February 2009
Bridge to Innovation
Weiss Tech House and Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs work "in concert" to assist students turning ideas into ventures
Inspiration for a business idea can strike in the unlikeliest of ways. For Jason Halpern, it came in the form of sunburn in the middle of the winter.
Growing up on his parents' vineyard in New Jersey, he was used to working in the fields. However, one winter his work resulted in particularly bad sunburn, sparking his curiosity about how to capture energy from the sun during the winter months.
"I was in high school and didn't know what to do with the idea. But when I was looking at colleges, I saw that Penn had both the Weiss Tech House and Wharton Entrepreneurial Programs and I was really excited," says Halpern, who is now a senior in Penn's dual degree Jerome Fisher Management & Technology Program "If I had gone to another school, I might not have had the motivation to pursue this idea."
And pursue it is exactly what he has done at Penn. Halpern applied for and received funding from the Weiss Tech House's (WTH) Innovation Fund--an in-house mini-VC fund run by a student committee--to further develop the idea during his sophomore year. "I did research on the basic technology of solar panels and looked at the overall design and materials," he says. As he started developing his idea into an actual product, he entered PennVention, the WTH's annual student inventors' competition.
"That helped a lot because it gave me a deadline and clear goals. It was a great way to get my idea out there and get feedback," says Halpern, who was a finalist and placed third overall. The funding he received from the competition helped him develop the product even more, as it enabled him to obtain legal advice and materials which he otherwise could not have afforded.
At the end of his junior year, he was ready to move beyond the product development phase and into business development so he applied to WEP's Venture Initiation Program (VIP) where he received advising and additional funding. NowHalpern is a co-director of the Weiss Tech House and has formed a team to launch his business, Sustainable Solar, while pursuing his Master's degree at Penn in the Science & Engineering Integrated Product Design Program.
Students like Halpern who are interested in technology and entrepreneurship have the best of both worlds at Penn in terms of resource and support. Wharton Assoc. Prof. David Hsu, associate faculty director of the WTH, explains that WEP is "the flagship umbrella that services the entire community of people at Penn who are interested in entrepreneurship and the WTH complements WEP in that it specializes in the creation, development and commercialization of innovative technologies."
He notes that the WTH, which opened its doors in 2003 as one of Penn's "hubs" serving the entire student body, is unique in that it is almost entirely student-run. It organizes programs ranging from the Innovation Fund and PennVention to mentoring, speakers and outreach to local middle and high school students. For students interested in developing leadership skills, there are ample opportunities.
WTH Director Anne Stamer says, "The purpose of the WTH is to excite students around innovation and technology. What happens is you find many of those students also have an entrepreneurial interest so we crossover with WEP. For example, anyone who places as a top 10 finalist in PennVention applies to compete in the Wharton Business Plan Competition. And we actively encourage our students to look into WEP's resources." (Prior to helping launch WTH, Stamer was a WEP staff member overseeing the Wharton Business Plan Competition)
Emily Cieri, managing director of WEP, notes that WEP has developed many programs that reach across campus to integrate students from the different schools at Penn. "Working with programs like the WTH allows us to build bridges, which is important because in the real world building a business often takes engineers coming together with people in the legal, finance and marketing areas. Our programs can bring students from all of those areas – and more – together to work in concert as they develop new ventures," she says.
Penn Management & Technology Program senior Matt Owens is one of the many students who have utilized the resources at both organizations. He first learned about the WTH when he got a job working at the front desk of the WTH, but he soon became involved in the various committees, chaired the PennVention competition, and now is co-director of the WTH. He also participated in summer internships through WEP.
"The very idea of having a resource center to support projects where you take a look at a problem and work on an actual invention to solve that problem is very exciting," he says. "If students come to the WTH with a technology idea or product, they can explore it first before thinking about making a business out of it. We have the physical space and lab that are conducive to building things, but we also have access to resources like mentors and speakers."
The physical lab, says Owens, is a great place for "messy" projects. "We have things like foam core that you can mold or machines that allow you to cut plastic materials. We have drawing materials and access to things like 3D printers and software that allows you to print a physical prototype that builds layers and layers of plastic until you have something you can hold in your hand," he says, adding that there also is a brainstorming room covered with whiteboards and prototyping equipment.
Chrysta Irolla, who graduated last year from Penn's Engineering School after winning PennVention and placing third in Wharton's Business Plan Competition, built the prototype for her "Smart Sock" for amputees in that lab. "Everything you could want is there and if they don't have it then you can request it. It's a great environment to work in."
Irolla, who is launching her business while pursuing a graduate degree in Chicago, credits both the WTH and WEP with her success. "Without those resources, I wouldn't have even known what to make my product out of much less been able to fund the testing of it. It's hard when you're a student to justify spending $1,000 on supplies for something you aren't sure will work out. My company wouldn't have developed at all for fear of making mistakes with money I didn't have. Both programs complement each other and provide amazing support that is very unique to Penn."
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Posted February 2009