SVSU Invests in Student Innovator Ryan Pelletier

The Morphite Board is a collapsible longboard that will fit in a backpack. This truly innovative product is the result of Ryan’s love for skateboarding and his dissatisfaction with the cumbersome size of longboards.

The idea for a collapsible longboard first came to Ryan in 2018 while he was still in high school. Frustrated that his longboard wouldn’t fit in his school locker, he decided a redesign was needed. He made some basic sketches. The idea sat, unrealized, until Ryan came to SVSU in 2020. With the help of Mohamed Adel, director of the Dow Entrepreneurship Institute, and Jim Pawloski, Product Innovation Lab technician, Ryan realized that he could take his idea to the next level.

Like any SVSU student with an idea for a new business, Ryan had the opportunity to utilize the support and hands-on learning resources of SVSU’s Dow Entrepreneurship Institute, including the Product Innovation Lab and Consumer Behavior Lab. Dedicated in 2020 as part of the $25.4 million Scott L. Carmona College of Business expansion, the labs are essential for students with an entrepreneurial drive.

During the development of the Morphite Board, Ryan was able to use free tools and materials in the Product Innovation Lab, as well as get expert opinions from Pawloski, an SVSU alumnus with decades of mechanical engineering expertise at Dow and SC Johnson, where he earned 38 patents. As with any new idea, there were challenges. Could the board be structurally sound? What materials were best? Is there even a need for this? 

Ryan successfully built his first working prototype in July 2023, after about five months in development.

“I could not have proved that the idea worked without access to all of this,” Ryan said, referring to the countless resources SVSU has to offer.

With a working product, Ryan next needed professional expertise and funding to further develop his company and brand. SVSU business professors lent their expertise to help him develop business and financial models as well as a marketing plan and pitch deck. He utilized the Consumer Behavior Lab for testing and focus groups. Faculty and staff helped him secure a $10,000 grant* that he used for further prototype development, to purchase business insurance, and to establish an LLC. Finally, Ryan benefited from networking and mentorship opportunities with community members, notably SVSU alumnus, Scott Carmona, who guided him in business building and connected him with potential investors and regional manufacturing leaders.

Ryan graduates this month from SVSU with a bachelor’s degree in international business management. He also leaves SVSU with 100% ownership of his idea, product, and company; a network of business connections; his own LLC; a financial plan; investors; and a patented working product ready for production. Moreover, thanks to scholarship support and various campus jobs, Ryan graduates without any student debt to slow down his roll to entrepreneurial success.

“I’m on track for my goals, which is a really, really awesome feeling. And I wouldn’t be if it weren't for this school. Saginaw Valley State University took me to where I want to be.”

To support student innovators like Ryan, give at svsu.edu/invest24

* The $10,000 student grant was part of a $40,000 grant to SVSU’s Dow Entrepreneurship Institute from the Midland Area Community Foundation, intended to support Midland-area SVSU student entrepreneurs by providing seed funding to launch their businesses.

Check out Morphite Boards on Instagram (@morphiteboards), Facebook, and at www.morphiteboards.com

Want the latest on Ryan and his entrepreneurial journey? On Monday, Dec. 16, watch TV5 at 4:00 PM.