Inventionland Institute 2020 Virtual Invention Contest

2020

4th Annual

brought to you by

Regional Invention Contest

Our annual Invention Contest is typically an immensely visceral experience.

You can feel the air of competition all around as the students continuously practice their pitches. Students intently study the monitor which displays their fellow classmates as they present their inventions. Groups take notes and make last-minute adjustments based on observations of the judgeʼs questions or additional necessary information.

Students take turns speaking in hushed tones and high-five when they complete a perfect practice run of their pitch. As they walk up to the castle (yes, we said castle) a microphone and camera are put in their faces and they excitedly give an elevator pitch of their invention in the per-interview. Teams huddle together as though theyʼre about to enter a sporting arena, which is amazing to see when theyʼre actually entering a mock-investor pitch.

Suddenly their group is called in and they enter a large white room with three judges sitting in front of them with their hands folded over one another. They stand side by side with their invention between them, look at one another, take a deep breath in and out, and begin their investment pitch...

Typically, all of this is present and more… but obviously this wasnʼt your typical school year. Luckily, thanks to the dedicated students and staff at our curriculum schools, the difficult circumstances weʼve faced this year didnʼt stop us from hosting our Inventionland Institute Regional Invention Contest.

Inventionland Regional Contest 2020 Rather than hosting the contest at our creative workspace where the teams could huddle, hug, and high five (yikes), we created an online version of our contest using Zoom and a whole lot of teamwork. This year, each contest began with the judges all getting together, introducing themselves, and going through the contest expectations. This involved both the judging criterion, tips on tallying points, and logistics on how theyʼll be operating the contest from a technical point of view. We had some amazing judges this year, including Nathan Field (Inventionland Institute Executive Director), Clay Carlino (Inventionland Institute Director of New Innovation), Nikki Egleton (Mechanical Designer), and Lindsay Williams (PA State Senator).

Each group presentation began by bringing the teacher for each specific group into the Zoom meeting. This allowed them to meet one another and for the teacher to give a brief introduction for the presenting group. Then, each group member was brought into the Zoom meeting one by one until everyone was present. One may assume it was incredibly difficult to present this way, but the students were very professional and well-prepared. It was clear that, although theyʼve been working from home for quite some time, theyʼve maintained contact with one another and practiced their pitch through the adjusted format.

Different members of each group had varying pieces of the project to display for the judges. For example, one member might have the prototype while the other had the final product.

One group member might screen-share for everyone so they can present their commercial. Some groups even went so far as to have shirts made to sport their invention logo. As with past years, the students were incredibly well-researched, firing off answers to complex questions such as ʻWhat is the cost to manufacture your invention?ʼ or ʻWhat type of material would you make your product from?ʼ with the ease of a true product designer.

Ultimately, we were incredibly impressed with our students this year.

Middle School Winners

1st Place: Sweet Straw Weʼve seen metal straws as a possible solution for beach pollution, but this is an even sweeter solution. The Sweet

The adjustments in education and presentation format have

Straw team proposes creating straws from candy using a

been a true test of perseverance and adaptability (a test that

vertical mold pipe in the oven to make several flavors

we didnʼt even mean to give them). But the students from our

including Jolly Rancher and chocolate. Although

curriculum schools have risen above the odds, worked

stay-at-home learning gave this group a few struggles in

incredibly hard, and finalized some incredible inventions. And

perfecting their mold for their invention, they were able

now, here are the winners of the 2020 Inventionland Institute

to give the judges a taste of what they have to offer.

Regional Invention Contest:

Though the idea is simple and fun, the group plans to gear their invention heavily toward environmental conservation efforts by making their packaging recyclable and donating 10% of profit to SEA LIFE Trust.

High School Winners

They also have their own mascot, Timmy the Turtle, and hope to work with Jolly Rancher and Hershey to manufacture. In response to questions about their possible competition, they informed the judges that metal straws will require cleaning or they grow mold while

1st Place: Stable Cable

theirs will simply dissolve into a drink creating a whole new flavor with zero-waste.

automated so it would take the upkeep completely out of flag display. Itʼs even equipped with a daylight sensor and light so that itʼll still be displayed at night. The group also noted that this

For any parent, school safety is the number one concern

to feel safer and therefore allow for more productivity.

when it comes to their childʼs schooling. Our first-place

Evan walked the judges through his process of creating

will not only be good for any flag owner, but especially for

winner, Evan Boustead, has invented an easily installable

the invention, noting that his first model of the product

those with disabilities or the elderly who have more difficulty

device that will drastically increase the safety of any

worked to halt the door opening but took 30 seconds to

classroom. Evanʼs invention, Stable Cable, is a doorstop

initiate which is too long when it comes to such an urgent

device that can be drilled into the door frame and can be

2nd Place: Windable Flag Pole

with flag upkeep. They were inspired to create their invention as

situation. The product is made at a low cost with low

Anyone who owns a flag pole has had to deal with the

and a few of them have military families. They walked the

easily activated using a hook system. The presenter noted

manufacturing time, so the pricing is significantly lower

annoyance of flag maintenance. Taking the flag up and

judges through both their packaging design, which involved

the high number of school shootings throughout the U.S.

than that of the competition. Evan plans to manufacture

down based on the weather can be a pain, but luckily

breaking up the invention into three parts, as well as the

as inspiration for his invention. He hopes that his invention

the device through the company he is starting, Prevention

this group has thought of a solution. Theyʼve designed a

progression of their logo design over time. This group also

will not only lower those numbers but also cause students

Safety Solutions.

flag pole with both an inner and outer layer so that,

mentioned the struggles theyʼve faced with the project when it

rather than having to remove the flag, you can

comes to at-home learning, but they continuously had calls over

automatically retract it into the inner layer when the

google hangouts in order to do research and practice their

weather gets bad. The design is solar-powered and

presentation together.

one group memberʼs family was in the market for a flag pole

3rd Place: Army Men We all remember them from Toy Story, but this project

(and theyʼd sell for $15/unit). One struggle they had

capitalizes on a niche group of Army Men aficionados.

initially was deciding on what invention idea to build, but

This group came up with an expansion pack edition of

they were able to overcome the odds and felt that they

the toys, which come in all new poses to maximize stop

loved the experience of putting together their own

motion videos. It also includes an M53 pillbox with

product.

posters to add realism and an outpost bunker for a general. This invention is meant to appeal to a wide variety of demographics, including those who grew up with Army men for the nostalgia and children. This group also came up with a purchasing system to incentivize future purchases by offering deals on multiple sets. Each purchase will come with a card with educational information as well as how many more youʼll need to collect to get to a larger unit (a company, a platoon, etc). Each set will also be available in multiple colors and some include artillery like tanks.

Elementary School Winner

At Inventionland Institute, we believe in preparing our students for the real world.

Through our Inventionland Institute Curriculum, we empower students to take charge of their own education, experience real-world career options, and explore every

1st Place: Book Hook Buddy

facet of the product development world.

This group built a device that can be hooked around the seat in front of you on the bus. The device is padded so that, should the bus come to an abrupt stop, any blow to the head would be cushioned. The device also has two hooks below the cushion so that you can hang up your backpack, leaving you more room to sit comfortably. The group walked the judges through the building process, letting the judges know that they chose materials like vinyl because itʼs more durable and easier to clean (which they noted was important, given the current circumstances). Theyʼd like to work with Little Earth Productions in Pittsburgh to manufacture the product and they anticipated the manufacturing cost would be $7

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