Penn State Altoona students take part in spring 2018 Student Showcase

trimbot

Jonas Bequeath, Brody Shunty, and Jacob Steiner show off their senior EMET project, the Trimbot, during Penn State Altoona's spring semester Student Showcase.

Credit: Marissa Carney

ALTOONA, Pa. — Penn State Altoona held its 2018 spring Business, Engineering, and Information Sciences and Technology Student Showcase event Friday, April 27, in which students from various disciplines showcased their work through presentations to the college and local business community.

Students from the electro-mechanical engineering technology program presented and demonstrated their senior capstone projects, while those studying business presented on their internship and research opportunities. Students in the security and risk analysis program presented on their internships and capstone projects, and rail transportation engineering students offered a presentation on real-time railroad bridge health monitoring.

Andrew Bartos and Adrianna Zernick were inducted into the Sigma Beta Delta Honor Society, a business honor society offered to students in the top 20 percent of the undergraduate business program and who reflect the society's high standards of academic excellence.

The final part of the Pechter Business Plan Competition also took place. Out of three teams, two were selected as first- and second-place winners. Nick Swetkowski, Donovan O'Hearn, and Seth Mason took first place and a $5,000 prize with their business concept, UConnect. Sam Evans and Hunter Lewis claimed second place and $2,500 with their networking platform, Prospect. The competition, established by Penn State Altoona benefactor Shirley Pechter, consists of a four-phase process for students to take ideas from concept through a feasibility study/market analysis to a full business plan. Local business leaders judged the competition, basing their evaluations on the feasibility of the proposed businesses, the business overviews, and presentations.

The Student Showcase is presented by the Division of Business, Engineering, and Information Sciences and Technology, the Altoona Blair County Development Corporation, the Blair County Chamber of Commerce, and title sponsor Lockheed Martin.