The 2019 UPitchNJ prizes were awarded to:

First – Stevens (game-based software to help autistic students)
Second – Rutgers (tech to power drones and rovers for deliveries)
Third – Montclair State (3D-printed device to hold hooks while fishing)
Best Early-Stage Startup – Princeton (a water filter being used in a pilot program in Flint, MI)

The other eight schools that competed were: Fairleigh Dickinson, Monmouth, NJIT, Ramapo, Rider, Rowan, Seton Hall, William Paterson.

Montclair State remains the only school that has won a prize every year in the contest–a testament to the innovative and forward-looking curriculum designed by Dennis Bone that allows us to enter consistently high-quality and interdisciplinary teams every year. Prof. Ross Malaga taught and mentored Morgan and Siegmeister in ENTR 303, and Profs. Jason Frasca and Iain Kerr spent many hours working with the two students as they iterated on 3D print designs of their device in the MIX Lab (the MIX Lab is a resource for any student). Morgan’s and Siegmeister’s path to UPitchNJ glory began in Jason Frasca’s classroom when they took ENTR 201 “Entrepreneurial Mindset and Innovation,” which is open to any student of any major.

“To be chosen to represent ����vlog was humbling,” said Morgan. “Placing third out of all the other schools was a true statement to us as a team that our product has great potential in the future. Outstanding competition at UPitchNJ, and the atmosphere was energizing.”

Watch TacOp, and 13 other Montclair State teams, compete for $80,000 in prizes on May 8 in University Hall Conference Center during Montclair State’s sixth annual pitch contest, the BulbHead Inventors Day for Aspiring Entrepreneurs, generously funded by AJ Khubani, founder of TeleBrands and BulbHead.

How Montclair State has placed every year of the UPitchNJ contest:

2019:
First: Stevens
Second: Rutgers
Third: Montclair State (TacOp)
Best Early-Stage Startup: Princeton
Audience Choice Award: Seton Hall

2018:
First: Rutgers
Second: NJIT
Third: Montclair State (NeatSweeps)
Best Early-Stage Startup: Rider University
Audience Choice Award: Montclair State (NeatSweeps)

2017:
First: Rutgers
Second: Princeton
Third: Seton Hall
Best Early Stage Startup: Montclair State (Elaion)
Audience Choice: FDU

2016:
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Second: Seton Hall
Third: Montclair State (Karuda)

Your ����vlog Student ID card can do a lot for you. You can use the Student Recreation Center to workout, print pages in the printing labs, rent a laptop, attend events and much more. But, did you know that your Montclair State ID card allows you to print 3D objects? It’s true! Located in room 014 (basement of the Feliciano School of Business), students of any major can learn about 3D printing and print their own design with assistance from our staff. There are some spots open for our course (ENTR 260_04) Tuesdays 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. for this spring semester.

The Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship

Come visit our center in room 080 (basement of the Feliciano School of Business). Learn about our minor, concentration and events we hold throughout the semester.

Upcoming Events

Pitch Contest Info Session- February 13, 2:30-3:30 p.m., SBUS 140

Have a business idea or product? Enter our 2019 Pitch Contest!

The contest features a prize pool of $80,000 to be awarded as follows:

      First prize:          $50,000

      Second prize:     $20,000

      Third prize:         $10,000

At each prize level, 20 percent of the award goes directly to the student team members and the remaining 80 percent must be invested in the startup venture under the coaching of the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship

During our information session, learn about our contest and how you can apply to be part of it.

2019 Pitch Contest- May 8, University 7th Floor

Cheer on fellow Red Hawks as they showcase their final live pitch. See which student teams are our top three winners.

Students on the winning team, Wheatpaste, celebrate as their name is called at the 2018 BulbHead pitch contest.

