{"id":9908,"date":"2025-05-22T19:36:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T19:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/?p=9908"},"modified":"2025-05-28T22:03:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T22:03:22","slug":"construction-management-grad-invents-dormclaw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/blog\/2025\/05\/22\/construction-management-grad-invents-dormclaw\/","title":{"rendered":"Construction Management Student Invents ‘Dormclaw’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Drew Marx just wanted somewhere to hang his backpack in his room at Western Carolina University<\/strong><\/a> when he came up with the idea for the Dormclaw, a compact, hook-like device that fits into the unused slots of standard college bed frames. With support from faculty, Marx went on to develop and test prototypes, win a business pitch competition based on the concept, and secure a provisional patent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty strong little device,\u201d said Marx, a recent WCU graduate who majored in construction management<\/a> <\/strong>and minored in business administration<\/a><\/strong>. \u201cIt packs a punch.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Dormclaw is just one of the inventions and adaptations he crafted during his time as a student. Others range from an improved gnocchi board for pasta-making to a seed-starting insert perfect for a Sterilite container to custom mounts for speakers in his truck.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m kind of a dreamer,\u201d said Marx. \u201cI have lots of ideas. For the Dormclaw, I was wondering where I could put something and I thought, \u2018Oh my gosh, this (bed frame) is heavy-duty real estate right here. I could make something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using his personal 3D printer and knowledge of materials and design, Marx experimented with different plastics and mechanisms that could interface with the slots in the bed frame. The result: a deceptively simple and strong device that clicks into the bed frame and not only holds backpacks, hats, towels, and longboards, but also is durable, reusable, and does not leave damage.<\/p>\n

Ava Goddard, a WCU psychology student, said Marx gave her and other friends in the tuba section some Dormclaws to try out. \u201cIt ended up being more useful than I thought it would be,\u201d said Goddard. \u201cI was able to hang my backpack, which is normally pretty heavy, and things like my keys or umbrella.\u201d<\/p>\n

FACULTY ENCOURAGEMENT<\/h5>\n

Marx refined the Dormclaw with help from WCU faculty, including\u00a0Dr. Robert Steffen<\/a><\/strong>, associate professor of construction management, who assisted with device lab testing, and\u00a0Dr. Chris Cox<\/a><\/strong>, assistant professor of construction management, who helped Marx develop a laser focus on moving product development forward. \u201cHe\u2019s been great for helping keep me grounded and focused on the next step.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Dr. Lane Perry<\/strong><\/a>, assistant professor of entrepreneurship and innovation leadership with the\u00a0WCU College of Business<\/a><\/strong>, helped Marx develop a business plan, connected him with a patent attorney and helped him prepare for the business pitch competition.<\/p>\n

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Perry said Marx has a rare combination of technical skill and emotional intelligence, and he\u2019s excited to see what his future holds. \u201cDrew Marx is one of the best inventor-entrepreneurs I have ever worked with \u2014 hands down,\u201d Perry said. \u201cHe has cultivated the skills to balance material and emotional value in a significant way.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Marx, creating and inventing has been a lifelong love.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a bit of a LEGO kid,\u201d Marx said. \u201cIn high school, I bought a set of power tools on Black Friday, and that became my creative outlet.\u201d<\/p>\n

He built potato cannons and creations made through melting PVC and gluing layers together. \u201cI love working with my hands, and I was really fascinated by how things interacted with each other from a materials standpoint,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

JOURNEY TO WCU<\/h5>\n

What led him to WCU was\u00a0WCU\u2019s Pride of the Mountains Marching Band<\/a><\/strong>. A tuba player, he was living in Mount Peasant, S.C., when he first heard the band perform and knew he wanted to be part of it. He enrolled at WCU and joined the band. He particularly stood out at home basketball games when he brought a rotary light that he found a way to mount inside his sousaphone for special effects.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis year, I got to learn to be a section leader, learn about leadership and had a great time,\u201d said Marx. \u201cIt was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marx started out pursuing a degree at\u00a0WCU in engineering<\/a><\/strong> before taking a gap year after a difficult semester coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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While living with grandparents in Wisconsin, he worked on farms, in restaurants, and at construction sites. When he returned to WCU, he had more clarity about his future and decided to change his major to\u00a0construction management<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>with a focus on practical design.<\/p>\n

Steffen said that Marx always asks good questions and assisted as an undergraduate researcher with such projects as testing innovative walls consisting of highly insulative polyurethane-filled CMU blocks as well as structural insulated panels. \u201cHe has a passion for upgrading construction tools and processes,\u201d said Steffen.<\/p>\n

UP NEXT<\/h5>\n

What\u2019s next for Marx? He\u2019s weighing job options while also continuing to pursue a full patent and explore the market for the Dormclaw. He launched a website \u2013\u00a0dormclaw.com<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 and built a device to automate Dormclaw production using G-code and a scissor-lift mechanism.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBasically, it allows me to print 24\/7 with no human interaction,\u201d Marx said. \u201cI can fire and forget, and then just come and collect the parts.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also now an official WCU vendor and is working with the\u00a0university bookstore<\/a><\/strong> to set up a Dormclaw display. \u201cStudents will be able to purchase it right on campus in WCU colors,\u201d said Marx. \u201cWe are also working our way into the bookstores of surrounding schools.”<\/p>\n

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“Designing a product that other people want to use is the greatest compliment to me,” he said. “I\u2019m excited to see where this project goes. It\u2019s been a lot of fun putting it together!\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more about the Kimmel School of Construction Management<\/a> and the WCU College of Engineering and Technology<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Drew Marx just wanted somewhere to hang his backpack in his room at Western Carolina University when he came up with the idea for the Dormclaw, a compact, hook-like device that fits into the unused slots of standard college bed frames. With support from faculty, Marx went on to develop and test prototypes, win a business pitch competition based on the concept, and secure a provisional patent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3401,"featured_media":9911,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[92,86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wcu-construction-management","category-wcu-engineering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3401"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9908"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10077,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9908\/revisions\/10077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/affiliate.wcu.edu\/cet-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}