We build the next
aerospace founders.
ASCENT is a research and educational innovation project adapting MIT's Catalyst methodology, originally developed for biomedical innovation at MIT linQ, to aerospace entrepreneurship at UPM. The pilot cohort runs March to June 2026.
// 2026 cohort in progress · 2027 applications will open later
[ METHODOLOGY ]
How the Catalyst process works
PHASE 01
Opportunity Discovery
The 12-week ASCENT program covers Opportunity Discovery end to end: landscape exploration, user interviews, explicit hypotheses with kill criteria, and a proof-of-principle proposal.
PROGRAM COMPLETE AFTER 12 WEEKS
PHASE 02
Execution and Validation
After the MIT pitch, teams continue with their own venture, lab, or follow-on funding. Prototype development, efficacy studies, value metrics, and IP strategy happen outside the program.
POST-PROGRAM · TEAM'S OWN PATH
[ WHAT YOU GET ]
Program specifications
NETWORK ACCESS
Direct access to two of the world's leading technical communities, on both sides of the Atlantic.
- MIT Idea² masterclasses with MIT faculty.
- MIT.nano laboratory visits on campus.
- Venture Café Thursday Gathering, Cambridge.
- Real Colegio Complutense at Harvard for the final pitch.
- Peer network across UPM and MIT cohorts.
- Independent Advisory Panel review of every project.
// 2026 COHORT IN PROGRESS
The
2026 Pilot Cohort
is underway
12 weeks · MIT campus · up to $1,000 travel budget · no startup experience required. Applications for the 2027 edition will open later in the year.