Today’s visitors included , co-founder and CEO of , a business intelligence and marketing services company. Valletta was joined by two of our advisory board members: Mimi Feliciano, founder and CEO of FEM Real Estate, and Ilene Wachs, president of Horizon Casualty Services, Inc. at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

From left: Dennis Bone, Ilene Wachs, Mimi Feliciano, Altarik Banks, Josh Miller, Liliana Valletta

Valletta is an award-winning entrepreneur who also is the founder of , a product innovation accelerator that is an alliance of leading experts, investors and mentors to fill the gap in access and opportunity for Latino entrepreneurs. Dreamers Ventures has launched and managed , a business competition that discovers, mentors and fast tracks Latino entrepreneurs to launch their products live on HSN. Valletta is also a . She is also an independent on-air contributor to Fox News Channel, CNN en Espanol and other networks on issues of business, diversity/multicultural and women matters.

The visitors learned about MIX Lab from two students who help manage the lab: Altarik Banks, a senior Psychology major, and Josh Miller, a senior Management major.

From left: Josh Miller, Ilene Wachs, Liliana Valletta

Banks and Miller, who have received our 3D Printing Certificate in Digitally Mediated Innovation Design and our Certificate of Entrepreneurship, showed Valletta, Feliciano and Wachs two of the items they created thanks to the knowledge they have gained from the MIX Lab and its courses. First, the duo launched Geo Collection, a series of biodegradable bags created with Kombucha leather using a pollutant free production process, leaving no environmental harm to the planet.

Liliana Valletta and Mimi Feliciano admire the Geo Collection bag created by MIX Lab students Altarik Banks and Josh Miller.

Then, Banks and Miller focused on special cups for in Watchung Plaza. The cups have an innovative design that signal to servers when coffee drinkers are done and ready to have their table cleared. The pair used 3D printing to create prototypes of the cups, and after refining the design they made the cups using locally sourced clay. Local is selling the cups at its eatery.

The cups created by Altarik Banks and Josh Miller

From left: Dennis Bone, Altarik Banks, Mimi Feliciano and Liliana Valletta discuss 3D printing

“We didn’t know what was going to happen next,” said Tasnim Quayum, 14. “Most of our (high school) classes are planned out, but here we were surprised about what was going to happen next.”

Quayum, a sophomore, was one of 14 students at Montclair High School who took the 3D printing course with professors Iain Kerr and Jason Frasca. The students met for two hours each day as part of “an exploration to create new things, ideas, and novel paradigms the world has never seen before,” said Kerr. While the course description would have contained phrases about 3D printing and design thinking, there were deeper lessons being taught.

“The most important thing this course teaches us it to think in a way we don’t usually,” said Tegh Johar, 16, a junior, noting the instructors taught the students to “explore all the possibilities.”

Maya Joyce, a sophomore, liked how the students got to “mess around” with stuff as they learned to be more creative.

“Creativity didn’t come from ideas,” said Joyce, 15, who said what she learned could be applied to her love of music. “It’s more about doing, than thinking.”

One of the things the students did was create soap dishes. Then they needed to transform those creations into furniture. “To innovate you must start with something ordinary, such as a soap dish,” said Frasca, explaining the approach used in the class. “Then try to reveal all you can about the object. Think about why it was made, its purpose, aesthetics, etc. Then take what you learned about the object and block it. Ignore everything you learned about the object in order to create something new.”

Catie Stanton, 15, said the class helped her to see things differently. “We’re doing random, crazy stuff,” the sophomore said.

Joshua Rapoport, a 16-year-old junior, said the course gave him a new perspective on a so-called “good idea.”

“I was very surprised we were not supposed to have good ideas,” said Rapoport. “They’re irrelevant because they’ve almost certainly been thought of before.”

The students credited Kerr and Frasca with opening up their minds, as well as showing them how to design things with the 3D printers.

“(They) really taught us a new way of thinking. We discovered new paradigms and stuff—we learned what a paradigm was,” said Aneekah Uddin, 15, a sophomore. “I really enjoyed it.”

At least that’s the case in the MIX Lab.

A 3D printed dress, made from thousands of pieces of plastic, was unveiled June 15 at the MIX Lab. Natalie Rodriguez, the lab’s design entrepreneur in residence, created the dress over several months.

