News

Gisele Fetterman, the Second Lady of Pennsylvania, addresses education, entrepreneurship and more during a question-and-answer session with Dean Marie Hardin of the Bellisario College. The event was sponsored by the Center for Penn State Student Entrepreneurship as part of Startup Week.

The winning idea in the 2021 IdeaMakers Challenge, as part of Penn State Startup Week sponsored by PNC, was a digital subscription service to a database that helps dancers find hundreds of programs, schools and jobs to develop their skills. An interdisciplinary team of undergraduate students from the Smeal College of Business, the College of Information Sciences and Technology and the College of Engineering pitched the idea on March 24.

Penn State Startup Week powered by PNC culminated with a celebration of student entrepreneurs and innovators in technology, health, sustainability, the arts and global impact categories during the virtual student recognition reception on March 25.

The COVID-19 pandemic did not stop 644 students from around the world from participating in a virtual version of HackPSU. The 48-hour hackathon was held entirely online for 45 teams of students, some as close as University Park and others as far as West Bengal, India.

Bob and Susan Bardusch have made a gift to establish the Bardusch Family IdeaMakers Challenge Endowment at the College of Information Sciences and Technology. The endowment will support the IdeaMakers Challenge, an annual entrepreneurial pitch competition held as part of Penn State Startup Week.