Past Events

Spring 2023

Big Idea Blitz | January 27-28 (Workshop), February 3 (Final Presentations)

Reformatted for 2023! Our classic 24-hour competition has been reworked to provide even more mentorship and development opportunities for your idea. As part of this Spring’s Blitz, your team will participate in a 24-hour workshop with Big Idea Center staff and entrepreneurs in residence. The workshop will include 1-on-1 coaching, practice pitch rounds, and feedback. After one week of concentrated work, your team will return for final presentations in front of a group of guest judges!

Application deadline: January 20, 11:59 P.M.

Randall Family Big Idea Competition | February through April 2023

This competition is an experience-based learning opportunity for Pitt students and postdocs with Big Ideas who enjoy working in diverse teams to bring those ideas to life. It is open to all Pitt undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs across all schools and departments. This competition spans February through April of each year and awards monetary prizes to students with the most startup potential, including a grand prize of $25,000! Since its inception in 2009, the competition has attracted hundreds of interdisciplinary teams seeking to bring their Big Ideas to market.

Application deadline: February 5, 11:59 P.M.

Student Innovation Showcase | April 18

Join the Big Idea Center as we highlight all that teams and individuals have accomplished in our center throughout the academic year! Attendees will have the opportunity to meet other students involved in our center, engage with industry professionals that support our competitions and programs, as well as who won in each of our prize tiers for the Randall Family Big Idea Competition!

Fall 2022

Big Idea Kickoff Week | September 12-16

Join the Big Idea Center for our first ever Kickoff week to celebrate the start of the 2022-2023 academic year and the opening of our brand new location! Throughout the week we will have activities for you to explore innovation and entrepreneurship and engage with students, alumni, and Pittsburgh entrepreneurs! No startup idea is required to participate. Stay tuned for event announcements by following us on social media! @pittbigidea on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Grand Opening Celebration | September 16, 5:00 P.M.

Our Big Idea Kickoff week culminates with our Grand Opening Celebration! Join us as we showcase our community of student innovators and preview the upcoming year of Big Idea Center programming. You will have the opportunity to meet students and alumni who have “spun-out” of our center as well as representatives from Saxby’s Coffee and the University of Pittsburgh, including Chancellor Gallagher! Light refreshments will be served.

Big Idea Blitz | September 23-24 (Workshop), September 30 (Final Presentations)

Reformatted for 2022! Our classic 24-hour competition has been reworked to provide even more mentorship and development opportunities for your idea. As part of this Fall’s Blitz, your team will participate in a 24-hour workshop with Big Idea Center staff and entrepreneurs in residence. The workshop will include 1-on-1 coaching, practice pitch rounds, and feedback. After one week of concentrated work, your team will return for final presentations in front of a group of guest judges!

Application deadline: September 18, 5:00 P.M.

Kuzneski Innovation Cup | October and November

Now in its second year with the Big Idea Center, The Kuzneski Innovation Cup is back and looking for NEW big ideas! Compete in the Big Idea Center’s first major competition of the year for a chance to win part of the $25,000 total prize pool!

Gain valuable feedback, build up the skills to further advance your idea, and be ready to compete in the 2023 Randall Family Big Idea Competition!

Application deadline: October 7, 11:59 P.M.

Women Entrepreneurship Week 2022 | October 17-21

Throughout the week of October 17 – 21, the Big Idea Center (as part of Pitt’s Office of Innovation & Entrepreneurship) will be showcasing a variety of women entrepreneurs from the Pittsburgh region. They will share their unique stories of what it’s like to be a woman in the world of entrepreneurship and what important lessons they’ve learned along the way.

Follow along as we highlight the roles of women in entrepreneurship through exciting social media content and in-person activities!

Global Entrepreneurship Week 2022 | November 14-18

Join the Big Idea Center and Carnegie Mellon University’s Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship as we celebrate entrepreneurship in and around the city of Pittsburgh. GEW highlights include Steel City Startups PittxCMU, the Kuzneski Innovation Cup Finalist Showcase, and the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) Pitch Competition.

Stay up to date on Global Entrepreneurship Week program and speaker announcements by following the Big Idea Center @pittbigidea on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Spring 2021

She Innovates – February 5-7, Discord

The Women in Computer Science (WiCS), School of Computing and Information, and the Big Idea Center are delighted to bring you She Innovates, Pitt’s only all-women hackathon.  This hackathon is for all female students – undergraduates and graduates – in the Greater Pittsburgh area with or without a computer science background!  Come for a weekend filled with hacking, technical talks, mentorship, and fun!

Big Idea Blitz – February 12 & 13, Zoom

Join us for a 24-hour idea, pitch development competition where you will be able to pitch your idea,  work with entrepreneurs in residence, and win prizes.

Start Smart Series – Held in both Fall and Spring

The Start Smart series hosts various seminars and workshops throughout the semester that cover a wide range of legal topics for startup businesses. During each event, you will be able to learn from K&L Gates’s startup lawyers and gain valuable insight on how to legally start/run your startup.

