Inside Terp Marketplace: Student innovation at the University of Maryland

Each spring, the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business fills its halls with aspiring entrepreneurs showcasing their products or services.

Known as the Terp Marketplace, the event held on April 14 gave UMD students a chance to test, refine and present their ideas in a real-world setting. All students — regardless of major — could reserve a table and showcase their idea.

While walking through the marketplace, visitors found products ranging from clothing brands and services to tech products and handmade items. Each table represents a new passion, effort and collaboration in hopes of engaging potential customers. As visitors passed by, students invited them to learn about their ideas.

Communications major Reece Temoney showcased his new clothing brand, Protect the Creative, also known as PTC. Reece’s clothing brand strives to tackle the controversy surrounding artificial intelligence and creative expression. 

“The PTC initiative is meant to showcase our brand around the conservation of creativity,” Temoney said. “Our goal is to use photography and digital marketing to display our products, and Terp Marketplace helps kickstart our exposure.” 

Just a few tables away, another student took a different approach. Michael Tsige, a computer science major, presented his digital photo booth business designed to be custom-fit for any event. His product allows users to capture photos with customizable backdrops, filters and digital sharing. 

“This is my first time coming to the event, as I heard about it from a class assignment, but it gave me the opportunity to showcase a business idea I had previously created,” Tsige said. 

He said seeing people interact with his product gave him valuable insight into what works and what could be improved. Experiences like this, he continued, are what make events like Terp Marketplace so impactful for student entrepreneurs.