Jessica O. Matthews co-presented the Soccket, an energy-generating soccer ball, at MIT's 100K Entrepreneurship Competition, marking an early public unveiling of her signature invention.
On May 14, 2009, Jessica O. Matthews co-presented the Soccket, an energy-generating soccer ball, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's 100K Entrepreneurship Competition. At the time, Matthews was a student at Harvard University, and the Soccket had emerged from a Harvard engineering course project aimed at addressing real-world problems using accessible technology.
The Soccket used a simple pendulum-like mechanism inside the ball: as it was kicked and rolled during ordinary play, an internal induction coil generated and stored electricity, which could later be used to power a small LED lamp or other low-wattage devices. This was among the first widely publicized examples of kinetic-energy-harvesting sports equipment designed explicitly for use in off-grid and energy-poor communities.
This MIT presentation represents one of the earliest documented public showcases of Matthews' inventive work, well before Uncharted Play was formally incorporated. It signaled the beginning of her transition from student inventor to entrepreneur, and helped attract early attention, mentorship, and funding opportunities that would eventually allow the Soccket to be manufactured and distributed internationally. The event is historically significant as a marker of the moment a socially-driven engineering class project began its journey toward becoming a globally recognized clean-energy product and business.