Meet the 2025 O'Shaughnessy Fellows | Frontier Technology
Launched in 2023, the O'Shaughnessy Fellowships program discovers and empowers creatives, builders, and researchers who are ready to make their mark on the world. Fellows receive a $100,000 grant, plus access to OSV’s network of founders, investors, and experts. Applications are currently closed and will reopen on January 1, 2026. If you’re curious to learn more, head over to OSV’s website.
Benjamin Arya
An Australian scientist and bioengineer now based in Boston, Benjamin finished high school in Australia's 99.95th percentile, earning a Chancellor's Scholarship to study biomedicine at the University of Melbourne. After graduating with first-class honors, he spent time in medical school and Silicon Valley before collaborating with researchers at Stanford University on a project mapping the molecular signatures of decay in aging human hearts. Outside the lab, Ben has founded or invested in several biotech and consumer health startups and hosts a science and technology podcast.
WHAT’S HE BUILDING?
Next-generation gene-editing tools and delivery systems. This research could pave the way for therapies that repair genetic damage, prevent cancer, and slow age-related decline.
Aida Baradari
A 22-year-old physics student at Harvard, Aida has already built an augmented-reality–controlled robotic limb and co-founded Augmentation Lab, a collective of scientists, artists, and technologists creating human-centered technologies. She has also conducted research at renowned institutions, including CERN and Harvard's Nanoscale Optics Lab.
WHAT’S SHE BUILDING?
A pocket-sized anti-recording device that blocks microphones from recording without your permission.
Smartphones and other everyday tech open the door to silent eavesdropping. Aida’s portable device will put control back in users' hands.
Jan Jedryszek
Jan is a doctoral student at the Technical University of Munich, working through the prestigious Max Planck School Matter to Life program. His research explores how cells communicate to form complex organisms and how we might design synthetic materials to self-organize like living systems. He holds a master’s in molecular systems chemistry and engineering from Heidelberg University and a bachelor’s in neurobiology from Jagiellonian University. He’s also contributed to bio-mining technology research at the European Space Agency.
WHAT’S HE BUILDING?
A proof-of-concept nanodevice that can monitor and transmit the internal conditions of individual cells at a molecular level. This kind of breakthrough research could one day connect biological cells to the internet, with potential applications in real-time health monitoring, advanced diagnostics, and even biological computing.
Ninon Lizé Masclef
Based in Paris, Ninon is an inventor, artist, and researcher currently affiliated with the MIT Media Lab, where she co-leads work on reconstructing 3D visual imagery from brain activity. In 2024, she was named one of France’s top 100 inventors by a panel including Nobel and Turing Prize laureates for her work on Strange Loops, her first brain-computer interface. She’s also performed music generated from brainwaves at the Internet Archive in San Francisco and the Deutsches Museum in Germany. She serves as chair of finance and sponsorship at Women in Machine Learning.
WHAT’S SHE BUILDING?
A prototype brain-computer interface capable of turning brainwave data into immersive, 3D reconstructions of dreams. Besides being undeniably cool, this work could help unlock deeper insights into the subconscious mind through neural technology.
Alexandros Petkos
An engineer based in Athens, Greece, Alexandros has been deeply involved in robotics from a young age. At just 20, he built both the hardware and software for a robot that could lift and place cardboard boxes, fabricating most of the parts himself, assembling the robot, and collecting the datasets to train it. Even earlier, at 17, he built a four-legged walking robot, a project that landed him on Forbes Greece's '30 Under 30' list in 2022. Alexandros was also a lead engineer at PNOĒ Inc., a Y Combinator-backed health technology startup.
WHAT’S HE BUILDING?
Open-source, general-purpose autonomous robots capable of performing hazardous and repetitive tasks. Robots like these could help tackle labor shortages across multiple industries.
Miguel Solano
Born in Bogotá, Colombia, Miguel brings over a decade of experience in AI research, consulting, and engineering to his fellowship. He has licensed more than 100 advanced AI assets to government, financial, and life-science organizations.
WHAT’S HE BUILDING?
Ambitious AI “moonshot” projects, like pushing AI computing beyond today’s hardware limits and developing systems that could drive drug discovery and accelerate the creation of next-generation energy technologies.
Miguel believes that by efficiently scaling up current AI technology, we can unlock ways to tackle our most pressing problems, from disease to climate change.
Dear O Shaughnessy Fellos! Kudos in supporting talent and development of Novel Solutions. I did not make it to the final list, but hopefully next time I will. Thank you for the transformative lives your reaching. Kind Regards
This is epic! Congrats on a brilliant cohort