news & events

Münire Bozdemir has loved storytelling and learning since she was little. However, she grew up in a small town in Turkey at a time when it was not easy to find books. She was born during the aftermath of the 1980 Turkish coup d’etat — a time when books were heavily associated with political ideologies either due to their content or authors, she said. Motivated by a strong desire to tell stories, Bozdemir earned her bachelor’s degree in language education and her master's degree in cultural studies, and moved to the U.S. where she received her master of fine arts...

Eight Penn State student startups have been selected into the 2023 Invent Penn State Summer Founders Program. The Summer Founders Program provides teams with at least one Penn State student founder a $15,000 grant to work on their startup, social good, or nonprofit idea over the summer at Happy Valley LaunchBox powered by PNC Bank. “We have an incredible group of student startups selected into this year’s program,” said Elizabeth Hay, Jack White Family Director of Happy Valley LaunchBox. “The Summer Founders Program has featured some of Penn State’s best student startups and founders, who have achieved great success in building their...

As a soil science graduate student teaching at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez, Zoelie Rivera-Ocasio found herself searching for ways to make studying soil more interesting in outreach activities for undergraduate students. In one of these outreach activities, she made soil-based paints for the students. The activity went so well, and she enjoyed the process so much, Rivera-Ocasio decided to pick up the activity as a hobby, she said. When she moved to the United States in 2021, the hobby turned into a serious business pursuit. Now a soil sciences and biogeochemistry doctoral candidate in the College of Agricultural Sciences at...

Applications are now open for the 2023 Invent Penn State Summer Founders Program, which provides a $15,000 grant to entrepreneurial teams with at least one Penn State student to work full-time on their startup, social good or nonprofit over the summer. Applications are due March 9. The 13-week program, run in partnership with Happy Valley LaunchBox powered by PNC Bank, accelerates student startups by providing funding, mentorship and 1-on-1 coaching. Founders commit to work full-time, 40 hours per week, on their ventures for the duration of the program. Apply to the Summer Founders Program by March 9. There will be two information sessions prior...

Penn State College of Engineering alumnus Tyler Tracy developed a passion for cutting hair his senior year of high school and continued to cut hair throughout college. However, he consistently struggled with keeping his tools organized. “With men’s haircuts, especially, you are going back and forth with a lot of tools, so I would have a lot of clutter start to build,” Tracy said. “I started thinking that if I had a system where every tool had a place to live, that would really help me out with organization.” Around the same time, Tracy also started to get more in tune...