Purdue Students Win $5.5K for World-Changing Ideas

Imagine trying to get to class but having no idea which routes avoid stairs, or needing medication but not knowing if it contains your allergen. Purdue University students just pitched solutions to these exact problems and walked away with cash to make them real.

Fifteen finalist teams competed in Purdue's fall 2026 Moonshot Pitch Challenge, where four winning teams split $5,500 in funding. More than 50 teams originally submitted two-minute videos explaining their world-changing ideas.

Nirrbhay Raghavan and Ramya Rajaram won first place in the Earth category with Rasta, a navigation app for people with mobility constraints. The app identifies barriers like stairs and steep slopes, then creates accessible routes around them.

"By testing it with people who face accessibility barriers, we hope to create a global solution that meaningfully improves their daily lives," Rajaram said. The prize money will fund software, hardware, and testing for a working prototype.

Kai Fraehsdorf, Simon Tackett, and Alex Forman won the Orbit category with Allergen Maps. Their solution addresses a dangerous gap: drug manufacturers aren't required to label food allergens on medications, leaving patients with allergies guessing which medicines are safe.

Sentinel Space took the Moonshot category with their guardian satellite concept. Doctoral students Moacir Fonseca Becker and Sidh Sikka designed a satellite that launches with small spacecraft, protects them during their early days in orbit, then provides support throughout their mission.

CogniCell won the Crowd Favorite award for developing a programmable therapy for inflammatory bowel disease, which remains incurable with standard treatments.

The Ripple Effect

These student innovations reach far beyond campus. Rasta could transform daily navigation for millions of wheelchair users worldwide. Allergen Maps addresses a safety gap that puts allergy patients at risk every time they fill a prescription. Sentinel Space tackles the growing problem of satellite collisions as more small spacecraft crowd low Earth orbit.

Doug Applegate, associate director of Purdue Innovates Incubator, praised the students' ambition. "Purdue students use their skills in critical analysis and creativity to take the next giant leaps to address the problems," he said.

The challenge divided solutions into three categories: Earth for social needs, Orbit for business solutions, and Moonshot for seemingly impossible problems. First-place teams earned $1,500 each, while Best Pitch and Crowd Favorite awards brought $500.

Beyond the money, competitors gained pitch experience, investor connections, and feedback from industry experts. "The Moonshot Pitch Challenge gave us confidence speaking in front of a large audience," Raghavan said.

The next round opens for submissions in January 2027, inviting a fresh wave of student innovators to dream big.