As the new director of the DifferenceMaker program, alum Richard Juknavorian ’98 is leveraging his experience in startups and venture capital to help students turn their creative ideas into sustainable businesses.

Students showcased innovative solutions to real-world problems at the Rist DifferenceMaker Institute’s annual Engineering Prototyping competition, with winning projects addressing classroom feedback, adjustable prosthetics, blast detection and human rights monitoring.

More than a dozen UMass Lowell students attended the annual IDEA Con innovation conference at Boston University, where senior liberal arts major Sandi DeRuntz spoke about her ZipperBuddy venture.

Business alum Jeurys Santiago ’23 and computer science alum Nuno Mestre ’24 were named to the Boston Business Journal’s annual BostInno 25 Under 25 list, thanks in part to their winning DifferenceMaker projects at UML.

Students can customize their studies to meet their personal interests and goals through the Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree. They choose two concentrations among 27 options in UML’s flexible, interdisciplinary program.

Be it in the classroom or on his LinkedIn videos, Manning School of Business adjunct faculty member Kevin Willett teaches students about the power of networking, entrepreneurship and perseverance.

The inaugural Lowell High Idea Challenge, a business pitch competition held in collaboration with UMass Lowell’s Rist DifferenceMaker Institute and Project LEARN, provided high school students with hands-on entrepreneurial experience and mentorship from faculty and local business leaders.

Forty-seven students graduated with River Hawk Experience Distinction (RHED) cords this year, the most in the program’s six-year history. Students can earn a RHED credential in leadership, entrepreneurship, global engagement, community engagement or sustainability.

Mechanical engineering graduate student Joshua Landis ’22 took home the top prize at the Rist DifferenceMaker Institute’s 12th annual $50,000 Idea Challenge with SparkCell Technologies, his fast and cost-effective way to detect problems in concrete structures.