In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this year's Collegiate Inventors Competition® (CIC) must adapt for the health and safety of our Finalists, Judges and event attendees.

With this understanding, we will be holding a virtual CIC event for 2020. Event details are currently in the works. Please contact [email protected] with any questions.

Collegiate Inventors

Take Your Innovation to the Next Level with Our Collegiate Inventors Competition

Each year, the nation’s most creative college students come together to compete while networking with world-class inventors.

Learn More

What is the Collegiate Inventors Competition?

The Collegiate Inventors Competition® is a unique competition that can take your invention to the next level through networking, marketing exposure, mentorship and more!

Since 1990, with the help of our sponsors, we have awarded more than $1 million to students nationwide.

Day 1
You’ll arrive at the competition and prepare for your judging session.

Day 2
Our panel of experts will judge your invention. Then, you’ll present your innovation to the public during the Expo, followed by the Awards Dinner — where we will announce the 2020 Winners! 

Day 3
You'll head home knowing that you’ve had the opportunity to network with the country’s most innovative students, received mentorship from our Inductees and gained national exposure for your invention.

 

Enter the Competition

Entries for the 2020 CIC are closed. Check back in the spring for information on the 2021 CIC.

Congratulations 2019 CIC Winners!

Graduate Winner: Infinite Cooling

Graduate Runner-Up: Nanodropper

Undergraduate Winner: PE-IVT (Positively Engaged, Infinitely Variable Transmission Using Split Helical Gears)

Undergraduate Runner-Up and Arrow Electronics People's Choice Award Winner: PeritoneX 

Rewind to 2019

2019 Undergraduate Finalists

View Past Winners
Andrew J. Williamson
Andrew J. Williamson
Oklahoma State University
Adviser: Khaled A. Sallam
Compressor-Turbine Fusion

The future of heating and cooling will be determined by our ability to increase efficiency, minimize costs and widely adopt green energy alternatives. Compressor-Turbine Fusion has the potential to achieve each of these goals. Directly integrating a turbine into a compressor within a single device, Compressor-Turbine Fusion increases the efficiency of thermodynamic cycles and power equipment, decreases the production of greenhouse gases and can make alternative energy more competitive with traditional power sources.

Nicole Boyd
Michelle Feely
Aaron Maccabee
Xin Xiong
Nicole Boyd, Michelle Feely, Aaron Maccabee, Xin Xiong
Columbia University
Adviser: Aaron Kyle
Dual Monitoring Telemedicine Solution for Diabetic Foot Ulcer

Among the 30.3 million Americans diagnosed with diabetes, 20% develop diabetic foot ulcers. If not detected early and treated properly, these ulcers can lead to amputation, a scenario that can often be life-threatening. Dual Monitoring Telemedicine Solution for Diabetic Foot Ulcer allows patients to monitor for ulcers at home and electronically send information to their doctors. This product is the first to detect symptoms of ulcers with both digital images and algorithms.

Ethan R. Brush
Undergraduate Winner
Ethan R. Brush
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Adviser: Carl Nelson
PE-IVT (Positively Engaged, Infinitely Variable Transmission Using Split Helical Gears)

As demand for electric vehicles rises, so does the need for manufacturers to identify a more suitable transmission. The Positively Engaged, Infinitely Variable Transmission (PE-IVT) represents a new class of transmission that combines the torque of gear-based transmissions with the efficiency of continuously variable transmissions. The PE-IVT operates at 88 to 98% efficiency across all gear ratios, and it could disrupt existing technologies and reduce energy losses across a range of applications and industries.

Tejasvi Desai
Sarah Lee
Eugene Oh
James Qin
Undergraduate Runner Up | Arrow Electronics People's Choice Award
Tejasvi Desai, Sarah Lee, Eugene Oh, James Qin
Johns Hopkins University
Adviser: Elizabeth Logsdon
PeritoneX

End-stage renal disease can be fatal, and with the limited availability of kidney transplants, hundreds of thousands of people require renal replacement therapy to survive. Peritoneal dialysis (PD), a convenient, at-home form of this therapy, carries a high risk of infection. To reduce this risk, the PeritoneX is designed to disinfect PD systems. This syringe-based mechanism can improve lives by minimizing the potential for infection without increasing the time or dexterity required to perform PD.

