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Ben Sproat in a field at sunset

Building since Lego.

Ben Sproat builds things that work, and now he builds them with AI.

Ben Sproat is a Schreyer Honors engineering student at Penn State who builds AI products. He won the FNB Challenge at HackPSU Fall 2026 with Sprout, co-founded Priming Labs, a readiness app for athletes and their coaches, and runs Sproat Systems, which builds websites, CRMs and AI automation for healthcare practices and small businesses.

Three threads

Builder

I always loved making things with whatever I had.

  • Lego cities without instructions
  • A Lego EV3 robot that scanned and solved a Rubik's Cube for the 4th grade science fair (Honorable Mention)
  • A PC and Ethereum mining rig built around an RTX 3070 that paid for its own gaming upgrade
  • 3D printing and CAD in Fusion 360 and Onshape, including 30 custom medallions for a youth basketball team
  • A floating sunglasses capstone as team lead
  • Sprout, built with a team of AI agents
  • An always-on home server that transcribes lectures and triages email

Founder

Trying to make money by selling stuff.

  • Worms for bait at age 7 (they died)
  • Furniture resale for about $250 in middle school
  • A mining rig that returned about $600
  • A pickleball Instagram that reached a paid sponsor
  • Sproat Systems, started in 2025 with my family's pediatric OT practice as the first client
  • Priming Labs, co-founded in 2026
  • A directory of occupational therapy clinics, in testing

Impact

Protecting the environment is something I am passionate about.

  • A $1,000 grant, 20 volunteers and a restored 0.2-mile trail at my middle school
  • 700 stocked pencil cases assembled with about 30 contributors and handed out at a school in Lukaya, Uganda, where the school's farmer and engineer taught me sustainable engineering
  • Energy modeling at SETTY
  • Equipment and website work at Canyon Kids
  • Adaptive camp counseling
  • Teaching AI to 18 friends and family members and every client

The short version

  1. 2017Lego EV3 Rubik's Cube solver, Honorable Mention at the science fair.
  2. 2021Trail grant written, awarded the next year.
  3. 2022Ethereum mining rig built; first 3D printer.
  4. 2023Bells and Breaks, a countdown site for Poolesville High students, my first code; 700 pencil cases delivered in Lukaya, Uganda.
  5. 2024Founding member and captain of Poolesville High's first varsity pickleball team; SETTY internship.
  6. 2025Sproat Systems; MCOP internship; everyday.pickleball reaches a paid sponsor.
  7. 2026Floating sunglasses capstone as team lead; Priming Labs; Penn State Schreyer Honors College; won the FNB Challenge at HackPSU Fall 2026.

Off the keyboard

I grew up fishing with my grandpa and hiking in Acadia. Two summers at a primitive wilderness camp in Vermont taught me to build a fire with a bow drill and to pay attention. I have captained most teams I played on, from travel soccer to a founding varsity pickleball team, and I spent five summers leading camp groups on kayaks, paddleboards and high ropes. The environment thread runs through the trail grant, nine Chesapeake Bay cleanups and the energy modeling work.

Ben Sproat crouching in tall dry grass, in a navy shirt