Ten Harvard Extension School community members were named finalists or semifinalists in Harvard’s 2025 President’s Innovation Challenge. Facilitated by the Harvard Innovation Labs, the competition recognizes promising alumni- and student-led ventures across various fields. 

We’re thrilled to celebrate the following students and alumni making significant contributions in innovation and entrepreneurship.  

Innovation Challenge Ingenuity Awards Winner

Tyrone Dotson Jr., ALM Sustainability, is one of four winners in this category. His venture, Wyndergy, is harnessing wind power to increase range for electric vehicles and eliminate range anxiety. 

Innovation Challenge Ingenuity Awards Finalist 

Spencer Brown, ALM Finance‘s venture Katmai Computing is one of five finalists for this award. His venture focuses on developing “the world’s most advanced quantum textbook” — quantum hardware you can hold in your hand.

Challenge Semifinalists

The following degree candidates and alumni were among this year’s semifinalists:

  • Young Jae Koh, ALB
    • Venture: Adeuk is solving challenges around implementing new AI agent technologies.
  • Joel Rodriguez, ALM Sustainability
    • Venture: Assignment Inc. is organizing the world’s climate change plans into solvable assignments on a mobile application — the Pokémon Go of climate change.
  • Nishanth “Yogi” Yarlagadda, ALM Sustainability
    • Venture: CBase AI is building data infrastructure to solve for data silos in the construction industry.
  • Ceyhan Yildiz, ALM Management
    • Venture: EthicLab is a B2B SaaS platform for ethical checking of AI models and outcomes, providing ethical scores and actionable suggestions with tailored ethical frameworks.
  • Karina Yamamoto, ALM Finance 2021
    • Venture: Gridbrid is helping companies simplify the process, maximize the profits, and reduce the risks of developing renewable energy power plants.
  • Nikita Roy, ALM Data Science 2023
    • Newsroom Robots Labs is producing a podcast on AI in journalism and offering training and AI operations consultancy to newsrooms.
  • Tulio Perez, ALB
    • Venture: PhySciManics is producing educational resources and digital publications for junior engineers.
  • Ada Obanua, ALM International Relations 2025
    • Venture: Ribara is helping users boost their employability through a social media platform for education and job skills.