Smeal Students On Winning Product Design Team
An interdisciplinary team including students from the Smeal College of Business took first place for the second semester in a row in the Penn State College of Engineering's Learning Factory Design Showcase held in December.
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (February 16, 2009) – An interdisciplinary team including students from the Smeal College of Business took first place for the second semester in a row in the Penn State College of Engineering's Learning Factory Design Showcase held in December.
Students in business, communications, engineering, and kinesiology combined to test, refine, and develop a business plan for an ACL injury prevention device developed by State College-based Maxiumus V Fitness Products, LLC. The collective team competed against about 50 other teams and took home first place in the "Best Overall Engineering Project" category and second place for "Best Poster Presentation."
A different Maximus V team also won first place in the "Lockheed Martin Design Award" category in the spring 2008 Learning Factory Showcase for its work on the company's hand-held, adjustable weight alternative to dumbbells called Hand X. Maximus V Fitness Products was formed in January 2007, and has a business office at Penn State's Innovation Park and a headquarters location in Wayne, Pa.
For the Smeal students, the project was a part of their Corporate Finance (BA301H) honors class, in which they work with owners and managers of up-and-coming business ventures to craft business plans for their companies. Smeal Finance Instructor Greg Pierce designed the coursework to give his student real-world experience while allowing startups to tap the minds of some of Smeal's best and brightest students. Collaborating with students from around Penn State allows the students to break out of their disciplinary silos and gain experience working in diverse teams.
The engineering students focused on the design and manufacturing of the KARA knee-alignment product, and the kinesiology students performed tests on the various designs. The advertising and public relations students from the College of Communications developed an advertising campaign for the product. Meanwhile, the Smeal students—Manal Malik, Brian Mink, Allyson Radford, and Dan Sturman—researched the company's competition, identified a target market, and built five-year forecasted financial statements, in essence, creating a business plan to bring the product to market.
Their success was recognized by Penn State President Graham Spanier in his January report to the University's Board of Trustees. Spanier cited the team's efforts as an example of Penn State student and faculty excellence.
More information and details on spring 2008 Learning Factory Design Showcase can be found online here.
