UNH Entrepreneurship Center Annual Impact Report 2019-2020

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

ECENTER

IMPACT

IDEAS

INNOVATION

REPORT

2019 / 2020

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

IDEAS

IDE

CONTENTS

A Note from the Director

About the ECenter

Innovating in the Age of COVID-19

ECenter Programs

Innovative Spaces

Student Club & Organizations

Cross-Campus Engagement

Events to Engage & Inspire

Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame

Student Success

ECenter Across the Country

ECenter Career Impact

Celebrating the Class of 2020

Facts and Figures

Philanthropy

Corporate Partners

Judges & Panelists

Campus Partners

ECenter Advisory Task Force

ECenter Ebassadors

ECenter Team

Contact Us

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Hannah Miller ‘23, COLSA

Idea & Innovation Society Member

A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR

“What a long strange trip it has been” is an appropriate quote from Jerry Garcia and the Grateful

Dead to summarize the second half of our academic calendar year ending in June 2020. That

said, if the ECenter can’t adapt to change and solutions to problems then we probably lose

credibility in our ability to help others move their ideas forward. I am thankful for an amazing

ECenter team that includes Heather MacNeill and Allison Bell, as well as a great supporting cast

from UNHInnovation and many of our on and off-campus partners. Like many parts of UNH, the

ECenter quickly jumped into action to provide a seamless, or close to seamless, transition of our

programs due to COVID-19 with minimal, if any, impact on the successful outcomes for students.

Top of that list includes coaching via 50+ hours of Zoom, for the first time, all six of the Holloway

Prize finalists and working hard to have 9 of the 10 in-person student internships at start-ups

happen. The ECenter was one of the few organizations on campus, or on any college campus

in the country, that helped ensure the “in-person” part happened. Being in the trenches with

founders and co-founders (safely) is one of the most impactful of all experiences of the program

and it could have been easy to “go online”—but we didn’t. We also took to heart the national

awareness of inclusiveness and stopped to self-reflect and gain outside perspective from a

range of students and alumni of color who know us well. We were widely applauded for our

openness and embracing of under-served populations, but under the mantra that ‘we can always

be better’, are putting in some new programs this coming year thanks to the advice of so many.

As you will read, our fall saw the induction of the second group of alumni into the Alumni

Entrepreneur Hall of Fame to celebrate amazing accomplishments of innovation and giving

back. On the other end, the ECenter brought in 23 first-year students into the second year

of the Idea + Innovation Society. The Society selects students who have already started

a company, non-profit or been active in innovation in high school. Our speaker series,

bootcamps, and hackathon/ideathons were inspirational, highly attended, and well reviewed.

After 3+ years of full “design-build” fast growth mode of new programs, we were able to pause a

bit, make improvements to our signature programs and only add a few new enhancements like

“ECenter week at CEPS” to create student awareness of programs and resources. Likewise, thanks

to the generous funding by two UNH alumni and ECenter Advisory Board members we brought

on Travis Thompson as Directory of Development through UNH Advancement dedicated to help

the ECenter increase its funding to translate into more and greater #ECenterImpact on students.

Like all start-ups, one of the things I personally love about my work is that no two

days are alike and we never know where the next good student idea or inspiration will

come from. This year we had great success with students from College of Life Sciences

and Agriculture (COLSA) and the Grad School in their pursuit of ideas while on-going

continued ideas and engagement came from students from CEPS, Paul, COLA and CHHS.

Ian Grant

Executive Director

UNH Entrepreneurship Center

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ABOUT THE ECENTER

The Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center (ECenter) at the University of New Hampshire is the co-curricular

heart of ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship on campus. The ECenter is open to all students from any

college or major, intentionally independent of any one college.

Our goal at the ECenter is to foster the next generation of leaders with an entrepreneurial mind-set who

can see opportunities and identify creative solutions that others have missed, one idea at a time. We do this

by delivery unique, hands-on, experiential programming that inspires, nurtures, and mentors students from

any major, at every step in process, anywhere from idea growth and development to the fundamentals of

company creation. The ECenter operates as a start-up in an academic environment, and most programs are

donor funded.

Since we opened our doors in 2014, we have built a track record of success throughout the UNH student

community, and beyond. Being co-curricular means we are able to complement what all UNH students are

learning in every classroom on campus. Read on for more about our signature programs and organizations,

including i2 Passport TM , Paid Internship at Start-Ups, the Maurice Prize for Innovation, student-run EClub, the

Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, and much more.

This annual report represents a snapshot into what we’ve been hard at work on over the 2019-2020

academic year. Like everyone else this year, we felt the impact of a global pandemic and worked hard to

innovate and pivot our programming to continue offering the highest level experience to our students. We

are tremendously proud of our ECenter community and every student that calls the ECenter their home for

ideas, innovation, and entrepreneurship at UNH.

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I N N O V A T I N G

in the Age of COVID-19

Pivoting our delivery of high-impact experiential

programming during a global pandemic to meet

UNH students ... wherever they are in the world.

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PUSHING PROGRAMS

IN

mid-March of 2020, the ECenter closed its doors as UNH pivoted to online learning in the wake

of COVID-19. As a team, we embraced the limitations of the new remote learning environment

and focused our efforts on pivoting our offerings to accommodate students in a virtual

environment. While most of our programs were successfully completed earlier in the semester, several of

our highest impact experiential learning opportunities, like the Paid Internship at Start-Ups Program and

the Summer Seed Grant, were impacted.

After several months of uncertainty, extensive planning and re-planning, and much flexibility on the part

of our students and start-up partners, we were proud to move our programs forward! Discover how we

adjusted our ECenter offerings to continue our student impact, providing innovative learning opportunities

and meeting as many students as possible, wherever they may be in the world.

i2 PASSPORT PROGRAM

Sponsored by the Patten Family

Foundation, the innovative i2

Passport Program rewards

students for engaging in ideas

and entrepreneurship activities

on campus with the chance to

win $35,000 in cash prizes to

help pay off student loans and

tuition. i2 Passport encourages

students to start to explore and

understand ideas, innovation,

and entrepreneurship and how

they might incorporate aspects

into their personal and academic

lives.

Although UNH’s semester on

campus ended early due to

COVID-19, we still wanted to

recognize the students who

worked hard during the spring

semester and award prizes in the

i2 Passport Program. A modified

prize structure of raffle drawings

was set up to recognize the most

dedicated i2 Passport students

from spring 2020. The virtual

Award Ceremony was scheduled

for Friday, April 10th. Despite the

abbreviated semester, over 30

students qualified for prizes!

MAURICE PRIZE

On April 21st the ECenter

conducted final presentations

for the Maurice Prize for

Innovation via Zoom, a first in

the history of this prize. This

year’s competition featured three

outstanding teams covering

a spectrum of students who

have been engaged with the

ECenter for years, to those who

have only recently discovered

the resources available to

them. After several hours of

Zoom presentations and a

robust judging deliberation, the

ECenter was pleased to award

the Maurice Prize to Hannah

Ziegele ’20 (COLSA) for her idea,

AnimalTemp!

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Left: Anna Pollak ‘23 (PAUL), intern at Soake Pools

F O R W A R D

Zoom becomes our virtual learning platform. Here, students gather for an i2 Passport event.

PAID STUDENT INTERNSHIP AT

START-UPS PROGRAM

While many internships for

UNH students were canceled

due to COVID-19, the ECenter's

Paid Student Internship at

Start-ups Program ran full speed

this summer, nearly at capacity.


Foundation and other generous

UNH alumni, nine UNH Durham

students received hands-on

experience working at start-up

companies in New Hampshire

and the Boston-area. This was

increased from six students last

summer.

Typically, this program provides

that experiential learning

opportunity over a 10-week

period and students receive a

stipend of $4,000. During the

summer of 2020, a few of the

students have abbreviated

internships of seven weeks in

order to provide the opportunity,

but to make sure the office

setting is safe and follows state

regulations. The feedback is all in

and all 18 students and start-ups

had a great summer together!

SUMMER SEED GRANT

The Summer Seed Grant (SSG),

sponsored by Pierce Atwood

LLP, is a unique program that

pays students to work on their

early-stage ideas/start-ups over

the summer without having

to find a summer job. Instead

of in-person presentations

to a panel of judges, finalists

presented via Zoom. The winning

teams, Spaitr and Valetan, rose

to the challenge of a remote

program. The students typically

work out of UNHInnovation’s

Cubex Coworking Space, but this

summer, due to COVID-19, all

students were working remote.

Our students are also received

weekly one-on-one mentorship

via Zoom from seasoned

entrepreneur Mike McClurken

and ECenter Executive Director

Ian Grant.

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ECENTER MAKERSPACE SUPPORTS 3D

PRINTING FACE SHIELD INITIATIVE

When the UNH campus shut down in March, the

ECenter didn't expect to turn our Makerspace's 3D

printers on for the rest of the semester, but when

the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard asked UNH to help

3D print head bands for full face shields for local

medical professionals, we jumped at the chance

to help. We fired up three of our 3D printers, plus

a personal 3D printer and got to work, printing

nearly constantly for weeks.

The ECenter is part of a team of departments from

all around UNH contributing to this effort with

3D printing. The head bands (pictured above on

the left) are collected by the Shipyard, cleaned,

assembled, and distributed to health care facilities

around New England. In addition to the head

bands, we've been printing "ear savers," pictured

above on the right. Ear savers connect to the

elastic bands that usually go around the ears with

some face masks. Instead of bothering the ears

with constant wearing, the ear savers take the

pressure off the elastic and fit around the back of

the head.

working as long as they're needed to help our

healthcare workers who are giving so much to help

the rest of us," said Heather MacNeill, Makerspace

Advisor and project manager.

The project started winding down in late summer,

but since mid-March, the ECenter has contributed

over 500 headbands and over 1100 ear savers.

The printing efforts were made possible by

the Patten Family Foundation, which funds the

Makerspace's equipment and materials, such as

the PLA used for 3D printing. Thank you to the

Patten Family Foundation!

“The printers will keep on working

as long as they're needed to help

our healthcare workers who are

giving so much to help the rest of us.”

HEATHER MACNEILL, ECenter Senior Program Manager

"The ECenter team, Makerspace student

mentors, and I are so proud to have the

ECenter's Makerspace contribute in this way.

The Makerspace's printers were moved into my

basement so the ECenter could help, even with

campus shut down. The printers will keep on

Right: Assembled face shields (photo credit Seacoast Online).

Below: ECenter 3D printers working overtime to print PPE.

