PITTSBURGH, PA — The Big Idea Center (BIC), the University of Pittsburgh’s hub for student innovation and entrepreneurship, is wrapping up a landmark year, one that saw a record level of 1900 student engagements. Students came from every level of study and across all 16 schools on Pitt’s Pittsburgh campus, including students from regional campuses. That breadth of participation, paired with over $100,000 in prizes awarded, marks the BIC’s most expansive year to date.
Novel Graphite Production Startup Takes Home $25,000 Big Idea Competition Grand Prize
Nearly $80,000 was awarded to teams participating in the 2026 Big Idea Competition, which culminated this week. Top honor went to team Grapheon who is commercializing a breakthrough method for converting low-cost feedstocks, including natural gas, into premium-grade graphite for use in lithium-ion batteries. The technology offers a significant reduction in both production cost and greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional graphite manufacturing, positioning Grapheon at the intersection of clean energy and U.S.-sourced advanced materials.
The team is led by postdoctoral associate Aime Laurent Twizerimana and PhD candidate Nader Sawtarie, both from the Swanson School of Engineering.
“We’re incredibly grateful to the Big Idea Center, where we first began validating our idea in last fall’s Kuzneski Innovation Cup. Their feedback, guidance, and support have been critical to our early success,” said Sawtarie.
Twizerman added, “We are now raising our pre-seed round and thrilled to have officially incorporated as Graphonos Materials Inc. Our technology makes it possible, really for the first time, to produce high-quality graphite domestically at about half the cost of China’s, using abundant natural gas and cutting emissions by 90%. We’re excited to bring this to market and help reshape the American graphite industry.”
Grapheon’s rapid success in just the past five months – from research to high-potential startup – was further recognized with the team’s acceptance into the prestigious 2026 Rice Business Plan Competition in Houston where the team walked away with a $20,000 Aramco Innovator Cash Prize within the same week they won the Big Idea Competition.
A Year of Momentum Across the BIC
The Grapheon win capped a year of remarkable activity and achievement across Big Idea Center programs, including:
- The recently launched ChangeMaker program, designed for students eager to develop problem-solving and value-creation capabilities and mindset, welcomed an all-time high of 68 participants from across the university to the program’s ChangeMaker Series. More than 50 completed the Series, earning a certificate of completion and eligibility for the BIC’s more in-depth extension of the ChangeMaker pathway, the ChangeMaker Scholar Recognition Program. Four Pitt students attained ChangeMaker Scholar status this academic year.
- Among other successes, Pittsburgh Coastal Energy, the 2025 Big Idea Competition Grand Prize winner, also earned a $25,000 prize at the Baylor New Venture Competition and took first place in the Student Startup category at the 2026 SXSW Pitch Event in Austin, Texas, one of several Pitt student startups to compete successfully on the regional, national, and global stage.
- HEARTio, a former Big Idea Competition awardee and early Big Idea Advantage Fund investee, announced the closing of a $4.25 million funding round, underscoring the lasting impact BIC support can have on a startup’s trajectory.
- abdOguide, a team of six students across multiple disciplines in Pitt’s Swanson School of Engineering, not only represented Pitt at the 2026 ACC InVenture Prize undergraduate innovation competition with their novel device to improve IVF procedures but also received this year’s Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award. This annual award is given to a diverse student team solving a meaningful, well-defined problem that demonstrates dedication, tenacity, perseverance, and commitment to take their innovation as far as it can go.
“This has been a record-breaking year for the Big Idea Center, with some programs seeing 150% growth in applications, and I couldn’t be prouder of what our students have accomplished,” said Rhonda Schuldt, Director of the Big Idea Center. “They are exploring and building their innovative and entrepreneurial interests and capabilities: starting companies, shaping their professional skills, and learning to navigate uncertainty, create value, lead with purpose, and make a lasting impact. These are lessons that extend far beyond the classroom and will serve them throughout their personal and professional lives.”
About the Big Idea Center
The Big Idea Center at the University of Pittsburgh fuels student innovation at every stage, not only supporting early ideation through startup launch but giving every Pitt student the opportunity to explore and experience how becoming innovative and entrepreneurially minded and skilled powers their possibilities. Through programming, competitions, mentorship, and funding, the BIC empowers students to turn bold ideas into real-world impact.
Learn more at www.BigIdea.pitt.edu
2026 Big Idea Competition award winners:
Grand Prize ($25,000):
Grapheon
- Aime Laurent Twizerimana (PostDoc, SSoE)
- Nader Sawtarie (PhD Candidate, SSoE)
2nd Place ($15,000):
ClearView-Jaw
- Zach Spears (Graduate Student, School of Med)
- Amogh Vellore (Graduate Student, School of Med)
MicroTymp
- Sebastian Gutensohn (Graduate Student, SSoE)
- Mateen Atassi (Pitt Alumni, SSoE)
- Peter Wood (Graduate Student, School of Med/SSoE)
- Saif Abbas (Pitt Alumni, SSoE)
3rd Place ($5,000):
MitoKine Therapeutics
- Shivani Tuli (PhD Candidate, SSoE)
- Nicholas Toosi (PhD Candidate, SSoE)
Nexus Imaging
- Jinghang Li (PhD Candidate, SSoE)
- Courtney Clark (Graduate Student, School of Medicine)
VO2
- Kai Morales (Undergraduate, A&S)
- Daniel Nguyen (WVU Student)
4th Place ($2,000):
Accessible AAC
- Angela Flewellen (Graduate Student, School of Health & Rehab Sciences)
Pitch Relay Device
- Matthew Zoschg (Undergraduate Student, SSoE)
AirBoss Dental Systems
- Chelsea Carver (Graduate Student, Dental Med)
- Eden Brunner (Undergraduate, SCI/SSoE)
Video Round ($2,000):
Origami
- Christian Waronsky (Undergraduate Student, Dental Med)
- Sangmin Park (Graduate Student, Dental Med)
Pitt’s 2025-2026 ChangeMaker Scholars, receiving a Certificate of Achievement and Academic Regalia recognizing their attaining ChangeMaker Scholar status include:
Lia Farroux
‘25 Masters, Swanson School of Engineering
Alex de Almeida
’25 JD, School of Law
Colby “CJ” Shores
Undergraduate Student, Swanson School of Engineering
Jordan Dawson
Graduate Student, School of Social Work