Cedarville University's Latest Updates
- Grads Find Their “Mojo” With Coffee Shop App
- Cedarville Pharmacy Residency Match Rate Exceeds National Average
- Cedarville Newsroom Awarded “Best of Show” by Dayton PRSA
- Packaging Hope: Senior Project Sends Medical Care
- Seeing Stars: Satisfaction Survey Gives Cedarville Sky-High Marks
- New Accelerator Offers Students an Entrepreneurial Edge
- U.S. News Ranks Cedarville the Best Midwest University for Veterans
- Building Bones: Orthopedics Implant Company Connects with Cedarville
Grads Find Their “Mojo” With Coffee Shop App 
There seems to be an app for everything these days, from workout trackers to constellation guides. With more than two million apps to choose from, the Mojo Coffee App eliminates the need for multiple coffee-related apps, not only clearing space on users’ phones but simplifying the coffee ordering process as well.
The Mojo Coffee App, created by Cedarville University alumni Noah Bragg and Andrew Bidlen, is an order-ahead coffee app that acts as a platform for local coffee shops, businesses that often lack the technical know-how to create an ordering app themselves. The platform consolidates local coffee shops on one universal platform, so users only need the one app to order from multiple coffee shops.
“We wanted to help local coffee shops compete with the large chain coffee shops,” said Bidlen, Mojo co-owner and a 2017 electrical engineering graduate. Bidlen and his college roommate Bragg started their business on May 31, 2018. To date, 650 people have accounts on Mojo, averaging 100 orders a week. They have completed more than 2,500 transactions and generated $19,000 in business for the coffee shops on the app. Of all the Mojo customers that order, four months later more than 50 percent of them are still ordering. Sixty-four percent of users say they order more at their local coffee shop because of the app.
Mojo takes an 8 percent commission on sales from the app and gains new customers by allowing businesses to market for them.
Mojo co-owner Bragg, a 2017 computer science graduate, first recognized the need for this service when his sister-in-law, who runs a coffee shop in New Hampshire, told him of her need for an online ordering app to compete with Starbucks and other large chain shops.
“The thing I appreciate the most is my personal interaction with Noah, something you don’t get with larger businesses,” said Cynthia Stemple, owner of Coffee Hub in Xenia, Ohio. “The app is perfect for what we need it for.”
A few weeks ago both Bidlen and Bragg left their full-time jobs to work solely on the business.
“Cedarville offers a really exceptional engineering program,” noted Bidlen. “Cedarville helped us ask questions like, ‘What is the purpose of business?’ It helped us understand why we do what we do.”
Bidlen and Bragg also reward users who refer local coffee shops to start using the Mojo platform by offering $100 in Mojo credit for each shop they connect to the platform.
Interested parties can download the app for Android smartphones in the Google Play Store or for iPhones in the App Store, visit mojocoffee.io or reach out to Bidlen directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Cedarville Pharmacy Residency Match Rate Exceeds National Average
The 2019 Cedarville University School of Pharmacy doctoral candidates for 2019 have a residency program match rate of 80%, surpassing the national average of 64%.
Once Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) grads complete their seven years of training at Cedarville University, they can choose to receive one or two years of residency training where they function as a pharmacist under the mentorship of pharmacists experienced in a specialized field of pharmacy.
“The completion of one to two years of postgraduate residency training prepares pharmacists to practice in expanded clinical roles focused on direct patient care,” said Dr. Zach Jenkins, associate professor of pharmacy practice. “Residency training provides the means for pharmacists to practice at the top of their license.”
Students who pursue residency training participate in the National Matching Service — a program that utilizes a computer algorithm to pair candidates with programs. The same program is used in other healthcare fields to match students with residencies. Students submit applications and interview with several programs, then rank top site choices. Residency sites also rank candidates they would like to have in their program.