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#ECenterImpact

“The ECenter is a great resource for advice

and guidance in developing ideas. My

partner and I visited the ECenter with

nothing but an idea and within six months

we were selling to our first university.”

Kristian Comer ‘20

Hudson, NH

College of Engineering and Physical Sciences

Co-Founded start-up company: YouScheduler

YouScheduler is an intuitive, fast college course scheduling software that

allows users to find class schedules built around their personal preferences.

How I engaged at the ECenter

> Participated in i2 Passport

> Holloway Prize Winner 2018

> Won Hackathon

> Used Cube X Coworking Space

> Particpated in NSF i-CORPS

> Coached by the ECenter

> Attended Speaker Series and Bootcamps

My Hashtag:

#ECenterLife

ECENTER PROGRAMS DELIVER EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING

The ECenter delivers unique, handson,

experiential programming

designed to inspire, encourage, and

mentor students from any major

or college. Our programs are

designed to support and nurture

student ideas and innovation at

every step in the process, from

curiosity to company creation.

The ECenter operates as a startup

in an academic environment

and most programs are donor

funded. Led by a proven serial

entrepreneur, we are rapidly

demonstrating significant success

throughout the UNH student

community. Being co-curricular,

we compliment and apply skills

students are learning in every

classroom across campus.

The i2 Passport Program,

which stands for the ideas and

innovation passport, rewards

students for engaging in ideas

and entrepreneurship activities

on campus with the chance to

win $35,000 in cash prizes to

help pay off student loans and

tuition, with an additional focus

on FirstGen students (first in

their family to attend college).

i2 Passport encourages

students to start to explore

and understand ideas and

entrepreneurship and how they

might incorporate aspects into

their personal and academic

lives. This involvement is

rewarded in Passport Visa Stamp

Credits and the chance to win

prizes totaling $35,000.

The fall semester winners were

Jessica Nelson ‘21 (Paul College)

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Fall 2019 i2 Passport Winners: Naomi Scnheider (COLSA), Evan England (COLA),

Scott Hinds (PAUL), Jessica Nelson (PAUL), Izaiah Barba (PAUL), Danielle Liska (COLA)

for 1st place, Scott Hinds ‘20

(Paul College) for 2nd place,

Naomi Schneider ‘23 (CHHS)

for 3rd place, Evan England ‘21

(COLA) for First Gen, and Izaiah

Barba ‘22 (Paul College) and

Danielle Liska ‘21 (COLA) for the

raffle drawing prizes.

Although UNH’s spring 2020

semester on campus ended early

due to COVID-19, we still wanted

to recognize the students who

worked hard during the spring

semester by awarding prizes.

A modified prize structure of

raffle drawings was set up to

recognize the most dedicated i2

Passport participants, with over

30 students qualified for the

prize raffle. The winners were

Jacob Uren ‘22 (COLSA), Madison

McEachern ‘23 (COLSA), Claire

Anderson ‘22 (Paul College), and

Izaiah Barba ‘22 (Paul College).

Thank you to Harry Patten

‘58 and the Patten Family

Foundation for their generous

financial support.

The Maurice Prize for

Innovation, endowed by J.

Dolores and Alfred P. Maurice

‘44, is an annual competition

to encourage and foster

innovation, creativity, originality,

ingenuity, and resourcefulness

in undergraduate students

enrolled at UNH. The goal of the

Maurice Prize is to encourage

students to be daring in their

pursuits and not fear failure.

Students should know that not

achieving everything they set out

to achieve is not a failure, but an

invaluable learning experience.

For that reason, the Maurice

Prize is different than many other

student awards. It is designed

to encourage students to take

the first steps to move their idea

forward, and is judged on what

the team learned in the process

of the “idea into actions” phase,

rather than on a completely

successful outcome at the time

of judging.

Now in its third year, we were

proud to award the Maurice

Prize to Hannah Ziegele ‘20!

Hannah graduated from the

College of Life Sciences and

Agriculture in May 2020 as a

Biomedical Science, Veterinary

Science major, and a Dairy

Management minor. She is the

first COLSA student to win the

Maurice Prize. Said Hannah,

“This whole experience has been

wonderful and I’m so grateful

I got to learn about innovation

through it all!”

Hannah’s idea, AnimalTemp,

provides constant, reliable,

and non-invasive temperature

readings for animals of all sizes

by using an RFID tag attached

to a collar. Between November

2019 and March 2020, Hannah

not only grew AnimalTemp from

a nascent idea to the product

she presented before the judges,

but acquired numerous skills

during her journey, ranging from

idea development and exploring

the entrepreneurial process, to

learning the RFID and antenna

technology required to bring her

idea to fruition.

The Paid Student Internship

at Start-Ups continued! While

many internships for UNH

students were canceled due to

COVID-19, the ECenter’s Paid

Student Internship at Start-ups

Program ran nearly at capacity

during the summer of 2020.


Foundation and other generous

UNH alumni, nine UNH Durham

students gained hands-on

experience working at a start-up

company. This was increased

from six students last summer.

We started this program

because we recognize that not

all students have the “a-ha” idea

right away and/or they want to

learn about and understand the

inner workings of a start-up and

help in the building process.

Typically, this program provides

that experiential learning

opportunity over a 10-week

period and students receive a

stipend of $4,000. This summer,

a few of the students have

abbreviated internships of seven

weeks in order to provide the

opportunity, but to make sure

the office setting is safe and

follows state regulations.

This is the fourth summer we

have run the Paid Student

Internship at Start-ups Program,

run by Heather MacNeill, ECenter

Senior Program Manager. We

had over 25 companies and over

20 students apply this year.

The Summer Seed Grant, the

ECenter’s oldest program, saw

a boost in funding this year,

thanks to sponsor Pierce Atwood

LLP. Instead of the previous

$3,500 per person for the nine

Hannah Ziegele ‘20, COLSA Winner of

the Maurice Prize for Innovation

SUMMERSEEDGRANT.ORG

$16,000 SUMMER

SEED GRANT

SPONSORED BY PIERCE ATWOOD LLP

GET PAID TO WORK ON YOUR IDEA OR EARLY STAGE START-UP

OVER THE SUMMER!

10

week program, each awardee

in 2020 received$4,000.The

Summer Seed Grant is a unique

program that pays students to

work on their early-stage ideas/

start-ups over the summer

without having to find a summer

job. The students typically work

out of UNHInnovation’s CubeX

Coworking Space, but this

summer, due toCOVID-19, all

students were working remote.

They also received weekly oneon-one

mentorship via Zoom

from seasoned entrepreneur

Mike McClurken and ECenter

Executive Director Ian Grant.

Many thanks to Mike for

spending his summer on this

with us!

Ten start-ups applied and went

through a first round of judging.

After the finalists presented in

front of the final round judges,

we were thrilled to award $4,000

each to Nathaniel Hunt ‘22

(COLA), Brady Esmaili ‘23 (CEPS),

Joey Neleber ‘22 (CEPS), and

Nicolas Camara ‘21 (CEPS) for

Spaitr and Alhussein Al-Jawad ‘22

(CEPS) for Valetan.

Spaitr is a two-fold venture

consisting of a diagnostic tracker

attachment to a lacrosse stick

and an app to serve as a way

for coaches to track the team’s

results, growth, and diagnostics.

Valetan is an online service that

allows people to have their cars

parked and delivered to them

with worry-free convenience.

Thank you to our lead sponsor,

Pierce Atwood!

The Idea + Innovation Society

launched in 2018, and after

that amazing inaugural cohort,

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The ECenter welcomed the second cohort of the Idea & Innovation Society in fall of 2019.

Seen here is half of the group at the induction meeting.

expectations were high for the

2019-2020 group of innovative

students.

The Society is only for incoming

first year students who have

already started a company, nonprofit,

or been actively engaged

in innovation in high school.

The Society provides mentors,

$250+ of seed funding for the

next idea, and an immediate

peer group for collaboration

and encouragement. ECenter

Executive Director Ian Grant runs

the program.

The program, in partnership

with UNH Admissions,

invites students to submit an

application for consideration.

From over 60 applications, the

ECenter accepted 17 impressive

students who met the challenge.

Students from all over the US

and from most of the colleges

on campus provide an essential

diversity of thought.

Monthly group meetings

centered around skill building

activities, exploration of

“Customer Discovery” and the

always fun “Idea Jams” where

students shared their ideas and

received impactful feedback

and support. Society students

go on to work on their ideas,

enter competitions, and take

leadership roles around campus.

The Student Idea Fund helps

students bring their ideas to life!

With the rapid success of the

ECenter, we have seen a high

number of student ideas and

ventures move to the true

development stage. The hurdle

of paying for initial launch

items including domain names,

web hosting costs, prototype

development, etc. is limiting

students’ ability to reach that

next level.

The Student Idea Fund,

sponsored by the Patten Family

Foundation, provides microgrants

of up to $250 to help

students pursue their ideas or

start-ups. Over the 2019-2020

academic year, the Student Idea

Fund provided approximately

$1,500 to student applications.

This year’s funding helped

students: submit 501(c)3 filing

fees; attend the Forbes Under

30 summit; purchase web

domains; purchase a gyroscope

accelerometer, and much more!

#ECenterImpact

“The ECenter helped me become a

better critical thinker and problem

solver with real world situations,

and develop skills that are less

focused on in the classroom.”

Nadia Fereydooni ‘19

Tehran, Iran


How I Engaged with the ECenter:

>Makerspace Mentor

>University Innovation Fellow

>Connected with a Mentor

>Used Cube X Co-Working Space

>Attended Speaker Series and Events

My Hashtag:

#ECenterMindset

UNH.edu/ecenter

#ECenterImpact

“Volunteering at the Makerspace

in the ECenter is the ultimate

interdisciplinary experience. I enjoy

helping students with new projects

every week and learning about the

innovative ideas floating on campus.”

Nathan Daigle ‘21

Pelham, NH

College of Engineering and Physical Science


>Makerspace Mentor

>Makerspace Board of Operations Member

>Participated in i2 Passport Program


>Entrepreneurship Club Member

>Attended Speaker Series and Bootcamps

My Hashtag:

#MakeItAtTheECenter

UNH.edu/ecenter

INNOVATIVE SPACES

MAKERSPACE

The 2019-2020 academic year

saw a lot of activity for the

Makerspace. More students

than ever utilized the space for

personal, academic, and start-up

projects. Student activity for this

year was up 19% from last year.

We applied for and received

two grants – one from the UNH

Alumni Association and one from

the UNH Parents Association.

