The Garage x McCormick

The Garage is a community and physical space for every Northwestern student interested in entrepreneurship to learn, iterate, and grow. We offer students resources, programming, and mentorship designed to help build the skills and entrepreneurial mindset they need to succeed in any industry.

Students from across the University bring a wide range of diverse academic and personal experiences that enrich the entrepreneurial environment at The Garage through exposure to new ideas, ways of thinking and skill sets.

In the fall of 2022, there were 98 McCormick students participating in programs at The Garage, working on projects ranging from SteadyScrib, a startup designing a pen to increase ability and independence for people with Parkinson’s Disease, to Overture Games, a startup developing video games for music students that they play with their instrument.

Niraj Shah, McCormick ‘23 & Will Xenakis, McCormick ‘23

Niraj and Will, longtime members of The Garage’s Residency program, are co-founders of Xenah Developers, an affordable web development firm. The pair advanced to the finals of VentureCat 2022 and were recently featured in Chicago Inno’s ‘25 under 25′ list.

Will Xenakis (left) & Niraj Shah (right)

Major: Both students are pursuing a B.S. in Computer Science

Project / Company: Xenah Developers is a coding consultancy that aims to develop skills for CS undergrads while delivering quality apps and websites to clients.

The Garage has been instrumental in creating my startup, we wouldn’t be where we are today without it. We’ve gotten provided valuable resources and mentorship from the very beginning that have helped turn ideas into reality. It’s a place that connects you with all the resources you need to build a company and fosters a culture of innovation and success.”

Alexis Chan, McCormick ’24

Alexis participated in The Garage’s summer pre-accelerator program, Jumpstart, and is a current member of the Residency program working on her startup, SteadyScrib. Alongside her co-founder, Izzy Mokotoff, Medill ’24 the team took home first place and the audience favorite award at the end-of-program Demo Day, securing a $5,000 prize. They were also featured in Chicago Inno’s ‘25 under 25‘ list.

Major: Biomedical Engineering

Project / Company: SteadyScrib is designing a pen to increase ability and independence for people with Parkinson’s Disease, specifically counteracting the most writing-inhibitive Parkinson’s symptoms.

My experience in The Garage has truly changed my experience at Northwestern. The resources and support they provide through the Jumpstart and Residency programs has taught me about startups, success, and community. Every time I am in The Garage I feel comfortable asking for advice and sharing updates in the supportive environment. People are always willing to help and I love learning new things from both peers and mentors.”

Tyler Nanoff, McCormick ’23

Tyler is a member of the Residency program and recently began exploring his own venture in The Garage’s Activate program – designed to create an inclusive community and resources for Black Northwestern student founders.

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Project / Company: Buddybot is a kid-focused builder kit that allows kids to learn how to build a quadruped robot and code its movements with relative ease.

The resources that The Garage has available has made it immensely easier to focus more on making my ideas a reality and less on the process of gathering the maker tools that are necessary just to start developing my ideas. The space itself is also one of the best on campus for helping me focus and lock-in to whatever it is I need to get done.”

Isaac Winoto, McCormick ’24

Isaac is a participant in the Residency program building out his startup, Skuy. He’s also a member of the fifth cohort of the Little Joe Ventures Fellowship where a select group of students are offered immersive learning opportunities, networking, and a financial award. He and his team at Skuy recently launched a beta version of the app and are testing key features with students at Northwestern.

Major: Computer Science

Minor: Data Science and Entrepreneurship

Project / Company: Skuy is a community-focused discussion and news aggregation mobile platform where students can start a chat, ask for help, or even rant about a certain topic, AND find other people who would love to join in on the conversation.

The Garage has provided me with a lot of resources to build and innovate my ideas, seek mentorship, or get support for my startup. It’s such an encouraging and positive community full of student entrepreneurs and staff members who only want to see each other succeed. Very grateful for The Garage’s support!”

McCormick Students at The Garage

Tinker Program:

Sparsh Gautam	Stanley Chen	Chloe Leung
Eagan Notokusumo	Matt Williams	Andy Curran
David Dorf	Sam Ridet	Aya Ben Saghroune
Justin Dong	Matthew Khoriaty	Shannon Tan
Jason Lu	Spencer Hong	Peyton Ridland
Dev Shah	Mark Chauhan	Ian Lundeen
Khalid Siraj	Zachary Braffman	Ryan Poon
Sneh Deshpande	Davi Gutkin	Buğra Gündüz
John Kalemkerian	Alisha Spradlin	Jagruti Garia
Nityasri Aileni	Ami Takamatsu	Wencheng Zhang
Trevor Abbott	Zhengyuan Li	Vidita Hasija
Zach Delson	Philip Ho	Richard Lam
Alexa Keane	Aditya Singh	Sitanshu Goyal
Mohamed Elbayumi	Antonio Santana	Matthew Chang
Matthew Lee	Mia Scarpati	Michael Miller
Yibo Wen	Tahira Grewal	Eduardo Cienfuegos de Paz
Prarena Chailaivanichkul	Kai Feinberg

Residency Program:

Kai Yun	Zachary Gerstenfeld	Taehyun Yim
Tyler Lee	Yvan Chu	Tyler Nanoff
Radek Chlebicki	Herminio Bodon	Yuzhou Du
Charlotte Oxnam	Manu Deva	Zegale Talmadge
Justin Dong	Frank Yang	Jenna Kim
Zihan Yin	Kevin Kaspar	Pablo Schnelle
Jay Park	Brennan Benson	Jasmine Javaheri
Charlie Tanas	Erin Park	Abhishek Shah
Brent O’Reilly	Emran Majidy	Panashe Muriro
Pratham Bansal	Bryan Sanchez	Isaac Winoto
Priya Dave	Briana Segal	Alexis Chan
Bella Gonzales-Portillo	Cheryl Chen	Sidharth Runwal
Gabe Bider	Valeria Vita	Grayson Donnelly
Niraj Shah	Will Xenakis	Edward Lee