Members of our community are available to provide guidance on a wide array of topics. Read on to determine which expert is the best fit for you at this juncture. Due to the high demand for Office Hours, please note that these meetings may not be used for class interviews.
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Topics: Meet for general questions or information about The Garage and our programs.
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Topics: Meet for general questions or information about The Garage and our programs.
Topics: Meet for general questions about alumni support & networking, or information about The Garage SF.
Topics: Meet for questions related to awards from The Garage or general information about The Garage.
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Topics: Meet for questions about Student VentureCat and Alumni VentureCat.
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Topics: Meet for questions and/or training on the equipment in the Makerspace & AR/VR Media Lab.
Ana is the CEO and Co-Founder of Acorn Genetics, the first at-home DNA testing company. At Northwestern, she studied biomedical engineering, and has experience building user interfaces for apps, nanotech and hardware, and a deep understanding of genetics and xgenetic technology. While at Acorn, she has raised $1M+, recruited and currently manages 15 undergrads, graduates, and full time employees, and participated in a number of programs including Jumpstart, the national NSF I-Corps, and Propel.
Chirag is the Founder and CEO of TegoTech, a company creating first-to-market, patent-pending magnetic wall outlet technology with safety, accessibility, and convenience at the forefront. During undergrad, Chirag began TegoTech, which evolved into a Resident team at The Garage and quickly expanded to include approximately 20 undergraduate and graduate students. Recently, the team secured 2nd place in the Social Impact Track during VentureCat 2023. Aside from his entrepreneurial endeavors, Chirag has pursued opportunities in healthcare consulting, as well as medical device/diagnostics venture capital. Above all, Chirag remains inspired by entrepreneurship’s ability to create scalable and meaningful impacts for society.
With her background in neuroscience and software, Casey Grage founded Hubly Surgical. Through NUvention Medical and the Garage, Grage worked with neurosurgeons at Northwestern Hospital to co-invent, design, prototype, build, and patent their 510(k)-pending advanced intracranial Hubly Drill with autostop for safely drilling holes through the skull without damaging underlying tissue. In five years of being founder/CEO, Casey Grage has won top prizes at over 10 international pitch competitions winning over $300,000 in non-dilutive awards, secured several hospital partners, filed three patents (all of which she is a listed inventor), hired a full-time team, and raised $2M investment to bring the Hubly Drill from ideation to launch.
Alex Bahram is the co-founder and CEO of Pathize, a health data aggregation and analytics startup that helps patients with chronic illnesses manage their care. Prior to his work at Pathize, Alex was an operations analyst at SummerBio, a COVID testing automation startup where he managed the company’s hardware supply chain. While at Northwestern Alex studied economics and was a resident at the Garage. He also participated in Jumpstart, The Garage’s summer pre-accelerator.
Charlotte Oxnam (McCormick '23) is the founder and CEO of Cue the Curves, a social shopping app for plus-size fashion. Charlotte paired her Industrial Engineering degree with her passion for creating a more positive fashion industry and began building the platform at age 18. She has since been featured on international TV and has won numerous awards including Forbes 30 under 30 Chicago.
Aspen Buckingham (Bienen ‘23) is the co-founder and CEO of Overture Games. Overture develops audio-responsive video games that get music students excited to pick up their instrument every day. Aspen has been composing music and developing games for 13 years and at Northwestern followed his passions with degrees in music and computer science. He has since joined the Techstars accelerator and won multiple awards including Forbes 30 under 30 Chicago
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Noah is a junior majoring in Psychology and Entrepreneurship. He is the co-founder of The Neuron, an AI media startup that educates over 130,000 professionals on how to use AI. Noah has participated in the Residency and Little Joe Ventures (LJV) programs as part of The Garage, and recently advanced to the finals of the VentureCat competition. He is enthusiastic about helping students launch their startups and find their footing in The Garage.
Ashley is a sophomore studying Cognitive Science and Learning Science, with the Segal Design Certificate. She is the co-founder of RelationTrip, where we help people make memories and grow relationships. Ashley has participated in X-Factor, Jumpstart, and Residency in The Garage. She knows the pains of starting from scratch, and is happy to talk about learning, life, and share the mistakes she's made in her journey. She's all ears during her office hours – reach out anytime!
