Six students have been named Graduate Entrepreneurial Fellows who will be pursuing intensive entrepreneurial training across diverse industries, including biomedical engineering, food science, information systems and finance. 

Launched in 2021 and led by the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, the fellowship program is intended to support promising graduate students from all disciplines in the pursuit of scalable, technology-based ventures. 

Akwasi Tagoe, a doctoral student in the Department of Agricultural Education, Communication and Technology, said he was drawn to the fellowship "because of its practical, hands-on approach to entrepreneurship training." 

Tagoe is working to improve agricultural decision-making and food security through Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) powered, data-driven crop insight platforms for the farming industry. He said he expects to "gain practical tools and entrepreneurial training needed to transform my research into a viable agribusiness." 

"Ultimately, (the fellowship) will equip me to commercialize UAV-driven analytics that empower farmers through actionable insights." 

Fellows devote at least 20 hours per week to entrepreneurial pursuits and gain opportunities for intensive mentoring and networking, access to seed funding and business model development.  

Entrepreneurial Fellows

Roaa Hadi Alzeyadi 

• Degree program: Doctorate in cell and molecular biology 

• Discipline: Engineering biomaterials 

• Faculty adviser: Jorge Almodovar  

• Entrepreneurial focus: Investigating novel approaches in cell culture techniques inspired by natural biological systems to offer a significant scientific contribution to the field of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering.  

Kevin Velasquez Carballo 

• Degree program: Doctorate in mechanical engineering 

• Discipline: Interfacial engineering and energy storage 

• Faculty adviser: Xiangbo Meng 

• Entrepreneurial focus: Developing and commercializing atomic and molecular layer deposition (ALD/MLD) surface coatings for lithium metal batteries to enhance safety, cycle life and energy density while enabling high-performance energy storage solutions for electric vehicles and grid-scale applications 

Yousef Fathisola 

• Degree program: Doctorate in chemical engineering 

• Discipline: Membrane technology and polymer science 

• Faculty advisers: Christa Hestekin and Keisha Walters 

• Entrepreneurial focus: Hearing aids 

Akosua Koduah 

• Degree program: Master of Science in hospitality management  

• Discipline: Human environmental sciences 

• Faculty adviser: Nick Johnston 

• Entrepreneurial focus: Designing innovative, data-driven platforms for the hospitality sector to optimize operations, elevate guest experiences and deliver scalable, sustainable business solutions.

Barira Rashid 

• Degree program: Doctoral in geosciences 

• Discipline: Environmental and agricultural remote sensing 

• Faculty adviser: Becca Muenich 

• Entrepreneurial focus: Developing open-source GeoAI tools and educational platforms to transform how we monitor and manage environmental and agricultural systems.