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.
What is the Collegiate Inventors Competition?
The Collegiate Inventors Competition® (CIC) is a unique competition that offers opportunities to advance your invention through networking, marketing exposure, mentorship and more!
What can Finalists expect from the CIC experience? The competition kicks off as our Finalists attend a welcome session at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) headquarters. Here, you’ll network with other students, as well as with USPTO officials.
Next, the competition heats up as you present your invention to a panel of Judges made up of the most influential inventors and innovation experts in the country — National Inventors Hall of Fame® (NIHF) Inductees and USPTO officials and patent examiners. You will also present your work to the public at our CIC Expo.
Winners are announced at the Awards Ceremony and will receive cash prizes and a USPTO patent acceleration certificate. You can learn more about patent acceleration here.
Enter the Competition
Entries for the 2022 Collegiate Inventors Competition are closed. Check back in the spring for information on the 2023 competition.
Congratulations 2021 CIC Winners!
Graduate Winner: SolarClear
Graduate Runner-Up: VirSENSE
Undergraduate Winner: EarFlow
Undergraduate Runner-Up: Augment Health Bladder Management System
Arrow Electronics People's Choice Award Winner: Firebot