On March 1, student competitors had an opportunity to present entrepreneurial concepts at a Shark Tech Venture Pitch Competition, an event where the panel of judges listen to business pitches and help prepare teams for the Catalyze Challenge. Six teams that successfully navigated Shark Tech are moving on compete in front of a panel of judges for the Catalyze competition on April 20.

The Catalyze Challenge fosters project development, design, and communications skills, while boosting public understanding of the talent pipeline available at Oregon Tech.

Innovative Oregon Institute of Technology (Oregon Tech) student entrepreneurs competed April 21 for $19,000 in seed money to turn their product ideas and prototypes into real businesses. The winning concept, developed by students Gabbi Pech and Hayden Pech, known as team Stellarum Publishing, is a customizable planning notebook and companion app that can be used to organize tabletop role playing games.

Since it began in 2015, the Catalyze Challenge has awarded nearly $100,000 in prize money and services and continues this year with a prize pool of $16,000. Catalyze 2022 launched in November and 11 teams are currently registered to compete in the April 21 final, including two teams from Oregon Tech’s Portland-Metro campus.