Biomedical Engineering entrepreneurs Lauren Cornell and Bianca Cerqueira won first place at the Women’s Start up Pitch Competition at the Governor’s Business Forum for Women.

Cornell is an alumnus of the Biomedical Engineering Master’s program and a current student of the Translational Science Ph.D. program. Cerqueria is a current student of the Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. program.

They both co-founded Novothelium, a biotechnology startup focused on tissue-engineered nipples for breast reconstruction.

Owners of 10 companies from various industries competed in the Governor’s Business Forum for Women and out students took home the first place.

Cerqueira and Cornell were awarded $5,000, provided through a donation from the Houston J. and Florence A. Doswell Foundation.

“It was a tough competition,” Tina Mims, executive director of TWU’s Hub for Women in Business, said in the article. “Judges looked at creativity of ideas, marketing, market potential, management savvy and financial traction.”