Farley Student Entrepreneur Wins VentureCat Grand Prize

McCormick fourth-year student Trevor Abbott won $100,000 for HaptE, a computer vision system that reduces execution errors and optimizes the warehouse floor in real time.

A team with a Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation student won the biggest honor at VentureCat 2026, a University-wide competition and collaborative program at Northwestern.

Trevor Abbott, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student at the McCormick School of Engineering, took home the Finals Grand Prize for HaptE, a computer vision system that reduces execution errors and optimizes the warehouse floor in real time. Along with Quinn McGinley, a second-year mechanical engineering student at McCormick, the duo received $100,000 at the VentureCat Public Showcase, held Wednesday night at the Kellogg Global Hub.

"The Northwestern Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is an incredible place to develop new ideas, meet amazing people, and grow a successful business. At HaptE, we would not be here without the incredible support from Farley," said Abbott, who was a member of the 2025 Morehead Family Innovator Fellowship program. "It is a truly special place with a uniquely supportive entrepreneurial community. I would like to give a special thanks to [Farley director] Hayes Ferguson as well as Jenny and Brad Morehead (Morehead Fellowship) for their guidance throughout our journey. Having amazing mentors not only helps us succeed, but also makes us want to give back to the community."

Victoria Israel, a fourth-year student pursuing both bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering at McCormick, was one of the original co-founders of HaptE before leaving the company earlier this year to start her career at a later-stage startup. Israel was also part of the Morehead program and worked with Abbott on HaptE during the fellowship.

Abbott, founder and CEO of HaptE, was far from the only Farley Center student honored.

Third-year McCormick students Rishi Garg and Viet Tong and third-year Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences student Eva Poliakova were members of the team that took second overall and first place in the competition’s Life Sciences and Medical Innovation Track. Their product is HydroFlo, a smart catheter technology to monitor shunt flow and detect shunt failure in hydrocephalus. The group earned $50,000.

The venture was developed in both NUvention: Medical and NUvention: Launch classes.

Kellogg School of Management student Daniel Medina is the founder and CEO at Restless. The company, which produces a better-for-you energy drink to attack the day without crashing, earned Medina $30,000 for coming in third place overall and being named the audience favorite. Medina is also in NUvention: Launch. Jack Easterby serves as the company's vice president of marketing and was named a 2026 Morehead Family Innovator Fellow.

LumaLift, a consumer wearable bodysuit aimed to help alleviate lumbopelvic pain in pregnant women by lifting and compressing the belly, finished second in the Life Sciences and Medical Innovation Track and included Farley students Lucy Burton, Fiona McKay, Tiffany Sorto, and London Wheeler. Burton, McKay, and Wheeler are all graduate students at Kellogg, and Sorto is a master’s student at McCormick. They are also in NUvention: Launch, co-taught by Farley faculty Eduardo Acuna, Hayes Ferguson, and Lilli Zakarija. The idea began in NUvention: Medical.

“The teams all exemplify the persistence, creativity, and interdisciplinary collaboration that define Northwestern entrepreneurship at its best,” said Ferguson, who is also a clinical professor at McCormick. “The top winners bring strong technical expertise to that mix, which is exciting to see.”

VentureCat is supported by the Donald Pritzker Entrepreneurship Law Center, the Farley Center, Kellogg, and The Garage. This year, the event handed out more than $175,000 in non-dilutive funds.