Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans Graduate Develops Military Tech Tool

In April, the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV) at Saint Joseph’s University graduated its third cohort of students. The program included lectures, seminars and breakout sessions led by successful business owners, entrepreneurs and faculty members from the Haub School of Business.

Among the graduates was medically retired Iraq veteran Nicholas Ripplinger, who is currently in the production process for his invention, the Marking Appliance Reusable Chemiluminescent (MARC) pen. He developed MARC to be used by ground army units to draw signals on walls, designed to be only detectable by friendly units in low-light and no-light conditions.

"The veterans in the EBV program are the best people to design military technology and other inventions,” says Hank Gillen, director of veterans services. “They notice unmet needs during their military service, and later venture into business to meet them. Nick is a perfect example of that. Our program provides the connections and skills to improve their chance for business success."

Ripplinger’s product won the EBV's Venture Pitch competition and is currently being tested and reviewed by a unit in the United States army with the potential for an order of 100,000 pens.

“The EBV program was phenomenal,” says Ripplinger. “The SJU network is far reaching, and all of the speakers and program mentors were willing to help us make key connections.”

Among the connections Ripllinger made was Drew Marine, a company providing technical solutions and services in the military industry. They are showing the MARC pen at the 2018 Paris Air Show.

“If we had started the process today, we couldn’t have had a booth in the show before 2030,” Ripplinger says. “Drew Marine has been in the business for 25 years and secured us a spot.”