Name: Jonathan SpiegelMajor: Mechanical EngineeringYear: JuniorHometown: West Nyack, NY
Spiegel with his SURF presentation (Photo by Caitlin Duncan)
What do you do on campus?Spiegel: I am a change catalyst on campus for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. That means I am trying to promote awareness of innovation and entrepreneurship, and make it more available to students. I am a University Innovation Fellow, 3 Day Startup Lead Organizer, a member of ASME, and a co-founder of an up and coming club called EMpwr.
How did you like your experience with the SURF program?Spiegel: I gained a lot of knowledge on how other campuses promote innovation and entrepreneurship by visiting their innovative centers. I found this very interesting because of all the different values and missions each innovation center had. SURF gave me many new connections and lots of insight on how to help develop a better innovative and entrepreneurial ecosystem at UNH.
What’s your favorite part about being a student innovation leader?Spiegel: My favorite part of being a student leader is empowering other students. My main goal is to inspire other students to want to get involved in innovation and entrepreneurship, and also become leaders of their own. I’ve met many passionate people already and can’t wait to see what other opportunities open up not only for me but everyone else with the same interests that I have.
Who/what has helped you get where you are now?Spiegel: Dr. Carnasciali, Dr. Nocito-Gobel and my family have been a huge help in getting me to where I am now. Dr. Nocito-Gobel was my freshmen engineering professor and introduced me to KEEN (Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network) which opened my eyes to engineering entrepreneurship. Dr. Carnasciali was my advisor for UIF, SURF and 3-Day Startup. She has been such a great advisor and I wouldn’t have been able to get so far without her. My family motivates me each day to work as hard as I can and keep going, especially when times get tough and I start to feel overwhelmed.
Do you have any advice for your fellow Chargers?Spiegel: Follow your passion and take any opportunity you can find that has to do with it. When I was in high school, I was introduced to engineering and wanted to use these skills to invent something and start my own company. I have a book of ideas from school that I still use still today for writing down ideas that come to my mind, so I don’t forget them. During freshmen year of college I was introduced to KEENS innovative and entrepreneurial initiatives and told my professors that I was interested in any opportunity I caget. Since then I got placed 3rd at a New Haven Entrepreneurial Event called Startup New Haven, became a University Innovation Fellow, visited Stanford University and Google HQ, helped develop UNH’s Innovation Space by convincing Wells Fargo Investors to invest and working on the center for my SURF Project, participated in the first Whitehouse Demo-Day, and I am currently organizing 3 Day startup. After I told my professors about my passion for innovation and entrepreneurship, opportunities just kept coming, and I am so thankful. Students should take whatever opportunities they can get that have to do with their passions.
What are some of your future goals?Spiegel: I plan to work for an innovative company to help create new products that help make peoples everyday lives easier. I would also like to develop some products of my own and start a company around them.