When she was a freshman at the New York Institute of Technology’s (NYIT) campus in Brookville, Inaya Sayed was a bit bothered by the noise from a leaf blower while she was trying to study.
But unlike many others, she didn’t take it sitting down. Sayed, 21, was enrolled in a course at the college called Necessary Eleven Steps to Tech Startup, or Nests, which is aimed at helping students start their own businesses. The junior engineering major, who lives in Dix Hills, developed what she called a Sound Damp, a patented device that creates a second layer of sound over noise in spaces for academic study.
“I tested it on a bunch of students and I got a lot of feedback,” Sayed told the Press. Her next step is to try and market the device. “I’m working on that,” she said.
Sayed is one of the NYIT students who took part in the college’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Academy, which started in the fall of 2024. The academy included the creation of a $5 million NYIT Venture Fund to invest in startups from students, faculty, alumni and qualified entrepreneurs.
But the college was not done there.
Earlier this fall, the NYIT opened a high-tech hub for the academy, called Startup Tech Central, at the far end of the sprawling campus, in the former Midge Karr Fine Arts Design Center. The conversion from an arts design facility to tech central was done rapidly, and the facility includes computer rooms, class and meeting rooms and a warm and comforting room with thick couches and chairs that looks as if it came out of a different era.
College officials envision hosting competitions, mentoring sessions, business accelerators, and co-working spaces at the new tech center.
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Long Island government and political leaders have talked for years about the need for high schools and colleges to help train students to become entrepreneurs so they may take better control of their own lives as companies continue to outsource jobs and decrease their payrolls.
The director of Startup Tech Central will be Peter Goldsmith, who is chairman of Plainview-based Long Island Software & Technology Network, a post he will retain. ListNet has had a long relationship with NYIT, bringing in the college’s students to the organization’s Digital Ballpark offices.
“When I went to college, I never thought of starting a company,” Goldsmith told the Press. “Now, students want to start their own companies.”
Students in the Nests course have 15 weeks to create a business.
“We are very hard on them,” Goldsmith said. “But they are very amazed at what they can create in a short time.”
Jerry Balentine, who became NYIT’s fifth president this past July, said in a statement that “Startup Tech Central and the Academy are for those students who want to start something on their own. This is for those students and their creativity.”
NYIT says that approximately 1,800 of its alumni have become entrepreneurs over the years.
Another of the students who created a business was Alisha Karim. She and a co-founder, Nicholas Stewart, established VitaPath, a post-healthcare company that helps keep recently-discharged patients safe and prevents readmissions.
“I learned how to validate and refine ideas, and I gained exposure to the entrepreneurial world,” Karim, 34, of Rego Park, said.
Seated in a large room at the tech center earlier this fall, Goldsmith said the facility will offer “a hands-on approach” to teaching.
“We will do all kinds of events all leading to startup businesses,” he said. “Instead of lecturing all of the time, we will be bringing in experts to speak to the students.”
Thomas J. Van Laan, a member of NYIT’s board of trustees and co-chair of the board’s innovation and entrepreneurship committee, said, “We have always been a home for aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs.” The college, he added, “has long instilled students with the skills and mindset to build something of their own.”
Sofoklis Sarellis, who is completing his doctoral work at NYIT in physical therapy, now has his own footwear company, called Symbol, after meeting Goldsmith. He was always interested in athletics when he was growing up in Astoria, Queens.
“I always loved conditioning and physical therapy,” Sarellis, 33, of Port Jefferson, told the Press. He began researching footwear for athletic use. While in college, he designed sneakers and started his company. His company has just started taking in reservations for orders.
How does it feel to have his own company?
“I would say it’s the greatest, most exciting, most nerve-wracking thing I have ever done in my life,” he said. “But it definitely feels great.”