“I just want to share the dress with people, to inspire people to hack the model and do their own iterations of the dress,” said Rodriguez, 25.

The Montclair resident has always been interested in fashion, but has a background in architecture. The dress project was an opportunity to combine those two worlds – in fact, Rodriguez said architecture played a bigger role than fashion in creating the dress.

Rodriguez credited MIX Lab—and specifically Altarik Banks, a senior who is a MIX Lab assistant—with providing assistance on making the 3D printed dress.

“It really helped to have people in the lab who gave feedback and gave advice on the technical side,” said Rodriguez, who lives in Texas but has been living in Montclair for a year while her husband attended graduate school. She learned about MIX Lab after meeting Prof. Iain Kerr.

“He invited me to take advantage of the lab to explore and experiment,” said Rodriguez about Kerr. The MIX Lab—an innovation center with 35 3D printing devices—serves as a resource for the entire campus, as well as schools and businesses in the local community.

“This has been a remarkable success. It’s both an amazing design and a fantastic opportunity for our students to really learn from a great, young designer,” said Kerr.

Banks said the best part was seeing all the panels of the dress put together. “That was the most interesting and exciting part–all of the hard work and iterations finally coming together,” said Banks, an Economics major. “It helped me become more knowledgeable of what’s possible with 3D printing, from the technical side.”

The project started Feb. 1 when Rodriguez used a portable scanner from MIX Lab to do a full-body scan of a model to get precise measurements. (The model, Desiree Archie, a senior Psychology major who is also studying fashion merchandising, was the one sporting the dress when it was unveiled June 15.) Then it took about three months to design the dress, another month working on prototypes for the garment, and then a final month assembling it. Rodriguez also worked on prototypes of high-heeled shoes to go with the dress.

The project would not have been possible without MIX Lab.

“I was able to prototype and go through iterations and test ideas out quickly,” said Rodriguez. “Because you have so many machines, it’s easier to jumpstart the project.”

Greek universities represented included: Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki, Piraeus University of Applied Sciences, Technical University of Crete, Technological Educational Institute of Crete. The startup, Effect, based in Athens, was also represented.

The visitors enjoyed signing our whiteboard, writing messages in Greek such as “Who dares, wins” and “Be the change.” Those motivational mottos translate well in any language–they are mottos we embrace here at the Feliciano Center.

Thanks to Wendy Gilbert-Simon, global programs coordinator, at Montclair State’s Global Education Center.

On Feb. 18, we will have the grand opening of MIX Lab with tours offered to everyone 1-5 p.m. Just stop by room 118 in the Feliciano School of Business building. If you can’t make it on Feb. 18, we always welcome visitors who want to learn more about our programs in entrepreneurship, 3D printing and design thinking. Don’t miss our , with a panel of experts discussing 3D printing, 5:30-8 p.m.

That’s what a student said recently upon entering the MIX Lab on campus. What is causing students to lose sleep in eager anticipation? It’s the MIX Lab, which will have its grand opening on Feb. 18. Tours will be offered 1-5 p.m. on Feb. 18, and the entire campus community is encouraged to take a tour. MIX Lab is located in room 118 in the Feliciano School of Business.

MIX stands for Making and Innovating for X, where the X stands for the unknown. The MIX Lab is the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship’s new interdisciplinary hub for transformative innovation, and contains thirty-five 3D printing devices. The MIX Lab is a resource for the entire university, and when you come on a tour you can learn how your department can get involved with MIX Lab.

Priority for the use of MIX Lab is being given to students in our ENTR 290-02 “Intro to 3D Printing and Design” course and in the 3D Printing student club. The 3D course has attracted students from a variety of majors including: Animation and Illustration, Art History, Biochemistry, Computer Science, Economics, English, Fashion, Finance, Fine Arts, German, History, Information Technology, Jurisprudence Law and Society, Justice Studies, Marketing, Mathematics, Physical Education, Political Science, Psychology, Spanish Translation, and Sports, Events & Tourism. These students realize that 3D printing is having an impact in nearly every industry.

