OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship
2025 Cohort
Ali Armosa | BSc Chemical Engineering, '28 | Student Startup: Lustra
Ali applied with teammate Aishat to the Timothy D. Ryan Program with a concept for a cosmetic application that would allow consumers to filter through the many skincare products on the market. Over the summer, they conducted marketing research, talking to beauty and drugstores and gathering customer feedback to develop their application and launch their company, now called Lustra. Ali feels more set in his entrepreneurial career goals given all the progress he and Aishat have made with Lustra this summer.
Maleque Chouayekh | BSc Physics & BEM, '27 | Startup: Prism ML
Carissa Gerung | BSc Computer Science & Neuroscience, '28 | Startup: S3
Carissa applied to the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship to get a better idea of what her potential career path might be. Over the summer, she worked on two projects: one for a calcium isotope diagnostic for osteoporosis, and one for a patented anti-infection urinary catheter. Across both projects, she conducted market research, regulatory analysis, and business case development to assess whether the technologies could form a viable basis for a startup. Reflecting on the program, Carissa says, “Getting to see where science intersects with business showed me that I’m equally excited about understanding how innovations move from the lab into the market.”
Matthieu Kratz | PhD Bioengineering, '25 | Startup: APV
Matthieu applied to the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship interested in a potential career in venture capital. Over the summer, he performed market research for several Caltech startups focused on lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) regarding the key players in the field, key clinical considerations in LNP-enabled oncology, and technical barriers associated with LNPs. Through the program, Matthieu realized that his experience and skillset did not fully align with a career in venture capital, but was able to identify a different path towards his career goals.
Zachary Pestrikov | BSc Computer Engineering, '27 | Student Startup: Memento
Along with teammates Gavin and Leo, Zach applied to the Timothy D. Ryan Program to develop the team’s elder care software for Alzheimer’s and dementia, Memento, which they originally envisioned as an application that could be integrated with current Augmented Reality (AR) glasses products to help provide families with up-to-date information on their elderly relatives’ condition. Over the summer, they learned more about the capabilities of current AR glasses technology, did market research and interviewed families and caregivers about what challenges they faced, and launched a smartphone app that centralizes patient information from caregivers and family members in one place. Zach particularly reflects that he learned the importance of getting out and talking to others, whether they are potential customers or industry experts.
Susanna Cao | BSc Mechanical Engineering, '28 | Startup: Argus
Susanna came into the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship hoping to explore what pursuing entrepreneurship would actually be like. Over the summer, she conducted market analysis on MITRAR, a real-time safety detection software that works with Augmented Reality software to identify and notify users of potential hazards and assist users with addressing them. She performed competitor analysis and conducted customer interviews to put together a market analysis for MITRAR. Susanna not only walked away from the program with the firsthand startup experience she had hoped for, but also discovered new career opportunities in entrepreneurship.
Rongrong Du | PhD Bioengineering, '26 | Startup: Asymptote
Hoping to expand upon her experience in academia, Rongrong applied to the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship to gain an understanding of how startups work and learn some general principles of running an academic lab. Over the summer, she worked with Asymptote Genetic Medicines, identifying and prioritizing therapeutic opportunities for Asymptote’s technology. She came away from her research with a deepened understanding of neurological disease mechanisms and saw how discoveries can be translated. Her experience this summer strengthened her conviction to pursue academia while appreciating how her work may inspire real-world applications.
Gavin Hua | BSc Electrical Engineering, '27 | Student Startup: Memento
Along with teammates Leo and Zach, Gavin applied to the Timothy D. Ryan Program to develop their elder care software for Alzheimer’s and dementia, which they originally envisioned as an application that could be integrated with current Augmented Reality (AR) glasses products to help provide families with up-to-date information on their elderly relatives’ condition. Over the summer, they learned more about the capabilities of current AR glasses technology, did market research and interviewed families and caregivers about what challenges they faced, and launched a smartphone app that centralizes patient information from caregivers and family members in one place.
Noah Okada | PhD Social & Decision Neuroscience '28 | Startup: CHOMP
Coming into the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship, Noah was interested in exploring a career in deep tech entrepreneurship and venture capital. Over the summer, he developed a toolkit leveraging large language models to rapidly generate and organize competitive intelligence for therapeutics companies, enabling faster insights into companies, programs, and market landscapes. This firsthand exposure to working at an early-stage company helped Noah clarify the direction of the work he wants to do in future and helped him identify how his skillset best fits within the VC ecosystem.
