Works in Progress

intro-works-in-progress

Works in Progress

If you’re passionate about building something people love, that meets an unmet need in the world, welcome home.

We are a community of students and alumni across the University of Virginia who are internally motivated to live and breathe our work in pursuing an entrepreneurial project (a high-growth startup, an impactful non-profit, a new device, a new club, etc). We're supported by University officials in the Engineering & Society Department, and we're open to all students and alumni.

Community of Entrepreneurial Projects

Surround yourself with those seriously pursuing an entrepreneurial project, who will appreciate your victories and understand your temporary defeats.

A Founder's Homebase on Central Grounds

The Lighthouse is dedicated to those who are seriously working on their project, where the culture is about getting things done and having fun.

Guidance with Resources & Opportunities

We both keep a list of opportunities for your projects, and we also offer aid and coaching to help you prepare for entrepreneurial competitions or grants.

As our community is based on strong personal relationships, the first step for you to get involved is to set up a meeting with us so we can get to know one another.

Meet Us

Works in Progress March 3rd, 2017azorychta

our-philosophy-is

You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. 

Jim Rohn

 

Our Philosophy is August 25th, 2016azorychta

notable-projects

Notable Projects

Need to know how to raise a million dollars? How to grow your app to a million users? Launch a six-figure kickstarter? The best intellectual property portfolio strategy? International trade? Learn from someone who just did that; that's the power of a community of projects. Not counting alumni, we have 70 student entrepreneurial projects in the community you can grow with.

Notable Projects March 3rd, 2017azorychta

Agrospheres

Payam Pourtaheri (Nanomedicine Engineering 2016) & Ameer Shakeel (Biomedical Engineering 2017)

Begun as an iGEM project in 2013, these students invented a product to remove harmful pesticide residues and improve food safety worldwide.

Notable Projects March 3rd, 2017azorychta

PAKA Apparel

Kris Cody (Neuroscience 2019)

Kris traveled to Cusco, Peru, and found the opportunity to both empower weavers there and provide excellent quality authentic alpaca wool apparel for customers here in the U.S.

Notable Projects March 3rd, 2017azorychta

X-Mode

Joshua Anton (Commerce 2014)

X-Mode’s app, Drunk Mode that has amassed almost 2 million downloads. X-Mode has raised almost the same amount in investment, and was on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.

Notable Projects March 3rd, 2017azorychta

Scaphold

Vince Ning (Computer Science & Economics 2015) & Michael Paris (Computer Science 2015)

Michael and Vince built a platform to offer GraphQL back end as a service, and are now part of the Y Combinator winter batch.

Notable Projects March 3rd, 2017azorychta

Aquillous Tutoring

Kane Thomas (Computer Science 2019) and Alex Williams (Economics & Biology 2019)

Aquillous Tutoring is a marketplace to provide affordable SAT tutoring for students, launched by these two when they were first years as their 3rd business opportunity.

Notable Projects March 3rd, 2017azorychta

Phoenix-Aid

Ashwinraj Karthkeyan (Aerospace Engineering 2018)

Ashwin leads a team of students who have spent the last three years developing a wound care dressing for chronic wounds and are planning to do initial field tests within the next year.

Notable Projects March 3rd, 2017azorychta

the-lighthouse

The Lighthouse

The entrepreneurial workspace on central Grounds and the home of Works in Progress.

The Lighthouse is a dedicated space for the sole purpose of working on student entrepreneurial projects. The space hosts visiting entrepreneurs and regular Mastermind groups for small group discussions, and serves as a beacon for those looking for a place to find others taking action on their entrepreneurial projects. The room will be officially launched on March 15, 2017.

A smaller conference room will be opening soon within the Lighthouse to allow student teams to book private meetings.

Staffed Open Hours: 2-5pm Monday-Thursday

The Lighthouse is open 24/7 to those within the Works in Progress community.

The Lighthouse March 2nd, 2017azorychta

opportunities

Guidance with Grant, Competition, and Incubator/Accelerator Prep

Projects in our community have won many competitions and grants, and have been accepted into many incubator/accelerator programs. These include first place at the Collegiate Inventors Competition, second place at the ACC InVenture Prize, numerous Venturewell E-Team grants, and acceptance to Y Combinator. Teams that have earned these in the past are more than happy to help a fellow wahoo. Here’s a full list of these grants, competitions, and other opportunities.

Our dedicated staff will also help you prepare, be it an application or a presentation, or finding the right person or resource to help you with your next steps. We’re here to support you as an early stage innovator in any way we can to bridge the gap between an idea and product-market fit.

Set up a meeting!

Guidance with Grant, Competition, and Incubator/Accelerator Prep March 2nd, 2017azorychta

our-team

Staff

Staff March 3rd, 2017azorychta

Alex Zorychta

Program Director of Works in Progress

Alex finds, guides, connects, and builds community for student entrepreneurs. He has been guiding and building community for student entrepreneurs for the past four years. A former student entrepreneur himself, he pursued a biotech startup post-graduation for two years near the University.

Staff March 3rd, 2017azorychta

Elizabeth P. Pyle

Associate Director for Technology Entrepreneurship

Ms. Pyle worked on Phthisis Diagnostics, a biotechnology company, up until their successful exit. Known for her candor and high ethical standards, positive energy and astute people skills, she has become a valued resource for business incubator programs throughout Virginia and her success as a business consultant is reflected in the successful outcomes of her clients. She has served on various boards including the Board of Directors for the Charlottesville Venture Group where she chaired the Business Plan Review and Annual Business Forum Committees. In addition, she has served on the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council and as a founding Director for the Business Growth Network.

Staff March 3rd, 2017azorychta

Alex Zorychta

Program Director of Works in Progress

Alex finds, guides, connects, and builds community for student entrepreneurs. He has been guiding and building community for student entrepreneurs for the past four years. A former student entrepreneur himself, he pursued a biotech startup post-graduation for two years near the University.

Staff March 3rd, 2017azorychta

Elizabeth P. Pyle

Associate Director for Technology Entrepreneurship

Ms. Pyle worked on Phthisis Diagnostics, a biotechnology company, up until their successful exit. Known for her candor and high ethical standards, positive energy and astute people skills, she has become a valued resource for business incubator programs throughout Virginia and her success as a business consultant is reflected in the successful outcomes of her clients. She has served on various boards including the Board of Directors for the Charlottesville Venture Group where she chaired the Business Plan Review and Annual Business Forum Committees. In addition, she has served on the Charlottesville Business Innovation Council and as a founding Director for the Business Growth Network.

Staff March 3rd, 2017azorychta

get-involved

Get Involved

Are you currently working on an entrepreneurial project and want to be around your peers who understand you? Or do you want to start working on a project but don’t know where to start? Click the button below to get started by meeting us.

Let’s Meet

Get Involved March 3rd, 2017azorychta