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inventionland institute Partnership enhances Project-based learning
In other curriculum development, The Kiski School and George M. Davison III ’82, Founder and CEO of Inventionland, have partnered and created an entrepreneurial class called Inventionland Institute. Students work through the Davison method of inventing – from brainstorming to patent research, to product development and marketing. Each student or student team creates an invention/product and, then in a “Shark Tank” environment, presents their product to a panel of business leaders.
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The Kiski School Bulletin
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2015 A Year in Review
Experiential and project-based learning with an emphasis on 21st century skills are woven into the fabric of Kiski. Inventionland Institute curriculum designed by CEO, George M. Davison III ’82, executive Nathan Field, and their colleagues, allows Kiski students to bring their entrepreneurial ideas together to create an innovative, hands-on learning experience. The students tour Inventionland and witness the process from start to finish. After they complete the work at Kiski, they return to Inventionland at the end of the course to pitch their newly designed products. Students work in the Kiski Mac Computer Lab for the entire semester. They use Adobe Creative Suite as well as AutoDesk Fusion 360 – a software program allowing them to actually create 3D model designs of their inventions and print on the 3D printers. Students produce promotional materials from package design to a 30-second television commercial showing their product. The Inventionland Institute experience culminates with a “Shark Tank” presentation at Inventionland. This past spring, five groups of students pitched their inventions to the panel, answered questions, and premiered their infomercials. Panelists included George M. Davison III ’82, CEO of Inventionland, and Class Captain for The Kiski School; D. Thompson Jones ’79, Managing Director of Draper Triangle Ventures, and Board of Trustee member for The Kiski School; Kristofer Rockwell ’90 CEO of Impact Games, and Board of Trustee member for The Kiski School; and Nathan Field, Inventionland Executive. Students were challenged to make a simple, practical invention that solved a problem or made a task easier. Ideation, research, prototyping, engineering, patent research, and marketing are skills that Kiski’s 2015 Inventionland Institute senior students worked to master. Using innovative tools like CAD software to aid with 3D printing, as well as graphics and video software, students took their ideas and collaborated individually or in teams to make their concepts a reality. The “Shark Tank” winning team was comprised of James Burke ’15, Alena Henderson ’15, and Isaiah Cofield ’15. Their invention was called the EZraser. This team recognized the everyday problem that exists in their classrooms – the erasers for whiteboards are inadequate and inefficient and they often get lost or misplaced. They researched ways to clean the board more effectively. During their research they found existing products were complicated and expensive. The team knew that even though technology advances daily with digital white boards and tablets that project, the whiteboard is still the standard throughout the education and business worlds. Their newly designed product can be implemented instantly, no training, and no installation required. Their dry erase marker contains industrial strength magnets that attach their extralong erasers to the board, allowing them to be there when you need them. The extra-length in the eraser also saves time on cleaning the board. All of the teams gave excellent presentations and it was hard for the panel to decide on the best project, but in the end, the EZraser captured the judges’ decision as the most investible product.