Aishat Yatarova | BSc Mechanical Engineering, '28 | Student Startup: Lustra
Aishat applied with teammate Ali to the Timothy D. Ryan Program with a concept for a cosmetic application that would allow consumers to filter through the many skincare products on the market. Over the summer, they conducted marketing research, talking to beauty and drugstores and gathering customer feedback to develop their application and launch their company, now called Lustra.
Joshua Chaj Ulloa | PhD Medical Engineering, '28 | Startup: Aizen
Joshua had always been more academia-oriented, but he wanted to have some exposure to the startup world to learn more about how feasible it is to take scientific advancements from the lab and create a startup. Over the summer, he worked with startup Aizen Therapeutics, analyzing the competitive landscapes, clinical trial designs, GPCR-targeting strategies, and assessing the oral bioavailability of D-peptide based therapeutics. After the ten weeks, Josh walked away feeling less daunted by entrepreneurship, and more interested in further exploration into the field and future career opportunities.
Jonathan Farhi | PhD Chemistry | Startup: Yang Digital Pathology
Jonathan applied to the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship to explore other potential career avenues. Over the summer, he worked on two projects, one utilizing AI to help strategize for early intervention for cancer, and one concerning stroke prediction. Focusing on the former project, he conducted market research to determine the viability and potential business model for using AI in combination with microscopy to improve predictions of metastasis for cancer patients. Jonathan reflects, “The internship helped me see that while I remain very interested in innovation and the entrepreneurial mindset, I would prefer to first build a stronger foundation of industry experience and technical expertise before considering that path.”
Leo Jankovic | BSc Computer Science & Biology '27 | Student Startup: Memento
Along with teammates Gavin and Zach, Leo applied to the Timothy D. Ryan Program to develop their elder care software for Alzheimer’s and dementia, which they originally envisioned as an application that could be integrated with current Augmented Reality (AR) glasses products to help provide families with up-to-date information on their elderly relatives’ condition. Over the summer, they learned more about the capabilities of current AR glasses technology, did market research and interviewed families and caregivers about what challenges they faced, and launched a smartphone app that centralizes patient information from caregivers and family members in one place.
Raymond Provost | BSc Mechanical Engineering & BEM, '27 | Startup: 3Laws Robotics
In applying to the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship, Raymond hoped to determine whether his interest in pursuing entrepreneurship as a career was a good fit for him. Over the summer, he made a marketing demo for 3Laws Robotics, learning the basics of robotics engineering to plan and implement an autonomy stack for a mobile manipulator. Then, using the knowledge in marketing, advertising, and video production he researched, he created a demo video for 3Laws. While Raymond noted that the startup hours were as taxing as he had expected, he found the fast-paced work interesting and the experience only reinforced his goal to found a startup after graduation.
Yameng Zhang | PhD Neurobiology | Student Startup: Natrium Labs
Yameng applied to the Timothy D. Ryan Program with her concept for company Natrium Labs, a dietary supplement that helps suppress people’s desire for sodium consumption. During the summer, she solidified progress on her company by conducting customer research, honing her business plan, and refining her investor pitch. Alongside gaining practical skills in pitch development, market sizing, and competitive analysis, Yameng says the experience helped her connect the technical side of her work to real world applications: “I learned that it is not enough to have a strong scientific idea; validating the problem through consumer discovery and market research is essential for building something people truly need.”
2024 Cohort
Nika Chuzhoy | BSc Computer Science, '26 | Student Startup: Audiomatic
Coming into the Timothy D. Ryan Summer Internship program, Nika was unsure whether she would pursue entrepreneurship after graduating from Caltech. She hoped the program would help her determine whether entrepreneurship was a viable path for her. As a co-founder of Audiomatic, a company providing AI-enabled dubbed translations of audio and video content, she and her co-founders pushed themselves to learn new skills and worked hard to launch their website by the end of the summer. Nika was thrilled with the progress they made, and the experience has reaffirmed her commitment to working on the company as much as possible while she continues her studies.
Bella Germano | BSc Biology; minor in Business, Economics, and Management, '25 | Startup: Persperity
Bella applied for the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship in the hopes of learning more about venture capital. For her summer project, she ran market research for Persperity to provide analytics on the serviceable accessible market, key opinion leaders, and competitors within the fertility space. Her experience over the internship has led to a new future goal of starting a private equity fund, along with her prior goal of establishing a national chain of medical practices.
