The 2026 Joan F. & John M. Thalheimer '55 Grand Prize Pitch Competition
The centerpiece of the annual Innovate! Celebrate! event is the Eureka! Grand Prize Competition, named for Joan F. and John M. Thalheimer '55 and carrying a $5,000 prize.
For 2026, rather than saving all three pitches for the end of the evening, the finalists were woven throughout the program — a deliberate choice, Lisa Getzler, Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship noted, because "frankly, we didn't want [the audience] to wait that long” to meet the finalists of this year’s Eureka! program.
Baker Institute Director Michelle Julet, who introduced each team, was careful to define what the competition actually measures. "These finalists were selected based on their idea, how they moved it forward, traction gained, and entrepreneurial passion," she said. "Their EUREKA! journeys haven't been linear; they've navigated twists, pivots, and hard lessons, balanced by moments of joy and profound discovery. They are here because they have shown the most growth over the academic year."
Three judges evaluated the pitches: Dr. Andreea Kiss, professor and director of the Entrepreneurship Minor at Lehigh; Jamie Flinchbaugh '94, P'24, P'26, P'29, co-founder of Lehigh Valley Angel Investors and Senior Advisor at Ventures Lab; and Mitchell (Mitch) Katz '23, who co-founded gaming platform Essential while still a student and completed his exit before age 25.
2026 Eureka! Finalists
🎉 🏆 JR Perez '27 | SmartFlow Inventory
An IDEAS student (Product Design and Mechanical Engineering), Lehigh Silicon Valley and Startup Academy participant, JR has also served as an advisor to the Hatchery program, making him simultaneously a mentee and a mentor. His venture, SmartFlow Inventory, a voice-based inventory management platform specifically tailored for small manufacturers, earned him the Thalheimer Grand Prize and the $5,000 award.
Walker Blair '27 & Logan Galletta '27 | Kindware
Two juniors, two football players, one venture: Walker Blair '27 and Logan Galletta '27 co-founded Kindware, a 100% plastic-free food storage brand built to eliminate toxins. Pitching first, they set the tone — and didn't leave empty-handed, claiming the Michael W. Levin Advanced Technology award.
Jennifer Maxwell '26 | Ciatta
A graduate student in Lehigh's Technical Entrepreneurship program, Jennifer Maxwell '26 brought Ciatta to the Eureka! finals — reflecting the program's growing reach across levels and disciplines. Ciatta is an AI-powered "menstrual intelligence" platform designed to close the gap in period health.
Meet all the Innovate! Celebrate! Winners
Innovate! Celebrate! 2026: From 'What If?' to What's Real
The annual Innovate! Celebrate! event was less a ceremony than a demonstration. On the evening of April 28, Lehigh University's Office of Entrepreneurship filled the room with confetti, applause, and something harder to manufacture: proof. Proof that curiosity, when given the right ecosystem, becomes something real.
