We are excited to announce the 2026 Pennovati

Philadelphia showed up — and then some.

For the second consecutive year, Pennovation Works welcomed students, educators, and community partners to an energizing celebration of student innovation and entrepreneurial thinking at the NFTE Philadelphia Youth Entrepreneurship Showcase in collaboration with Mastery Schools.

On May 7th from 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM EDT, Pennovation Works, along with Philly AI Connect, Code & Coffee, PhilaCon Valley, Philly Tech Council, Vets in Tech, Penn Vet, AgriGates, Philly Tech & AI Alliance, and m2i, are hosting a full-day gathering at Pennovation Center spotlighting the people, ideas, and institutions shaping the future of AI and tech in Philadelphia.

What to expect:

Pennovation Works recently welcomed more than 40 students and parents from Intech Construction to the Pennovation Center for Take Our Children To Work Day, offering a hands-on introduction to careers in construction, research, and innovation.

The day began on the Pennovation Plaza with a live search-and-rescue demonstration by the Penn Vet Working Dog Center. The demonstration gave attendees a firsthand look at how highly trained working dogs support critical operations, while also highlighting the intersection of science, training, and real-world application.

A new breakthrough from Penn Dental Medicine highlights how innovation can take unexpected forms while addressing some of the most complex challenges in health care. Researchers have developed a bioengineered chewing gum designed to reduce harmful microbes linked to oral cancer, offering a promising new approach to prevention and treatment. 

Want to know "What’s In The Works?" Learn more about all the innovative ideas, research and exciting discoveries by subscribing to the Pennovation Works enewsletter. From new member highlights to curated events and programming, the newsletter details all things happening at Pennovation Works.

Want to see why Pennovation is “Where Ideas Go to Work?” Read our newsletters in the links below.

If you watched drones light up the Philadelphia sky during the Eagles' 2023 playoff run, you were watching the work of a company with deep roots right here at Pennovation Works. Verge Aero, a former member of the Pennovation Center, has evolved from a small team tinkering with drone automation into a full platform company powering light shows for event producers and operators nationwide.

For many veterans, the hardest part of transitioning out of service isn't the discipline, the work ethic, or the resilience, it's knowing where to start in a civilian tech landscape that doesn't always speak the same language. On March 24th, the Vets in Tech Greater Philadelphia Chapter tackled that challenge head-on with Pathways into Tech, their first event of the year and a milestone moment for a chapter that's quickly becoming a vital hub for the region's veteran tech community.

Penn Dental researchers have engineered lettuce to produce functional GLP-1 peptides, a potential breakthrough for making diabetes and obesity drugs cheaper, easier to take, and gentler on patients.