Drexel launches mobile app lab backed by Bentley Systems

Drexel students now have a dedicated space where they can develop mobile apps.

Backed by a donation from Exton-based software company Bentley Systems, the lab, located at the ExCITe Center at 3401 Market Street, will act as a resource center for students interested in mobile app development, according to a release. It’ll be staffed by two mobile developers.

Drexel students will be able to complete their graduation-required internship by working in the lab, as well as apply for grants to fund their app development. It reminds us some of Temple’s Urban Apps and Maps Studio, though that Knight Foundation-backed effort from Youngjin Yoo was launched to connect high school students with university resources.

The announcement is another in a slew of tech and entrepreneurship-related developments at Drexel.

Notable Drexel-built mobile apps include:

• Scholly, an app from undergrad Christopher Gray that helps students find scholarships
• VisAssist, a set of apps from a team of then-Drexel seniors that helps visually impaired students read
• Thrifty Bunch, a mobile app built by a Drexel research fellow that lets users crowdsource shopping decisions. It won a national mobile app competition.

3401 Market Street is becoming a tech hub, with the new DreamIt Ventures headquarters and coworking space on the second and third floor and the ExCITe Center, which houses Drexel’s game lab, music technology lab, the Shima Seiki Haute Technology Lab for wearable technology and now, the app lab.