Zoe is a junior majoring in Social Policy with a personal focus on social impact-based entrepreneurship. She is the Founder and CEO of PETAL Solutions, which prioritizes equitable, transformative, and active learning solutions. She has participated in Propel, Residency, X-Factor, and Jumpstart through The Garage and has separately held numerous peer leader-style positions. She would love to talk about how to center your values with those of your company and much more!
Eagan is a junior from Indonesia pursuing a BS/MS in Industrial Engineering and Computer Science, and is invested in technologies that enable digital transformation. He is currently the co-founder and CTO of Roete - a data solutions startup that helps companies maximize brand equity through actionable and sustainable insights. Eagan has participated in the Residency and Jumpstart programs at the Garage, and is happy to help students and especially international founders build the knowledge bases and communities that will help them in their own ventures.
Mateo studied Psychology and Economics at NU and is passionate about brands, social media, and building digital communities. He’s the founder of Authentic Media Ascension (AMA), which is a creator growth studio helping brands & creators better engage their audiences through data. The business started with a cold email to his favorite YouTuber and has since grown to creating $5M in incremental revenue for their partners.
Raman is a graduate student at the Kellogg School of Management and the McCormick School of Engineering. He is currently the CEO and co-founder of Rhetoric – a presentation feedback platform. Prior to Northwestern, Raman spent six years in data science, the majority on the growth team at Lyft as a Data Science Manager. He is passionate about building products to help founders grow and advance their careers.
Lauren Huttner is a senior at Northwestern studying journalism and history. She is a Little Joe Venture Fellow and partner at Dorm Room Fund. She is the founder of Pebble Community Labs, an agency that helps creators and brands strategically engage their audience and build community. Her past clients include The Wave House, Markian Benhamou, Retreat and Chestr. Prior to starting Pebble, Lauren was the VP of Community at Authentic Media Ascension, a Youtube data analytics firm acquired by Jellysmack. Lauren continues to play a role in shaping conversations around influencer strategy and audience engagement.
Kevin is a senior studying Manufacturing and Design Engineering (MaDE) and entrepreneurship. He is the co-founder of InfernoGuard, a startup that provides wildfire monitoring and detection services to large-scale landowners. InfernoGuard recently won the 2022 Northwestern VentureCat competition and has received over $425,000 in non-dilutive funding to date. He is eager to help all students swiftly integrate into The Garage community.
Alexis is a senior studying Biomedical Engineering and the cofounder of SteadyScrib. SteadyScrib is a startup where they are creating a pen for people with Parkinson's disease. They have garnered support from five prominent medical institutions and have been featured on many news outlets including NBC5, FOX32, WebMD, and Parkinson's News Today. Alexis has learned many technical skills from working in the Garage maker space and is happy and excited to talk about her experiences, give advice, or hear about your idea!
McKenna is a senior studying Voice & Opera Performance and Entrepreneurial Marketing & Design (an adhoc major she created). She founded Bare Mountain Tea at The Garage in 2020 and has since led the company from a physical product to an educational based model - working with Northwestern Mini Courses, Dillo Day and Northwestern Dining to build community through tea centered workshops and tastings. McKenna is also the founder of Rooted Voice Studio, a program she’s designed to center joy, community, and service in voice education for all ages. She has traveled Europe and the United States performing as an opera and concert singer, and works freelance in the Chicago area. At The Garage, McKenna has participated in the Propel and Residency programs and is a Little Joe Ventures Fellow.
Scott is the founder and CEO of Olympus, a mobile app designed to provide weightlifters with the accountability, motivation, and community they need to achieve their fitness goals. Since launching a beta test as part of the Jumpstart 2023 cohort, Olympus has empowered over 50 weightlifters to log over 400 workouts and lift over 8M lbs of weight. As a 2nd year dual-masters student in Kellogg and McCormick in the MMM program, he continues to put design thinking and empathy at the core of building Olympus and his team. Scott is excited to chat with other student founders about opportunity validation, product development, and team building.
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