With the grant funds we were

able to purchase two new 3D

printers and parts to build a third

printer. The extra 3D printers

will allow even more students to

work on their projects. Even with

the three existing 3D printers we

had all year, there was often a

backlog of students wanting to

3D print.

We again partnered with a few

faculty members this year to

bring whole classes into the

Makerspace. After the success

of her project in Hamilton Smith

Hall in which her students used

the vinyl cutter to create quotes

from literature to put on the

walls throughout the building,

COLA Professor Molly Campbell

was back with her students. This

time, they used the vinyl cutter

to create wall art of multiple

buildings on campus at the

request of multiple deans.

Lastly, shortly after UNH closed

its campus in March, the

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard

contacted UNH asking for help

3D printing head bands for full

face shields for local healthcare

workers. The ECenter is part of

a team of departments from

all around UNH contributing to

this effort with 3D printing. Read

more about the Makerspace’s

contribution to the effort earlier

in this report.

CUBEX COWORKING SPACE

UNHInnovation’s CubeX

Coworking Space creates the

potential for unexpected meetings

and is a fun place to experience

and practice ideas, innovation,

and entrepreneurship. Students

utilize this space for team

meetings and work sessions.

Within CubeX are offices available

for start-ups to rent. Those

companies provide additional

resources and the “start-up

energy” that is contagious!

For students and faculty/staff,

there are inspirational and free

coworking zones, a conference

MAKERSPACE MENTORS

Ali Asghar ‘21 (CEPS)

Will Bauer ‘22 (COLSA)

Matt Bowring ‘21 (CEPS)

Nathan Daigle ‘21 (CEPS)

Bayley Hookway ‘21 (PAUL)

Samuel Kierstead ‘21 (CEPS)

Peyton Oakes ‘21 (PAUL)

Michelle Paradise ‘20 (CEPS)

Cornelis Plomp ‘21 (CEPS)

Steven Schnobrich ‘21

(PAUL & CEPS)

Brandon Smith ‘20G (CEPS)

Scott Sullivan ‘20 (CEPS)

Alice Wade ‘23 (CEPS)

room, and a training room(all

with digital screens) to help

students and their teams be

creative, work through ideas, and

solve problems! The Caffeinator

Coffee Bar at the ECenter is also

available for free nitro cold brew

from UNH alumni/entrepreneurowned

(Connor Roelke ’15) NOBL

Coffee.

6.95 miles

of PLA used in 2019-2020

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A HOME FOR STUDENT CLUBS

AND ORGANIZATIONS

The UNH Entrepreneurship

Club (E-Club), sponsored by

the Patten Family Foundation,

is a student-run campus

organization that meets at the

ECenter most Monday evenings

during the semester. Meetings

included an activity or guest

speaker from the industry and

“Entrepreneur’s Game of Life.”

Free food provided as part of

the weekly meetings. This year,

TJ Evarts ’20 was president

supported by Jack Potvin ’23 as

vice-president along with 4 other

selected officers of the board.

Ian Grant, ECenter Executive

Director, is the E-Club advisor.

Learn more at: unheclub.com

The UNH Marketing and

Advertising Club (MAC) is a

student-run organization whose

members have the opportunity

to enhance their classroom

learning.

MAC holds their meetings at

the UNH ECenter every other

Wednesday during the academic

year. The events they hold

throughout the year are also

included in our i2 Passport

Program, helping students

gaining valuable experience in a

fun, energetic environment.

Learn more at:

facebook.com/UNHMAClub/

Top: Students in UNH EClub

Above middle: Nelson Thomas ‘20 (COLA)

Above: Students working in CubeX

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I Got the Job!

Engaging at the UNH ECenter helped me get hired.

Devin McMahon

Associate, Project Management at GroupeConnect

– a Publicis Groupe Solution

Greater Boston Area

GroupeConnect

University of New

Hampshire - 2019

Business Administration

“My UNH education gave me so many tools and experiences to prepare me for my first

post-graduation job. I can say that my time at the ECenter to develop my innovative skills

gave me a clear advantage during the job search process. My ECenter internship, being

coached to 2nd place finish at Holloway, participating in many of the ECenter programs

and selected to be a University Innovation Fellow all gave me the tools and confidence to

succeed and secure an amazing job.”


Companies today look for proven innovative problem solvers.

The high-impact experiential programs at the ECenter are designed to

provide students with those skills and tools.

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CROSS-CAMPUS

COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS

i2 Passport

1 of top 20

Paid Internship at Start-Ups

1 of 6, summer 2019

Competition Finalists

3 out of 16

Coaching

10 teams coached

Summer Seed Grant

1 out of 5, summer 2020

Hackathon Winners

1 out of 4

BU Idea Conference

11 out of 54 attendees

COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

i2 Passport

2 of top 20


1 of 2, summer 2019

Summer Seed Grant


Maurice Prize

Winner, summer 2019

BU Idea Conference


PETER T. PAUL COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

i2 Passport

10 of top 20


4 of 6, summer 2019

9 of 9, summer 2020


4 out of 16

Coaching

16 teams coached

Summer Seed Grant

1 of 2, summer 2019

Hackathon Winners

2 out of 4

Makerspace

3 out of 13 mentors

BU Idea Conference


17

ENGAGEMENT

COLLEGE OF LIFE SCIENCES AND AGRICULTURE

i2 Passport

5 of top 20



Maurice Prize

Winner, summer 2020

Coaching

6 teams coached

Summer Seed Grant



1 out of 16

Makerspace

1 of 13 mentors

BU Idea Conference


COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES

i2 Passport

2 of top 20


1 of 6, summer 2019


6 out of 16

Coaching

20 teams coached

Summer Seed Grant


Hackathon Winners

1 out of 4

Makerspace

8 out of 13 mentors

BU Idea Conference


GRAD SCHOOL AND OTHER CAMPUS ENGAGEMENT

UNH Classroom Visits

79 visits in all 5 colleges


3 out of 16

High School Visits

5 schools in NH and ME

Coaching

6 teams coached

Makerspace

1 of 13 mentors

18

ECENTER EVENTS TO ENGAGE AND INSPIRE

START-UP SPEAKER SERIES

We were pleased to welcome

Tyler Goodwin ‘12 (CEO of 360

Intel) and Alex Vandermark

(owner of The Juicery) to the

ECenter for fall semester Start-

Up Speaker Series, sponsored by

Lake Street Advisors. These two

entrepreneurs from two different

industries shared their journeys

with the enthralled group of

students in attendance.

When asked what his approach

to expansion at The Juicery

was, Alex explained, “I didn’t

take an aggressive approach to

expanding. I wanted to know it

would be a home run. I feared

failure, for sure. I would look

through everything, all the

different demographics for the

area, the traffic. I’d sit outside

the space and observe the traffic

patterns, things like that.” Fearing

failure is a common theme

in entrepreneurship. At the

ECenter, we endeavor to teach

students failure is okay and is

naturally part of the building

process.

Tyler got his start in the family

business, working for his dad,

Eric Goodwin. When moderator

Jerry Howard, Founder of

Predictive Branding, asked Tyler

what the hardest part of joining

a family business was, Tyler was

quick to respond. “Definitely the

perception people have. I started

at the bottom, had the same pay

and expectations that everybody

19

From left: Tyler Goodwin ‘12, Alex Vandermark, and moderator Jerry Howard

else did, but no matter, what

you’re always going to have folks

who think that you’re going to

have things handed to you. In

my experience, there was more

pressure in that environment

because I didn’t want to fail and

I didn’t want to put my dad in a

situation where he had to justify

my existence in the company.

I wanted to make sure that he

could be proud of what I was

bringing to the table.” Tyler

worked his way up through the

company and is now CEO!

Thank you, Lake Street Advisors,

for making the Speaker Series

possible!

STUDENT SUMMER SHOWCASE

After three years of running

two summer programs

concurrently - the Summer

Seed Grant (sponsored by

Pierce Atwood LLP) and Paid

Student Internship at Start-ups

Program (sponsored by the

Patten Family Foundation) - we

finally brought them together for

a Student Summer Showcase at

the ECenter on August 6, 2019.

We had five students from the

Internship Program, and the

two students from the Summer

Seed Grant Program showing the

audience what #ECenterImpact

is all about.

The students who presented

about their summer internship

experiences were DJ Beasley '21

(Sleepbox), Alex Bunnell '20

(UniteGPS), Jessie DeLouis '21

(YouScheduler), Jon Dryja '20

(Twin Barns Brewing), Annie

Henry '20 (Ourly), Jacob Lenef '22

(SplitFit).

Also presenting were the

Summer Seed Grant recipients

Marisa Rafal ‘19 (NH Toy Library

Network) and Steven Schnobrich

'21 (Bogey Bag).

We're thrilled so many ECenter

supporters could join us for the

Showcase and we plan to make it

an annual event!

START-UP CAREER FAIR

Prior to the COVID-19

closing of campus, the UNH

Entrepreneurship Club (E-Club)

hosted the 2nd annual Start-

Up & High-Growth Company

Career Fair on Monday, March

9th, in partnership with the

UNH Entrepreneurship Center

(ECenter) and UNH Career and

Professional Success (CaPS).

All UNH students and all

regional start-up or high-growth

companies were invited to

participate!

Students who engage in

innovation, entrepreneurship,

and problem solving mingled

with start-ups and high-growth

companies in a traditional career

fair setting, but there was a

twist. Just as we did last year, all

companies went on stage to give

their "1-minute elevator pitch."

Students then voted on their

favorite pitch. Congrats to the

winner: Tanosteel!

Throughout the evening, students

chatted about full-time, part-time,

and paid internship positions.

They also got to hear the unique

stories about how the companies,

many of them started by UNH

alumni, got off the ground.

FAT Mongoose, JobGet, JOBTALK,

LLC, Loftware, Inc, NextStep

HealthTech, Nobl Coffee LLC,

NOCA Beverages Inc., Shtudy,

SMARTwheel Inc, and Tanosteel

Weapon Security LLC.

It was a fun evening with great

campus partners, inspiring

companies, and passionate

students. We're excited to see

what's in store for next year!

MAKEYOURSPACE

The Makerspace at the

ECenter hosted the second

annual MakeYOURspace open

house in our Makerspace in

the fall. The purpose of the

MakeYOURspace event was

to welcome women and nonbinary

UNH students, faculty,

and staff to the Makerspace to

share with them all the unique

resources available. Such

resources include 3D printers,

a laser cutter/engraver, a vinyl

cutter, an industrial sewing

machine, and the DATRON

Neo CNC milling machine. This

year, MakeYOURspace was

held in celebration of Women

Entrepreneurship Week. Every

student who attended the open

house received an acrylic laser

cut coaster with a quote from a

famous woman.

