West Chester University Students Take Top Honors in WCU Business Idea Challenge, Headed to Present at Wistar Institute
A team of three biomedical engineering undergraduates from West Chester University (WCU) has taken first place in the undergraduate track of the 13th Annual WCU Business Idea Competition – and their journey doesn’t stop there. The trio will present their pitch this Wednesday, April 23, at the Life Science Innovation (LSI) Shark Tank Event hosted by the Wistar Institute, where they’ll pitch to a panel of biotechnology investors and leading scientific experts.
The Annual West Chester University Business Idea Challenge is hosted by WCU’s Cottrell Entrepreneurship Center, the Keiretsu Forum Mid-Atlantic, and The Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce.
Junior biomedical engineering majors Nathan Barker, Joshua Pitts, and Chris Needham, formed their company, Cell-U Therapeutics, as part of an experiential learning course led by the Cottrell Center’s entrepreneur-in-residence Marc Duey. Their concept is built around a patented T cell-engaging therapy from Swiss biotech startup Encelta. The technology aims to bridge a major gap in treatment for immunocompromised cancer patients, particularly those not responding to chemo or radiation, offering potential applications in treating myeloma and leukemia.
“We’re passionate about the science and the potential to impact real lives,” Barker said. “This has been an amazing opportunity to be able to take both the research and understanding of the science, and then try to find a way to translate that into a business pitch, especially for people who may not have that science background.”
For Needham, the opportunity is personal.
“I have goals of pursuing a PhD in biomedical engineering and I wanted to do research on cancer treatment in Graduate School, so this has been a real eye-opening experience to combine both the science and the real-world implications of science.”
As a result of their work, the three students have been offered an internship for ongoing participation in the project.
Their success at WCU also earned them a $5,000 award from the Keiretsu Forum Mid-Atlantic, positioning them for a future pitch to regional angel investors.
The students credit their win to a semester’s worth of deep collaboration with their scientific partner, Dr. Edo Kapetanovic, and mentorship from Duey, who helped craft the hands-on course specifically to merge science, business, and real-world impact.
Duey said he wanted to create a class that would offer substantive experiences, similar to those he found meaningful when he was an undergraduate student.
“It’s a very exciting opportunity for students to get practical knowledge alongside their theoretical and lab work that they do,” Duey said. “They get exposure to real-world decision making in an integrated and immersive fashion.”
The Life Science Innovation Shark Tank Event will take place on Wednesday, April 23, from 1:00 – 6:30 p.m. at The Wistar Institute, Caplan Auditorium, 3601 Spruce Street in Philadelphia. The event is open to the public online via Zoom.
The pitch competition is the final showcase of the Wistar Institute’s Life Science Innovation course, which gives students—ranging from postdocs and PhDs to undergraduates from institutions including WCU, La Salle University, Lincoln University, LUMC, and PCOM—hands-on experience in biotechnology entrepreneurship. Students work with patented Wistar technologies and collaborate with inventor scientists and industry experts to develop real commercialization strategies. Final pitches are evaluated by a panel of investor judges.
“This is what experiential learning is supposed to look like,” Duey said. “These students aren’t taking a final exam – they’re bringing a high-tech cancer solution to one of the country’s top biomedical institutions.”
Also recognized during the WCU Business Idea competition was Matt Zwilgmeyer, a 2022
WCU alumnus and former student-athlete, who won the graduate, alumni, faculty & staff
category. Zwilgmeyer returned to the competition three years after placing as an undergrad,
this time pitching a novel stainless-steel water bottle designed for quick, one-handed hydration.
He was inspired to design the water bottle after years as a student-athlete, where he noticed how difficult it was to quickly hydrate during intense physical activity. He aimed to solve that problem with a spring-loaded, one-handed cap mechanism.
“It was received very well at the competition,” he said. “It’s interesting because I live in this world of athletics and quick hydration but so many of the other audiences liked it and had different ideas of how it could be applied. This bottle would be easy to use if someone had a disability. It’s not grip-strength reliant.”
The event’s organizers say the true value of the competition goes beyond prizes and presentations.
“It’s about giving entrepreneurs the confidence and tools to turn those ideas into real-world impact,” said Pattie Diggin, Director of the Cottrell Entrepreneurship Center. “Watching the student competitors grow into innovators right before our eyes is what makes this work so rewarding.”