture Competitions. Akeil hopes to one day launch a venture fund and accelerator in the Bahamas to inspire and support the next generation of global changemakers.
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