CANTON, Ohio — Three University of Mount Union students took home third place and $3,000 from the Stark Education Partnership’s “Stark Tank” event in early April for their idea titled “Tilted Tic-Tac-Toe.”

The team was comprised of mechanical engineering majors Carter Spangler ’27 and Caydance Metcalfe ’27 and civil engineering major William Cruny ’27. They described Tilted Tic-Tac-Toe as, “A 2-4 player outdoor game hybridizing cornhole and tic-tac-toe for an intuitive and challenging, 2-10 minute experience.” 

After a pre-recorded submission and an initial round of pitching, the team had 10 minutes to give a presentation and answer questions from the Stark Tank judges in person. The team was grateful for the feedback from the Stark Tank judges, and the support they received from Mount Union faculty throughout.

“If you know you have a great idea but are nervous to go, know that the judges want to see an idea they believe can scale and succeed not a just the picture perfect you,” said Spangler. 

The group aims to use the prize money to develop minimum viable products to sell, which aims for it to raise additional funding for patents and other licensing. 

Learn more about Mount Union’s dynamic entrepreneurship minor.