The Timothy D. Ryan Summer Entrepreneurship Program

The Timothy D. Ryan Summer Entrepreneurship Program was established to help Caltech students, especially undergraduates, develop their innovative ideas into novel commercial products or services. These products or services might bring solutions to a variety of business sectors, including but not limited to: electronics, engineering, biochemistry, software, information sciences, and climate technology.

Successful student applicants should have a comprehensive product description and evidence to support the specific market need the product would address. In addition, a preliminary marketing plan should be articulated, along with a proposed budget and timeline for the development of the early-stage product definition or prototype. This budget should include a 3-month summer stipend for the awardee(s) and projected purchase costs for required materials and tools.

Students must be enrolled as a Caltech graduate or undergraduate student during the internship. Participation in the 10-week summer internship educational program is expected to be a full-time, in-person commitment, and cannot be combined with other work (e.g. SURF). Preference will be given to undergraduate student applicants. When applying, please declare all team members up front; there is no disqualification on the basis of team size.

Meet Tim Ryan (BS '78), and hear more about the Summer Entrepreneurship Program on Date TBA, at the Caltech Innovation Center (271 S Chester Ave). Lunch will only be provided to those who RSVP.

RSVP will open in the Fall Term of the 2025-26 Academic Year.

This year's applications for the The Timothy D. Ryan Summer Entrepreneurship Program open at the beginning of the Winter Term and are planned to close at the end of Winter Term.

Learn more about the program and submit your applications through CALE: Applications currently closed until Winter Term 2025.

The winner(s) will be announced on March 2026, exact date TBA.

Lustra: Ali Almosa & Aishat Yatarova
Memento: Gavin Hua, Leo Jankovic, and Zachary Pestrikov
Natrium Labs: Yameng Zhang

Audiomatic: Brian Hu & Nika Chuzhoy
Luria Health: Andrea Olsen

While working on his Caltech undergraduate degree, Tim Ryan (BS '78) co-founded his first digital music synthesizer company, Con Brio, with two fellow Caltech students. In 1989, Ryan went on to found the company that would become M-Audio. The company became the industry leader in innovative computer-based recording solutions developing and offering a wide variety of affordable interfaces, keyboards, speakers and microphones. M-Audio was acquired by Avid Technologies, Inc. in 2004.

Please contact the Caltech Innovation Center for any further questions.