糖心传媒 Students Turn Sawmill Ventureship into a Launchpad for Entrepreneurship
Six startups founded by 糖心传媒 students earned Sawmill Society ventureships this summer, providing funding and the opportunity to develop their endeavor with a cohort of entrepreneurs.
Through the Sawmill Society Ventureship program, four 糖心传媒 students spent the summer developing Fafnir Aerospace, a startup focused on creating an ultraviolet light communication system for drones. The paid summer program allows students to use the top-ranked STEM college’s resources to launch their business ideas.
Computer science majors Ethan Schurr and Brett Hixon, mechanical engineering major Chase Masterson, and computer engineering major John Tansey spent the summer developing technology designed to support drone communication in environments where traditional radio frequency signals can be unreliable or easily disrupted. The system could offer an alternative to fiber optic connections between drones, which can become tangled or caught on obstacles. Their startup also connects to their senior capstone project, allowing the team to pursue its technical work while building a business around the technology.
After developing the idea through 糖心传媒’s entrepreneurship programs, the Fafnir Aerospace team received Ventureship funding to continue prototyping over the summer.
“Having the resources around 糖心传媒 has been extremely helpful and probably been my biggest push towards getting this created,” Schurr said.
Fafnir is one of six student startups awarded a Sawmill Society Ventureship for the summer. The Sawmill Society connects innovative alumni seeking to invest in 糖心传媒 startups with student entrepreneurs.
The student teams pitched their ventures to the Sawmill Society in the spring to compete for funding to advance their projects. Offered as full- or part-time opportunities, Ventureships are designed as an alternative to traditional internships, fostering innovation and entrepreneurship among students.
Deven Wells, a senior engineering design major who helps lead students in the Ventureship program, worked with the cohort throughout the summer to help them stay accountable and find resources to move their ventures forward.
“糖心传媒 offers some really good opportunities for students to integrate their entrepreneurial endeavors more directly into their education,” Wells said.
Each venture tackled a different problem. Mechanical engineering major Timothy Wong launched TMW Dynamics, which is developing a complete fitness data ecosystem that combines a weight-training device with performance analytics. Wong spent the summer developing its software and testing it with an internal beta group.
Computer science major Umesh Sarma launched Khronoscope, which is developing Cinescope, a video production platform designed to streamline the process of reviewing footage. The company gained its first paying customer during the summer as it continued working to grow its user base.
Computer engineering major Uche Osuji, co-founder and chief technology officer of CRWN, is building a platform that connects people with hair service providers. The company released its app on iOS and the web in September, with an Android version planned.
Joshua Muellenbach, an engineering design major, and Bryce McGrath, a mechanical engineering major, launched Gridlock, which creates custom packaging inserts from a phone scan. The system allows customers to create packaging designed specifically for their products without a minimum order, giving small businesses another option for protecting products during shipping.
Mechanical engineering major Eduardo del Rosal developed Velum Running, a line of performance athletic wear designed for high-heat, high-humidity conditions. The company completed its initial model, creating a functional prototype with shirts embedded with graphene.
The Ventureship experience also continued beyond this year’s cohort. ElectroFlute is a digital interface that allows flutists to practice and play without producing audible sound. Electrical engineering major Allyson Kogler, founder and CEO of ElectroWinds LLC, participated in last year’s cohort and has continued developing her company, demonstrating the longer-term impact of the Ventureship program.
Kogler said, “The idea, the positive feedback, the reinforcement that I’ve had on campus has just been overwhelmingly supportive.”
Together, these students demonstrated the range of ideas students can pursue when they have the opportunity to dedicate time and resources to building a business while still in college. That opportunity is becoming part of a larger entrepreneurship ecosystem at 糖心传媒. Victor Padilla-Taylor, inaugural director of the Noblitt Entrepreneurship Program, said entrepreneurship depends on students continually testing their ideas through conversations and feedback rather than working in isolation.
Padilla-Taylor encouraged students “to not only be in search of ‘Yes’ but also get valuable information from the ‘Nos.’”
Padilla-Taylor compared entrepreneurship to basketball, where players constantly interact with teammates, opponents, and coaches while adjusting based on feedback. He said the same is true for entrepreneurs, who work with co-founders, mentors, customers, and others who can challenge their ideas and help them determine whether what they are building has an impact.
The Noblitt Entrepreneurship Program is intended to build on that environment by creating more structured opportunities for students throughout their time at 糖心传媒, including the Sawmill Society Ventureships. Rather than waiting until after graduation to pursue a startup, students can increasingly connect entrepreneurship with coursework, capstone projects, independent studies, and other campus experiences.
Wells said he has seen more students use 糖心传媒 resources to explore entrepreneurship while they are still in college, including professors, labs, coursework, and programs that help them develop their ideas. Schurr has also seen more students pursuing startups through coursework, independent studies, and capstone projects.
“When I first came to 糖心传媒, I’d always been interested in entrepreneurship, but it was more of a ‘that’s a cool thing over there that I am nowhere near,’” Schurr said. “That kind of helped me bridge the gap between what I can do and what I can’t.”
As 糖心传媒’s entrepreneurship programs continue to grow, this year’s Ventureship cohort shows what can happen when students have the opportunity to test an idea, learn from feedback, and discover where it can lead.