Student Summer Project Touches Many Facets of EPSCoR

August 21, 2026

Cross-functional collaboration is at the heart of Alaska EPSCoR’s work. And a project completed this summer by EPSCoR-funded students is an example of just how far those connections reach.

University of Alaska’s Students-to-Startups program, run by the Ů�źϼ�F Center for Innovation and Alaska EPSCoR’s Workforce Development Lead Peter Webley, is a summer internship program that pairs Ů�źϼ� students with Alaska mariculture startup companies. The summer course covers the gamut of startup topics including design thinking, startup funding, intellectual property, path to market strategies, and pitching.

Sugar kelp drawing — Drawing by Naomi Hutchquist

Program Manager for the Center for Innovation Michael Martins said “No matter how you skin the cat, I think everyone — whether or not they were originally thinking about startups — leaves the program with this new pathway in mind. Especially as they're getting close to graduation, or maybe thinking about a graduate degree, and thinking about what these degrees can lead to.”

Alaska EPSCoR has funded students in the program before, but this year those students received an additional opportunity: to participate in an NSF Innovation Corps Training Program. Team members were Shaheena Shahid, Margot Oliver, and Laboni Sarker. Their group project focused on the potential use of Alaskan kelp for bioplastics — an idea previously explored by an EPSCoR Seed Fund recipient. Their individual work, however, was varied.

Shaheena Shahid has traveled to over 60 countries, so her pairing with the was a natural fit. She’s a PhD student in Indigenous Studies and Sustainability at Ů�źϼ�F and she helped the chamber develop a travel master plan. Since the town is off Alaska’s road system, its travel plan has special considerations. Shahid spoke with community members and businesses to learn more about lodging, vacancy trends, visitorship, ground transport, spending, and visitor data and infrastructure.

An undergraduate student pursuing a BS in CFOS and a business minor at Ů�źϼ�F, Margot Oliver was paired with , a Juneau-based company that makes a range of kelp-based food products including pickles, chili crisp, and salsa. Oliver got to try her hand in everything from kelp harvest to order fulfillment. She said the experience gave her a “better understanding of mariculture business processes, constraints, areas of growth, and where innovation is needed.”

develops AI-enabled technology for resilient energy systems focused on Alaska microgrids and renewable energy integration, looking to see how data centers can support grid stability. The company was joined this summer by intern Laboni Sarker, who is pursuing an MS in Electrical Engineering at Ů�źϼ�F.

In her final presentation, Sarker explained that as data center development grows, there’s a geographical gap between supply and demand. While conventional data centers consume large amounts of electricity without considering grid conditions, microgrids often experience excess renewable energy that can’t be utilized. The main question she investigated is how can unused renewable energy and AI-assisted decisions be safely integrated into microgrid operations?

What differentiates these students in their educational backgrounds and experiences made them a stronger team for the I-Corps training. The idea they investigated came from a 2025 EPSCoR Economic Development Seed Awardee, Gabriel Gray. He looked at the use of kelp for the production of PLA, or polylactic acid, used in plant-based plastics for 3D printing and food packaging.

“3D printing is a rapidly growing technology and is uniquely useful in rural Alaskan communities where shipping costs and times make it desirable to have the freedom of manufacturing from home,” Gray wrote in a research summary. Polylactic acid is typically made by fermenting natural sugars. “Kelp species farmed in Alaska have a high sugar content and would be an excellent starting material for the production of PLA bioplastics for 3D printing and beyond.”

“Establishing methods to make PLA from Alaska grown kelp could continue to support sustainable kelp mariculture (a process which removes excess carbon dioxide and nutrients from the ocean) while expanding the mariculture industry,” wrote Gray.

The I-Corps students approached this concept from the end-user perspective, interviewing 17 people — from engineers to boat captains and Indigenous farmers to warehouse managers — about different facets of the industry. According to Martins, these discovery interviews can help entrepreneurs “de-risk” their ideas — a significant part of the I-Corps training.

The team landed on several major lessons. First, in order for PLA from kelp to become a success, it must be cheaper than plastic alternatives. Second, though kelp comes from coastal Alaska, humidity is a production concern, and interior Alaska may be better suited for it. In that case, transportation becomes a big question, especially because kelp should stay wet before processing. Lastly, though kelp PLA production could be a boon to Alaska, the state’s geographical isolation can make initial investments a challenge.

The future of kelp PLA aside, these EPSCoR-funded students learned through both their internships and the I-Corps training this summer. “While my internship focused on developing technical solutions,” Sarker reflected, “I-Corps taught me to consider who will use those solutions, and how they create value.”

Martins said this kind of collaborative approach to entrepreneurial ideas that stem from science could be a great opportunity for all parties. Scientists are focused on the science, he added, and maybe haven’t taken a business or accounting class. But they often have novel ideas that could be commercially feasible.

“And then all of a sudden, you have a team of university students taking your idea and then exploring the commercialization aspects of it. And then at the end of the summer, you have this nice report on your desk saying, ‘This is the idea you're talking about, and this is how we think it could be commercialized.’”

“The scientists are experts at the science,” Martins said. “To have someone come in and look at the business I think, to them, is incredible.”