From Lab Bench to Launchpad: REU/SMURF 2025 Inspires the Next Generation of Scientist-Entrepreneurs
From Lab Bench to Launchpad: REU/SMURF 2025 Inspires the Next Generation of Scientist-Entrepreneurs
The transition from academic research to a meaningful career in STEM often requires more than just lab experience. It requires mentorship, hands-on exploration, and a vision for impact. That’s why the MRSEC REU/SMURF program continues to be a vital stepping stone for aspiring scientists.
The 2025 REU/SMURF program once again provided students with more than just research training. It sparked entrepreneurial curiosity, expanded career horizons, and laid a foundation for scientific leadership.
What Is REU/SMURF?
The Research Experiences for Undergraduates / Summer Materials Undergraduate Research Fellowship (REU/SMURF) is a competitive summer initiative that brings together students from Brandeis and Hampton University, a leading Historically Black College and University (HBCU), along with students from other colleges in the US. Hosted in the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) at Brandeis, the program offers students the opportunity to conduct cutting-edge materials science research under faculty mentorship.
Participants spend several weeks immersed in laboratory work, gaining not only technical skills but also a deeper understanding of how science intersects with innovation and entrepreneurship.
The focus for the Brandeis Innovation session for REU/SMURF was on offering students a hands-on introduction to what it means to bring scientific ideas into the marketplace. As always, the goal was not just to train researchers, but to cultivate problem solvers who can translate lab discoveries into real-world solutions.
Rajnish Kaushik, PhD, Director of Licensing and Strategic Alliances at Brandeis Innovation, led a discussion on the technology commercialization process. Helena Mistry, PhD, who consults with Brandeis on technology transfer, shared her work exploring commercialization pathways for CYP Select, a startup born in the lab of Brandeis Prof. Tom Pochapsky. She discussed the complex steps needed to translate a scientific breakthrough into a potential medical treatment, as she shared the journey of a potential compound for treating prostate cancer from lab to pharmaceutical startup. Christina Inge, EdD, Brandeis Innovation Spark and I-Corps instructor, gave a talk on customer discovery and aligning innovation with market needs. Students learned how scientists translate lab discoveries into marketable innovations.
By understanding intellectual property, market validation, and customer discovery, participants gained a crash course in how real-world impact is achieved beyond academia through translational research.
The 2025 Startup Pitches: Creativity Meets Impact
This year’s teams brought forth three standout entrepreneurial concepts, each addressing a unique challenge:
- TrackThat
A smart inventory and tracking system designed for communal environments like dorm kitchens and shared labs. By enabling shared access and reducing waste, the platform tackles food waste and resource inefficiencies—an elegant solution for sustainable living. - AIdvisor: An AI-powered advising tool that supports college students by offering on-demand guidance. Not intended to replace human advisors, AIdvisor instead acts as a first line of support, reducing workload bottlenecks and increasing accessibility for students navigating course selection, career questions, and academic planning.
- The CADpri: A line of biodegradable, chemical-resistant, and fire-retardant fashion-forward lab clothing. Starting with lab-safe wide-leg cropped pants and stylish tearaway trousers, CADpri reimagines HAZMAT wear with sustainability, safety, and gender-inclusive design at its core.
Audience members, including both student peers and OTL staff, posed thoughtful, challenging questions to test the feasibility and scalability of each idea. The teams handled the scrutiny with poise, showcasing their readiness to think like both scientists and entrepreneurs.
Preparing the Future of STEM
The REU/SMURF program continues to prove that the future of STEM is collaborative, inclusive, and entrepreneurial. By bridging Brandeis's research ecosystem with Hampton’s brilliant student pipeline, the program advances a shared vision: empowering underrepresented students to become innovators, leaders, and changemakers.