Hunter Swisher does not come across as a “plant geek.” Rather, the 23-year old CEO of Phospholutions comes across as poised, engaging and wise beyond his years. His passion for his field, however, shines through immediately.
Hunter founded Phospholutions before he completed his undergraduate studies at Penn State, but his preoccupation with plants stretches back to his high school days. The company’s initial offering, RhizoSorb™, has already made a splash in the lucrative Ornamental Plants — everything from greenhouses to cannabis production — and Turf Grass — golf courses and athletic fields — spaces. RhizoSorb™ works by soaking up and controlling the release of key plant nutrients over time, allowing roots to stretch deeper into the soil. This offers a cost effective, long-lasting impact on root growth, which in turn results in better quality plants that require fewer chemical applications.
Read more: Phospholutions Flourishes with Aid of Local Startup Resources
Growing Entrepreneurship and Innovation minor now offered at all Penn State campuses
Not every student graduates looking for a job. The entrepreneurial spirit can strike early, and Penn State is answering the call for programs and resources to support young people with big ideas.
Teaching entrepreneurship in the classroom isn’t exactly a new concept at Penn State. In 2002, the university established its Engineering Entrepreneurship minor. Since its inception, the program has graduated more than 500 students from engineering, business, IST and communications disciplines.
Following an impressive debut in 2016, the Invent Penn State Venture and IP Conference is returning to the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel April 19 and 20, 2018. The conference will feature keynote speakers representing a wide range of businesses and fields as well as events where entrepreneurs can compete, pitch their business ventures and meet with potential investors.
The inaugural conference showcased over 90 startup ventures, 14 of which were from the Penn State community. Each of these 90 ventures represented emerging markets including IT, energy, biotechnology and healthcare among many others. The coming 2018 conference is expected to draw an even wider array of markets and innovations.
Read more: Invent Penn State Venture & IP Conference: An inside look
Defense teams across the globe, and even NASA, demand the unassuming technology manufactured here.
RTD Embedded Technologies, Inc., occupies a two-story portion of Innovation Park’s 103 building, the non-descript office belying the extremely technical and highly specialized work inside. It’s there that approximately 35 individuals show up to work each day, engineering computer and tech solutions for some of the most rugged, extreme and life-or-death environments in the world.
Project TEAM wants to know: “Are you in the house?” Entrepreneur Linsey Covert’s graduate-project-turned-business-idea is carrying out social and academic change in school communities across Pennsylvania through her company, TEAMology LLC.
Project TEAM helps teachers foster leadership, positivity and teamwork among students, while students learn to work together toward common goals for their schools. Those goals include acceptance, belonging, and community. In other words, getting everyone in “the house.”
Covert’s Project TEAM is more than a business idea… it’s a movement designed to promote meaningful interpersonal relationships among peers in a school setting.
Read more: Improving Student Connections Now and for the Future