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EntrepreneurshipE-SHIP student launchesbusiness in Silicon ValleyAlex Mann, a 2009 finance graduate and engineeringentrepreneurship minor, can feel good in this economyknowing he has job security. That is because Mann, abudding entrepreneur, has successfully conceived his ownbusiness and secured funding for the venture—right out ofcollege.Mann founded AM Analytics, a social media and marketintelligence platform that aggregates information about aclient’s brand by tracking live conversation through mediaoutlets such as Twitter and Facebook, during his senior yearat Penn State.AM Analytics creates an analysis of not only what is beingsaid, but also what the catalyst is, why the user feels that way,where the users are from, and why it matters. The data arethen used to generate a visual representation of the analysisthrough charts and graphs, which the client may use torecognize and track trends to allow for more targeted andefficient marketing.“If you’re in the fashion industry, for example, a lot of yourstrategy is going to be guessing at the next hot trends,” saidMann. “If you guess right, you’re going to be successful.If you guess wrong, you’re going lose a lot of money onmisdirected marketing.”“But what if the fashion industry could track trends beforethey tip into the mainstream?”Through the service offered by AM Analytics, clients cansee what their consumers are saying, where they are from,and what they are talking about for the season. One featureof the platform includes a generated map that displays theconcentration and spread of trends in cities and across theUnited States, helping marketers and advertisers target theirefforts.In August 2009, Mann announced that his company hadsuccessfully secured funding through Berkeley Ventures, astartup accelerator that offers access to mentors and advisers,introductions to investors, incubator space, connections todId YOU KNOw?The Engineering Entrepreneurship Minor has its own incubatorprogram, the Lion Launchpad, which is funded through angeldonors. Want to get involved and inspire the next generation ofentrepreneurs? Contact Elizabeth Kisenwether at exk13@psu.edu.local talent and resources, and a year round program to helpthe companies grow.Mann said that his company’s funding will be in the form ofa customized program, including a cash stipend, legal work,advisory, and office space.Securing this type of funding is a huge feat for AM Analytics.According to an article in the Daily Collegian, ChrisDoner, executive director at Berkeley Ventures, said that theincubator has received “between 300 and 400 requests forfunding, but only about ten to 15 companies have actuallyreceived assistance.”“It was confirmation that someone else believed in this asmuch as I did,” said Mann in the Daily Collegian article.“Money talks...that’s idea validation.”Now a Penn State alum, Mann is a star graduate of theEngineering Entrepreneurship Minor and an inspirationto his peers. The advice he would share with other studentshoping to start a business?“Go do it.”“Ideas are cheap, and many students have them,” he said.“However, most are too afraid to chase their ideas becausethere is this predisposition that they will fail miserably.The college system tells us that the only path is to get a jobworking for someone else after they graduate. But, it doesn’tneed to be that way.”“There are a lot of problems in our country right now, andthey’ll ultimately be fixed through entrepreneurs and theirideas. If at any point there was the opportunity to make acareer out of a passion and the intent to fix a problem, it’snow.”For more information about AM Analytics, visit the companyonline at www.amanalytics.com. To follow Mann in hisentrepreneurial journey, visit his Web site: www.alexjmann.com.Engineering Entrepreneurship CompetitionStudent devise and pitch innovative solutionsAs part of ENGR 407 Technology-based Entrepreneurship, students are given the opportunity to exhibit their innovative solutions toreal-world problems at the annual Engineering Entrepreneurship Competition. A panel of judges critiques the student teams and awardsprizes to the top solutions.FALL 2008First Place: Go NowGo Now is an innovative marketing company that utilizes textmessaging to give restaurants and bars the ability to instantaneouslytarget their desired customers through a database for each client and"24/7" text message capabilities. It also allows customers to receivetexts about promotions and deals by joining the database through theGo Now Web site and by accepting standard text messaging fees.Second Place: SportsGuidesSportsGuides plans to create travel guides for college towns withincollege sports conferences, starting with the Big Ten. These guideswould include information contributed by residents and experiencedtravelers that is not otherwise available to traveling sports fans.Third place (tie): eCanvasThe eCanvas is the all-in-one learning solution for college students. Itorganizes all learning materials into a sleek, lightweight device. Withthe feel of a textbook and the technology of a laptop, the eCanvasrepresents a paradigm shift in the way students learn.Third place (tie): Collaborative FurnitureCollaborative Furniture creates furniture combinations. The company'sfirst product, the Chable, is a desk and chair combination capable ofcreating different-sized tables as needed depending on the size of thegroup. With this product, organizations will be able to both save andearn money by utilizing their existing space more efficiently.SPRING 2009Information for this semester is unavailable.Students in the spring2009 offering of ENGR497A, the EngineeringEntrepreneurship capstonecourse, went beyond theclassroom to present theirfinal projects. Instead ofpresenting to their instructorand peers, the students wentstraight to the funding source:the bank. Students presentedtheir ideas and businessplans to First National Bankin downtown State College,PA, for a unique, real-worldexperience. Frank Koeinstructed the course.FALL 2009Winners:RADeeRRADeeR is a post-market detectionsystem marketed to middleclassindividuals to decrease thestaggering amounts of deer-carcollisions each year. RADeeR usesa combination of simultaneouspulsations of thermal and radardetection to pick up objects in thepath of the moving vehicle, which willthen alert the driver of those objects.PowerUsThe flagship product of PowerUs is theGravGen escalator retrofit. The GravGen takes any previously installeddown escalator and retrofits it to harness the gravitational potentialenergy of elevated human mass. The process involves the removalof the old drive motor, and the installation of the transmission/clutchbox, low-power starter motor, sensing and monitoring equipment,and the generation unit. This system is analogous to the drive/generation equipment present in a wind turbine. These systemsutilize active breaking under varying loads to maintain a constantspeed of the tread assembly. The entire system will cost the customerapproximately $23,000 to install as a retrofit and will save over $7,690per year, based on an average 25-foot escalator and electricity cost of$0.15 per kilowatt hour.34 | SEDTAPP NEwS | SPriNg 2010 SPriNg 2010 | SEDTAPP NEwS | 35