Diller Center Recap Fall 2022 Semester!

The fall semester has come to a close leaving us to reflect on all the changes and transitions within the Charles H. Diller Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership and Innovation! The past few months have been full of activity.  

In September we completed our team with the addition of Don Nori, Interim Director and Melanie Maggi, Secretary. They of course joined Madi White, Graduate Assistant, Anna Bruno, Morgan Makerspace Technologies Coordinator and David Wolfe, Morgan Makerspace Undergraduate Assistant. This team has taken great strides forward in making connections with students, faculty, staff, and local businesses. We have found that these relationships are the key to success, and we anticipate continued growth in these partnerships.

Our first Fall speaker event was on the PASSHE Startup Challenge and Entrepreneurship Major. We were thrilled to have 24 student attendees, resulting in three very quality entries. We are so excited to support these students as they compete for the top innovations in the PASSHE system! Coach Rick Foust led our second speaker event by joining Strategic Management students in the classroom. The overarching theme of “Knowing Your Self Worth,” left students feeling inspired.

Additional student interactions have included one on one consultations, information tables at campus orientations and in the CUB as well as email updates. Social media pages have also been revamped!

The Mr. and Mrs. Milton K. Morgan Makerspace has been buzzing – always resulting in new and unique product ideas!

• The Rep4 Alliance, consisting of education majors, joined us for an evening to get in the entrepreneurial mindset. Students engaged in conversation regarding the best “fidget” design and are now in the process of developing a plan for mass production and distribution to campus students.
• Students from Shippensburg University’s renowned Entrepreneurship Major utilized the space and equipment to complete their Fall semester projects. From sewing to sawing to printing and placing – their product ideas and business concept were top notch!
• A new club is forming! S.O.L.V.E, Student Organization to Learn, Visualize and Explore, is working towards university recognition. Anna Bruno will be its staff advisor.
• Engineering students continue to frequent the labs to assemble both personal and school related projects. An especially notable invention was an attachment for an improved LED bike light!

Having finally gotten our footing, we are full speed ahead with plans for a robust Spring schedule!

We will shift some focus to recruitment as we bring in the Startup Bug to power the inaugural Diller Center Innovation Academy in January. This 2-day event is free to high school students and will give them a true taste of what their future as entrepreneurs could look like. We also have a slew of other events in the works to include student mixers, speaker series, innovation sprints and of course – ShipTank! We will also be hosting the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) from January to April.

To conclude our Fall recap, we would like to thank each and every one of you for your support of our facilities! We could not achieve our goals without your knowledge and assistance! To receive more updates on the Diller Center and Morgan Makerspace in the months to come sign up here!