Roey Lazarovits | PhD Medical Engineering, '27 | Startup: Magdalena - cell therapy
Roey hoped to gain a better understanding of different approaches for commercializing biotechnologies through the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship. Over the summer, he evaluated market interests and opportunities in clinical applications of stem cells for a Caltech proto startup, allowing him to gain firsthand experience in the skills required for and challenges that come with starting a biotech company. He says, “This internship has helped me learn to break down complicated questions in the biotech industry into tangible pieces that can be quantitatively answered.”
William (Billy) Welch | PhD Mechanical Engineering, '27 | Startup: 3Laws Robotics
Billy hoped the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship could help him to not only gain an understanding of how to run a startup, but also connect and network with other like-minded individuals on campus. Over the summer, he developed and implemented a pipeline for robots to better understand objects in their environment for 3Laws Robotics. He got firsthand experience overcoming engineering challenges to develop technology and learned more about succeeding in entrepreneurship: “I’ve gained a deeper respect for the challenges of entrepreneurship and a healthy understanding of the long-term nature of startup success.”
Madison Dunitz | PhD Geobiology, '27 | Student Startup: Desert Farming
Madison and her partner Helen came into the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship after their company, Desert Farming, was a finalist team in the Bill Gross Prize for Entrepreneurship. They had clear goals to further progress their company, which is working to develop resilient microbial communities capable of efficient carbon fixation in sea water. Madison especially hoped to get a better picture of the competition landscape for their company and understand how to market their technology. Having had the opportunity to meet with VC partners and members of OTTCP, she reflects that this experience has helped her refine her ideas and will help her better communicate her ideas as her company begins to raise capital.
Brian Hu | BSc Computer Science, '26 | Student Startup: Audiomatic
Alongside his Audiomatic co-founder Nika, Brian applied for the Timothy D. Ryan Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship to continue work on iterating, finding product-market fit for, and then launching their product. The company translates audio into other languages while preserving the style and voices of the original speakers. With the resources funded by the program, the Audiomatic team was able to build out a fully operational product and launch their website by the end of the summer. The internship programming helped Brian gain valuable insight into how venture capital firms operate, the types of companies they invest in, and what it would look like to raise funding rounds.
Andrea Olsen | BSc, '27 | Student Startup: Luria Health
After winning second place in the Bill Gross Prize for Entrepreneurship, Andrea joined the Timothy D. Ryan Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship to work towards launching her startup, Luria Health (formerly Chiron). Over the summer, she continued to develop the prototype for her AI-powered system for personalized and holistic health analysis and gained important information for early-stage startups through weekly programming. Andrea has now formed the foundation of her company and is continuing to build from there.
Helen Wexler | PhD Bioengineering, '25 | Student Startup: Desert Farming
Like her partner Madison, Helen applied to the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship to better understand supply chain complexities, economics, and gain insight into the grant application process for their company Desert Farming. The Bill Gross Prize for Entrepreneurship finalist company is developing new biocomposites from algae and agricultural waste residuals to facilitate large-scale carbon sequestration. Helen says, “The internship shifted my focus toward developing a comprehensive financial plan for the next three years, better understanding the intersection of technology and financial risks, and challenging some of the implicit assumptions I had made about the production process.”
Jack Fishel | BSc, Business, Economics, and Management, '25 | Startup: 3Laws Robotics
Jack applied for the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship hoping to gain firsthand experience of day-to-day startup operations, as he was considering whether entrepreneurship was a career path he would want to pursue. Over the summer, he helped 3Laws Robotics develop a sales and marketing pipeline to bring 3Laws’ collision avoidance technology to market. His internship experience reinforced his interest in a future career in entrepreneurship and allowed him to gain insight into the type of tight-knit collaboration needed in a startup to achieve a company’s goals.
Noor Ibrahim | BSc Chemical Engineering, '27 | Startup: Asymptote
Noor applied to the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship to further explore how research breakthroughs can be transformed into accessible solutions. Over the summer, he conducted a market analysis for a novel cancer technology developed by Asymptote, focusing on identifying the most suitable cancers for its application and evaluating the current landscape and growth trends in clinical trials for defined indications. His experience over the ten weeks of this internship has supported his career goal to be involved in startups in the biomedical industry, especially those focused on genetic therapies and drug development.
Robert (Otis) Otieno | BSc Applied Computational Mathematics, '27 | Startup: Encryptiest; also: OTTCP
Otis was interested in expanding his knowledge and building a network on campus through the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship. Over the summer, he took on two different projects: one researching the role AI could play in tech transfer operations, and one building a business model for Encryptiest. He reflects, “The kind of professionals I have met – from venture capitalists to entrepreneurs – is an opportunity I don’t think any other internship would have given me. When I am founder of a startup of my own, I am confident in my skill set to deliver a product to the market that reaches the common user.”