The Makerspace has always

been open to every student on

campus, regardless of college,

major, or gender.

WILDCAT TANK

The ECenter was happy to again

help sponsor E-Club’s Wildcat

Tank event, a UNH riff on the

legendary Shark Tank show. The

ECenter was able to offer funding

support thanks to the generosity

of Alfred P. Maurice and the

Maurice Prize for Innovation.

Wildcat Tank was an opportunity

for students to pitch their startup

ideas to a panel of judges,

with a chance to win cash prizes!

Thank you to participating

companies 128 Technology,

addapptation, Anderson Welding

LLC, Bedroom Kandi Boutique

Parties, Bottomline Technologies,

Students connect with start-up and high growth companies at the career fair

20

Congratulations to Chris Hollis

’22 for his company Ambrosia

Fabrics and second place

winners Jamie ’20 and Jessica

’21 Nelson for their excellent

presentation, Buddy-Up.

HACKATHONS

This academic year, the ECenter

was excited to host two

hackathons/ideathons with two

wildly different concepts, but

with the same entrepreneurial

spirit. In fall 2019, we hosted a

very different kind of hackathon/

ideathon, where event sponsor

(and ECenter corporate sponsor),

The Kane Company, presented

the student participants with

a unique problem to solve:

"How would they reimagine the

traditional office park for young

professionals?"

Over the following 24 hours,

the students embraced the

challenge with gusto and came

back together in the final hour

to present their impressive

and innovative ideas. Students

were encouraged to explore not

only practical design elements,

but also image big, crazy ideas!

The $2,000 Grand Prize team

of Chris Hollis '22 (COLA) and

Jessica Nelson '21 (Paul College)

proposed entry signage with

waterfall landscape, courtyard

connecting building with native

plants, man-made pond for

summer activities and winter

activities, CSA house for local

fruits/veggies, and a crazy, big

idea of an indoor mixed-use ski

area with roof-top bar.

In the spring 2020 semester,

we partnered with the UNH

InterOperability Lab (IOL) on

Hack for New Hampshire,

sponsored by Liberty Mutual,

Bottomline Technologies (an

ECenter Premier Sponsor), and

Arista Networks. During the

24-hour event, students from all

across campus worked together

to solve problems through

innovative solutions.

In a nod to the New Hampshire

primary, this year’s challenge

asked students to find ways to

help the state become safer

or more sustainable while

solidifying interest among young

voters and gauge creative

solutions to improve voting

practices. The Best Overall

Package winning team was

Jessica Nelson '21 (Paul College)

and TJ Evarts '20 (CEPS) with

their idea, TruCount,a free app

designed to eliminate voter fraud

by using an in-person check-in

system which gives voters a QR

code for the polls.

ENTREPRENEUR’S GAME OF LIFE

The ECenter was pleased to

again offer support to the

Entrepreneurship Club (E-Club) as

they hosted their annual fall event,

Entrepreneur’s Game of Life. The

premise of the event is based off

the classic Game of Life board

game and provides students with

the opportunity to bring a fantasy

business idea to life. Participation

in this event also qualifies

for Visa Stamp Credits in the

ECenter’s innovative i2 Passport

Program. The event drew a mix

of i2 Passport students, ECenter

regulars, and curious newcomers

for a pizza and creativity-fueled

evening.

Below (l): Dylan Wheeler ‘20 leads EClub in the

Entrepreneur’s Game of LIfe; Below (r): Hackathon

winners Chris Hollis and Jessica Nelson with the

Kane Company representatives

21

Above: ECenter students at the BU Idea Conference; Below: Agile Bootcamp

BU IDEA CONFERENCE

For the second year in a row,

the ECenter and over 50 UNH

students attended the IDEA

Conference hosted by Boston

University’s Innovate@BU

Initiative. Everyone piled into a

coach bus early in the morning

(7:00am on a Saturday!) on

February 15th and made their

way to Boston. This conference

allows for students and

professionals to come together

to share inspiration for ideas,

technology, social impact, arts,

and culture.

Throughout the day, attendees

listened to speakers from

all over, including: the CEO

& Founder of Holdette,

the Executive Director of

Greenpeace USA, and the

ECenter’s very own Joel

Nkounkou, CEO and Cofounder

of ecoText, and UNH

alum! Between speakers were

workshops centered around

networking, financing ventures,

funding non-profits, creating

a perfect pitch, pursuing your

passions, and many more.

The ECenter loves providing this

opportunity to students, and

we're glad the students love it

too. It is wonderful to be able

to provide a venue for UNH

students to meet their innovative

peers from other Boston area

colleges. This year, a grant from

the UNH Alumni Association

helped to offset the cost for

students to attend.

Thank you, Alumni Association!

BOOTCAMPS

The ECenter offers a variety

of hands-on bootcamps every

academic year, with a range of

topics. They provide students

with a hands-on environment to

practice the entrepreneurial skills

they are developing both inside

and outside of the classroom. This

year we offered bootcamps on

idea creation, pitching, and Agile

methodology.

In fall 2019, we had another great

semester with our flagship Idea

Creation Bootcamps, sponsored

by Bottomline Technologies. More

students attended than ever

before! At the first Bootcamp,

the group was led by Alexandra

Suarez, a facilitator and trainer

focused on innovation and

human-centric research and

insights. Our second Idea Creation

Bootcamp of the semester was

led by Marc Sedam, Associate

Vice Provost of Innovation and

New Ventures and the Managing

Director at UNHInnovation.

At the Pitching Bootcamp in the

spring, students learned not

only how to transform a great

idea and written summary into

a successful pitch, but also how

to present themselves in front

of a crowd or panel. These are

essential skills, regardless of

career path. The presenter for

the evening was Todd Boucher

'03, co-founder and partner at

Hidden Collective and principal

and founder at Leading Edge

Design Group.

Finally, just prior to campus

closing down in the spring we

hosted two Agile Bootcamps,

sponsored and run by

Bottomline Technologies, an

ECenter Premier Sponsor.

Students learned the agile

process framework and

the importance of the agile

methodology in business.

Thank you to Bottomline

Technologies for sponsoring and

for engaging students in these

unique experiential learning

opportunities!

22

October 4, 2019 marked an important occasion at the University of New Hampshire

as we celebrated the second annual induction in the UNH Alumni Entrepreneur Hall

of Fame. The Hall of Fame is housed within the UNH ECenter and recognizes alumni

who have achieved significant entrepreneurial success with ventures as founders, cofounders,

or owners, while also giving back to their communities in a meaningful way.

With over 10,000 entrepreneurs in UNH’s alumni ranks, it is not surprising that we

received a record number of nominations, resulting in a highly competitive selection.

The 2019 Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of Fame Inductees are:

Christine Dodson ‘88

Co-founder & COO, Mamava, Inc.

Joe Faro ‘91

Chief Food Taster, Tuscan Brands, LLC

Thomas Hazel ‘95

Founder, CTO, and Chief Scientist, CHAOSSEARCH

Les Hiscoe ‘87

CEO, Shawmut Design and Construction

Harry S. Patten ‘58

Chairman of the Board and CEO, National Land Partners, LLC

23

ABOUT THE INDUCTEES

Christine (Rayment) Dodson

‘88 is co-founder & COO of

Mamava, Inc., the leading expert

in lactation space design. In 2015,

Mamava won the InnovateHER

VT Challenge, hosted by the

Vermont Center for Emerging

Technologies. In 2018, Christine

and her co-founder, Sascha

Mayer, were named Vermont

Small Business Persons of the

Year. In 2019, Christine and

Sascha were recognized as

finalists for the Ernst & Young

New England Entrepreneur of the

Year Award.

Joe Faro ‘91 is the founder and

Chief Food Taster for Tuscan

Brands, LLC, a multifaceted

venture encompassing both

food and beverage operations

as well as large scale real estate

development. Based out of Salem,

NH, Tuscan Brands includes four

Tuscan Kitchen locations and two

Tuscan Market locations, and

the new Tuscan Village, with a

projected opening of 2022. Prior

to Tuscan Brands, Joe launched

his career with Joseph’s Gourmet

Pasta and Sauces, based out of

Haverhill, MA, which he grew into

the largest specialty pasta and

sauce producer in the nation and

sold to Nestlé in 2006.

Thomas Hazel ‘95 is the

founder, CTO and Chief Scientist

at CHAOSSEARCH, a big data

analytics company founded on

the innovative and mathematical

insights he has gleaned

throughout his career in the

technology sector. Over the past

25 years, he has held a number

of leadership positions, including

roles at Oracle and Deep

Information Sciences, and steered

many successful projects to

acquisition by Oracle, CloudTree

and Deep Information Sciences.

Les Hiscoe ’87 was elevated to

CEO after working at Shawmut

Design and Construction

for 20 years. Under his

leadership, Shawmut embarked

on a complete enterprise

transformation. In 2005, it

became 100% employee owned

and grew the number of women

in the workforce to 35%, more

than triple the industry standard.

Shawmut has been named one

of Mogul’s “175 Top Companies

for Female Leaders,” “Diversity

Champion” by Providence

Business News, “Diversity and

Inclusion Citizen of the Year” by

Procore, and many more.

Harry Patten ’58 is chairman of

the board and CEO of National

Land Partners, LLC. He began his

career as a Kirby vacuum cleaner

salesman, but quickly recognized

his aptitude for sales and focused

on land deals, becoming one of

the foremost buyers and sellers

of rural and recreational land in

America. Over the past 40 years,

he has generated more than

$1B in sales. He was selected

by Fortune Magazine as one

of 1987’s 50 Most Fascinating

Business People, featured in

front page stories in The Wall

Street Journal and included in

the Who’s Who of American

Business Leaders. He received

the Horatio Alger Association’s

Distinguished American Award

in 2011. In addition to UNH,

he supports High Hopes for

Haiti, Junior Achievement,

Massachusetts General Hospital

and the Cornerstone Society of

Southeastern Guide Dogs.

Read full bios at unh.edu/ecenter

Opposite from left: HOF Inductees Thomas

Hazel, Christine Dodson, Les Hiscoe, Joe Faro,

and Harry S. Patten;

Below: Inductees meet with student innovators

for a round-table discussion; Below left:

Reception following ceremony

24

In the afternoon, the inductees

met with more than 25

innovative, entrepreneurial

UNH students at the ECenter to

share their stories and engage

in a round table discussion.