This year, Cedarville pharmacy graduates have been matched with institutions such as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee; the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio; and Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
"I think our high match rate reflects both the quality of our students and our program,” said Dr. Marc Sweeney, dean of the school of pharmacy. “We realize that there are many factors to play a role into our residency match, but I hope it gives confidence to those who choose the Cedarville University School of Pharmacy"
Cedarville Newsroom Awarded “Best of Show” by Dayton PRSA
It was a banner night for Cedarville University at the 2019 Dayton Area Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) annual PRism Awards ceremony held at The Dayton Club. Dayton PRSA presented 20 awards to public relations individuals and organizations.
In the media relations category, Cedarville won a PRism for developing and implementing its campus newsroom. PRSA also named one entry as its “Best of Show” award from among all award-winners in the nine categories based on the highest score determined by the judges from the Capital City PRSA in Albany, New York Chapter.
“Best of Show” went to the Cedarville University newsroom, which scored 98 points out of a possible 100 to receive this award.
Mark D. Weinstein, executive director of public relations, attended the 2017 PRSA International Conference in Indianapolis, which featured campus newsrooms. Weinstein brought the idea back to Cedarville, and after gaining approval from the university’s administration, Shawn Rifner from the department of communication and the marketing and communications team started building the infrastructure for the present newsroom.
Lynn Brock, then the Cedarville’s dean of library services, offered space in Centennial Library for the newsroom. In the 20 months since opening the newsroom, Cedarville faculty experts have conducted 366 live or recorded television interviews. In addition, the marketing team has produced more than 100 academic videos from the facility, and the Center for Political Studies produces its weekly video blog from the newsroom.
“The PRSA international conference proved to be so valuable in terms of dreaming about the possibility of having a newsroom and connecting Cedarville faculty with media throughout the region and country,” said Weinstein. “I am so appreciative to the administration for sharing the vision of this newsroom, our faculty for being willing to answer media’s questions, and my colleagues for creating this great tool to share our stories.”
A result of the newsroom extended Cedarville’s reach into new media markets. In addition to conducting media interviews with all of Dayton’s television stations, the newsroom has been used for interviews with stations in Columbus and Cincinnati, as well as Fox News, Fox Business News, and CNN.
The Cedarville team celebrates it's PRSA awards at the Dayton Club. From left, Clem Boyd, Logan Hayes, Shawn Rifner, Mark Weinstein, Glen Duerr, Janice Supplee, and Chad Jackson. PRism_Award.jpg
Packaging Hope: Senior Project Sends Medical Care
Backpacks and coolers are staples of college life. But combining the two to save lives in developing nations? Welcome to Rose Thompson’s senior capstone project.
For her senior industrial and innovative design capstone project in, Thompson of Xenia, Ohio (Legacy Christian High School), discovered a gap in the way immunizations are delivered to third-world nations. She hopes her new system for transporting vaccines will save lives in underserved parts of the world.
Thompson's project is sponsored by Emerson, a large, global automation company that is committed to innovation, with large corporate operations in Columbus, Ohio. Emerson helped Thompson find a technical solution and provided feedback for her ideas.
According to recent data from the World Health Organization, 5.4 million children under the age of 5 die each year due to vaccine-preventable diseases. Most of those deaths occur in developing countries.
Many of these countries lack a power grid, which contributes to the spoilage of vaccines before they arrive at clinics. Vaccines must maintain a temperature of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius, or roughly 35.6 to 46.4 Fahrenheit. It’s estimated that $100 million is wasted each year due to vaccine loss.
In response to this dilemma, Thompson created a system for storing and transporting vaccines at very low temperatures to maintain their effectiveness before use.
The existing products for transporting vaccines to third-world countries are soft coolers, coolers with ice packs, heavy refrigerators and preservatives. None of these options are effective or lightweight enough to carry to remote locations.
Typically, nurses carry vaccines, as well as syringes, alcohol wipes, gloves and other medical supplies. According to Thompson, most nurses use a standard tote bag that is unstable for the weather and terrain conditions. “The medical personnel who I interviewed said that the current bags are not durable or comfortable for hiking up mountains and crossing streams to the villages.”
