MechE takes the stage during NFL Draft week

Kaitlyn Landram

Apr 27, 2026

students standing on stage

Forge to Field AI Pitch Competition

Jonathan Shulgach, MechE PhD Candidate in Doug Weber's lab had the opportunity to pitch his company, MyoVerse, during Powering the Future of Sport: A Draft Week Showcase. His company was one of six finalists chosen from nearly 100 qualified applicants located in more than 10 tech hubs across the country. 

Participants faced off in a “Shark Tank”–style format for awards from a $1.75 million prize pool. They pitched  live to a distinguished panel of judges including:

  • Mark Cuban, Entrepreneur and Investor
  • Ed Stack, Executive Chairman and Chief Merchant, DICK’S Sporting Goods; Foot Locker
  • Will Allen, Founding Partner, Magarac and former Pittsburgh Steeler
  • Deap Ubhi, Director and Global Head of Technology for Startups, AWS
  • Troy Demmer, Co-Founder and President, Gecko Robotics and Co-Founder and General Partner, First Order Fund
  • Jeanne Cunicelli, President, UPMC Enterprises; Executive Vice President, UPMC
students standing with Mark Kuban

MyoVerse was offered a potential investment of $75,000 from UPMC Enterprises, $125,000 from First Order Fund and $200,000 in AWS Startups Activate Credits for its wearable neuromuscular sensing and AI analytics platform, which turns muscle activity into real‑time biomarkers for performance, rehabilitation and clinical decision-making.

“Now is one of the most exciting times in the history of sports,” co-founder Jonathan Shulgach said. “Teams are investing in data and technology more than ever to keep athlete performance and development at their best.”

Robotic Innovation

Aaron Johnson's Robomechanics Lab took center stage at the NFL Draft to showcase how Carnegie Mellon and the City of Pittsburgh are revoluitonzing robotics.

Aja Carter, post-doctoral researcher, and Wensen Liu, PhD candidate, demoed a robot used for environmental monitoring on the NFLDraft stage.

Designed to navigate hard-to-reach or hazardous environments, the robot can autonomously travel across rough terrain, collect soil samples, and analyze contaminants in real time.