Students were encouraged to

ask questions and seek advice

on the issues they face in the

development of their ideas and

businesses. The insights shared

by the inductees were hugely

impactful to the students and

the discussion was a highlight

of the day for the inductees.

Said one inductee, “The quality

of ideas and students was so

very impressive. I neither had

the fortitude nor the resources

of the ECenter during my

undergraduate time here. I wish

I did.”

least digitized industry, and

Thomas focusing on the allencompassing

energy problem

– the cost, complexity, creation,

and storage of energy – mused,

“what could be more challenging?

What could be more fun?”

In his concluding remarks,

President Jim Dean said, “Today,

the Alumni Entrepreneur Hall of

Fame invites us to honor these

five inductees who exemplify

not only the excellence of a

UNH education, but also the

downstairs to the Hamilton

Smith Great Hall, where they

enjoyed a hosted reception,

capping off a truly celebratory

evening.

This year’s ceremony and

celebration ushered in a

significant change from last

year. In 2018, the inaugural

induction of the Hall of Fame was

incorporated in UNHInnovation’s

annual Innovators’ Dinner.

Now in the second year, the

Hall of Fame celebrations were

Following the student discussion

panel was the Hall of Fame

induction ceremony. Nearly

100 members of the UNH

community filled Hamilton Smith

Hall to hear from our alumni

and celebrate at a reception

following the ceremony. In the

spirit of innovation, the inductees

were tasked with a specific

topic for their acceptance

speeches. Rather than offering

the traditional round of thanks,

they instead had to outline a

problem they see in the world

and address the steps that

UNH students and community

members can take to solve it.

The speeches spanned a broad

range of topics, with Christine

addressing the challenges and

inequality facing new parents

returning to the workplace,

Les discussing the decline in

productivity stemming from

construction being the second

25

Inductee Thomas Hazel with his mentees, student start-up ecoText

remarkable things that our

graduates can achieve with it.”

He noted that, “Through their

vision, their talent, and their

hard work – and a lot of long

hours – they create tremendous

opportunities. Today, we honor

them for showing the world

what a UNH education makes

possible.”

Following the induction

ceremony, guests moved

made independent to give

an appropriate weight to the

occasion and celebrate the

momentous achievements of our

alumni.

Nominations for the 2020 Alumni

Entrepreneur Hall of Fame are

open until December 1, 2020.

Due to COVID-19 precautions,

the 2020 Induction has been

postponed until Homecoming

weekend in 2021.

#ECenterImpact

“The ECenter has provided a space for

talented people to work and collaborate.

Whether I am attending Bootcamps, The

Entrepreneurship Club, or receiving advice

from an advisor, the ECenter has helped me

to think with an entrepreneurial mindset.”

Jamie Nelson ‘20

Deerfield, NH

Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics

Co-founded start-up: Harvest Plus

A web based network that reduces farm waste by connecting

customers to farmers selling excess produce at a discount.


>Coached by the ECenter

>Winner of $2,000 i2 Passport Program raffle

>Entrepreneurship Club Member

>Finalist in the Maurice Prize

>Attended Speaker Series events

>Attended Bootcamps and Hackathons

> Applied to the Holloway Prize Competition

> Used Makerspace

> Used Cube X Co-working Space

My Hashtag:

#ECenterOutcomes

UNH.edu/ecenter

STUDENT SUCCESS

AT THE ECENTER AND BEYOND

The ECenter had an amazing impact on student

success this year through coaching. Ian Grant

spent many hours providing customized coaching

to students from all over UNH with a variety

of ideas. For the Social Venture Innovation

Challenge, the three student track top prizes and

the community track winner were all coached

by the ECenter. In the spring, all six finalists in

the Championship Round of the Holloway Prize

Competition were coached by the ECenter. After

just four years, we’ve built a reputation around

campus so students know to come to the ECenter

to grow their ideas... and they’re finding us sooner.

Instead of a month or two before a competition

application deadline, we’re meeting with them

six months earlier, or even a year earlier. Ian was

supported by serial entrepreneur and ECenter

Advisory Task Force member, Mike McClurken who

provided thoughtful and impactful direction to

some of the student teams. Read on to learn more!

Above: Ian Grant with SVIC winners Haley Burns, Cameron Horack, Chris Hollis, Marisa Rafal, Megan Estes, Kendra Bostick

27

SOCIAL VENTURE INNOVATION CHALLENGE

This past fall, Executive Director Ian Grant

coached a fantastic group of UNH undergraduate

and graduate students on their ideas and

presentations for the 2019 Social Venture

Innovation Challenge, hosted by the Center for

Social Innovation and Enterprise. Read on to learn

more about the students and their ideas.

Helping students succeed with their ideas is one of

the ECenter's favorite pursuits!

1st Place - Student Track

Kendra Bostick ’23, Education (Ph.D.)

Kendra's idea, Transform Classrooms with

Kikori, is an easy-to-use digital platform that

helps educators improve their students' social,

emotional, and academic outcomes with

experiential education activities aligned with

curriculum, training, and impact measurement

tools. "The ECenter has been an incredible

support in my journey as an entrepreneur. As

someone lacking business experience, Ian Grant

has readily supported and encouraged me in a

number of areas. This has allowed us to refine our

message and apply for and win the Social Venture

Application. He is also an incredible resource

for other grants and opportunities including

the NSF I-Corps Program and potential summer

programming," said Kendra.

2nd Place - Student Track

Chris Hollis '22, Undeclared

Chris is working on Ambrosia Fabrics, developing

nontoxic and sustainable performance fabrics for

furniture that are made from hemp and bamboo.

3rd Place - Student Track

Marisa Rafal '19, '20G, Master of Public Policy

Marisa started the NH Toy Library Network, a NH

college-student-run initiative to support children's

equitable access to toys, decrease waste, and

reduce college-to-community siloing. Pictured

above with Marisa is invaluable teammate Megan

Estes. "Working with the ECenter was vital. They

gave multiple 1:1 practice sessions, all with expert

insights that really made me feel so much better

equipped for competition day. I am very grateful

for all the support the ECenter has given the

NHTLN, and I'm honored to have had the chance

to participate in SVIC," said Marisa.

1st Place - Community Track

Haley Burns ’20, Business Entrepreneurship

Haley's idea, V'ice Haiti, is a Social Venture in Haiti

that delivers affordable vitamin supplementation to

the people who need it most by employing Haitian

youth and mothers as micro-franchisees.

HOLLOWAY PRIZE COMPETITION

The Championship Round of the Holloway Prize

Competition at UNH's Paul College took place

virtually on May 6th. For the first time ever, all six

final teams were coached by the ECenter!

We would like to applaud the efforts of the

Holloway Prize team, particularly Andrew Earle

(chair) and Aidan Kittredge '21, for executing a

flawless Zoom-based finals. We also thank Paul

and Anna Grace Holloway for their continued

sponsorship of this inspiring event.

First place team, Kikori, was founded by Kendra

Bostick '22 (Grad School). Kikori is a Software as a

Service (SaaS) platform that supports educators

in transforming their classrooms through

experiential education activities so their students

can transform the world. Said Kendra, "I cannot

say enough about the invaluable experience I

received by participating in the Paul J. Holloway

Prize and being coached by Ian Grant. Through

this competition, I grew immeasurably in all

areas of entrepreneurship including developing

my business strategy, constructing my financial

model, learning presentation skills and creating the

documents, videos, and pitch needed for a scalable

company. Ian Grant has been supportive since day

one (literally!) and advised me weekly throughout

28

the entire process. I do not have a business

background, and Ian met me where I was at and

believed in me, while also providing me with the

tools and guidance needed."

Second place team, ecoText, was represented in

the Prize Competition by Nelson Thomas '20 (Paul

College), Dylan Wheeler '20 (CEPS and COLA), and

Rachel Yee '20 (COLSA). The full ecoText team also

includes a few UNH alumni. See the ecoText story

later in the newsletter for more. ecoText's mission

is to reduce the financial obstacles of the high cost

of college textbooks to create opportunity through

affordability. ecoText bridges the gaps between

colleges, publishers, professors, and students by

aggregating titles onto its online platform that is

set to become the ultimate collaboration learning

tool for students and professors.

“After two years of not even making it past the

second round, our company rose to the challenge

and placed second overall this year in addition to

“There are so many stories

within the story this year.

Stories of perseverance,

dedication, and reward.”

IAN GRANT, ECenter Executive Director

winning the People’s Choice award. Having the

opportunity to work so intimately with Ian allowed

us to iterate on our business plan and face the

tough questions before it counted," said Dylan

Wheeler.

The third place team was Scrapp, founded by

Evan Gwynne Davies '20 (CEPS), Daniel Marek

'20 (CEPS), and Mikey Pasciuto '20 (CEPS). Scrapp

is a free-to-download, gamified, smartphone

application which educates consumers and

rewards individuals and institutions for recycling

correctly. Commented Daniel Marek, "Our time

throughout the competition was a steep learning

curve to say the least! But we were really fortunate

to have the support of our mentors including Ian

Grant, Dr. Kwiatkowski, and Andrea O’Brien who

all provided us with their incredible guidance

throughout the process. The feedback from the

judges has allowed us to take our initial concept,

pivot numerous times and thoroughly refine it. We

are truly grateful for the opportunity to be involved

in the Paul J. Holloway Competition and honored

to have been awarded the third prize amongst the

other two very deserving teams. We are proud of

what we have achieved in so little time, and excited

for what’s to come next for Scrapp."

Three ECenter-coached teams won runner-up

prizes: Jessica Nelson '21, Jamie Nelson '20, and TJ

Evarts '20 of BuddyUp, Caleb Peffer '21 and Nick

Camara '21 of HallHub, and Cameron Horack '21 of

SQN Capital Partners.

“There are so many stories within the story this

year. Stories of perseverance, dedication, and

reward,” said Ian Grant, ECenter’s Executive

Director. He continued, “This is ecoText’s third

year of applying to Holloway and first year that

they made it to the semi-finals and finals. It would

have been easy to just focus on other things, but

they continued to listen to customers, develop a

product, and beta with students at 26 different

colleges. That level of understanding and idea

maturity helped them grab 2nd place. Scrapp

came to the ECenter in the fall of 2019 and was

frustrated that they didn’t make the finals of

UNH’s Social Venture Innovation Challenge (SVIC).

They doubled down, did over 100 customer

discovery interviews and modified their approach

and offering to meet the needs of customers.

