After a national search for the most innovative team of undergraduates and individual graduate students, The Lemelson-MIT Program has announced the winners of the Lemelson-MIT National Collegiate Student Prize Competition (NCSPC), awarding $65,000 in prizes. This competition is a product of MIT’s collaboration with the Lemelson Foundation, aiming to honor young student inventors an encourage them to turn their inventions into careers.
“This year’s Lemelson-MIT National Collegiate Student Prize Competition winners are inventors who recognize pressing issues and are pioneering concepts that will translate into impactful solutions,” said Joshua Schuler, executive director of the Lemelson-MIT Program. “Their work is as remarkable as their passion to mentor and inspire creative thinking among youth.”
The winners, selected from a diverse group of applicants, were chosen from 28 colleges and universities across the U.S. Winning undergraduate teams were awarded $10,000, while individual graduate winners were awarded $15,000 for inventions in four categories based on healthcare, transportation, food and agriculture, and consumer device spaces. Winners were divided into these four categories, receiving awards titled, the “Cure It!”, “Drive It!”, “Eat It!” and “Use It!”.
2015 Prize Winners & Categories:
The “Cure It!” Lemelson-MIT Student Prize –
Awards students developing technological inventions for healthcare enhancement.
*Stephen John & Joseph Barnett | Western Michigan University | Undergraduate Team
John and Barnett developed a simple, safe, energy efficient and inexpensive device that prevents lung collapsing in infants.
*Car Schoellhammer | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Graduate Student
Schoellhammer is developing two inventions to greatly reduce the pain patients experience during drug delivery via the GI tract. His inventions include a Microneedle Pill (mPill) and an Ultrasound Probe (uProbe).
The “Drive It!” Lemelson-MIT Student Prize –
Awards students developing technological inventions for transportation enhancement.
*Josh Siegel | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Graduate Student
Siegel is developing a hardware device that allows drivers to access the sensors and actuators in their cars only used by manufacturers. Giving drivers this access will enable them to use apps that predict vehicle failures, provide remote control functions and info like traffic data and road conditions.
The “Eat It!” Lemelson-MIT Student Prize –
Awards Students developing technological inventions to enhance food and agriculture.
*Alexander Richter | North Carolina State University | Graduate Student
Richter is developing lignin-core environmentally-benign Nano particles (EbNPs) to deliver antimicrobial and antifungal pest control agents.
The “Use It!” Lemelson-MIT Student Prize –
Awards students developing technological inventions to enhance consumer devices and tools.
*Justin Keenan and Kevin Paroda | Pennsylvania State University | Undergraduate Team
Keenan and Paroda are developing ECHOdrive, “an aftermarket vacuum chamber build plate to automate the 3D printing process.
A committee of invention experts and a judging panel of industry leaders selected these winners based on creativity, potential for economic success, societal benefit, community impact and experience as a role model for youth.
“It is both incredible and inspiring to learn of the societal contributions being made by our Student Prize applicants and winners,” said Dorothy Lemelson, chairman of The Lemelson Foundation. “It is a privilege to be associated with each of them.”
To apply for the 2016 Lemelson-MIT National Collegiate Student Prize Competition, visit lemelson.mit.edu/studentprize
