By BGSU OFFICE OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
In the spirit of “Shark Tank,” 11 student entrepreneurs will pitch their business ideas to alumni investors during The Hatch on April 7 at Bowling Green State University.
The event will begin at 6 p.m. in the Lenhart Grand Ballroom at the Bowen-Thompson Student Union.
In 2015, The Hatch attracted more than 3,500 attendees and was streamed to watch parties across the United States. “Hatchlings” are paired with alumni mentors throughout the spring semester to develop their business ideas.
Participating students and their ideas include:
- Alyssa Batch, a senior majoring in graphic design, is creating personal comforters for dementia patients to create a conversation between nurses, aids, residents and visitors.
- Austin Farrington, a senior majoring in marketing, is developing a system that utilizes Bluetooth beacons to set up a “GeoFence” that will help pinpoint the location of individuals who are wearing a Bluetooth bracelet or ID badge in a facility.
- Collin Newton and Kiersten Castner, both sophomores majoring in marketing and business analytics, are developing a “smart wallet” phone case that will keep track of the customer’s cards.
- Jarrod Cain, a senior majoring in finance, business analytics and intelligence, and management information systems, is creating a scheduling application that matches students to professors based on course structure.
- Khory Katz and Meredith Moore, both sophomores majoring in finance and sales and services marketing, are developing an idea of “no-hassle lofted beds,” an easy to use lofting system to transform a small, cramped dorm room into a more functional space.
- Ryan Murphy, a sophomore, and Baqer Aljabr a senior, are both majoring in engineering technology and mechanical design and are working on an idea of an autonomous robot “rover” that will provide parking security and attendant services in large, ticket-enforced parking lots.
- Sophia Schmitz, a senior majoring in violin performance, is creating a music reading, theory and aural skills curriculum that is disguised as an active board game.
- Giuseppe Giammanco, a graduate student studying chemistry, is proposing a bio-friendly alternative to microparticles, called “Nature Beads.” This alternative could replace environmentally unfriendly, banned microparticles in fillers, exfoliates and cosmetic products.
