Groundbreaking Inventiveness To Be Rewarded at RPI

[Astronuc]

http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=1614

Troy, N.Y. — The spirit of invention lives and breathes within the research laboratories, classrooms, hallways, and dorm rooms at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Now, the breakthrough ideas conceived by Rensselaer undergraduate seniors and graduate students can get an additional financial boost with the new $30,000 Lemelson-Rensselaer Student Prize that will be awarded beginning in the 2007 academic year.

The award is being offered through a partnership between Rensselaer and the Lemelson-MIT Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a nonprofit organization that recognizes outstanding inventors, encourages sustainable new solutions to real-world problems, and enables and inspires young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention. . . .

The new $30,000 Lemelson-Rensselaer Student Prize is an extension of the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize, which has recognized outstanding student inventors at MIT since 1995. Recent winners of the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize have invented a personal air vehicle (Carl Dietrich, 2006), new therapies for cancer and stroke (David Berry, 2005), a desktop printer-sized device to mold eyeglass lenses (Saul Griffith, 2004), swarm robots (James McLurkin, 2003), a low-cost rocket engine and aerial surveillance system (Andrew Heafitz, 2002), a “silicon-less” plastic memory chip (Brian Hubert, 2001) and a screenless grain hammermill (Amy Smith, 2000).

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign joins Rensselaer as a new partner institution, and also will begin offering a similar prize for its students. . . .

Well, there are some interesting opportunities for PF students.

 

[Manchot]

Well, as an engineering student at UIUC, I'd better get cracking.

By the way, here's the corresponding UIUC press release: http://www.engr.uiuc.edu/news/index.php?xId=068908320770 . It's quite similar to the RPI one, except that various quotes are changed.

 

[piercas]

I am thrilled to see Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Lemelson-MIT Program partnering to recognize and reward groundbreaking inventiveness. It is crucial to support and encourage young innovators in their pursuit of creative solutions to real-world problems. This new $30,000 Lemelson-Rensselaer Student Prize is a fantastic opportunity for undergraduate seniors and graduate students to receive recognition and financial support for their innovative ideas. I am also pleased to see the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign joining as a partner institution, further expanding the impact of this program. I look forward to seeing the amazing inventions that will come from these talented students and the positive impact they will have on society.