Ekaterina Demenkova, a junior studying information systems at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), is the latest student from the Qatar campus to be named a Swartz Innovation Scholar. She is the first student studying information systems at CMU-Q to join the program.

Carnegie Mellon’s Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship has a mission to be a hub of information, support, education and networking for CMU community members interested in entrepreneurship. The Innovation Scholars program is for undergraduates in their last two years of study. The program includes academic coursework, a work experience component, and networking and mentorship.

Demenkova finds the diversity of the Swartz Innovation Scholars particularly interesting: “There are people from many different fields, and our paths are very different,” she said. “But it’s really interesting because the core qualities and the core interests are the same.”

Demenkova has a strong interest in entrepreneurship. She and her classmate Jemal Velihanova have created a startup called Basira AI that they are developing as they continue their studies.