Stories & Updates

During summer 2025, students from the University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics discovered new avenues for professional preparation and practical hands-on experience. Lerner College students pursued an array of internships, externships and other professional development opportunities. From MBA scholars to undergraduates entering their second year at UD, students across a spectrum of Lerner programs shared their experiences accomplishing an assortment of projects.

The EntreX Impact Talk series continued this quarter with a conversation focused on sustainability, climate innovation and entrepreneurship. Hosted by Horn Entrepreneurship, the event featured Jo Norris, co-founder and CEO of Carbon Reform, a climate technology startup working to reduce building emissions through HVAC innovation.

Building parts that stand three feet tall isn’t an everyday 3D printing job and that’s exactly where Relay Manufacturing thrives. The manufacturing services company helps organizations bridge the gap between design and production through large-format additive manufacturing and other manufacturing services. The venture was founded by Rich Hayburn, a University of Delaware Class of 2020 graduate who studied Mechanical Engineering with an Integrated Design minor, along with a math minor and manufacturing concentration. While at UD, Rich leaned into Horn Entrepreneurship through Summer Founders, NSF I-Corps, and VentureOn, experiences that helped him turn hands-on problem solving into a growing business.

From growing up in a STEM-driven household to becoming a New York Fashion Week designer at age 23, University of Delaware alumna Annabelle Brame has always moved at the intersection of creativity, sustainability, and bold vision. A 2024 graduate with a BS in Fashion Design & Product Innovation and a minor in Entrepreneurship, Annabelle built the foundation of her fashion label, Brame, through Horn Entrepreneurship programs including Summer Founders, REEF, and VentureOn. Today, she’s crafting an entirely new conversation around ethical design, adaptable apparel, and what it means to build a fashion house rooted in purpose.

The 15 latest recipients of Blue Hen 17&43 awards were announced at the recent Blue Hen Innovation Fest. These awards are Horn Entrepreneurship and the Lerner College of Business & Economics’annual recognition of the most promising early-stage startups founded by University of Delaware alumni.

Six more people have been inducted into Horn Entrepreneurship’s Honor Circle of Innovators, which recognizes transformational leaders who shape the future through innovation and entrepreneurship in Delaware and beyond.

The final round of Hen Hatch featured four teams with widely divergent concepts: straws that change color to discreetly reveal spiked drinks, an app for women to manage chronic health conditions, a clothing line that supports animal shelters and autonomous robots that look for leaks in water lines.

This October, The Siegfried Group, LLP (Siegfried) and Horn Entrepreneurship at the University of Delaware (UD) honored Geoff Woods, author of #1 international bestseller The AI-Driven Leader and Founder of AI Leadership, with the 2025 Siegfried Award for Entrepreneurial Leadership. In a private dinner and award ceremony at Wilmington Country Club, Woods was celebrated for his groundbreaking approach to leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) as a thought partner and commitment to getting in the driver’s seat in a rapidly evolving digital landscape – learning and wielding the emerging technology to spark exponential progress.