UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For fourth-year student Jonathan Smith, coming to Penn State was a no-brainer. His parents attended Penn State Harrisburg, and he lived in the Berks County area, so he knew early on where he wanted to continue his education.

As for his major, though, the path he followed took him by surprise, he said. In his first year at Penn State Berks, he took an engineering class that would shift his priorities — and launch a startup that has given him clear goals for a future in architectural engineering. 

“At the end of the semester, there was a competition for sustainable energy charging. So my team pitched an idea to put solar panels on the side of a building, and it powered an electric-vehicle charging station,” Smith said. “We didn’t win that competition, but the four of us continued working on the idea as an independent study.” 

The team went back to the drawing board and focused on research. They started talking to electric vehicle customers through a program focused on customer discovery, Smith said, and the input they collected helped them to rework their ideas for charging ports. 

“We did a satisfaction survey, and everyone who could charge at home was extremely satisfied,” Smith said. “But in apartment buildings, 60% of people were satisfied, because they're always butting heads with their neighbor for charging stations or they had to charge on their way to work. It’s just a complete headache.” 

Current charging stations can cost as much as $8,000 to install, according to Smith, but they have a limited reach. Codes and regulations restrict their charging cables to 25 feet in length, which means they can only service one or two parking spaces each. In buildings like apartment complexes, that limits the number of people and spaces that can use the stations. 

Smith and his team used their research to create a possible solution: smaller, mounted charging stations, which can slide on a mount to cover as many as five parking spaces. The installation process could be cheaper, he said, and less disruptive for the property. 

“We hope we give people, the business owners and the apartment complex owners, something that’s feasible to install,” Smith said. “They see the financial payback, and people can charge the car quickly at home. I think would be really cool.” 

As they’ve reworked the proposal, Smith and his team have found significantly more success. During the spring 2024 semester, they won $5,000 from a competition that will go toward building the first prototype model. The team has grown from the original four-person crew to anywhere from 10-15 people depending on the semester and what they need to accomplish. 

Their startup, Streamline Charging, also has won about $45,000 in funding from national grants, Smith said. The LLC was a finalist in the 2024 Inc.U Competition from Invent Penn State, winning $10,000. It also received additional financial support from the Flemming Creativity, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Development (CEED) Center earlier this year through the Student Enterprise Awards, and were part of the 2023 summer cohort of VentureWell Accelerator E-Team program. 

Smith serves as CEO for the company, and the experience has opened up options for his future as he starts looking beyond graduation. The financial opportunities through Invent Penn State, alongside Happy Valley LaunchBox programs like the Fast Track Accelerator, have been instrumental in the company’s success, he said. 

“We’ve had so many professors and people to help us and coach us along the way,” Smith said. “I knew we wanted to make this a business, but we had no idea how to do that. Without LaunchBox, without support from Penn State Berks, we never would have been able to get as far as we have. It’s really exciting that Penn State was able to foster that.” 

Smith said a prototype is set up at Penn State Berks, and the company is working to install the first fully market-ready version in State College to show appreciation for the support they’ve gotten at the University. 

That support also includes guidance from Berks professor Kathy Hauser, who ran the first engineering course where Smith first started to develop this idea. Hauser has continued to mentor the team through independent study courses, helping them to implement their ideas. 

The project was a learning experience for the students, Hauser said, showing them how to navigate real-world business needs and hurdles. But it’s also been a chance for her to learn and try new strategies for her classes. 

“This project started out almost as an experiment,” Hauser said. “It was this weird kind of thing because it wasn't undergraduate research. It was a chance to expand upon a project with first-year students who really don't have engineering backgrounds.” 

Typically, Hauser works with third- and fourth-year students to form teams for competitions and business concepts. Because these students are in the midst of wrapping up their academic degrees, they don’t have as many opportunities to hone their idea and pitch. 

“So we wondered if it was possible to put a team of freshman together and let them explore their own projects, then enter competitions as juniors with a developed idea,” Hauser said. 

Hauser used her entry-level engineering course, EDSGN 100, as a chance to find teams of first-year students and figure out those ideas. During Smith’s time in the class, there was a specific task to address. A sponsor wanted teams to develop a charging station specifically for Penn State Berks. 

But Hauser said Smith and his team ended up pursuing their own ideas outside those parameters. They looked at the automotive industry and data connected to the rollout of electric vehicles to determine what was working and what wasn’t, with a broader focus than just designing something that would work at their campus. Hauser gave them the space to pursue that, instead. 

“That was what we then shifted to, very early in the semester,” Hauser said. “I said, ‘The reality of it is, if you come up with something, Penn State will help you do it right. Penn State can be very supportive.’” 

Hauser has continued to guide Smith and his team through five semesters of developing and refining an idea that excites them — the movable charging station they’re now working to assemble. The team has changed over time as students dropped out or joined up with the project, Hauser said, but the project hasn’t lost steam. 

“I teach freshmen, predominantly, and I generally only see them that first year. The only ones I really get to know are my advisees,” Hauser said. “It's been entirely different to continue with these students over three years and really get to know them on a much more personal basis. That's been really fun.” 

The goal, she said, has always been to give Smith and his team the kind of valuable experience that would serve them well in the future. But the success of the Streamline Charging project has been incredible, she said. 

“If you want to get an internship by your second year, this was a good class to take. That's all I wanted. Anything else that comes out of it is just kind of the icing on the cake,” Hauser said. “But this team has had a lot of icing on their cake.” 

Hauser has had other cohorts and teams that came together after Smith’s group, but they haven’t been able to propel a project to the same heights — whether because it didn’t align with their majors or because they didn’t have enough time to commit to it. A new group now has potential, and she’s hoping that Smith’s team has created a path that other teams can start to follow to success. 

“When you see them latch onto what you taught them or get excited about what you're passionate about, you're really proud of those moments,” Hauser said. “This is why I like teaching. It's knowing that you can make a difference and that those things will have a lasting impact.” 

Through Hauser’s guidance, Smith said, he’s been able to build his idea into something that might become a long-term plan for himself. He’s also had the chance to connect with other Penn Staters willing to help him along the way. 

“In architectural engineering, we have a huge alumni network. That's where I met a lot of the people who have talked with us about growing this into something more,” Smith said. “We have so many people that really want to see us succeed.” 

Penn State also has assisted with patents and licensing, Smith said, offering students a chance for real benefit from the work they do. 

“Right now, I'm trying to talk to manufacturers to build the final station. We can look to raise more money soon and, when I graduate, I might be able to work on this full time,” Smith said. “Honestly, it's so much fun. I have an opportunity to decide for myself what to do with my career and my ideas.”