Flemming CEED Center announces Innovation and Business Idea Challenge winners

Flemming CEED Center announces Innovation and Business Idea Challenge winners

Grants are a collaborative effort between Penn State Berks and the County of Berks
 
WYOMISSING, Pa. – From an aquatic robot that will remove pollution from the ocean to apps that help students connect and learn, winners of the Penn State Berks Flemming CEED Center Innovation and Business Idea Challenge developed creative and impactful solutions to address significant local and global challenges. The three winning teams were each awarded a $1,000 ‘IMAGINE Your Business’ grant, funded by the County of Berks ‘Imagine Berks’ Fund.
 
“The County is pleased to have the Penn State Berks Flemming Creativity, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CEED) Center as a key partner to implement our IMAGINE Berks Strategic Economic Development Action Plan. They are a proven and valuable resource for entrepreneurs and help us provide a supportive and welcoming environment,” stated Pamela Menet, director of community and economic development, County of Berks.
 
The three student teams that won the 2024 Innovation and Business Idea Challenge are B.E.A.N., Campus Connect and EMU Productions. All three teams were comprised of students from various majors who devised interdisciplinary solutions.
 
The B.E.A.N. team included Christian Clarke, information sciences and technology major; Emily Marks, psychology; Xander Van Wyk, aerospace engineering; and Grace Yost, electrical engineering.
 
Yost explained, “B.E.A.N. stands for bio environmentally-friendly aquatic navigator. It's an aquatic robot that navigates the oceans, finding and cleaning the chemicals and microplastics left behind in the water from the pollution. Using this, in addition to the other tactics used to remove the solid pollution from the waters, will cleanup the water pollution in the world.” She added that the team intends on building B.E.A.N. to be fully sustainable, operating on purely renewable energy.
 
Meanwhile, the Campus Connect team is creating an app that will help other Penn State Berks students find resources like study partners. The team includes Prisha Kumar Dass, accounting, and Ahmad Raja, data science.
 
“We chose the name ‘Campus Connect’ because it’s simple yet effective,” Dass stated. “We realized that many students don’t have that study buddy who they can contact if they were to miss a lecture or are unsure of the material. Campus Connect helps to create a safe space students can use to better themselves academically but also help make the campus more friendly. Campus Connect was created for the students, by the students –making it not just an app, but a community where no one has to study alone."
 
Finally, EMU Productions created a podcast in which fellow students can share their experiences.  The team includes Ethan Zekhster, electro-mechanical engineering technology; Mitchel Nevryanskiy, psychology and communication arts and sciences major; and Ugochukwu Ike-Egolum, computer science. The name ‘EMU” comes from the team member’s initials of their first names.
 
"We created a podcast for our fellow students to find a place to share their experiences and passions. It’s really just a place for students to teach us about something we didn't know,” explained Nevryanskiy. “We are just three friends who wanted to find a place to talk to others in this time of serious political and social divide. We are all just people and we felt that our generation forgets that." The podcast is called ‘They Let Us Talk.’ Nevryanskiy added that their podcast can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Amazon Music. They also have a TikTok and Instagram account @EMU Productions. 
 
Winning teams were recognized during the Penn State Berks Global Entrepreneurship Week at the award ceremony on November 22, 2024.
 
After the top three winning teams were selected, the Flemming CEED Center provided training in developing business models.
 
“The purpose of this award is to provide seed money to support enterprising and innovative student at Penn State Berks,”  explained Sadan Kulturel-Konak, professor of management information systems, director of the Flemming CEED Center and program chair of the entrepreneurship and innovation minor. “Our primary objective with this competition is to allow students to utilize their Penn State Berks education to become entrepreneurs and start businesses that can create jobs in our local community,”
“Teams will tap into the resources of the Flemming CEED Center, with the potential to connect with strategic partners, business mentors and other students who could help to turn their idea into a successful venture," added Abdullah Konak, distinguished professor of information sciences and technology and coordinator of the Innovation and Business Idea Challenge.
About the Flemming CEED Center
The Flemming Creativity, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Center (CEED) Center was established in the fall of 2011 as part of the Gaige Technology and Business Innovation Building. Its mission is to inspire an entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking in the Penn State Berks community. The CEED Center fosters economic growth and development in the Greater Reading area through technology-based solutions, human capital development, and enterprise creation. It provides student entrepreneurs with an incubator in which to develop their startup ideas and mentoring from faculty, as well as volunteers from the local business community. The CEED Center’s programs include the Customer Discovery Lab, Creativity Training Workshops, 3D Printing Workshops, Speaker Series, the STEM Business Idea Challenge, and the Student Enterprise Award. For more information, contact Kulturel-Konak at sadan@psu.edu.
 
About the County of Berks “IMAGINE Your Business” grant
Imagine Berks is Berks County’s strategic economic development plan. The Imagine Your Business grant provides early-stage entrepreneurs with support for various business needs such as prototyping, marketing and product/service development. The initiative aims to foster innovation and economic growth within Berks County. For more information on Imagine Berks, visit https://imagineberks.org/