Zielinski shares Entrepreneurship Spirit with Current Students

Alfred State alum Reuben Zielinski ’82 returned to campus and shared his story of entrepreneurship to current students from the School of Architecture, Management & Engineering Technology (SAMET).

Zielinski, an electrical engineering technology major during his time at Alfred State, and his colleague Joel Trusty founded Redux. Redux uses a patented technique to remove moisture from personal electronic devices with a vacuum drying process that reduces the evaporating point of water so that all moisture is removed quickly, completely and at a safe temperature. Nearly three million customers have subscriptions to Redux drying service that can effectively be used for wet cell phones, hearing instruments, cameras, tablets, and MP3 player. Read more about Zielinski and his contributions to Alfred State.

In his visit, Zielinski spoke to current students about his education path, how the idea for Redux was conceived, shared the patent and design process of his product, discussed marketing strategies, and took questions from the students. He also offered to help any student that wanted to start their own business or work on patents.

John Williams, Dean of SAMET, was excited to have Reuben back on campus. “We are grateful to have Reuben share his passion and insights with students. His knowledge and experience with the development of intellectual property and starting a business is so useful for our entrepreneurial students looking to follow in Reuben’s footsteps and apply what they are learning to a real-world challenge. We can’t thank Reuben enough and look forward to working with him in the future.”

Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs and Economic Development Dr. Craig Clark encouraged students to start thinking and exploring ideas for the 2023 Allegany County Startup Collegiate Competition that will be held at Alfred State on April 1, 2023. The Eco Guys from Alfred State won the 2022 competition.