Morgan Kennedy is from Battleground, Washington. Her dad is a mechanical engineer and inspired her to get into STEM. She followed in his footsteps and graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering at Boise State.
While going to college, Kennedy participated in Hacking for Homebuilding, a statewide competition offered in partnership by Boise State University’s Venture College, a program in the College of Innovation and Design, and College of Engineering. While she didn’t win the competition, Kennedy explained that she enjoyed the experience because she learned how to step outside her comfort zone and work with others outside her discipline.
After participating in Hacking for Homebuilding, Kennedy decided to participate in the Carbon Venture Challenge (now referred to as STEM Gems) in May 2022. She tied for third place in the Spring 2022 Carbon Venture Challenge. Kennedy shared that she enjoyed seeing other students’ pitches and discovering fresh ideas that she hadn’t thought of before.
While on campus, Kennedy noticed that someone put a brown paper bag over a window to block the glare coming in. She wondered what could be more effective and aesthetic. She came up with the venture idea of installing window films so that hot and cold air doesn’t get through and called the venture Filmsulate.
Window films help A/C units run more efficiently with no heat leaking through the window. Window films also decrease the glare from the sun, reduce HVAC costs by 30% and help provide a cooler, more comfortable atmosphere. The catch with window films is the cost per window. It can roughly cost between $9-$24 per sq ft. The venture Filmsulate found a local company to sponsor the cost/labor of the window films in exchange for advertising. This resulted in no upfront cost to Boise State for the project.
Kennedy worked to form partnerships with local businesses to sponsor the cost of the window films for installation on the Boise State campus. Boise Window Tint agreed to sponsor the cost/labor. The window film was installed in the Boise State Raptor Research Room 119.
Kennedy shared that she highly recommends students participate in Venture College. It was a great experience for her. She was able to reference her experience in job interviews, had the opportunity to apply her skills creatively, got out of her comfort zone and got comfortable presenting ideas.
Currently, Kennedy works full-time at Nike’s headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon as a Design Engineer 1. She works at Nike’s Bowerman Footwear Lab in the Tooling and Mold Design group.