Randall Family Big Idea Competition – February through April, Zoom

This competition is an experience-based learning opportunity for Pitt students with Big Ideas who enjoy working in diverse teams to bring those ideas to life.  It is open to all Pitt undergraduate and graduate students across all schools and departments.  Discover how to take your idea to the next level towards startup creation.  This competition spans February and March of each year and awards a total of $100,000 in cash prizes to winning teams, with a grand prize of $25,000 given to the team with the most startup promise.  Since its inception in 2009, the competition has attracted hundreds of interdisciplinary teams seeking to bring their Big Ideas to market.

Fall 2020

Big Idea Kickoff – September 15 and September 29, 5:00 p.m., Zoom

Are you interested in innovation and entrepreneurship, but are not sure how to get involved? Our Big Idea Kickoff is your chance to meet the Big Idea Center as we “Kickoff” the start of our first entirely virtual semester! Pick one of our two meeting options and join Big Idea Center staff and entrepreneurs in residence as we tell you a little bit about what the Big Idea Center has to offer Pitt students. Attendees will participate in a short informational presentation followed by a live q-and-a with our staff.

Diversity in Innovation – October 20, 5:00 p.m., Zoom

New for 2020! Is it harder to be a Black entrepreneur? What unique challenges do minority entrepreneurs face when getting their startup off the ground? Please join us for our Diversity in Innovation Panel as a panel of Black founders and CEOs shed light on the racial divide within the startup and entrepreneurial community as well as how they’ve been able to forge their own path as a minority entrepreneur. This unique panel is a partnership between Pitt’s Big Idea Center, the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence, Pitt’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and Pittsburgh’s Black Tech Nation.

Watch the recording of our Diversity in Innovation Panel event.

She Creates – October 29, 5:00 p.m., Zoom

What pressures do women entrepreneurs face in the business world and how do they navigate through those challenges? How can women shape their own mold for success when it comes to building and running a startup? Please join us for She Creates as we showcase women who hold leadership roles both within the Pittsburgh entrepreneurial community and beyond and discuss the difficulties of being a woman entrepreneur.” The She Creates panel is a partnership between the Big Idea Center, Women In Bio-Pittsburgh, PNC, numo, and CMU Project Olympus.

Theme: “Be the Spark: If You Can Dream It, You Can Be It”

Watch the recording of our She Creates event.

Virtual Big Idea Blast – October 30 & 31, Zoom

In this 24-hour, virtual weekend workshop, students will have a chance to work on their ideas and win unique prizes including a fast-pass to the final round of the Randall Family Big Idea Competition! Our event will begin on Friday with a group meetup and informational session followed by our first round of presentations. On Saturday, finalists will have a chance to schedule coaching sessions with our staff of entrepreneurs in residence. The day will conclude with final presentations and a live q-and-a with our guest judges.

This unique opportunity is a chance to participate in concentrated mentorship and coaching on your Big Idea! Take a shot at presenting your project prior to entering our spring Randall Family Big Idea Competition.

Pitt x CMU Global Entrepreneurship Week – November 6-12, Zoom

During one week each November, thousands of events and competitions in 170 countries inspire millions to engage in entrepreneurial activity while connecting them to potential collaborators, mentors, and even investors.  At the University of Pittsburgh, our Global Entrepreneurship Week partners with Carnegie Mellon University for one amazing week!  Don’t miss it!  Individual events listed below:

• The Money Table – November 6 and 7
  • A graduate student investment competition where YOU are the angel investor.  Put real Pittsburgh startup companies in YOUR hot seat.  As you grill local entrepreneurs, real angel investors assess your investment team in a single elimination tournament.  No experience required! Application deadline is November 4.
• An Evening with Ben Weiss – November 9, 5:00 p.m.
  • Join us for this special presentation, for GEW 2020 only! The University of Pittsburgh presents Ben Weiss, founder of Bai Brands and author of Basementality, in this new talk designed to inspire budding entrepreneurs to get their ideas off of the ground. Ben founded Bai Brands in the basement of his townhouse in 2009 and, in just seven years, built Bai into the fastest-growing brand in the industry, leading to its $1.7 billion acquisition by Dr. Pepper Snapple Group. His new book, Basementality, offers the first inside look at how he drove Bai’s fight against Big Sugar and elevated the company from his basement to a $1.7 billion brand. It is the story of old-fashioned door-to-door hustle, naïve belief and the powerful mindset of a classic American entrepreneur.
• Product Management and Development Association (PDMA) Competition – November 10, 5:00 p.m.
  • Teams from the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, and Duquesne University will pitch their innovative ideas to an expert panel of judges to compete for prizes. The winning teams will receive prizes as well as access to a variety of resources which are generously donated from local sponsoring companies.
• Change the World: Social Innovation Panel – November 11, 5:00 p.m.
  • Interested in learning more about taking entrepreneurial action to help solve local, regional, national, or global challenges?  Students, alumni, and the Pittsburgh community are welcome to join us for a conversation with Pittsburgh mission-driven organizations. Watch the video recording of the panel here.
• Steel City Startups: PittxCMU – November 12, 5:00 p.m.
  • Join us for this virtual panel to close out Global Entrepreneurship Week at the University of Pittsburgh.  Hear TEDx style presentations from Pitt and CMU innovators and learn about how they were motivated to pursue commercialization, what path they are taking, and the challenges they’ve faced. Watch the video recording of the panel here.