Experiential Learning Accelerators

BUILDing Connecticut’s Capital City: Unique UConn Course Celebrates Five Years of Partnership, Collaboration, and Hartford Stories

Posted on by Jaclyn Severance

UConn Today – On a Wednesday afternoon in late April – tucked inside a quiet brick building in Hartford’s Frog Hollow neighborhood, just a few blocks from the shining gold dome of Connecticut’s State Capitol building – a celebration took place.

On the third floor of The Lyceum – an historic site that at different times in its past housed a box manufacturing company, a punk rock dance club, and a roller-skating business – there were balloons, and there was music. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Smiles and handshakes and hugs passed around.

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Innovation Quest Selects Five Top Startups, Ranging from Manufacturing Innovation to New Hair-Care Option

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – The Innovation Quest (iQ) entrepreneurship competition crowned five new champions on April 20, with innovations that included a novel manufacturing innovation, a system for making tuition payments easier, and tool to help protect creative endeavors from being usurped by AI.

The students ranged from a second-semester freshman to a ready-to-graduate Ph.D. candidate. Together, they shared $35,000 in prize money.

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First-Year Business Student Invites UConn Diners to ‘Swipe’ for Easy Dining Hall Nutrition Info

Posted on by Jaclyn Severance

UConn Today – Sean Howard ’29 (BUS) is not a code writer or a programmer.

He doesn’t have a background in computer science, and he comes from a family of teachers, not engineers.

But the first-year School of Business student from Branford, who hasn’t settled on his major quite yet, is an entrepreneur, which means that he tends to look at the world around him with an entrepreneurial mindset – seeing a need, and then trying to meet that need with a solution.

And in his first semester at UConn Storrs, he found a need.

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UConn’s Entrepreneurship Ranking Climbs in 2026 Princeton Review Findings

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – UConn’s reputation as an entrepreneurship academic powerhouse climbed significantly in the 2026 rankings released Nov. 12 by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur.

The results were based on 40 data points including academic offerings, faculty credentials, experiential learning, mentorship, and more.

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Wolff Competition Awards Grand Prize to Company Using Seaweed to Replace Plastic

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – SeaSol Technologies, a startup that is converting seaweed into compostable food packaging to replace plastic, was the grand prize winner at the Wolff New Venture Competition last week.

CEO Yidan Zhang, a UConn Ph.D. candidate, was exuberant at receiving the top award, which includes $30,000 prize and $5,000 in pro-bono services from Wolff Financial Group.

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Retired Army Major Wins EBV Alumni Event Pitch Competition

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – If you ask U.S. Army Major (Ret.) Henry H. Washington III ’21 EBV about the experiences that set him up for success as a youngster, he will credit three things:

  • loving parents,
  • a never-miss-church-on-Sunday ethic,
  • participation in every sports team available, all which kept him busy, tired, and out of trouble and
  • a “village’’ of people who cared about him.

Today he is the Founder and CEO of the Henry H. Washington 3 Foundation, which serves to better the lives of children, teens and young adults in metro Atlanta. The foundation offers a wide range of services, but is particularly focused on helping youth find a career path, stay out of trouble, and serve the community.

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UConn Chemists Developing Safer, All-Natural Contrast Dye for Medical Imaging

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – In the United States alone, more than 130 million MRIs and CT scans were performed in 2023. And while those medical images are very valuable tools in identifying, or ruling out, serious health problems, they are not without risk.

While the majority of patients experience no adverse effects, the contrast dyes used in the process can cause allergic reactions, and can trigger kidney damage in those with pre-existing kidney disease. The concern is greatest among people requiring multiple scans.

Pragati Rout, a doctoral candidate, and her mentor, chemistry professor Greg Sotzing, have found a plant-based alternative that is safe, effective, and free of allergic reaction. They’ve created a company, called 404 Inc., to market the medical innovation, as well as other consumer products.

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Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation Recognized as a Global Leader in Venture Creation

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – UConn’s Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CCEI) has received the Outstanding Contributions to Venture Creation Award at the 2025 Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers Conference in Calgary, Canada.

The award honors a university center that demonstrates excellence in supporting the launch and growth of startups through innovative programs such as competitions, incubators, and accelerators. Selection is based on program impact, outcomes, and community engagement.

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Startup ‘SeaSol’ Seeks to Convert Seaweed into Compostable Food Packaging, Replacing Plastic

Posted on by Claire Hall

UConn Today – When you visit your favorite sandwich, donut, or pizza shop next year, UConn Ph.D. candidate Yidan Zhang hopes you’ll be leaving with more than just good food. She wants you to also get a healthier food wrapper to carry it home.

Zhang is CEO of a startup called SeaSol Technologies, Inc. (DBA SeaSol), which is converting seaweed into a functional coating that makes food packaging compostable and high performance. The SeaSol team has developed a low-cost process that pares down the seaweed conversion process from 14 steps to one.

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