That focus helped them place third! Finally,

Kikori, who also won SVIC in 2019, has been

sprinting to launch their beta in 2020 and build

on the momentum they created for themselves.

Competition wins are not the end goal, but rather

a means to get to the bigger stages ahead.”

There we also nine other student teams that Ian

coached that didn’t make it to the Championship

round. “Many of those were a little too early in their

development and are continuing to work on their

plan. I am confident you will see several of them in

the years to come on the podium!”

29

STUDENT START-UP IDEAS & COMPANIES

Kendra Bostick ’23 (Grad School)

was introduced to Ian Grant and

the ECenter in the early fall of

2019 to receive coaching on her

idea, Kikori. Kikori is a Software

as a Service (SaaS) platform

that supports educators in

transforming their classrooms

through experiential education

activities so their students can

transform the world. Kikori

has developed significantly

since first visiting the ECenter.

Most recently, Kikori launched

a Kickstarter! Kikori also took

advantage of the ECenter’s Paid

Internships at Start-Ups program

in the summer of 2020.

Said Kendra, "I cannot say

enough about the invaluable

experience I received by

participating in the UNH

business plan competitions and

being coached by Ian Grant. I

grew immeasurably in all areas

of entrepreneurship including

developing my business strategy,

constructing my financial model,

learning presentation skills

and creating the documents,

videos, and pitch needed for

a scalable company. Ian Grant

has been supportive since day

one (literally!) and advised me

weekly throughout the entire

process. I do not have a business

background, and Ian met me

where I was at and believed in

me, while also providing me with

the tools and guidance needed."

The ECenter first met ecoText

in September 2017 when the

idea launched at UNH and the

founding team approached Ian

Grant to be their advisor. ecoText

fills a real need in the market.

Students and their families

struggle every semester to cover

the high “out of pocket” costs

of college textbooks. ecoText’s

mission is to reduce these

financial obstacles to create

opportunity through affordability.

ecoText bridges the gaps

between colleges, publishers,

professors, and students by

aggregating titles onto its online

platform that is set to become

the ultimate collaboration

learning tool for students and

professors.

While the team includes both

UNH students and alumni, the

current students in ecoText

competed this year in the

Holloway Prize Competition.

In Holloway, Nelson Thomas

'20 (COLA), Dylan Wheeler '20

(CEPS and COLA), and Rachel

Yee '20 (COLSA) made it to the

Championship Round where they

won 2nd place and the People’s

Choice Award! ecoText also

launched a Kickstarter this year.

Said CMO Nelson Thomas, "As

we have grown, the ECenter has

been alongside us guiding us in

the right direction. The lessons

and experience we garnered

from our interactions as well as

the events that the ECenter puts

on are skills that we will carry

throughout our journey with

ecoText. Thank you to all that

make the ECenter special!"

ecoText co-founders and ECenter alumni

(from left) Joel Nkounkou ‘18, Dylan Wheeler

‘20, and Nelson Thomas ‘20, launched their

first equity round in the summer of 2020

30

Ambrosia Fabrics, founded

by Chris Hollis ‘22 (COLA)

is developing nontoxic and

sustainable performance fabrics

for furniture that are made from

hemp and bamboo. Chris came

to UNH as a transfer student and

first encountered the ECenter at

June Orientation. He immediately

connected with Ian Grant to work

on his idea. In his first semester

at UNH, Chris entered the Social

Venture Innovation Challenge in

the fall and came in 2nd place

in the student track! He was a

semi-finalist in the Holloway Prize

in the spring 2020. Ambrosia

Fabrics also participated in the

UNHInnovation NSF-ICorps

program in the fall of 2019.

Marisa Rafal ‘19 (CHHS), Dec.

‘20G (Grad School) started the

NH Toy Library Network as an

undergraduate student at UNH

and has been working on the

with Ian Grant and the ECenter

ever since. The NH Toy Library

Network (NHTLN) is a NH collegestudent-run

initiative to support

children’s equitable access to

toys, decrease waste, and reduce

college-to-community siloing. In

the fall of 2019, Marisa entered

the Social Venture Innovation

Challenge (SVIC) where she

31

earned 3rd place! Marisa and

her team have also been hard

at work expanded the NHTLN

around the state. “Working with

the ECenter was vital. They gave

multiple 1:1 practice sessions, all

with expert insights that really

made me feel so much better

equipped for competition day.

I am very grateful for all the

support the ECenter has given

the NHTLN, and I’m honored

to have had the chance to

participate in SVIC,” said Marisa.

NH Toy Library Network was also

selected for and participated in

the 2019 Summer Seed Grant.

BuddyUp, a wristband

technology that allows swimmers

to notify lifeguards and parents

that they need help with the

press of a button, was founded

by TJ Evarts ’20 (CEPS), Jamie

Nelson ’20 (Paul College), and

Jessica Nelson ’21 (Paul College).

The associated app enables

lifeguards to pin point the

swimmer’s location through the

use of augmented reality. By

decreasing the uncertainty in

lifeguarding, BuddyUp allows

swimmers to take water safety

into their own hands. Under

the mentorship of Ian Grant,

BuddyUp made it to the final

round of the Holloway Prize

Competition in May 2020! They

also won second place in UNH

Entrepreneurship Club’s WildCat

Tank in fall of 2019.

HallHub, the brainchild of Caleb

Peffer ’22 (CEPS) and Nick

Camara ’21 (CEPS), connects

dorm residents with their

RA’s, fostering meaningful

relationships between residents

and the hall community. They

came up with HallHub because

transitioning into the college

environment can be difficult for

incoming freshman, especially

those who may feel lonely and

intimidated without their family

and friends. RA’s can notify users

of upcoming socials, release

polls, and address concerns

conveniently from their mobile

device. HallHub, also coached

by Ian Grant, was a runner-up in

the Holloway Prize Competition

Championship Round.

V'ice Haiti, an idea by Haley

Burns ’20 (Paul College) in

conjunction with a Seacost

based non-profit, Social Ventures

Foundation, found success

in a big way this year at the

UNH Social Venture Innovation

Challenge (SVIC). V'ice Haiti

delivers affordable vitamin

supplementation to the people

who need it most by employing

Haitian youth and mothers as

micro-franchisees. Haley was

coached by Ian Grant for SVIC

where she came in 1st place in

the Community Track!

Scrapp, founded by Evan

Gwynne Davies ‘20 (CEPS),

Daniel Marek ‘20 (CEPS), and

Mikey Pasciuto ‘20 (CEPS), is

a free-to-download, gamified,

smartphone application

which educates consumers

and rewards individuals and

institutions for recycling

correctly. Scrapp came in

3rd place at the Holloway

Prize Competition in spring

2020 and was coached by Ian

Grant! Commented Daniel

Marek, “Our time throughout

the competition was a steep

learning curve to say the least!

But we were really fortunate

to have the support of our

mentors including Ian Grant,

Dr. Kwiatkowski, and Andrea

O’Brien who all provided us

with their incredible guidance

throughout the process.

Scrapp also participated in

the UNHInnovation NSF-Corps

program in the spring 2019.

SQN Capital Partners, founded

by Cameron Horack ’21 (Paul

College and COLA), is a financial

services venture which aims

to deliver a sustainable and

effective capital formation

solution to address the

structural problems inherent to

the existing higher-education

finance industrial complex;

SQN’s core offering – the SQN

Income-Share Agreement, or

ISA – provides a sophisticated

alternative to the antiquated

portfolio of solutions available

to American students today,

which are reliant on a debtcapital

funding model. Cameron

spent many hours at the

ECenter working on SQN

Capital Partners this year. His

hard work paid off. Cameron

not only made it to the final

round of the Social Venture

Innovation Challenge in the

fall, but he also won a runnerup

prize in the Championship

Round of Holloway Prize

Competition in the spring!

SQN also participated in the

UNHInnovation NSF-ICorps

program in the fall of 2019.

Hannah Ziegele ’20 (COLSA)

hadn’t engaged with the

ECenter before applying to the

Maurice Prize for Innovation.

We’re glad she found us,

though! As you read in the

Maurice Prize story, Hannah

was awarded the $5,000

Maurice Prize on April 21st

for her idea, AnimalTemp!

AnimalTemp, provides

constant, reliable, and noninvasive

temperature readings

for animals of all sizes by using

an RFID tag attached to a

collar. Said Hannah, “This whole

experience has been wonderful

and I’m so grateful I got to

learn about innovation through

it all!”

The Summer Seed Grant is

a unique program that pays

students to work on their earlystage

ideas/start-ups over the

summer without having to find

a summer job. They received

weekly one-on-one mentorship

from seasoned entrepreneur

Mike McClurken and ECenter

Executive Director Ian Grant.

Ten start-ups applied and went

through a first round of judging.

After the finalists presented in

front of the final round judges,

we were thrilled to award

$4,000 each to Nathaniel Hunt

‘22 (COLA), Brady Esmaili ‘23

(CEPS), Joey Neleber ‘22 (CEPS),

and Nicolas Camara ‘21 (CEPS)

for Spaitr and Alhussein Al-

Jawad ‘22 (CEPS) for Valetan.

Spaitr is a two-fold venture

consisting of a diagnostic

tracker attachment to a

lacrosse stick and an app to

serve as a way for coaches to

track the team’s results, growth,

and diagnostics.

Valetan is an online service that

allows people to have their cars

parked and delivered to them

with worry-free convenience.

32

ECENTER ACROSS THE COUNTRY: SHARING OUR STORY

The ECenter is not quite the secret it was when

we first opened our doors nearly five years ago.

As a result, more and more alumni and alumni

entrepreneurs from around the country ask to meet

when we are in their city to hear about the amazing

ECenter students with whom we work. More often,

this now also includes venture capitalists, HR

executives, and C-Suite executives who want to

support the efforts.

When we can, we try to bring the real stars, the

students themselves, to tell their stories firsthand.

Without exception, everyone in the room is

captivated by their ideas, vision, hard work, and

ability to present. No doubt about it, Wildcats

impress!

This year, ECenter Executive Director Ian Grant was

able to again attend alumni events in Boston, MA,

Portland, ME, Phoenix, AZ, and various places in

Florida, with a variety of strategic meetings scattered

in other places. Of course COVID impacted the

plans for additional visits in the spring and summer.

Ian Grant and President Dean show off their

ECenter socks at a UNH event.

They Got the Job!

