The winners of the prizes receive $100,000 for their project and $50,000 each for a living stipend; they are also paired with a faculty mentor. The prizes are awarded annually.
Penn President J. Larry Jameson expressed that the event is one he looks forward to every year, calling the reception a “a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the best of Penn.”
“Really, the best of Penn in the framework of our founder, using creativity and innovation to engage with our community broadly for social good,” he said, going on to describe the many and varied accomplishments of Benjamin Franklin. “The group here, the winners of the President’s Engagement, Innovation, and Sustainability Prize, are very much in that model.”
(From left) Provost John L. Jackson Jr, Jack Roney, Ejun Mary Hong, Imani Nkrumah Ardayfio, Inaya Zaman, Rashmi Acharya, and Penn President J. Larry Jameson.
Jameson continued to thank the winners’ families, some of whom were in attendance, for their continued support, and participants in the selection process.
Imani Nkrumah Ardayfio, another winner from Nourish to Flourish, says the team is looking to the future and “trying to ground this project” by reaching out to more community partners and planning to implement their program as soon as possible.
“This summer we’re really focused on planning and meeting our partners, and making sure everything is really settled for the fall,” Ardayfio said.
(Left) Piotr Lazarek, who won a President’s Sustainability Prize for Nirby; (right) Imani Nkrumah Ardayfio, Penn Provost John L. Jackson Jr., and Rashmi Acharaya; (bottom) prize winners and several family members were in attendance at the annual reception.
He recognized his parents, who live in Poland and could not attend the reception but will be present for Commencement, and his many mentors at Penn. He also praised Penn’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, explaining that while other schools may focus on competitions that reward only a few, Penn laser-focuses its attention on accelerating and helping would-be entrepreneurs every step of the way—from validation to implementation.
“The point is to help [entrepreneurs] from the ground up, and I think Penn does terrific when it comes to this,” Lazarek said, acknowledging Venture Lab and its VIP-X accelerator.
Alexandra Popescu, a PIP winner for Sync Labs, an AI-driven solution to transform senior care, described the moment as “an amazing culmination of the last four years in Engineering,” experiencing the process of building projects in classes and finally being able to see the impact of a real-world product as she nears graduation.
“The mentorship in Penn Engineering is incredible,” Popescu adds. “We’ve had amazing support.”
Wanda Popescu, her mother, having just come from a series of senior presentations at the School of Engineering and Applied Science, marveled that it is “incredible how much support Penn offers.”
“She’s starting a new chapter in her life, and we’re really excited to see where this can lead,” Wanda Popescu said.
“We’re both fine arts majors who believe art is important, but beyond that, knowing we are maybe one of the few arts projects to win the prize, I think this is very invigorating,” said Roney.
Hong reflected on her time at Penn, recalling how many friends, professors, and mentors have made an impact along the way.
“Everyone from the Netter Center [for Community Partnerships], they shaped me into the person I am today, and [helped me] know my goals and helped me to become more oriented to the community engagement aspect of my life, and I couldn’t have imagined this would be the day I would see myself in when I was entering Penn. I was a very different person,” she said. “But then all these people inspired me so much. And I really want to give back.”
People living on small islands and territories face mounting climate impacts, but little is known about their stance on the issue. Research from a team including Parrish Bergquist, assistant professor of political science, aims to fill those gaps.
Penn researchers developed a system that allows light to be guided through a tiny crystal, undeterred by bumps, bends, and back-reflections. Their findings pave the way for robust, controllable light-based chips, smarter routing for data links, and more stable lasers.
A West Philadelphia High School student practices the drum as part of a July summer program in partnership with the Netter Center for Community Partnerships and nonprofit Musicopia.
A summer of student enrichment, from big ideas to bold beats
The Netter Center for Community Partnerships finished its summer of programming for West Philadelphia students, impacting 640 students and six University-Assisted Community Schools.
