Aram Kalenian was an inventor who had numerous useful ideas and reduced many of them to practice. The purpose of the Kalenian Award is to encourage similar innovation and entrepreneurship at any stage of development from the WPI academic community. The award's focus is to fuel the entrepreneurial spirit through annual funding of a single viable invention.
This award will be given annually. The duration of the award shall not exceed 18 months and will be a grant of up to $25,000. It may be given to an individual or group involved in the invention of a product in order to assist in the process of moving the invention toward commercialization. The award may be given to support innovative ideas or the development of commercial products. Ideally, the recipients should be either a part of an existing small business enterprise or in the process of trying to establish a small business. This is not a business plan contest. Many diverse and high quality proposals are received making it difficult to select one winner. Applicants may resubmit proposals if they do not win an award in the previous year.
2 Award Categories:
- Undergraduate winner - up to $25,000
- Graduate Student/ Alumni/ Faculty Members Winner - up to $25,000