Thompson created two products to ensure the safe delivery of vaccines. The first is a cooler system that monitors its temperature and notifies the nurse when it is nearing an unsafe temperature. The nurse can then crank a lever on the cooler, which operates a cooling system, so the temperature is regulated without electricity.
The second product is a backpack with secure pockets designed for each medical supply, which also has enough room for the vaccine cooler, so medical personnel only have to carry one backpack.
“I realized that the lack of safe transport for vaccines is a huge problem,” Thompson shared.
“With this project I hope that my solution can be a small piece to the big solution. I also hope that this project will raise awareness so others can be a small piece to the big solution.”
Seeing Stars: Satisfaction Survey Gives Cedarville Sky-High Marks
To test its marketing messages, Cedarville University developed a student satisfaction survey that was comprised of six marketing statements about the academic and spiritual promises it makes to its students. In April 2019, students were asked to rank these six statements from one to five — similar to an online product review — so that Cedarville can add star rankings to its website.
The ranking system allows prospective students to better understand what current Cedarville students think about their experiences in the classroom and campus life. This information can help future students in their college decision-making process. The ranking also will assist the university from a marketing perspective as the system will increase the university’s exposure on various search engines.
Overall, Cedarville earned a 4.63 ranking from undergraduates and graduate students taking the survey. Cedarville received a five-star ranking to the statement, “My classes have been taught from a biblical worldview.” The university also earned marks of 4.56 to 4.65 for every other statement in the survey, which included:
• Cedarville University has helped me grow in my walk with Christ.
• Cedarville academics are marked by excellence.
• My professors have demonstrated care for me as a person.
• My academic program is preparing me well for a career.
Responses were also divided according to each academic department, from art, design, and theatre to social work, with each one receiving a four and a half- to five-star rating across all categories. Graduate students ranked Cedarville a 4.57, an impressive ranking considering most receive instruction online.
More than 500 students responded to the survey, which means the findings are 95% reliable with a 5% margin of error.
“We were very encouraged to see that what Cedarville says about itself, students are actually experiencing,” said Dr. Janice Supplee, vice president for marketing and communications. “It is a great validation that there is integrity about who we are and about the Cedarville experience.”
New Accelerator Offers Students an Entrepreneurial Edge
Beginning with fall semester 2019, Cedarville University’s School of Business Administration will offer an entrepreneurship accelerator program for students across all university disciplines. The accelerator will enable students to launch independent startup companies as well as provide skills and experience to lead a startup function in existing companies by creating new products or pursuing new markets.
“Business is changing rapidly, and many of the changes that are so disruptive are amenable by entrepreneurial solutions,” explained Jeffrey Haymond, dean of the school of business administration and professor of economics. “This is a time for a Christian university to take the lead at creating entrepreneurial students — students who are ready to handle the ambiguous and dynamic market economy.”
The accelerator focuses on learning by doing. Students can earn college credit while founding, funding and scaling a startup company. Company-sponsored, on-campus internships and projects will also be available for interested students.
As part of the accelerator, pitch competitions, similar to ABC’s “Shark Tank,” will be held at Cedarville. Judges will include venture capitalists, private equity leaders, angel investors and current business owners. These will not be mock scenarios, but real pitches where pitch competition guests who are impact investors will invest capital in the best student founded startup companies.
A fall and spring entrepreneurship practicum will also start with the launch of the entrepreneurship accelerator. Any Cedarville student may enroll in this one-to-three-credit course. Sponsoring companies have selected challenging projects that require marketable solutions. Students will work in project teams to propose and deliver solutions to be delivered in the marketplace through the sponsoring companies.
The accelerator will also create a new Cedarville role: entrepreneur-in-residence. This position will allow current business owners, venture capitalists, angels and venture attorneys to provide campus hours to mentor Cedarville students and to contribute in classes along with faculty within the entrepreneurship accelerator.
