From Classroom to Start Up
ONU seniors build businesses with engineering ingenuity.
Seniors at Ohio Northern University stay busy balancing capstone projects, leadership roles, and post-graduation plans. But for mechanical engineering majors Alina Miles and Wesley Casselman the workload doesn’t stop there—they’re also launching their own start-up businesses.
Alina is the co-founder and CFO of Spectrum Defense Systems, a small business specializing in deception technology for the U.S. military. She and her business partner, Joseph Petersen, a recent Purdue University graduate, have already secured sales with the U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. To enhance their electromagnetic spectrum decoy system, Alina and Joe enlisted an ONU engineering capstone team to refine and upgrade the technology—one of the team’s key members is none other than Wesley.
As it happens, Wesley is also an entrepreneur. An Eagle Scout with a passion for the outdoors, he founded TrailEagle Packs, LLC, alongside Kevin Burnett, a Michigan State University student. Their company designs innovative hiking gear, and they recently launched their first product, the TrailOrigin75 backpack.
For Alina and Wesley, engineering and entrepreneurship go hand in hand—an idea reinforced by their education at ONU’s T. J. Smull College of Engineering.
“If you can extract engineering concepts, you can apply them anywhere—to basically anything,” Wesley said. “After spending four years thinking through ways to improve things, the ideas just keep flowing.”
Alina: Innovating to support U.S. troops
Alina’s entrepreneurial journey began when she obtained a X-Force Fellowship with the National Security Innovation Network (NSIN) for the summer following her sophomore year at ONU.
NSIN is a problem-solving network in the U.S. Department of Defense that brings together “defense, academic, and entrepreneurial innovators to solve national security problems in new ways.”
The fellowship program sent her to Fort Stewart, Georgia, where she was paired with Joe, a computer engineering major from Purdue University. Their mission? To develop an electromagnetic decoy system capable of masking the locations of the 3rd Infantry Division’s Bradley Fighting Vehicles and other military equipment from enemy detection.
Because military communications rely on frequency hopping—a technique that rapidly changes radio frequencies up to 100 times per second—“replicating that on a low-cost scale was a huge challenge,” explained Alina.
However, Alina and Joe found their stride as an engineering team. At the end of the 10-week fellowship, they had a working proof of concept.
The Army personnel at Fort Stewart were impressed with their product. They encouraged the pair to launch a startup company, even expressing interest in placing future orders.
“Of course, we were nervous about the whole idea,” said Alina. “But it also seemed like a fantastic opportunity. We realized we could do a lot of good with a product that would support our troops.”
With encouragement from NSIN, the duo applied to a Department of Defense startup accelerator—and were accepted. The program provided grant funding, business guidance, and essential knowledge on white paper development, networking, and patent applications.
To fully commit to the business, Joe moved to Lima, Ohio, so that he and Alina could work together while she finished her senior year at ONU.
ONU engineering professors have been instrumental in Alina and Joe’s journey, even suggesting that an ONU capstone team help refine the decoy system. Since Alina is considered the “client” she couldn’t be part of the team, but in an interesting twist, Wesley—himself an entrepreneur—joined the Spectrum Defense System capstone team working on her product.
Wesley and his teammates have engineered key upgrades, including reducing production costs, improving heat transfer, and designing interchangeable amplifier modules.
Alina plans to relocate to the East Coast or North Carolina after graduation to focus on scaling the company. She and Joe have already sold multiple decoy units to the U.S. Army, and are working on replicating surface-to-air radar systems for the U.S. Air Force.
“Honestly, I never saw myself taking this career direction, but one thing after another has just fallen into place. I went into this blind, but have learned so much—and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity,” she said.
Wesley: Simplifying adventure seeking
Wesley’s entrepreneurial journey began amidst the majestic mountains of New Mexico at the Philmont Scout Ranch.
An Eagle Scout, Wesley spent the summer between his freshman and sophomore years at ONU maintaining the trails at the renowned Scout camp, nestled in the rugged Sangre de Cristo Range of the Rocky Mountains.
That summer, he met Kevin, a fellow Eagle Scout and a finance major at Michigan State University. The two bonded over their shared love for the outdoors and a common frustration—traditional hiking backpacks were cumbersome and inefficient.
When you are hiking, Wesley explained, it’s difficult to retrieve the items you need from a typical backpack.
“You basically stuff all your things into the backpack, and then things get lost in there. And if you want an item at the bottom, you have to unpack everything to get to it.”
Determined to find a better solution, Wesley envisioned a unique backpack that functioned more like a “tri-fold brochure.” This design allows hikers to access gear easily, with compartments built into each panel for organization. A patent is pending for the TrailOrigin 75.
While Wesley thrives on brainstorming and engineering ideas, Kevin drives the business side. It was Kevin who convinced Wesley to take the leap and turn their idea into a company. They incorporated as TrailEagle Packs, LLC, in a nod to their shared Eagle Scout roots.
The young entrepreneurs received critical guidance from the Michigan State University Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. They launched their first product via Kickstarter in January.
Wesley credits his ONU engineering professors for providing a strong foundation in engineering principles and pushing him to adopt a continuous improvement mindset. Wesley even took a Fundamentals of Costume Design course at ONU, where he learned the art of sewing to create his own prototypes.
After graduating in May, Wesley plans to become a college missionary with FOCUS, a Catholic outreach program, while continuing to develop new ideas for the business.
For Wesley, TrailEagle Packs, LLC, is about more than just gear—“it’s about people,” he said.
His vision is to enhance outdoor experience and inspire more adventurers to connect with nature and marvel at the beauty of God’s creation.
Any adventure—whether it’s hiking to a mountain’s peak or starting a company from scratch—is an “essential human experience,” he says.