Three Alvernia University mechanical engineering students turned an idea born in the classroom into an award-winning healthcare innovation, securing both a provisional patent and first place in the collegiate division of the 24th Annual tecBRIDGE Business Plan Competition in Northeast Pennsylvania. The team members won $10,000 and $100,000 in in-kind services to continue growing their business, Learn2Inject.
Students Jack Badalamenti, Philip Crock, and Steve Tello Alegria launched Learn2Inject to develop the first reusable safety needle designed specifically for nursing education, called Smart Stick. Created in collaboration with Alvernia nursing faculty, engineering faculty, and the O’Pake Institute for Economic Development & Entrepreneurship, the patent-pending technology allows nursing students to repeatedly practice the complete injection process using the same training needle, reducing costs and plastic waste while improving clinical skill development.
“It’s rare for small, private universities to have in-house technology transfer offices. This student achievement demonstrates exactly what makes Alvernia’s experiential learning opportunities unique,” said Alvernia University Chief Economic, Community and Strategic Development Officer Rodney S. Ridley Sr., Ph.D., RTTP. “Jack, Philip, and Steve identified a real problem, collaborated across disciplines to develop an innovative solution, and with the support of the O’Pake Institute, transformed that innovation into a viable business. Seeing our students create technology with the potential to improve healthcare education while earning regional recognition is incredibly rewarding.”
The idea was presented to the Engineering Design course by Director of Learning and Simulation, Joy Flicker, MSN, RN, after she discussed the reusable safety needle as a viable project with her colleagues in the John and Karen Arnold School of Nursing. The students took the idea and developed it from the epiphany stage through business valuation and product development.
“The issue of teaching students the proper technique for injections has been a long-standing conversation in our department and other nursing programs as well,” said Flicker. “The needles come with safeties to prevent accidental sticks to the nurse. These safeties are locked in place after activating. In education, where we want students to practice proper techniques over and over again, we either risk improper use if they do not activate the safety to reuse supplies, or we waste a lot of supplies. Both options come with their own set of risks.”
Unlike traditional disposable safety needles that permanently lock after a single use, the Smart Stick features a resettable locking mechanism that enables students to safely practice the complete injection sequence more than 100 times using one device. The group identified this longstanding challenge in nursing education, and their innovation will not only address that but also reduce training costs by an estimated 96 percent and plastic waste by 99 percent. The team estimates the technology could serve more than 700,000 nursing students enrolled in approximately 3,500 nursing programs across the United States.
Smart Stick was not only designed to cutting costs and plastic waste, but also to promote the safety of handling needles and decrease medical waste due to the specific nature in which needles need to be disposed. Flicker shared that the product can also be used in training for any medical profession that uses needles for patient injection, including veterinary medicine.
Throughout the commercialization process, the O’Pake Institute’s Technology Transfer Office helped the team secure a provisional patent while O’Pake staff guided business planning, financial modeling, market analysis and investor pitch preparation.
While Alvernia students have reached the finals of the tecBRIDGE Business Plan Competition for three consecutive years, Learn2Inject is the university’s first collegiate division champion. For Badalamenti, founder and CEO of Learn2Inject, the competition represented far more than a pitch.
“Competing in the tecBRIDGE Business Plan Competition was such an eye-opening experience for me. As an engineering fellow who wasn’t very familiar with running a business or being an entrepreneur, I gained valuable insights into what it takes to succeed in a startup venture,” said Badalamenti. “I learned a lot about myself and the potential of our invention. While helping me prepare for tecBRIDGE, the O’Pake Institute taught me valuable lessons in terms of networking, public speaking, and finance. Leading up to finals, the finance team helped me establish a strong financial model for my innovation, and the team helped me build my confidence.”
To compete in the tecBRIDGE Business Plan Competition, the students developed a comprehensive commercialization strategy that included an executive business plan, competitive market analysis, financial projections, and an investor pitch. Their presentation earned the top honor among collegiate teams from across northeastern Pennsylvania.
