2009 Collegiate Inventors Competition
l-r: Arti Rai (Administrator of External Affairs, USPTO), Jim Sullivan (Vice President of Pharmaceutical Research, Abbott Laboratories), Stephen Diebold (Grand Prize Winner, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Harris Wang (Grand Prize Winner, Harvard Medical School), Geoff von Maltzahn (Graduate Winner, MIT), Lindsay Holiday (Undergraduate Winner, Dartmouth College), Neal Conan (emcee, NPR’s Talk of the Nation)
This year marked the first time in the history of the Collegiate Inventors Competition that an undergraduate student has been honored as a co-Grand Prize Winner. Stephen Diebold, an undergraduate student who invented the Drop Point tool for use by quadriplegics and others with physical disabilities while at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Harris Wang, a Ph.D. student who invented a new way of cell programming at Harvard Medical School, each received a $25,000 grand prize. The event was held on October 20, 2009 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
In addition to the grand prizes, National Inventors Hall of Fame awarded prizes to the top graduate and undergraduate student inventions. Geoffrey von Maltzahn of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was named as the top graduate winner for his advances in nanomedicine to increase the effectiveness of cancer drugs, and the team of Philip Wagner, Lindsay Holiday, and Dana Leland of Dartmouth College was named the top undergraduate winner for their electrocoagulation arsenic water filter. Each individual or team received a $15,000 prize.
The Collegiate Inventors Competition encourages college students to be active in science, engineering, mathematics, technology, and creative invention. The Competition specifically recognizes and rewards innovations, discoveries, and research by college and university students and their advisors for projects leading to inventions that may have the potential of receiving patent protection. The Competition is sponsored by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Abbott Fund, the philanthropic foundation of the global health care company Abbott. For more information on this year's finalists and the Competition, please visit www.invent.org/collegiate.
Thanks to our Collegiate Inventors Competition Sponsors
The National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation is honored to have received the support of the following sponsors of the 2009 Collegiate Inventors Competition Ceremony. If you are interested in learning more about sponsorship packages for the 2010 Collegiate Inventors Competition, please contact Hannah Paulin at hpaulin@invent.org.
In Partnership with:
Abbott Fund
The United States Patent and Trademark Office
Supporting Sponsors:
Accenture
Stanley Apple C.P.A.
Dr. Jean Bailey
Bridgestone Americas, Inc.
Raj S. Davé
Bryan & Royce Warrick
Greg Schroll, 2008 Collegiate Inventors Competition Undergraduate Winner, named as one of the 10 Most Brilliant Innovators of 2009!
Greg Schroll pictured with his spherical vehicle with flywheel momentum storage for high torque capabilities
Greg Schroll was recently honored at the 2009 Breakthrough Awards, an annual program of Popular Mechanics Magazine, as one of the outstanding innovators of 2009. The program brings together scientists, engineers and inventors who are changing or have the potential to change the world for the better. Schroll was the recipient of the Next Generation Award for his invention of a spherical robot. The robot, designed while Schroll was an undergraduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was the invention that garnered him the title of the top undergraduate prize winner in the 2008 Collegiate Inventors Competition.
Presently a graduate student at Colorado State University, Schroll is furthering his research on his spherical robot and the gyroscope mechanism inside. Schroll is enhancing his robot with sensors, including an inertial measurement unit typically used in airplanes and guided missiles. He imagines his robot having many potential uses including surveillance, reconnaissance, and disaster zone assessment especially in situations where conditions on the ground may not yet be safe for people. Schroll also thinks the robot would be appropriate for planetary exploration, as well as search and rescue type missions.
The Collegiate Inventors Competition is proud of Greg Schroll’s accomplishments and congratulates him on this well deserved honor.
http://www.news.colostate.edu/Release/4840#
Independent Inventors Conference (IICON)
David Kappos, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, addresses IICON attendees
The 14th Annual Independent Inventors Conference, co-sponsored by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation, was held in Alexandria, VA at the USPTO campus on November 5-6.
