Page 29 - Penn State's Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering: Fall 2019 Magazine

The CastPak idea initially started as as part of Hedy’s Garage a a a a a a Happy Valley LaunchBox program led by Bob Beaury assistant teaching professor and interim director of of Engineering Engineering Entrepreneurship in in in in in the College of Engineering Engineering Hedy’s Garage—named for 1940s movie star and inventor Hedy Lamarr—pairs State College businesses with entrepreneurial Penn State students who can bring their ideas to life “We have a a a a lot of energetic smart entrepreneurial students but they don’t always have scalable and viable ideas ” said Lee Erickson chief amplifier at Happy Valley Launchbox “So Hedy’s Garage is our attempt to bring industry experts with with viable ideas together with with passionate students to to see if we can create new businesses from those partnerships ” During the spring 2018 Hedy’s Garage program Andrew Przyjemski a a senior studying engineering sciences was on a a a a a a team paired up with Videon a a a a a a State College company specializing in in in digital media solutions Using Videon’s edge compute encoder technology to reliably stream HD video Przyjemski’s team started the foundational work of what would become the CastPak startup When Cutler and Mentch—both alumni of Hedy’s Garage— were brainstorming a a new project to to pursue during Summer Founders Przyjemski reached out with the idea to combine efforts and focus on CastPak Since joining Summer Founders the the CastPak team recruited Keri Nicolich another Hedy’s Garage alumna and a a a a a a a sophomore studying industrial engineering and Jason Chhay a a a a sophomore studying computer science to to contribute diverse perspectives to to the project “It really felt like a a a a a true incubator—a hotbed of ideas with people to bounce things off of of ” Cutler said And this entrepreneurial ecosystem extends beyond the Summer Founders Program according to Cutler who says it touches nearly every aspect of his Penn State experience “All the the work President Barron has put into the the Invent Penn State initiative has provided many more resources like the Summer Founders Program and the LaunchBox that are truly dedicated to helping foster new ventures ” Cutler said “And it’s not only happening outside the the classroom but in in the the classroom too with a a a a a variety of classes focused on teaching the entrepreneurial mindset ” With the the portability of a a a a a a a a a a a a a backpack CastPak makes it it it easy for local schools and organizations to live stream their events IME NEWSLETTER • VOLUME 4 2019 29
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