BOWLING GREEN — As a high school student in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Quan Le knew she wanted to attend college in the United States.
“Five years ago, I arrived to Bowling Green and the very first thing I did was face-timing my grandfather, showing him the campus, to prove that — yes — I got into a real U.S. college and — no — I did not get scammed,” Ms. Le said.
That’s when the idea to improve the college selection process for international students started to percolate.
At Thursday’s Bowling Green State University Hatch event, which gave seven students a chance to pitch their business ideas, Ms. Le’s proposal — WhereWorldU — wowed the judges and took top honors.
WhereWorldU is a web-based hub that offers resources and support to students from diverse cultural backgrounds, facilitating a smoother transition into academic and social life.
It’s not practical to go on tours of U.S. campuses when you’re across the globe, Ms. Le said.
“The internet was almost our only source of information,” said Ms. Le, who is an MBA student in the Schmidthorst College of Business, and earned a bachelor of science in chemistry at BGSU.
Her WhereWorldU will be funded by subscriptions and advertising by colleges. She estimated it would cost $280,000 to launch.
Ms. Le’s project was one of seven that split $30,000 in funding, donated by PNC and the Wood County Economic Development Commission to the Hatch.
In addition to monetary support, Ms. Le was also given an “eggie” award for people’s choice and also was honored as best overall pitch by the five Hatch judges.
“She had the whole package,” said judge Tony Drockton, founder of Hammitt, a luxury handbag brand.
“She saw a need from her personal experience, and she really understood the need,” said judge Suheb Haq, president of Fuel Cell System Manufacturing LLC.
He said he looks forward to returning to campus for the Hatch.
“It’s a great opportunity to meet the students,” Mr. Haq said. “From an innovation perspective, it’s really interesting to see future leaders as they start making their mark.”
Entrepreneurship and ideas like WhereWorldU were celebrated and rewarded during the annual Hatch event in the Schmeltz Atrium at the Maurer Center. The Hatch is the culmination of a 10-week immersive program that takes student – or Hatchling – business ideas from concept to the stage in hopes of securing funding for development.
The PNC Community Impact Award was presented to Ryan Lothamer of Defiance. The sophomore, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in science education, created the SPARK Foundation, an educational nonprofit that provides access to hands-on, experiential learning opportunities.
He spoke of his passion for science when he was a young child, which was dragged down in the early years of school. In high school, a physics teacher again sparked his enthusiasm for science, and Mr. Lothamer is planning on being a science teacher.
In his free time, he’s promoting the SPARK Foundation in hopes of never letting that learning lag with young students. Funding will provide pocket microscopes, telescopes, rock samples, and robotics kits.
“You don’t really learn if you’re not interested, and you can’t be interested if you’re never exposed to your interests,” Mr. Lothamer said. “What if I told you that 75 percent of students say that they don’t like school, they’re bored.”
This learning manner is also transferrable, and could be applied to language arts, history, math, and music.
“I want to get all of northwest Ohio under our service area as soon as possible,” Mr. Lothamer said after the Hatch.
Hundreds of alumni came from across the country to check out the BGSU students’ projects and offer advice.
Marilee MacAskill, 1986 BGSU graduate and area director of the Dale Carnegie Training of Northeast Ohio, was a Hatch judge. She was impressed with Topwater Tools, presented by Owen Thompson, from Oregon, Ohio.
The junior, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in systems engineering, has created tools that float in water for easy retrieval when dropped.
“Owen, I’m a boater,” Ms. MacAskill said. “My husband and I have been boating for 25 years. We have lost so many tools in the water. I can’t believe no one’s thought of this before.”
Mr. Thompson won the Innovative Technology Award.
Ms. MacAskill also thought Unity Community Barbershop, the Hatch idea by Cortney Smalley, had potential. Mr. Smalley, of Detroit and a doctoral student in the organization development and change program, said the barbershop would provide inclusive hair designs and styles to transgender and LGBTQIA+ communities.
“I’m thinking it’s franchisability,” Ms. MacAskill said.
The Hatch consists of an idea, followed by research, planning, funding, creating, developing, and launch.
“Doing it this way has given more students the opportunity to showcase their ideas, and also show other colleges on campus that this really is for everyone,” said Courtney deVaudreuil, director of the Paul J. Hooker Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at BGSU.
In addition to the seven live presenters, there were nine students selected to pitch poster ideas.
Julie Roffman, a sophomore criminal justice major from Columbus, was showing off her Sense Vibrate Alert invention that secures to a vehicle’s steering wheel, and aids deaf or hearing-impaired drivers.
“It pre-alerts the driver when an emergency vehicle is approaching,” she said.
Cindy Bogner, who doesn’t have hearing in her left ear, was intrigued.
“I think it’s a fabulous idea. You can still drive while you’re hearing impaired, but this would give you more safety,” said Ms. Bogner, who is from Centerville, Md., and is a member of the business college alumni leadership council at BGSU.
“You salute these young people who come up with an idea. My guess is she will keep pitching this until she gets someone,” Ms. Bogner said.
She and several other alumni and community supporters were milling around with “investment dollars” that they could distribute to the poster presenters, before the Hatch stage show.
D’aun Norman, of Birmingham, Mich., who is a retired audit partner from Ernst & Young, said she was impressed with the entire Hatch concept.
“They’re assigned a mentor, which are also alumni, who are skilled in the business world, and they help them develop a business plan, think about marketing their product, and supply chain, she said.
Ms. Norman contributed some investment dollars to Elaina Wintringham, a freshman from Findlay majoring in special education, and her “Momintos” books.
The children’s books encourage children to use electronic devices less and live in the “momint.” Each book illustrates a fun activity, featuring Mo the mint.
“I’m trying to get kids off of their phones and social media and spend more time in the real world with their friends,” Ms. Wintringham said.
Research she did showed children are spending up to 5½ hours a day on their phones.
“Which is about 23 percent of their lives,” she said.
First Published April 12, 2024, 6:37 p.m.
