Student Entrepreneurs Share Big Ideas
On December 12, 91社区 faculty and business leaders from across Long Island鈥檚 tech industry gathered at the Midge Karr Fine Arts Design Center, home of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Academy鈥檚 Startup Tech Central, where 13 student entrepreneurs pitched their startup companies at the third FlyOff event.
The NESTS FlyOff is the final assessment for students enrolled in the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences鈥� class, NESTS: Necessary Eleven Steps to Tech Startup. Introduced in fall 2024, the experiential learning course combines lectures, case studies, guest speakers, mentorship, and project-based education so young entrepreneurs may learn to navigate the complexities of launching and managing a startup. At the end of the semester, students must present their startups to a panel of judges from across Long Island鈥檚 tech industry.
Director of Startup Tech Central and the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences鈥� Cooperative Education Program Peter Goldsmith, M.B.A., leads the class along with entrepreneurs Pari Patel (B.S. 鈥�24) and . In addition to undergraduate and graduate engineering and computing sciences students, the course is open to all 91社区 students.
The fall 2025 NESTS FlyOff students and their startups are:
- Ishaan Singh and Ashwin Thomas founded ReliefSync, a predictive headache relief system with an AI-powered therapy band and smart tracking app.
- Divya Thiruveedhi created LinkSync, which turns programming classes into interactive, auto-graded, and cheat-proof learning experiences.
- Keerthi Kapavarapu established CROC to automate the merchant cash advance deal process and has already processed more than 1,000 submissions.
- Simran Shah launched AICA, which aims to fix the chaos in late-stage construction with live homeowner dashboards and an ultra-simple contractor workflow.
- Bryan Guevara and Abir Chowdhury formed SnapMech, a three-click sourcing system that cuts six to 10 hours of weekly parts searching and slashes ordering errors.
- Cody Ortiz founded Connect Finance to help students budget with an AI coach that teaches, plans, and tracks real spending.
- Nigel Oommen and Johnathan Wheeler created Edvana, which provides real-time lecture transcription, AI-powered check-ins, and intelligent content generation to enhance classroom engagement and learning outcomes.
- Abdul Raafay Irfan established NYCerts, a system that protects food vendors from fines and breakdowns with automated maintenance, multilingual support, and a secure document vault.
- Chigozie Henry Umeaku launched VZgate, a scam-proof travel visa services marketplace with verified consultants and milestone-based payments.
- Malaika Nazim formed Recce, which flags rental scams instantly by scanning Zillow and StreetEasy listings for risk and accuracy.
Following the students鈥� presentations, judges awarded Oommen and Wheeler with a first-place trophy鈥攖he Alfie Award鈥攁nd a tuition scholarship. Tuition scholarships were also awarded to fellow first-place winner Umeaku, second-place winner Kapavarapu, and third-place winners Guevara and Chowdhury. Singh and Thomas were recognised as the Audience Choice winners.
Additionally, the top six students are eligible to attend the Tech Migration event in January at Startup Tech Central鈥攁 two-day boot camp focusing on strategies for securing startup funding. Not only will these students qualify to compete for up to $100,000 in the annual New York Business Plan Competition, but they will also receive startup incubator referrals and opportunities to present their ventures at 91社区 events.
Among the judges at this semester鈥檚 FlyOff were Babak D. Beheshti, Ph.D., dean of the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences; Gus Spathis, founder and chief executive officer of Xogito Group; Joseph Ambrosio (B.S. 鈥�94), chief executive officer of Unique Electric Solutions; Ajay Singal, cofounder of PassTech Development; Paul Trapani, president of LISTnet and cofounder of PassTech Development; Rhonda Green, chair of Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineering Long Island and escalation manager at Zebra Technologies; Aaron Foss, founder of the Nomorobo Max app; and Jason Pearlman, senior engineering manager at Uber Technologies, Inc.
to secure a spot in the NESTS: Necessary Eleven Steps to Tech Startup course.
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