Student Dylan Sacks 3D printed ear savers during the pandemic

Dylan Sacks is a first-year student in the Management, Entrepreneurship and Technology program at UC Berkeley. (Photo by Brittany Hosea-Small)

This Q&A is part of a series of new student profiles for our 2022 back-to-school coverage. Have someone you think we should write about? Contact [email protected].

What year are you, and where are you from?

I’m a first-year student from Los Angeles, California.

What brought you to UC Berkeley?

I’m actually a part of the M.E.T. program — Management, Entrepreneurship and Technology. I’m really excited about the program because I’ll be able to learn both business and engineering and not have to compromise on either of the two.

Why are you interested in business and engineering?

My ultimate goal is to have my own business. Here at Berkeley, everyone’s telling me that such a small number of people are starting their own businesses, so here is really the place to learn about entrepreneurship. I’m so excited to have the vessel to get me there.

Have you always had a business mindset, even as a kid?

I did. Growing up, I was always trying to start businesses. I’m the youngest of five kids, and as the youngest in the family, I was able to see all my older siblings start to work, to have jobs, and it inspired me to start my own business. When I was 15, I tried to start a shoe business, where you buy and sell shoes. But nothing really worked when I was a kid. During the pandemic, I made ear savers. It’s this clip that attaches to a face mask that takes the tension off of your ears.

Oh, cool. How did you make and market them?

I was 3D printing them at my high school, and I was sending these ear savers all across the country to hospitals and such, and that helped inspire my love of engineering, but also entrepreneurship. People were really receptive to them. I had doctors sending me pictures of them using the ear savers. It made me feel really grateful to be in a position to help others.