Jared Brown
Bailey Eaton
Rachel Mann
Jared Brown, Bailey Eaton, Rachel Mann
Georgia Institute of Technology
Adviser: James Rains
SecURO

Prostate cancer affects one in nine men in the United States. When the prostate must be removed, poor visibility and restricted maneuverability can lead to human error and complications including life-threatening infections. Designed to make this procedure safer, SecURO is a single-use, automatic circular stitching device that places the stitches with the pull of a trigger, eliminating problems associated with hand-stitching. Patients can expect faster recovery times and fewer complications when SecURO is used.

2019 Graduate Finalists

View Past Winners
Dicky Liu
Dicky Liu
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Adviser: Can Bayram
Cubic LEDs

LEDs are transforming the lighting industry, but widespread adoption of solid-state lighting is hindered by high upfront costs and green LEDs’ inefficiencies. For brighter, more efficient, more affordable full-spectrum phosphor-free lighting, Cubic LEDs are created on industry-standard silicon substrates nano-patterned with U-shaped grooves to facilitate the growth of pure, defect-free cubic phase gallium nitride. Cubic LEDs are cheaper, more efficient, brighter, produce less heat than conventional lights and LEDs, and can reduce both energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission globally.

Lia Winter
Lia Winter
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Adviser: Lynn Youngs
EasyWhip

As many as 20% of all orthopedic reconstruction surgeries fail, leading to about 200,000 revision surgeries in the United States each year. To give surgeons more control over the process of stitching grafts, the EasyWhip™ double-loop stitching apparatus is the first to leverage removable, connected needle portions, resulting in a new whip stitching method that improves graft accuracy, reduces the need for costly revision surgeries and provides better overall outcomes for patients.

Maher Damak
Karim Khalil
Graduate Winner
Maher Damak, Karim Khalil
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Adviser: Kripa Varanasi
Infinite Cooling

Freshwater sources are in great demand as regions fall into drought. Because 39% of all freshwater withdrawals in the United States are attributed to power plants, Infinite Cooling can ionize and collect water from power plants’ cooling towers so it may be re-used as industrial and drinking water. If this invention was used in all power plants across the country, it could save as much as 200 billion gallons of water per year.

Mackenzie Andrews
Allisa J. Song
Jennifer Steger
Graduate Runner Up
Mackenzie Andrews, Allisa J. Song, Jennifer Steger
Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, University of Washington
Adviser: Raghu Mudumbai
Nanodropper

For millions of people with eye conditions such as glaucoma, the unregulated size of eyedropper tip openings poses significant problems. Oversized drops dispensed from these bottles result in wasted medication, leading many patients to run out before their insurance will cover a refill — and each missed dose can contribute to vision loss. Nanodropper is a universal adapter for eyedrop medication bottles that creates smaller and more efficacious droplets to reduce waste, decreases per-dose costs and ultimately increases access to expensive, essential medications.

Joshua Barnett
Tony Chen
Mahdi Al-Husseini
Joshua Barnett, Tony Chen, Mahdi Al-Husseini
Georgia Institute of Technology, Stanford University
Advisers: Shivan Amin, Rocco Giustino, Marty Jacobson, Thomas J. Leppert V.
SALUS (Stabilizing Aerial Loads Utility System)

When helicopters hoist patients, soldiers or cargo, turbulent winds created by the blades can cause the people or objects lifted from the ground to spin, leading to serious damage or even death. SALUS (Stabilizing Aerial Loads Utility System) is an electromechanical stabilization system that uses flywheel technology for safer aerial transport. This innovative device can stabilize a hoisted load in seconds, significantly reducing the time needed to perform a potentially life-saving aerial hoist.

Thank you to our 2019 CIC Sponsors