Bentley Student Entrepreneur Named Finalist in SharkNinja Innovation Challenge

Sofia Prats ’26 likes solving problems. So, when her rolling desk chair wasn’t gliding like it used to, she flipped it over to find out why. The source: hair, dust and debris from the floor that had wrapped around the wheels. Little did Prats know that this nuisance would lead to an entrepreneurial venture — and a seat as a finalist in the SharkNinja Innovation Challenge.  

“When I was a kid, I always talked about owning a lot of stores and I don’t really know why,” Prats laughs. Her parents figured it was a phase, the big dreams of a bright six-year-old. But when she didn’t let go of that dream, they taught her a new word: “business.” And later, “entrepreneur.” 

“I started learning all I could about business, and heard a lot about Bentley during high school,” says Prats, who applied and was accepted into the university’s Honors Program. With her sights set on being an entrepreneur, Prats planned on majoring in Marketing while learning the ins-and-outs of launching and running a business. But she added a second major, Experience Design (XD), after taking the course Designing Experiences (XD 225) with Professor of Sociology Gary David. 

“At first I thought the course would just be about app or web design,” Prats recalls. “But it turned out to be a lot more holistic, especially about how intentional it is to design an experience. I had never thought about it that way, and it really clicked with me.” 

Two class projects stood out: One about explaining an extraordinary experience, and another explaining a mundane experience.  

“The first thing we learned was that you’re not always designing for these big, fancy experiences,” Prats says. “Sometimes designing the best experience is about keeping it seamless for the customer. Being intentional about design includes removing potential pain points to create a process that customers don’t have to think twice about — even when it’s a regular experience like going to the supermarket. That approach caught my attention.” 

Engineering an Idea  

When she went home to the Dominican Republic for the summer and discovered an “unusable” rolling desk chair in her room, Prats set out to remove the pain point like she had learned about in class. 

“The wheels were covered in debris, and I tried to clean them, but it didn’t work,” she says. “I looked online for YouTube tutorials and none of the information helped me fix the problem. So I thought it was a great chance for me to work on my physical design skills because I was already looking for opportunities outside of class.”  

Prats started sketching ideas but admits “the process was very slow.” Things picked up once she was back on campus taking a course in User Interface Design (XD 357) with Assistant Professor of Experience Design Rahul Divekar.  

“I learned about the ideation process to get me where I needed to be in terms of identifying what the consumer really needs — and adding the business perspective to make it profitable,” she says. 

For a class project, Prats was able to focus on her business idea for a wheel-cleaning tool kit. She conducted focus groups, created a user persona and sketched more protypes. “I finished with an understanding of what I still needed to learn: how to use a 3D modeling tool and get measurements so I could design the engineering side of the tool,” she says.  

That lesson gave her the confidence to explore the engineering side of product design during summer break back in Santo Domingo. She used a friend’s 3D printer to produce her first physical prototypes for the wheel-cleaning kit. The name, Spindro, accurately captures the brand — and her intention to create “a made-up word that’s easy to say in both English and Spanish.” 

Up for the Challenge 

Prats remembers the first time she heard about the SharkNinja Innovation Challenge. Her professor, Lecturer in Experience Design Sarah Pagliaccio, had emailed students encouraging them to enter. The competition is open to college student innovators and early-career entrepreneurs. 

“I immediately signed up,” Prats recalls. “The timing was perfect because I had been working on the project by myself for a little more than a year. I was far enough along to apply but early enough to need guidance.” 

Based in Needham, Massachusetts, SharkNinja is a global product design and technology company best known for its popular Shark and Ninja home appliances, including the trending Ninja Creami frozen treat maker. The innovation challenge, launched in partnership with MassChallenge, includes three categories: consumer problem-solving innovation, sustainability and circularity, and universal design.  

Prats is one of two individual finalists who, along with five teams, will compete on March 27. Schools represented include Bentley, Brown University, MIT, Tufts University, University of Oklahoma, University of Texas at Austin and University of Southern California. 

A Victory Measured in Opportunity 

In preparation for her live pitch, Prats is working with a SharkNinja mentor from the company’s engineering team to help advance her idea and design. Along with resources to test and build concepts, she was also matched with a lawyer specializing in intellectual property and received financial coverage for the costs of filing a provisional patent application. 

“My SharkNinja mentor has really helped me modify the design, making sure that it's mechanically sound,” Prats says. “At Bentley we learn the importance of being open to feedback — giving and receiving it. The design process is very subjective, and sometimes there are things that you need to hear. I came into the SharkNinja Challenge open to listening to my mentor and adapting my design. My goal is to make the best product possible.”  

Prats is taking the feedback to heart, “going through many iterations” before the final pitch competition in front of SharkNinja CEO Mark Barrocas and a panel of technology and innovation leaders. It’s an opportunity, she says, even more important than a cash prize. 

“For me, I already won because I’m getting guidance from mentors helping me finish the design and patent it. And I have the chance to get in front of SharkNinja executives and a lot of important businesspeople to sell my idea,” she says of the upcoming final competition. 

“I’m passionate about innovation and human-centered design, and I love creating solutions that make everyday experiences simpler, smarter and more meaningful,” Prat continues. “That’s what I want to do with my life.”