Ruijia (Gabo) Zhang | BSc Computer Science & Electrical Engineering, '27 | Startup: Desert Farming
Interested in learning more about how startups spin off from labs to the market, Gabo applied for the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship. She worked for student startup Desert Farming over the summer, completing a competitive analysis and manufacturing cost breakdown for the algae carbon capture startup. She came away from the experience knowing how green tech startups request funding from the Department of Education and how to scale an idea into a funded seed-stage startup by finding product-market fit. She is more determined than ever that entrepreneurship will be a part of her future career planning.
2023 Cohort
Logan Beharry | BSc Bioengineering, '25 | Startup: Barrier Biosciences
Logan applied for the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship to broaden his knowledge about biotechnology, startups, and venture capital. Over the course of the internship, he not only solidified his resolve to pursue a future career at a biotechnology startup. Logan notably learned the importance of comprehensive market research and understanding the intellectual property landscape in ensuring the success of a startup.
Alycia Lipscomb | BSc Applied and Computational Mathematics, '25 | Startup: 3Laws Robotics
Alycia was considering a career in robotics, AI, or business and hoped the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship would help guide her decision. She has come away with a new interest in venture capital and investing, a potential new career avenue in advising, and developed a strong understanding of the importance of current market trends for companies.
Stephanie O'Gara | PhD Mechanical Engineering, '24 | Startup: Ophthalmology Delivery Concept for Wet AMD
Stephanie hoped the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship would help her gain experience and insight into entrepreneurship as well as dispel some of the mystery surrounding the world of venture capital. Her experience has confirmed her interest in starting her own company in the future and has allowed her to find a community of like-minded individuals at Caltech.
Sean Theuri | BSc Computer Science and Engineering, '26 | Student startup: String
Sean, along with the rest of the String team, applied for the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship to be able to test their business concept for supply-chain optimization. Over the summer, they worked closely with Entrepreneurship-in-Residence Julie Schoenfeld to get their company off the ground.
Diego Causarano Benegas | MSc Electrical Engineering, '23 | Startup: Calcarea
Diego applied for the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship with an interest in delving deeper into a potential career in the energy sector and gain experience in the entrepreneurial field. Through his research for his project, he honed his research and communication skills and reinforced his ambition to start his own business in the future.
Nyasha Makaya | BSc Computer Science; Business, Economics, and Management, '26 | Student startup: String
Nyasha, along with the rest of the String team, applied for the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship to be able to test their business concept for supply-chain optimization. Over the summer, they worked closely with Entrepreneurship-in-Residence Julie Schoenfeld to get their company off the ground.
Eden Obeng | BSc Computer Science, '26 | Student startup: String
Eden, along with the rest of the String team, applied for the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship to be able to test their business concept for supply-chain optimization. Over the summer, they worked closely with Entrepreneurship-in-Residence Julie Schoenfeld to get their company off the ground.
Jie (Jolena) Zhou | PhD Chemical Engineering, '25 | Startup: Barrier Biosciences
Jolena hoped the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship would provide her a window into invaluable startup experience, aligning her scientific training with strategic and business acumen within clinical contexts. Her experience over the summer has solidified her enthusiasm for entrepreneurship, teaching her how to present her research findings more efficiently as well as demonstrating how different pieces of clinical information translate into strategic priorities.
Li-En Lin | PhD, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, '24 | Startup: Payda Tech
Li-En applied for the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship to learn more about how to start a business and how VC funds work. His experience reaffirmed his interest in starting a company in the future and demonstrated the importance of building connections.
Abdulkarim Mugisha | BSc Computer Science, '26 | Student startup: String
Abdulkarim, along with the rest of the String team, applied for the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship to be able to test their business concept for supply-chain optimization. Over the summer, they worked closely with Entrepreneurship-in-Residence Julie Schoenfeld to get their company off the ground.
Kenny Thai | BSc Geophysics; Business, Economics, and Management, '23 | Startup: Captura
Kenny applied for the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship to explore new employment fields and came away with the confidence to independently tackle new problems.
Anas Zouhar | BSc Applied Mathematics and Business, '24 | Startup: StrokeDx
As a rising senior, Anas applied for the OTTCP Summer Internship in Entrepreneurship to help decide a potential career path after graduation. Over the summer, he developed a passion for working for a startup and has most appreciated being a part of the culture of trust between those first few startup members.