If you would like to be part of our 2021 travel

schedule please let us know! The ECenter is one

of so many amazing parts of UNH that change the

direction of students’ pursuits, and we will always

be happy to schedule a time to share with you our

passion for UNH entrepreneurship.

ECENTER CAREER IMPACT

As you read in the Student Success section, the students who graduated in May 2020

were the first to have had access to the ECenter all four years at UNH. We’ve noticed

recently how much this access to the ECenter has had a positive impact on the careers

of UNH graduates. The activities, events, programs, and resources students are

participating in at the ECenter are setting the students and alumni apart from others in

the job market and as they interview.

33

Employers are recognizing the value in learning how to ideate, innovate, and problem

solve in experiential learning environments. As such, we launched a new marketing

campaign for the ECenter this year called ECenter Career Impact.

I Got the Job!


Brandon Smith

Program Manager at Microsoft

Greater Boston Area

Microsoft

University of New

Hampshire

Computer Science

“During my interview process at Microsoft, I was able to talk about my ECenter experiences

as founding member and chair of the board of the Makerspace and winning 3 rd place in the

Holloway Competition, which gave me a big advantage over others under consideration. The

ECenter really gave me the experiences and tools to be an innovator that Microsoft values.”





CELEBRATING THE CLASS OF 2020

Four years ago, the ECenter opened its doors to a community of curious, entrepreneurial Wildcats. Now, with

graduation upon us, we bid farewell to that first cohort of student innovators who benefited from ECenter

resources throughout their entire UNH career.

There’s a lot to take advantage of at the ECenter in just four short years. With programs and opportunities

ranging from Idea Creation, Pitching, Sales, and Marketing Bootcamps; use of the University’s only student-run,

free-to-use Makerspace; student clubs and leadership organizations like the UNH Entrepreneurship Club and

the first-year Idea & Innovation Society; idea coaching for business or competitions; mentoring by alumni and

industry professionals; Student Idea Seed Fund grants to kick-start businesses; Summer Seed Grant funding

for an entire summer of growing an idea or start-up; experiential internship programs… There’s no rest for the

inspired, or the many students who have engaged with the ECenter, and these programs, over the past four

years.

As the Class of 2020 graduates in unprecedented times, without the usual pomp and circumstance surrounding

commencement, our concern for their happiness and wellbeing is natural. But despite the challenges before us

as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, we know that this group of innovative, entrepreneurial individuals

will succeed, regardless of what lies ahead. With the skills to think creatively and solve the problems they see in

the world, and the drive to grow their ideas and build a better future, we are confident that the Class of 2020’s

#ECenterImpact students are well-equipped to deal with whatever life brings them.

This group holds a special place in the heart of the ECenter. Congratulations, graduates!

Ali Asghar, CEPS - Makerspace

Mentor

Taylor Barbagallo, PAUL - i2

Passport Top 20

Will Bodewes, CEPS - 2020

Holloway Prize Bud Albin (semifinals)

– 3rd Place in High Tech

track, Lightening Bike Pump

Alex Bunnell, PAUL - 2019 Paid

Student Internship at Start-Ups

Program

Haley Burns, PAUL - 2019 Social

Venture Innovation Challenge,

1st Place Community Track, V’Ice

Kristian Comer, CEPS - 2018

Holloway Prize – 1st Place,

YouScheduler; Start-up co-founder,

YouScheduler; 2019 Maurice Prize

finalist; Internship Program host;

NSF I-Corps program graduate; 1st

place in Spring 2018 Hackathon

Sara Cordova, PAUL - i2 Passport

Top 20

Devin Cowhig, PAUL - i2 Passport

Top 20

Evan Gwynne Davies, CEPS - 2020

Holloway Prize – 3rd Place, Scrapp;

NSF I-CORPS program graduate

Trevor Deane, PAUL - Hackathon

Tiger Destefano, PAUL - 2020

Holloway Prize Bud Albin (semifinals)

– 2nd Place High Growth

track, Ambrosia Fabrics; NSF

I-CORPS program graduate

Jon Dryja, PAUL - 2019 Paid Student

Internship at Start-Ups Program

Paige Duffy, PAUL - i2 Passport Top

20

TJ Evarts, CEPS - 2019 eFest

National Competition – 2nd Place,

SMARTwheel; Start-up founder,

SMARTwheel; 2020 Holloway Prize

top 6 finalist, BuddyUp; 2018

Summer Seed Grant winner; 2020

Maurice Prize finalist; i2 Passport

35

Top 20; 2017 Holloway Prize Top 6

finalist, NextStep; Hackathons: 1st

place in 2016, 3rd place in Spring

2018, Best Category Winner in Fall

2019, 1st place in Spring 2020;

Entrepreneurship Club president

MDRemindMe; 2017 Summer Seed

Grant winner; Maurice Prize judge,

multiple years; Hackathons: 1st

place in Fall 2016, 2nd place in Fall

2018, Best Category Winner in Fall

2019

and Chair of Board of Directors;

2018 Holloway Prize – 3rd Place,

Pathlete

Grace Stott, COLSA - i2 Passport

Top 20

Ilya Feldman, PAUL - 2019 Holloway

Prize Bud Albin (semi-finals),

Upstream Care

Althea Gere, PAUL - i2 Passport Top

20

Francis Gesel, CHHS - i2 Passport

Top 20

Annie Henry, PAUL - 2019 Paid


Program

Scott Hinds, PAUL - i2 Passport –

2nd Place, Fall 2019

Bayley Hookway, PAUL

- Makerspace Mentor

Kaylee Lanczycki, COLA - i2

Passport Top 20

Francesco Mikulis -Borsoi, CEPS

- 2018 Holloway Prize – 1st Place;

Start-up co-founder, YouScheduler;

Maurice Prize finalist; Internship

Program host; NSF I-Corps program

graduate; Hackathons: 1st place

in Spring 2017, 1st place in Spring

2018, 2nd place in Fall 2018, Best

Category Winner in Fall 2019

Max Miller, CEPS - 2017 Holloway

Prize – 1st Place (first freshman

to win), Droppn; 2019 Holloway

Prize Bud Albin (semi-finals),

Jamie Nelson, PAUL 2020 Holloway

Prize top 6 finalist, BuddyUp; 2019

Holloway Prize Bud Albin (semifinals),

Harvest Plus; 2019 and 2020

Maurice Prize finalist; i2 Passport

– 1st Place, Fall 2017; i2 Passport

– Runner Up, Spring 2019; 2nd

place in Spring 2017 Hackathon;

Entrepreneurship Club president

Michelle Paradise, CEPS

- Makerspace Mentor; University

Innovation Fellow

Quinn Parker, CEPS - i2 Passport

Top 20

Mikey Pasciuto, CEPS - 2020

Holloway Prize – 3rd Place, Scrapp;

NSF I-CORPS program graduate

Patrick Poulin, COLA - i2 Passport

Top 20

Marisa Rafal, GRAD - 2019 Maurice

Prize winner, NH Toy Library

Network; 2019 Summer Seed Grant

recipient; 2019 Social Venture

Innovation Challenge – 3rd Place

Student Track

Heidi Simoneau, COLSA - i2

Passport Top 20

Brandon Smith, GRAD

- Makerspace founding member

Nick Stuart, PAUL - 2017 Paid


Program ; i2 Passport Top 20;

University Innovation Fellow; 2nd

place in Spring 2017 Hackathon

Scott Sullivan, CEPS - Makerspace

Mentor

Nelson Thomas, COLA - 2020

Holloway Prize – 2nd Place &

People’s Choice, ecoText; Start-up

co-founder, ecoText; 2018 Social

Venture Innovation Challenge

finalist; ECenter Ebassador

Dylan Wheeler, COLA & CEPS

- 2020 Holloway Prize – 2nd Place

& People’s Choice, ecoText; Startup

co-founder, ecoText; Start-up

founder, Triumph Software; i2

Passport 2017-2018 Grand Prize

winner; 2018 Social Venture

Innovation Challenge finalist; 2nd

place in Spring 2017 Hackathon;

ECenter Ebassador

Rachel Yee, COLSA - 2020 Holloway

Prize – 2nd Place & People’s

Choice, ecoText

Hannah Ziegele, COLSA - 2020

Maurice Prize winner, AnimalTemp

36

#ECenterImpact

“The ECenter has given me incredible support in my

journey as an entrepreneur. I lacked the business

experience, but the ECenter readily supported and

encouraged me in a number of areas for the growth

of Kikori. This knowledge allowed us to refine

our financial model and customer focus. The

coaching was amazing and helped us win the

SVIC competition. There are so many incredible

resources for other grants and opportunities

including ICorps and potential summer

programming—you need to just ask!”

Kendra Bostick ‘22

Manton, MI

College of Liberal Arts & Graduate School


>1st Place Student Track, SVIC Fall 2019

>Coached by the ECenter

>Attended Bootcamps


My Hashtag:

#ECenterItUp

UNH.edu/ecenter

I Got the Job!


Christin dos Prazeres

LAUNCH Presales System Engineer at Dell Technologies

Greater Boston Area

Dell Technologies

University of New

Hampshire - 2019

Mechanical Engineering

“Recruiters offered me interviews and job offers on the spot simply because I was able

to draw parallels between the qualities the employers were looking for and the skills I

developed at the ECenter; notably co-founding VELV, studying design thinking at Stanford

(UIF), and bringing together students from all majors to tinker in the Makerspace. Employers

can teach you how to do the job but they can’t teach you good character or how to think.

That’s what they hire for, and coincidently, what you can develop through entrepreneurial

thinking. Without the ECenter, it’s unlikely I would have developed the skills that helped me

land my dream job as a sales engineer at Dell Technologies.





ECENTER PHILANTHROPY

$498,572 Total Funds Raised FY20

Thank you to our many friends and supporters who contributed to the ECenter during the 2019-

2020 academic year! Most ECenter programs are donor funded and it is truly with the support of

our friends and sponsors - individuals like you - that we are able to offer exceptional experiential

learning opportunities to our students. Thank you for being a critical part of our success!

FUNDRAISING DISTRIBUTION

FY20 FUNDS RAISED:

$498,572

$327,224

Individuals and Foundations

10%

603 Challenge

2%

Other

66%

Individuals/

Foundations

$106,000

Corporate Sponsorships

$49,629

603 Challenge

$6,925

Grants

21%

Corporate

Sponsorships

1%

Grants

$8,794

Other

FUNDS RAISED YEAR OVER YEAR

603 CHALLENGE FUNDS:

$49,629

$500k

$2,387

Individual gifts

$450k

$400k

$350k

$2,242

Matching funds

$300k

$250k

$40,000 bonus

Bonus courtesy of Matt Witkos ‘89

$200k

$150k

$5,000

Additional bonus courtesy of

Bob Phillips ‘76

$100k

$50k

$0

FY18 FY19 FY20

40

THANK YOU TO OUR ECENTER CORPORATE SPONSORS!

