
Nathaniel Hunt '21 (center) presenting in the Final Championship Round of the Holloway Prize Competition, with Joey Neleber 鈥22 (left) and Brayden Esmaili 鈥23 (right)
Philosophy major and lacrosse player Nathaniel Hunt 鈥21 had an idea about four years ago: what if you could put a small device in the end of a lacrosse stick that would track diagnostic information, like the speed of a shot, the angle of a release and the number of reps completed during practice or play sessions. It would help lacrosse players improve their game and help coaches know what to focus on. Now that idea has become a budding reality.
Hunt took advantage of 91制片厂鈥檚 E-Center to start developing his idea. There, he teamed up with College of Engineering and Physical Sciences collaborators Brayden Esmaili 鈥23 and Joey Neleber 鈥22. An E-Center seed grant allowed them to conceptualize the technology that they now call SPAITR鈩. They took their product idea to a national competition, e-Fest, where they were selected as a top 25 finalist and won a people鈥檚 choice award. Then, earlier this year, they brought it to Paul College鈥檚 annual , which recognizes students who conceptualize, develop and pitch the most compelling proposals to bring a product to market. There, they won first place and $15,000 to further develop their product.
Today, Hunt and the SPAITR鈩 team are working on building a prototype of their product and have lacrosse teams who are interested in using it.
Before he connected with the E-Center, Hunt said he had 鈥渘o interest in being involved with business after college. In fact, I said it was something I would never do.鈥 But now he鈥檚 excited to continue with SPAITR and to see where it goes.
Hunt is in the within the major. As he grows his product and enters the business world, his philosophy study will provide critical analytical and communication skills as well as the tools to understand the ethics of markets and money, and the implications of emerging technologies.
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Written By:
Susan Dumais '88 '02G | College of Liberal Arts












































