Six Penn State student startups have been selected into the 2024 Invent Penn State Summer Founders Program. The Summer Founders Program provides teams with at least one Penn State student founder a $15,000 grant to work on their startup, social good, or nonprofit idea over the summer at Happy Valley LaunchBox powered by PNC Bank.
As part of our regular “We Are!” feature, we recognize 13 Penn Staters who have gone above and beyond what’s asked of them in their work at the University.
Penn State Berks is currently accepting proposals for the Creative AI Minds Challenge, an event for high school students, through April 22. The challenge is open to all high school student teams who aim to make the world a better place using artificial intelligence and machine learning, regardless of their technical skills.
The Berks LaunchBox powered by Penn State recently received a $125,000 grant from the County of Berks. The funding will be used to create microgrants for Berks County entrepreneurs. Of the total grant awarded, $12,000 will be set aside for Penn State Berks student entrepreneurs participating in the college’s Flemming Creativity, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Center Customer Discovery Lab, which will be distributed to awardees in $1,000 increments.
Penn State’s Commonwealth Campuses and the state’s community colleges have announced a new collaboration aimed at expanding educational opportunities in Pennsylvania and removing barriers to degree completion among college students. The collaboration builds upon long-standing relationships between the campuses and the community colleges and a shared commitment to access and affordability in higher education.
Since its inception, Berks LaunchBox has made a significant impact on the Berks County community. Over the last five years, Berks LaunchBox has assisted 582 entrepreneurs, taught new skills to 1,100 community members in its Makerspace, offered entrepreneurship classes to 3,800 community members, and impacted 1,042 students (elementary school through college).
Penn State Berks student startup team Streamline Charging LLC has received national and University-wide recognition for its flexible and affordable electric vehicle (EV) charging solution that transforms the charging experience for apartment dwellers and service station customers.
Nathan Bonslaver, Penn State Berks alumnus and cofounder of CarToCamp, worked with Invent Penn State's OriginLabs to develop a new prototype of his car sleeping platform product.
Students, faculty and staff across all Penn State campuses will now have free access to virtual technology programming provided by the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania (TCCP), thanks to a newly expanded partnership with TCCP spearheaded by Penn State Harrisburg, a longtime member of the council.
Seven Penn State campuses have created the Commonwealth Arboreta Network, a network that will inventory trees and plant life while sharing research and teaching resources, with the eventual goal of creating an arboretum at each of the University's 24 campuses.
