Eileen McHale ‘93 loves ice cream. Butter pecan. Strawberry. Her favorite is mint chocolate chip. She enjoys the entire sensory experience: the taste, consistency, temperature. Problem is, it doesn’t love her back.

Most of us in that situation would move on and focus our affections on an existing alternative. But not McHale. She and husband Brian Machovina ’91 MS ’94, both College of Arts and Sciences alumni, saw an opportunity to develop an alternative to the creamy indulgence. The couple created Yonanas, a kitchen appliance that turns bananas and other fruits into frozen yogurt. The treat has the same nutrition of fresh fruit, no additives and 100 calories per serving. Included with every purchase is a free recipe book. The recipes range from cookies and cream to tropical sorbet, but the constant in most but not all of the recipes is bananas.

The innovation is gaining fans quickly, and 2011 was its break-out year. The appliance is now sold at Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, K-Mart, Sears, Amazon and the Home Shopping Network. More than 200,000 units have been sold since May 2011. Tony Horton, the creator of fitness routine P90X has endorsed it.  For more information about our outstanding students and their new business please click here.