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Dr. Renato J. Aguilera is a scientist and professor at UTEP. He and his team found something incredible that can help people with cancer. They discovered special chemicals called pyrazole derivatives. These chemicals are like superheroes because they fight against cancer cells in our bodies.

El Paso Inc. Staff Writer • APRIL 14, 2021 – Antonio Avila, a doctoral student at the JAVÃûÅ®ÓÅ¹Ý of Texas at El Paso, above, was one of 10 finalists who pitched their ventures before a panel of judges in an effort to win up to $5,000. Avila took home the first-place prize at the annual Miners Pitch Competition April 5 at the UTEP Undergraduate Learning Center.

The competition is hosted by Blackstone LaunchPad and the Mike Loya Center for Innovation and Commerce. Avila pitched his venture, Opti-EV Fleet Charging, which would optimize EV charging with virtual engineering consultations to align operations and reduce costs. Diego Valencia and Uziel Rodriguez won second place and Mariana Casas third place.

Jocelyn Flores, KTSM • APRIL 5, 2024 – Get your thinking caps on.The JAVÃûÅ®ÓÅ¹Ý of El Paso (UTEP), Blackstone LaunchPad and the Mike Loya Center for Innovation and Commerce hosted the annual Miners Pitch Competition on Friday, April 5.

Student entrepreneurs will compete for cash prizes for their grand ideas, according to a press release by UTEP. Each student has had a one-on-one mentorship from a civic and business leader and participated in workshops on market research, financials and presentations.

UTEP Senior Wins National Entrepreneurship Competition

EL PASO, Texas (Feb. 29, 2024) – Arat Fraga, a 23-year-old senior in management in the Woody L. Hunt College of Business at The JAVÃûÅ®ÓÅ¹Ý of Texas at El Paso, has emerged as one of four national winners of the latest Blackstone LaunchPad Ideas Competition. Fraga's concept, Health Tag, a rapid test kit to measure fabric toxicity, secured him the top spot in the Consumer Products and Services Track category.

Gianluca Cuevas, Contributor • NOVEMBER 18, 2022 – The Mike Loya Center for Innovation and Commerce, Blackstone LaunchPad and Studio G is an entrepreneurship platform that serves UTEP students. They provide guidance for students seeking to create their brand or a new business, encourage them to join organizations and serve as a welcome platform for incoming freshmen.

Sophia Villalobos, Contributor • SEPTEMBER 9, 2022 – The Mike Loya Center for Innovation and Commerce, Blackstone LaunchPad and Studio G is an entrepreneurship platform that serves UTEP students. They provide guidance for students seeking to create their brand or a new business, encourage them to join organizations and serve as a welcome platform for incoming freshmen.

Maria L. Guerrero Duran, Web Editor • AUGUST 23, 2022 – Internbytes was launched in March by Jesus Maximino Hernandez, Timothy McCrary and Erik Rivera as a career development platform for underrepresented students.

The platform allows students from a variety of backgrounds and fields of interests such as communications, sports, technology and sciences to express their opinions and share tips with fellow students who are in the quest of securing job experiences through internships.

UTEP Hosts First Border FinTech Conference

EL PASO, Texas (Nov. 03, 2021) – Whether it’s mobile banking, automated payments or buying and selling cryptocurrency, fintech, or financial technology, has disrupted the financial industry by creating new and more efficient ways for commercial institutions to deliver financial services to consumers.

The subjects of fintech and insurtech, a new form of insurance technology, provided the backdrop for The JAVÃûÅ®ÓÅ¹Ý of Texas at El Paso’s first Border FinTech 2021 Conference on Oct. 21, 2021. The event was sponsored by the Prudential Risk Management Academy and Blackstone LaunchPad (BLP) in UTEP’s College of Business Administration and was geared toward preparing students for future careers in the financial and insurance technology sectors.

Student Engineering Teams Receive Grants, Mentoring for their Startups

EL PASO, Texas (Oct. 05, 2021) – A pair of student teams from The JAVÃûÅ®ÓÅ¹Ý of Texas at El Paso’s College of Engineering were selected to take part in the Blackstone LaunchPad (BLP) Summer 2021 Fellowship to advance their winning startups that use technological solutions to address some of today’s pressing issues in education.

UTEP Blackstone Launchpad Grand Pitch Competition Highlights Student Startups

EL PASO, Texas (Jun. 01, 2021) – Aspiring entrepreneurs got down to business during the Spring 2021 Grand Pitch Competition hosted by The JAVÃûÅ®ÓÅ¹Ý of Texas at El Paso Blackstone LaunchPad and the Mike Loya Center for Innovation and Commerce, where they began to lay the groundwork for their startups while receiving one-on-one coaching from business leaders.

Robert Gray, El Paso Inc. Editor • MAY 17, 2021 – El Pasoans are sometimes El Paso’s toughest critics, and sometimes it takes a person from the outside to remind us just how great something is here.

Last week, that reassurance came from a four star general who retired from the Air Force and as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff last year. Gen. David Goldfein was in El Paso Tuesday, and in a brief interview, had a lot to say about the JAVÃûÅ®ÓÅ¹Ý of Texas at El Paso, the region and its future.

He recently joined the UTEP faculty as a professor of practice in the College of Business and was in El Paso Tuesday for orientation. He is also helping to establish the Blackstone LaunchPad program at UTEP.

UTEP LaunchPad Primes Students for Sucess as Entrepreneurs

EL PASO, Texas (Feb. 23, 2021) – Jesus Hernandez, Timothy McCary and Erick Rivera are now better equipped to run a successful business, thanks to a new entrepreneurship program available to students at The JAVÃûÅ®ÓÅ¹Ý of Texas at El Paso that has the potential to positively impact the region’s economy.

The team that includes two computer science undergraduates and a software engineering graduate student was invited to represent UTEP at the Blackstone LaunchPad and Techstars global network’s Annual LaunchPad Pitch Competition for their startup company, InternBytes. The team was selected as one of 30 semifinalists among 100 student startups across the national LaunchPad network.

UTEP LaunchPad Primes Students for Sucess as Entrepreneurs

EL PASO, Texas (Jan. 28, 2021) – The Blackstone Charitable Foundation announced today the expansion of its signature Blackstone LaunchPad student entrepreneurship programming from two to eight campuses in The JAVÃûÅ®ÓÅ¹Ý of Texas System, bringing the initiative’s network and resources to a more diverse set of students.