Lemont Students Contribute Along the Way to Teacher's 'HatHub' Invention

Lemont High School teacher Bill Mondrella has taught an entrepreneurship class for many years, and always has stressed to his students that the best products are simple solutions to common problems. Throughout the development of his new product—the “HatHub”—Mondrella has employed assistance and input from students. His simple solution is now ready for a Kickstarter campaign.

Mondrella has spent the past two years perfecting the design for the HatHub, going through numerous prototypes before settling on one that he believes will be a winner for his target audience. Armed with a utility patent and with a design patent pending, Mondrella is turning to Kickstarter to raise funds to cover the cost of manufacturing so that he can produce greater quantities of the HatHub.

The HatHub protects the integrity of a hat when it’s not in use. It is particularly beneficial while traveling, but also can be used in the home or in a car. Made of durable plastic and other quality materials, the HatHub holds as many as three hats and fits well in a suitcase or backpack.

Mondrella believes that the HatHub not only is perfect for travel baseball players, umpires and golfers, but for anyone who wants to keep his or her hats looking good. From the high school or college athlete to a father on a family vacation, the HatHub serves as the ideal gift for anyone who owns a hat.

His lesson to his entrepreneurship students as they consider new product ideas is to start with a problem, then develop a simple solution. Mondrella played baseball at the University of Missouri, and during his time at Lemont High School, has served as the school’s baseball coach and girls’ golf coach. Through those experiences and other travels, Mondrella noticed a problem – it was difficult to travel with hats without having them smashed in his luggage.

To prevent his hat from being damaged while traveling, he would either have to wear it or hold on to it – neither of which are ideal solutions. None of the other solutions he had tried, including stuffing his hats with socks, worked well. Mondrella believes that the HatHub solves this problem.

He started with a drawing, and former student Joe Ziebell ‘14 rendered that drawing in the school’s CAD lab so that a prototype could be produced on the school’s 3D printer. A business education teacher, Mondrella involved his students in the process of naming the product and developing a slogan. He has kept those students informed throughout the patent and product development process, which has served as an extended learning experience for them.

In addition to Ziebell and his former business students, Mondrella has also benefited from the expertise of current senior Kevin Malesza, who has assisted with graphic design work, and sophomore Martynas Juskelis, who created the Kickstarter video. Many of Mondrella’s colleagues have provided support as well, including industrial technology teacher Scott Duensing, art teacher Megan Idell, mathematics teacher Matt Synowiecki, Information Technology Support Specialist Donna Wall, and English teachers Jon DeGuzman and Marek Dron.

Contributors to Mondrella’s HatHub Kickstarter campaign will receive a HatHub (at certain contribution levels). His campaign be found by searching for “HatHub” on the Kickstarter site, or clicking here.