Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Business & Economy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Business & Economy

‘Be Patient, but Move Fast’: An Interview With Entrepreneur Josh Aviv ’15, G’17

Tuesday, October 1, 2019, By News Staff
Share
alumniBlackstone LaunchPadGraduate SchoolITSOrange Central

Josh Aviv MakerSpace Quote

Syracuse University alumnus Josh Aviv ’15, G‘17 is the founder and CEO of SparkCharge, a startup that manufactures portable high-speed chargers for electric vehicles. Aviv began working on his startup during his time as a student at Syracuse by utilizing several innovation hubs on campus, particularly the MakerSpace located in the Kimmel Computer Lab.

“The MakerSpace was crucial to our company,” he said in an interview with Information Technology Services. “I just have a lot of fond memories of going in there and getting jump-started in our business.”

As part of the 2019 Orange Central celebration, Aviv returned to his alma mater to host two Fireside Chats at the Blackstone LaunchPad, a campus-based entrepreneurship program based in Bird Library. During these chats, Aviv discussed how he built SparkCharge from the ground up and provided the audience with insight into how to develop their own entrepreneurial ideas.

The MakerSpace’s 3D printers were a huge help to Aviv as he began to construct the portable charging units that formed the basis of his company. The printers enabled him to design prototypes and intricate parts for the devices. Aviv said he found the printers so useful that he later purchased the same model of 3D printer for his company after he graduated.

Beyond 3D printers, the MakerSpace houses a wide range of technological resources for students to utilize, including textile machines, a laser engraver and other machines. Through the MakerSpace, Aviv found an outlet for his entrepreneurial spirit and received the opportunity to make significant progress toward achieving his dream of starting his own company.

Aviv also used the MakerSpace’s laser engraving machine and t-shirt maker to create marketing materials that would become essential in his startup’s efforts to get off the ground.

“Some of our first business cards, we made on the laser machine there,” he says. “Those were some of the first business cards we handed to investors that actually got us funding for our startup.”

The MakerSpace is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, and from noon to 6 p.m. on weekends. All Syracuse University students are welcome to use the center, whether they are interested in computer science, design, engineering or any other field. The MakerSpace has several staff members—including lead technologist John Mangicaro—who can show students how to use the center’s various machines and help them realize their visions for a particular product or design.

“We practically lived in the MakerSpace,” Aviv said. “We’ve been working with (Mangicaro) pretty much since day one. He’s so knowledgeable about the tools you have at your disposal as a student that it makes getting things done a lot easier.”

Aviv encourages Syracuse University students to explore the MakerSpace and utilize its technologies and bounce ideas off of its staff. With the help of the MakerSpace, Aviv was able to turn his dream of starting an innovative and successful technology company into a reality. To students who hope to achieve the same entrepreneurial success as Aviv, he offered this advice:

“Be patient, but move fast at the same time. If I could go back in time, I would tell my younger self, ‘Hey, it’s going to take a long time to take something that doesn’t exist in the market and the world and bring it to fruition and actually make it happen. That doesn’t happen overnight. So be patient.’”

For more stories of students and faculty taking their research and creativity to the next level, follow Information Technology Services (ITS) on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Story by ITS student-worker Gillian Follett ’22.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Former Orange Point Guard and Maxwell Alumna ‘Roxi’ Nurse McNabb Still Driving for an Assist
    Tuesday, July 8, 2025, By Jessica Smith
  • Empowering Learners With Personalized Microcredentials, Stackable Badges
    Thursday, July 3, 2025, By Hope Alvarez
  • WISE Women’s Business Center Awarded Grant From Empire State Development, Celebrates Entrepreneur of the Year Award
    Thursday, July 3, 2025, By Dawn McWilliams
  • Rose Tardiff ’15: Sparking Innovation With Data, Mapping and More
    Thursday, July 3, 2025, By News Staff
  • Law Professor Receives 2025 Onondaga County NAACP Freedom Fund Award
    Thursday, July 3, 2025, By Robert Conrad

More In Business & Economy

WISE Women’s Business Center Awarded Grant From Empire State Development, Celebrates Entrepreneur of the Year Award

The WISE Women’s Business Center, in collaboration with the Whitman School of Management, announced the renewal of WISE as an Entrepreneurial Assistance Center (EAC) through the Empire State Development EAC  program. This award ensures WISE’s continued designation as one of…

Calling All Alumni Entrepreneurs: Apply for ’CUSE50 Awards

Did you cultivate your entrepreneurial skills as a student at Syracuse University and either founded or currently own your own business as an Orange alumnus? If so, you’re encouraged to apply for the University’s third annual ’CUSE50 Alumni Entrepreneur Award,…

Whitman Honors Outstanding Alumni and Friends at 2025 Awards and Appreciation Event

Vice Chancellor and Whitman School of Management Executive Dean Mike Haynie and Interim Dean Alex McKelvie, along with other staff and faculty members of the Whitman School, gathered in New York City on May 15 to recognize a select group…

Libraries Innovation Scholar Launches Utopia, a Transparent Beauty Brand

Trey Augliano ’27, a rising junior in the Whitman School of Management majoring in entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises and marketing management, recently launched Utopia Beauty, a science-driven beauty retailer that promises to bring transparency and trust to the personal care…

Registration Open for Sports, Entertainment and Innovation Conference July 8-10 in Las Vegas  

The second annual Sports, Entertainment and Innovation Conference (SEICon)—named by Zoomph as one of the best sports business conferences of 2025—will be held from July 8-10 at MGM’s iconic Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. SEICon is a partnership between UNLV…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.