Student Innovators Aim for Next Big Idea

Jonathan Spiegel ’17, a mechanical engineering major, isn’t a fan of the status quo.

"Nothing has to be the way it is right now," he said. "Products, the ideas that are in place now, people came up with them. That’s what I want to do. You have to be really open to things, think outside the box, notice small problems and think, ‘How could I change that and make everyone’s life a little easier?’"

He is helping to organize Charger Startup Weekend, an innovative program that will enable University of New Haven students to work with each other to develop their ideas and pitch them to professionals.

"We are going to help you see problems in the real world that might bother you each day," said Spiegel.

If something bothers you each day, it might bother others. If you develop a solution to this, you could possibly have your own great company.

The program will include idea generation and the opportunity to network with industry experts and business professionals."

Matt Sheehy, a mechanical engineering major, participated in the first version of this program last year and will take part again. He has created hovercrafts and a device that prevents the fraying of wires at the end of a phone charger, and he is looking forward to again collaborating with his classmates to develop something new.

"Any kind of idea is fun," he said. "Teamwork is really important. All of the little ideas can make something that is really awesome."