MIX Lab Grand Opening Tours
1-5 p.m., Feb. 18
Room 118, Feliciano School of Business

No registration – just show up!
Come see, hear and smell what 3D printing is!

The grand opening celebration continues the evening of Feb. 18 with a free event open to the public. A panel of experts will discuss the future of 3D printing and how it is changing industries, plus how it is influencing design, innovation and rapid prototyping.

“3D Printing Changes Everything” panel discussion
5:30-8 p.m., Feb. 18
University Conference Center, 7^th floor of University Hall

Free and open to the public, but please pre-register at:

“Being part of a co-ed team last year gave us a good start. We realized we had certain skills and wanted to learn more,” said Trisha Mukhopadhyay, 15, a sophomore at . “We also wanted more autonomy and freedom to make our own decisions.”

Added Rachael He, 15, a sophomore at Westfield High School: “After forming our team, we encountered many obstacles, but we’ve been able to learn a lot from our mistakes and persevere.

The all-female team, called Positive Charge, includes 12 young women from Westfield. Nine attend Westfield High School, and one each from the Academy of Allied Health Sciences, the , and .  Four of them visited ’s – MakerBot Innovation Center recently to receive assistance 3D printing parts of their robot.

The young women are participating in the .  In one of their strategies to win points in this year’s FTC game CASCADE EFFECT, they want their robot to pick up balls and put them into a bucket. The young women had ideas on how to make the shovel and bucket- even building prototypes, but they needed help making the items more efficient for the collecting task, which is where 3D printing entered the picture. Westfield High School has only one 3D printer—and it was not able to make big items. The Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship’s innovation lab has 35 3D printing devices, including three printers that make large items.

“And it made it look cool,” said Anna Masciandaro, 15, a sophomore at Westfield High School, about how the 3D printed pieces will help their robot.

The young women marveled at the rows of 3D printers housed in the innovation lab, and the whirring buzz the machines make. The girls already knew how to CAD on a different software, but Prof. Iain Kerr helped them learn how to use the MakerBot software in the Feliciano innovation lab. In the lab, the high school girls also saw various 3D prints, such as a lamp and stool made by students in ENTR 290-02, “Intro to 3D Printing and Design.”

“It gave us inspiration for other ideas. It let us see new possibilities and even gave us some new ideas,” said Trisha, adding about Kerr: “He was very good at showing us what to do and pointing out important but overlooked steps – like making sure we are using the right units of measurement! He’s very patient.”

With their all-girls robotics team and embrace of science and tech classes, the four Westfield girls are doing their part to turn a tide where women are underrepresented in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. Rachael said she has been interested in STEM for as long as she can remember, but she is not entirely decided on a specific field.  Possibilities include medicine, computer science, and engineering, including biomedical engineering and computer engineering. Trisha wants to use technology and materials in health interventions, perhaps as a biomedical engineer or endocrinologist. Anna is not sure yet about her future career—she may want to be a doctor or an author.

“I’ve heard girls say ‘I’m so bad at math,’ as if they’re proud of it. You shouldn’t be proud of that. You should want to get better at math,” said Julia Hollosi, 14, a freshman at Westfield High School, who wants to be a spacecraft engineer. Julia recalled how she walked into her eighth-grade robotics class and had the boys ask her why she was taking the class, and whether it was because the art classes were full.

“The boys in Westfield’s club have been very helpful,” said Trisha. “They showed us the ropes last year and helped us gain the knowledge we needed for starting our own team. Some of them go out of their way to help us.”

The underrepresentation of females in STEM classes is not necessarily better at the high school level. Anna said she is one of three girls, out of 20 students, in her computer science class. “It feels like I have to prove something, sometimes,” she said.

The Westfield Robotics Club is hosting a robotics meet on January 10th, 2016 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Spectator admission is free.

The eight other young women on the robotics team are: Fiona Gillespie, Anna Glueck, Christine Rogers, Jennifer Rogers, Ashley Rosen, Linzy Rosen, Saranya Turimella and Amanda Zhang.