“Students who want to be entrepreneurs will ultimately create our future in the marketplace,” stated Richard Blanc, director of the entrepreneurship accelerator program. “The marketplace provides critical resources to churches, schools, communities, nonprofit ministries and families, and at the center of the marketplace is the startup economy. We want every Cedarville student to have the opportunity to have influence and prosper as they use their influence to advance the cause of Christ.”
U.S. News Ranks Cedarville the Best Midwest University for Veterans
U.S. News & World Report recently ranked Cedarville University as the best college in the Midwest for military veterans and active-duty service members.
Cedarville earned its ranking by supporting veterans, certifying the GI Bill, participating in the Yellow Ribbon Program that covers costs not paid by the GI Bill, enrolling a minimum of 20 veterans and active service members and being in the top half of the U.S. News annual college rankings.
Cedarville ranked in the top 7% of the 172 colleges and universities in the Midwest.
“The biggest benefit for veterans at Cedarville, besides the fact that it has a strong Christian environment, is the fact that it has experienced people handling veteran concerns on a daily basis,” explained Keegan D'Alfonso, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and 2019 Cedarville graduate.
“We are very thankful for our men and women who serve, or have served, in the U.S. Armed Services,” said Fran Campbell, registrar at Cedarville University. “We have made it our goal to smooth the transition for military personnel from military life to college life, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to help them succeed.”
For more information on the Veteran Affairs (VA) benefits available at Cedarville, visit cedarville.edu/Veterans.
Building Bones: Orthopedics Implant Company Connects with Cedarville
Tangible Solutions, Inc. and Cedarville University’s schools of engineering and pharmacy have partnered to further develop 3D-printing titanium technology for the orthopedics industry. The partnership will go into effect in August 2019.
Tangible Solutions is a contract manufacturer of 3D-printed titanium implants for orthopedic device companies. Founded in 2013, the company serves orthopedic implant OEMs who need a medical device supplier.
3D printed titanium is a choice metal for medical implants due to its biocompatibility and pro-cell growth characteristics. The strength, stiffness, corrosion-resistance and high strength makes 3D-printed titanium well suited for bone and joint implant applications such as scaffolds, which are frames over which bone tissue cells can grow.
The partnership between Tangible Solutions and Cedarville will focus on understanding how 3D-printed architecture, structure and surface design characteristics affect the functionality of 3D-printed titanium for successful implant design and manufacturing.
“Our customers spends thousands of hours engineering the next generation of orthopedic implants,” said Adam Clark, CEO of Tangible Solutions. “Tangible Solutions’ sole focus is 3D-printing titanium orthopedic implants for OEMs. We aim to use this knowledge to further elevate the high standards of 3D-printed orthopedics. Furthermore, Cedarville University is an impressive institution and they have a very passionate staff and student body.”
A team of Cedarville students will study a matrix of 3D-printed titanium variables in order to evaluate cell viability outcomes for various 3D-printed architectural and surface designs.
The students will work with Matthew Shomper, Tangible Solutions’ director of engineering and a 2011 Cedarville graduate; Dr. Tim Norman, distinguished professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering; Dr. Rocco Rotello, associate professor of pharmaceutical science; and Dr. Tim Tuinstra, professor of electrical engineering. Rotello will focus on improving the bone cell type grown in Cedarville’s lab. He is growing a new type of cell that better represents what happens in the body. Tuinstra is helping a student develop computer software that can count cell growth.
Students will learn metal additive printing technologies, numerical analysis, surface property characterization, mechanical testing, cell culture techniques and how to engineer the architectural design of implants.
“We have an ongoing effort at Cedarville to develop 3D printed scaffolds for implant tissue innovations,” said Norman. “We are coupling our expertise in design and characterization and cell culturing of the scaffolds with the manufacturing expertise of Tangible Solutions in the area of 3D printing titanium implants. This is a very multidisciplinary endeavor.”
