The Berks LaunchBox powered by Penn State recently announced the winners of its Idea TestLab accelerator pitch competition. Mike Aman earned first place, Stacey Murrell of Master the Pieces took second place. Co-founders Vera Hempel and Kuba Kerner of Kiss UX took third place in the competition.
Penn State Berks was awarded a $1.62 million grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to establish a youth violence intervention and prevention program, a new initiative that will employ evidence-based strategies to serve youth ages 14 to 21 in Berks County.
A team of Penn State researchers recently held a workshop in Ghana on how gender affects dynamics within the agriculture industry. The trip capped a multi-year effort to better understand time poverty among women peanut farmers.
The Berks LaunchBox powered by Penn State recently announced the pitch winners of its Summer 2023 Pitch Competition: Bapanada took first place, 4G Nutrition took second, and Aquamate and Mindful Roots tied for third place. Total prizes awarded totaled $1,200 in seed funding.
Penn State Berks alumna Jaymi Smith, who graduated with her bachelor’s degree in global studies in May 2023, earned acceptance into the United States Peace Corps. In October 2023, she will travel to Timor-Leste to work as a community economic development facilitator.
Jayné Park-Martinez began volunteering with Penn State Extension’s Master Watershed Steward Program in 2018 and has been making an impact on the surrounding community ever since.
Some of the projects that culminated at the end of the semester included holding a sustainable self-care fair on campus, a film screening of “The Story of Plastic,” the creation of a campus garden, and students presenting their engagement in environmental outreach projects — all to help educate the campus community on the importance of developing environmentally-friendly practices.
When the Berks LaunchBox first opened nearly seven years ago, it provided a glimmer of hope to Berks County entrepreneurs and innovators. Since then, its impact has grown to be more than its staff could have imagined.
Jennifer Murphy, associate professor of criminal justice at Penn State Berks, was recently awarded the 2023 Ken Peak Innovations in Teaching Award, given to one faculty member nationwide by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS). The purpose of this award is to recognize and honor criminal justice and criminology faculty members for innovative teaching methods.
As part of the SustainFood Project, Penn State Berks will host a webinar on innovation and entrepreneurship for food security on Monday, March 27. This webinar is free and open to the public, but attendees must register in advance.
