SmarterShade is an idea created by three students from the University of Notre Dame, Will McLeod (BS Engineering/ Design), Mike Stacey (MBA 2007), and Ryan Tatzel (BS Engineering/ Computer Science 2010). It started out as an idea and turned into an award winning business plan. The University of Notre Dame was more than happy to point the students in the right direction of competitions and grants to continue to fund their development stages. Grants, such as the one from the NCIIA helped bring SmarterShade to its pre-production status, where it stands today.