This annual conference provides invaluable information to independent inventors interested in learning more about how to protect their ideas and/or bring them to the marketplace. Sessions included Commercializing Intellectual Property through Licensing, The Power of Patents, Patent Searching, Navigating the USPTO Web Site, and Electronic Filing System.
David Kappos, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, welcomed the group of 164 attendees. Additional speakers included representatives from the National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation, Kauffman Foundation, USPTO patent examiners, and trademark attorneys. In addition, all attendees were provided the opportunity to participate in one-on-one sessions with experts in the field – from procuring a patent or trademark to bringing their ideas to market.
Camp Invention
Invent Now Kids (INK) has been successfully addressing the growing need for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) activities during the summer months for over 20 years. This past summer, over 65,000 children across the country participated in INK’s premier enrichment program, Camp Invention. Camp Invention programming conveys the important relationship between reading, history, the arts, and STEM through hands-on, inquiry-based activities.
In 2009, a concentrated effort was placed on delivering the innovative Camp Invention programs to over 50 Title I schools spanning a five state area. In this initiative, INK was able to provide over 5,000 participants with the opportunity to experience STEM learning in a manner to which many had never been exposed. INK’s innovative approach effectively impacted and engaged even the most challenging students. An instructor at Montclaire Elementary School in Charlotte, NC said, “I found students who were initially a little timid and unsure, opening up, sharing ideas, and suggesting ways to solve problems… I was able to see students begin to talk to each other and use materials in ways they had never done before…”
For more information on supporting Camp Invention 2010, please contact campinvention@invent.org.
Thanks to our Camp Invention and Club Invention Sponsors
Thank you to the following sponsors who have recently confirmed major support for the Camp Invention summer program and Club Invention afterschool program:
- Daniels Fund
- Duke Energy Foundation
- Time Warner Cable
For a complete list of sponsors please visit our sponsor page.
NIHF School
The NIHF School opened for the 2009-2010 school year at Akron Public School’s transition site at 400 West Market with students in grades 5 and 6. The NIHF School will open in its permanent location at the beginning of school year 2010-2011 for students in grades 5through 7. The final grade will be added in 2011-2012 to complete grades 5 through 8.
Thanks to funding from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, NIHFF kicked off the Visiting Inductee Program with Inductee Jim West at the NIHF School’s opening event for parents and students on August 15 at Lock 3. Students and teachers circulated among science-related stations, and Jim West spent the afternoon talking with students about his experiences as an engineer, students’ interest in and excitement about the NIHF School, and what career paths the students envision for themselves.
Inductee News
  
l-r: Sam Blum, Rangaswamy Srinivasan, and James Wynne
In May 2009, Inductees Sam Blum, Rangaswamy Srinivasan, and James Wynne were recognized by the New York Intellectual Property Law Association as 2009 Inventors of the Year. The trio was inducted in 2002 for their work at IBM with excimer laser surgery, which went on to become the foundation for LASIK eye surgery. Blum currently enjoys retirement, Srinivasan consults on lasers and laser applications, and Wynne is still with IBM’s Watson Research Center.
 Dean Kamen was the recipient of this year’s Julio Palmaz Award for Innovation in Healthcare and the Biosciences, awarded in September by BioMed SA, a nonprofit corporation in San Antonio. Kamen, a 2005 Inductee, is known for a number of inventions related to health care and the biosciences, including a wearable insulin pump for diabetics, a robotic prosthetic arm, and the iBOT self-balancing wheelchair. The award is named for Julio Palmaz, inventor of the Palmaz stent and also an Inductee of the Hall of Fame. Kamen is the founder of DEKA Research & Development Corporation based in New Hampshire.
Forrest Bird, a 1995 Inductee, was a recipient in October of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, a recognition for those who have made lasting contributions to America’s competitiveness, standard of living, and quality of life through technical innovation.  The award was presented by President Obama at a White House ceremony, and Bird was recognized for his invention of the first reliable, mass-produced medical respirator which has saved millions of lives worldwide. He is also well known for his “Babybird,” a respirator for infants that greatly reduced infant mortality rates related to respiratory problems. As a military pilot, Bird worked on devices that allowed pilots to breathe at high altitudes, inspiring his subsequent work with respirators.
