Take Part in the Collegiate Inventors Competition!!
The Collegiate Inventors Competition promotes exploration in invention, science, engineering, technology, and other creative endeavors. One undergraduate and one graduate winner or team each receives $15,000. In addition, one Grand Prize winner or team will receive $25,000. Academic advisors of each winning team also receive a cash award, and finalists in the competition receive an all-expenses paid trip to present their work to a panel of expert judges.
The application deadline is May 16, 2008. More information on the competition is below.
Students who are interested in preparing an application must first contact the Office for Technology Commercialization (OTC) for assistance with the patent process. The OTC will be able to help with inventions that are the result of University research, for which the rights would be owned by the University. E-mail umotc@umn.edu or call 612.624.0550.
More information on the competition:
Web site: http://invent.org/collegiate/index.html
The Collegiate Inventors Competition has rewarded and encouraged hundreds of students to share their inventive ideas with the world. Entries are judged on the originality and inventiveness of the new idea, process, or technology. The entry must be complete, workable, and well articulated. Entries are also judged on their potential value to society (socially, environmentally, and economically), and on the scope of use.
The entry must be the original idea and work product of the student/advisor team, and must not have been (1) made available to the public as a commercial product or process or (2) patented or published more than 1 year prior to the date of submission to the competition.
The invention, a reduced-to-practice idea or workable model, must be the work of a student or team of students with his or her university advisor. If it is a machine, it must be operable. If it is a chemical, it must be complete with evidence of successful application of the idea. If it is a new plant, color photographs or slides must be included in the submission. If a new or original ornamental design for an article of manufacture is submitted, the entire design must be included in the application. In addition, the invention should be reproducible.