The Seaport World Trade Center in Boston smelled of roasted coffee, crisp autumn maritime air, and pure, raw academic ambition.
Outside, a brisk November wind whipped across Boston Harbor, churning the gray ocean waters against the granite piers. Inside the glass-and-steel expanse of the main exhibition hall, three hundred competition booths stood arranged in precise, glowing rows under towering vaulted ceilings. Bright banners representing Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Princeton, and Columbia fluttered in the draft of the industrial climate control systems.
It was the opening morning of the National Undergraduate Economics and Robotics Symposium—the premier showcase where venture capital firms, federal defense contractors, and elite academic boards gathered to scout the nation’s sharpest youn