Cited by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences as “masters of light,” Inductees George Smith and Willard Boyle were announced as the recipients of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics for their invention of the CCD—the charge-coupled device—while they were researchers at Bell Labs. Their CCD technology makes use of the photoelectric effect, as theorized by Albert Einstein, and the CCD is at the heart of digital imaging. Now ubiquitous, the device allows digital imaging ranging from consumer digital cameras to images coming from the Hubble Telescope in space to medical research and applications. Smith and Boyle, inducted in 2006, will travel to Stockholm in December to receive the prize. (photo courtesy of Alcatel-Lucent)
 
l-r: Gerhard Sessler and James West
The Franklin Institute, which annually recognizes contributions to science and technology, announced the names of two Hall of Fame Inductees among its laureates for 2010. Former Bell Labs researchers Gerhard Sessler and James West, 1999 Inductees, will receive the Franklin Medal in electrical engineering for their invention of the electret microphone. Commercial production of the microphone began in 1968, and today, almost two billion electret microphones are manufactured annually, used in devices such as phones and hearing aids. Sessler is now with the University of Darmstadt in Germany, and West is with Johns Hopkins University.
In Memory
Sadly, five Hall of Fame Inductees have passed away in recent months.
 Sam Williams (1921-2009) died at the age of 88 this past June. He founded his company, Williams International, to design, develop, and manufacture small gas turbine engines. The miniature turbofans produced by the company powered cruise missiles used by the U.S. Air Force and Navy, and other missiles, target drones, and glide bombs. In addition, starting in the early 1980s, his small turbofan engines were chosen to power light jets such as Cessna Citations and Beechcraft Premiers. Williams was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003.
 Les Paul (1915-2009), known for his solid-body electric guitar and his multiple-track recording innovations, died in August at the age of 94. In addition to his reputation as an innovator, Paul had a successful performing career, starting at the age of 13. During the 1950s, he and wife Mary Ford were among the most popular acts of the time. A 2005 Inductee, he popularized the electric guitar and since the early 1950s, Gibson has sold Les Paul model guitars. A multiple Grammy award winner, Paul was a regular Monday night performer at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City until just shortly before his death.
 Richard Whitcomb (1921-2009), 88, was an aeronautical engineer who was well known for three major design innovations in the field of aviation. His Area Rule resulted in the wasp-waisted fuselage design that reduced drag. His supercritical wing design eliminated resistance and resulted in greater flying efficiency and is incorporated into almost every commercial airliner flying today. And, Whitcomb’s winglets were vertical wing-like surfaces at the tips of regular airplane wings which reduced drag and so increased fuel efficiency. Inducted in 2003, he has been referenced as one of the most important aeronautical engineers since the end of World War II.
 Louis Stevens (1925-2009), inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008, died in October at the age of 84. Working at IBM with NIHF Inductees William Goddard, John Lynott, and a team of engineers, Stevens developed the magnetic disk drive. The disk drive allowed users to store and almost instantly access large amounts of data. Features of the drive continue to be used in modern drives, and early in the 21st century, the industry was producing over 250 million drives annually and generating over $20 billion in sales worldwide. Stevens spent 35 years with IBM, and upon his retirement, taught computer science at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA.
 Robert Rines (1922-2009), a 1994 inductee of the Hall of Fame for his contributions to radar and sonar, died in early November at the age of 87. His work with MIT’s Radiation Laboratory while he was in the Army Signal Corps was crucial for the Army’s top-secret Microwave Early Warning System. Talented in many arenas, Rines was also well known for his work as a patent lawyer, founding the Franklin Pierce Law Center in New Hampshire; as a composer, writing music for a number of productions, including the Broadway show "Hizzoner!", for which he won an Emmy; and as a tireless investigator of the Loch Ness monster, which he pursued using his advanced and innovative technology from the time of his own personal sighting in 1972.
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