On February 3rd, the Rist DifferenceMaker $50,000 Season Kick-Off was held in the Saab Center, Perry Atrium from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m. Richard Juknavorian, Rist DifferenceMaker Director, opened the event by welcoming everyone and providing introductions.
Then, Provost Joe Hartman spoke about the importance of solving problems and having a social impact. Then, he encouraged all attendees to apply to the $50,000 Idea Challenge.
Next, Rist DifferenceMaker Director Richard Juknavorian, introduced the DifferenceMaker program. He explained details for the 13th Annual $50,000 Idea Challenge taking place this semester. The 2025 DifferenceMaker $50,000 Idea Challenge application Has been extended and is now due February 17 at 5 p.m.!
After the introductory presentation, the real-life DifferenceMaker Panel and Q&A session took place! The panel consisted of members from past DifferenceMaker teams who answered questions from Richard Juknavorian and shared their entrepreneurial experiences with DifferenceMaker. First up was Jacob Breen of RAVI, who won the 2024 Honorable Mention, a $2,000 award. The Q&A was then followed up with Deigo King of Quick Release Window Bars , who won the 2023 Honorable Mention, answered questions and provided advice to the student audience. The Panel session Q&A ended with Josh Landis of SparkCell Technologies, who won the 2024 Rist Campus-Wide DifferenceMaker, a $6,000 award.
Richard Juknavorian asked the panelists a series of questions which gave the student audience a better understanding of the requirements to be in the DifferenceMaker $50,000 Idea Challenge and more information about their startups. The audience then got the chance to ask the panelists valuable questions.
Following the panel discussion, guest speaker Stephanie Roulic, Founder & CEO of Startup Boston, took the stage. She shared insights on the startup ecosystem and how students can leverage resources to turn their ideas into viable ventures. Stephanie emphasized the importance of networking, resilience, and taking advantage of opportunities like the DifferenceMaker program to gain hands-on experience in entrepreneurship. Her talk inspired students to think creatively and take the first steps toward launching their own businesses.
Following the Q&A, David Vatalaro, Rist DifferenceMaker Fellow, led the students in the Idea Hack Activity to get students brainstorming potential ideas they could apply to the challenge. Students split into groups sat at tables labeled with specific industries that interested them.
The students started to brainstorm problems and then started to discuss possible solutions. They were able to collaborate with each other and with the DifferenceMaker Faculty Fellows. Towards the end of this activity, students shared their problems and solutions with everyone.
To close off this engaging event, Richard Juknavorian spoke about the next steps in getting involved in DifferenceMaker and participating in the $50,000 Idea Challenge.