PREMIER LEVEL SPONSOR

VENTURE LEVEL SPONSOR

PARTNER LEVEL SPONSOR

ANGEL LEVEL SPONSOR

SUPPORTER LEVEL SPONSOR

Interested in becoming an ECenter corporate sponsor? Visit unh.edu/ecenter/corporate-sponsors or

contact Travis Thompson, Director of Development: Travis.Thompson@unh.edu | (603) 862-3061

41

E

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: ECENTER JUDGES AND PANELISTS

IDEA & INNOVATION SOCIETY JUDGES

The Idea & Innovation Society was created to

embrace incoming innovative-minded first year

students from all colleges and backgrounds and

immediately provide a community of peers with

whom to connect, collaborate, share ideas and

resources, and help to run faster with their ideas and

innovations.

Eric Ciarla ‘22

Grace Higgins ‘22

Madison McEachern ‘23

MAURICE PRIZE FOR INNOVATION JUDGES

Endowed by J. Dolores and Alfred P. Maurice ‘44

The Maurice Prize for Innovation is an annual prize

endowed by J. Dolores and Alfred P. Maurice ‘44

to encourage and foster innovation, creativity,

originality, ingenuity, and resourcefulness in

undergraduate students enrolled at UNH with a prize

of $5,000. The Maurice Prize encourages students to

be daring and take risks without fear of failure.

Semra Aytur

Associate Professor, Health Management and Policy

College of Health and Human Services

Kendra Bostick ’23 (Ph.D.)

Gunnar De Young ‘23

Max Miller ‘20

Maithili Shroff

Licensing Associate, UNHInnovation

SUMMER SEED GRANT JUDGES

Sponsored by Pierce Atwood LLP

The Summer Seed Grant provides $16,000 to up to

four students to work on their early-stage ideas or

start-up companies over the summer, in lieu of a

summer job. This year, students worked remotely

and received mentoring from ECenter Executive

Director Ian Grant and ECenter Advisory Task Force

Member Mike McClurken. Learn more about our

Summer Seed Grant students earlier on in this

report!

Final Round Judges

Jamie Baker

Partner, Pierce Atwood LLP

Danee Fleckenstein

Accounts and Agency Manager, Catchfire Creative

Lynn Joyce

Sales Manager and Associate Broker with Tate & Foss

Sotheby’s International Realty

Mike McClurken

Retired Vice President of Research and Development

Bob Phillips

Managing Partner and CTO, 3EDGE Asset

Management

First Round Judges

Jane Deery

CEO, PGR Media

Heidi Feinstein

Co-founder, Soul Mana Farm & Food, Permculture

Innovation Center

Dick Tasker

Retired CEO and VP of Engineering, American Sensor

Technologies

43

I Got the Job!


Jessica Lavallee

Data Analyst at Liberty Mutual Insurance

Greater Boston Area

Liberty Mutual

University of New

Hampshire - 2019

Business Administration

“I basically lived at the ECenter my senior year and was co-founder of the start-up idea, VELV.

Winning Holloway, semi-finalists in the national Draper Competition, selected to go the

Nantucket Conference and being able to talk about my journey and what I learned during

my interview process made me stand-out. I’m grateful for the ECenter experience and how it

has helped my with my career”





THANK YOU TO OUR CAMPUS PARTNERS

Marian McCord

Senior Vice Provost for Research, Economic

Engagement and Outreach

Marc Sedam

Associate Vice Provost of Innovation &

New Ventures, Managing Director, UNHInnovation

Chelsey DiGuiseppe

Marketing Manager at UNHInnovation

Paige Smith

Business Manager at UNHInnovation

Andrew Earle

Assistant Professor, Paul College of Business and

Economics

James W. Dean

President, University of New Hampshire

Wayne E. Jones

Provost and Vice President, Academic Affairs

Chris Clement

Vice President of Finance & Administration

Debbie Dutton

Vice President of Advancement

Troy Finn

Associate Vice President of Advancement

Trudy Van Zee

Associate Vice Provost, Career & Professional

Success

Mike Ferrara

Dean, College of Health and Human Services

Deborah Merrill-Sands

Dean, Paul College of Business and Economics

Jon Wraith

Dean, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture

Charles Zercher

Dean, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences

Advancement and Alumni Relations

University of New Hampshire

Center for Social Innovation and Enterprise


Career and Professional Success


Admissions


Financial Aid


Center for Academic Resources


Printing & Mailing Services


Business Service Center


Michele Dillon

Dean, College of Liberal Arts

The success of the ECenter is a collective effort made possible by our many friends, colleagues, and Advisory

Task Force members. We are grateful for the continued support of our UNH community in helping us provide

valuable entrepreneurship resources and opportunities to students!

45

ECENTER ADVISORY TASK FORCE 2019-2020

Bob Phillips ‘76, Co-Chair

Managing Partner, CTO

3EDGE Asset Management

Matt Witkos ‘89, Co-Chair

Head of Global Distribution, President

of Eaton Vance Distributors

Eaton Vance

Peter T. Paul ‘67

Chief Executive Officer

Headlands Asset Management

Harry Patten ‘58

Owner, Chairman, and Founder

National Land Partners

Joel Berman ‘76


Iatric Systems

Christine Carberry ‘82


Carberry Consulting

Alex Choquette

President

Anchor Management Group, Inc.

Fred Forsley ‘83

Owner

The Shipyard Brewing Company

Tom Hayes ‘87

President and Chief Executive Officer

Ocean Spray Cranberries

Patrick Marshall

Founder

Birdseye Biopharmaceutical Perspectives

Mike McClurken

Retired Vice President of Research

and Development, Medical Devices

John Morison III ‘76

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Hitchiner

John Neeson


Neeson Partners

Jennifer Pitre ‘95

Vice President of Philanthropy

Catholic Medical Center

Sarah Samuels ‘04

Partner

NEPC, LLC

John Shaw


Itaconix Corporation

Dick Tasker ‘68

Retired CEO, VP of Engineering

American Sensor Technologies

Buddy Webb

CFA, Managing Partner

Lake Street Advisors

Jerry Howard

Co-Founder and Principal

Strategy First Partners

46

#ECenterImpact

“My advice is to definitely check out the ECenter

and everything it has to offer. It is an amazing

place. You will find other like-minded students

and a great staff who are always there willing to

help you with an idea or how to do things. The

ECenter hosts the Entrepreneurship Club and

other groups and offers meeting rooms and so

much more. All I am saying if you haven’t been

to the ECenter, what are you really doing?”

Benny Cappiello ‘22

Westfield, NJ

Peter T. Paul College of Business & Economics


>Participated in i2 Passport TM Program

>Idea and Innovation Society Member

>Vice President of the Entrepreneurship Club

>Summer Seed Grant winner

>Semi-Finalist in the Holloway Prize Competition

>Participated in NSF I-CORPS

>ECenter Intern

>Used Makerspace and Cube X Co-Working Space

>Attended Bootcamps and Speaker Series

#ECenterHustle

UNH.edu/ecenter

ECENTER EBASSADORS: 2019-2020

ECenter student ambassadors (Ebassadors) are the face of the ECenter across the UNH campus.

SHANIA ROBINSON '22

PAUL

NELSON THOMAS '20

COLA

DYLAN WHEELER '20

COLA & CEPS

BENNY CAPPIELLO '22

PAUL

"The ECenter has been a

wonderful resource for

me and I wanted to help

spread the word about

how awesome it is!"

"The ECenter has

been critical in my

development here at

UNH and I want my

fellow Wildcats to know

of the resources available

to them regardless of

their major or interests."

"I became an Ebassador

to help empower

other UNH students

to take advantage of

the ECenter’s wealth of

resources and to find the

courage to pursue their

passionate ideas."

"My engagement with the

ECenter put me ahead of

the curve and these new

ways of stepping out of

my comfort zone have

opened new doors."

48

ECENTER TEAM

IAN GRANT

Executive Director

Ian.Grant@unh.edu | (603) 862-5470

HEATHER MACNEILL

Senior Program Manager

Heather.MacNeill@unh.edu | (603) 862-4959

ALLISON BELL

Associate Program Manager

Allison.Bell@unh.edu | (603) 862-0349

TRAVIS THOMPSON

Director of Development

Travis.Thompson@unh.edu | (603) 862-3061

STUDENT INTERNS

HAILLEY SIMPSON ‘22


Head of Membership, Voice Z Digital

Marketing Committee Head, Alpha Kappa Psi

MAGGIE MOSS ‘21


Director of Marketing and Promotions, Entrepreneurship Club

DAN MCCARTHY ‘22


LEAH MINNUCCI ‘23


49

Stillings Dining Hall

Congreve Hall

Scott Hall

Stoke Hall

ECenter

Main Street

Smith Hall

Garrison Road

Rosemary Lane

Paul College of Business

and Economics

Data

Analytics

Thompson Hall

Hamilton Smith Hall

Main Street

Health Services

Aroma Joe’s

People’s Bank

Pettee Brook Lane

Saxby’s

Madbury Road

Madbury Commons

Thai Smile 2

Hop + Grind

Memorial Union Building (MUB)

& Holloway Commons (HOCO)

Quad Way

Huddleston Hall

Peter T. Paul Entrepreneurship Center

(aka the UNH ECenter)

Fairchild Hall

Hetzel Hall

Mill Road

Breaking New Grounds

Hannaford’s

& RiteAid

Young’s

DHoP

Pauly’s Pockets

& Libby’s

JP’s Grill

Juicery

Wildcat

Pizza

Main Street

CONTACT US

Website

www.unh.edu/ecenter

Email

e.center@unh.edu

Address

21 Madbury Road

Suite 101

Durham, NH 03824

Facebook.com/UNHECenter

Instagram @UNHECenter

LinkedIn @UNH ECenter

Twitter @UNHECenter

YouTube @UNHECenter

50

INNOVATION IDEAS

IDEAS

INNOVATION

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

INNOVATION

IDEAS

unh.edu/ecenter

e.center@unh.edu

Follow us: @UNHECenter

21 Madbury Road, Suite 101, Madbury Commons, Durham, NH 03823

UNH Entrepreneurship Center Annual Impact Report 2019-2020

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