Senior engineers are retiring faster than companies can replace them, creating a widening expertise gap in industries from aerospace to nuclear energy.
Hera, a project developed by University of Washington students, is aiming to address the issue with technology that automates the design of parts that meet safety and industry rules, a process that normally requires many years of knowledge and experience.
The product is timely, as 1.9 million manufacturing jobs are expected to go unfilled in the $2.3 trillion sector by 2033, according to Deloitte.
“Hera answers design questions 10-times faster than a senior engineer,” said Meera Patel, co-creator of Hera. “Once it knows the drawing can be manufactured, it pulls data from all your machines and gives you an exact production plan.”
That’s one of several problems University of Washington students tackled through DubHacks Next, a 16-week startup incubator. On Thursday, May 7, student founders pitched 20 startups hoping to turn their ideas into viable companies.
Since 2022, DubHacks Next has spurred 68 startups and at least 25 active companies. Participants get access to free workshops, mentorship sessions, customer discovery meetings and networking with potential investors.
This year’s batch of 20 startups includes AI salon receptionists, a student subleasing platform and an emotional recovery app.
“I’ve never had the experience of building such a large-scale idea and bringing it to life,” said William Pantel, co-developer of Catalvst, an AI audio plugin builder.
The incubator’s past projects have raised more than $5 million collectively, with alumni going on to join accelerators such as Y Combinator and Techstars or land jobs at major tech companies.
Starting this year, students could apply to join the Pack Ventures portfolio, including $50,000 up front and $150,000 when another firm buys in.
Patel and Hera co-creator Noelle So are among the students working with Pack. The demo is now live in three production plants, Patel said.
Here are more standouts from this year’s batch:
Chameleon: For the 1.3 billion people living with disabilities worldwide, nearly 96% of the internet’s top homepages are considered inaccessible. Enter Chameleon, an AI-powered web accessibility tool suite.
The suite includes a Chrome extension with tools like focus rulers, voice commands and head-tracking controls for accessible web navigation on any site, say co-founders Aditya Shirodkar and Ajit Mallavarapu.
“Especially with vibe coding, people are quick to develop software and don’t think about accessibility needs,” Shirodkar told GeekWire. “It’s a silent barrier that isn’t really addressed.”
Chameleon is entering a market with growing need – and financial opportunity. The global digital accessibility market is estimated at $1.8 billion, and is projected to reach $3.2 billion by 2034, according to Straits Research.
“It’s not just about making something cool,” Mallavarapu said. “It’s about making something people will actually use every day.”
Iris: Sthiti Patnaik and Saachi Dhamija focused on another technological headache: spreadsheets.
Universities often rely on sprawling spreadsheets to track alumni for fundraising, networking and event planning, but records quickly become outdated and difficult to search. With Iris, alumni associations and other groups can more easily maintain member databases.
“We ingest their spreadsheet, then present it in a more visual format with bubbles and graphs,” Dhamija told GeekWire.
Along with data enrichment and interactive visual mapping for organizers, Iris helps members discover one another through shared experiences and interests. Patnaik, a recent graduate and managing director for DubHacks Next, hopes the solution will help her stay connected to other founders.
“All of our alumni go on to do really fantastic things, such as raise money, start their own startups, or work at really great companies,” she said.
After presenting Iris, Patnaik and Dhamija landed a design partnership with Pack Ventures.
Catalvst: For Aaron Li and William Pantel, the incubator became a launching pad for Catalvst, what may be the first-ever AI audio plugin builder.
High-end audio plugins – software tools that shape and manipulate sound – can cost music producers hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Li, who began producing EDM three years ago, said software costs have delayed his progress.
“I remember working all summer just to save up,” he said. “It’s a domino effect. You get one piece of software, and realize there’s another one you need that’s super expensive.”
With Catalvst, users can describe the sound they want in plain language and generate downloadable, working audio software in under a minute.
“If you’re like, ‘I want my songs to sound like I sing them in a cathedral,’ it’ll create software that makes your song sound like that,” Pantel said.
The founders distinguish their product from AI-generated music platforms, emphasizing that their goal is to empower human creators rather than replace them. They’re currently beta testing with music producers to refine the product and grow its user base.
“We’re using AI to build tools human producers can use,” Pantel said.
Applications for the incubator’s sixth batch open this fall.
Other Batch 5 startups:
- BeamBell: AI salon receptionist | Arvin Hakakian, Anant Dhokia, Aur Shalev Merin
- Clearlobby: Legislative lobbying workspace | Shruthika Balasubramanian
- Healr: Emotional recovery app | Advait Raman
- HeartBeats: Music mixing for exercise | Hriesha Popat
- Intently: Agentic product management | Ronald Luong
- Leasee: Student-to-student subleasing | Sanjana Satagopan, Annika Chan
- madr: Campus life app | Abraham Gibson, Azim Memon, Keshav Kalia
- MindMark: Resource tracking tool | Chandana Robba
- nomad: Travel social media app | Rahul Bonthu
- nomi: Roommate management app | Anika Rao, Taj Khandekar, Nandini Sinha, Tharika Jayaraj, Aditi Agarwal, Sophia Zhang
- Qualty: E2E agentic testing | Jove Pendapotan, Reuben Santoso, Samuel Purnama
- Query: Q&A tool for live events | Saachi Surana, Shreya Pandey
- Scout: Camping app | Aditi Agarwal, Anika Rao
- sparks: Modest fashion shopping | Aleeza Bhatti, Zahra Taher
- Wallzy: Credit card rewards app | George Evans Daenuwy, Kezia Joesoef, Patrick Wijaya, Calista Vidianto
- Zither: Spatial web and file browser | Alexander Zhu
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