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What participants say …

Hoopla Rack

Hoopla Rack,
third place and $4,000,
2008 Schoofs Prize for Creativity;
third place and $700,
Tong Prototype Prize;
and Younkle Best Presentation Award

“Through the whole process, I actually began to see my design turn into a prototype, and now my prototype might actually become a patented reality. By the end, I was so happy that I had chosen to take a chance on myself and do something that brought my engineering and hooping life together.”

—Danielle McIntosh

Pen Smart

Pen Smart,
$1,000 Judges’ Award for Special Merit,
2008 Schoofs Prize for Creativity

“I thought of this product two years ago—I wrote it down and kind of forgot about it for awhile. And I realized that if I didn’t do it, I’d always regret it, so I just decided to pursue it. The competition is a great outlet for anyone interested in innovation and development. The experience gives you the tools to develop the idea and the confidence to continue.”

—Daniel Gartenberg

Innovators in the news …
articles about past competitors

The Schoofs Prize for Creativity

Summary of the 1995 Competition

The 1995 Schoofs Prize for Creativity winners were:

  • Tom Swetish won the $10,000 first-prize for his collapsible land

    • yacht/iceboat. Swetish designed his wind-powered recreational vehicle so that one person can disassemble it, without tools, in about 15 minutes. The vessel can be transported on the roof rack of a car.

  • Chris Hamilton and Martin Radue split the $7,000 second-prize for

    • their rotary valve system. Openings in the rotating cylindrical valve align with fixed passages in the cylinder head of an engine, allowing the exchange of gases between the atmosphere and the cylinder. The valves are driven by electric motors which are in turn controlled by a programmable microcontroller.

  • Jonas Zahn took third prize and a check for $4,000 for his

    • swimming pool heater deck, which pumps pool water through special deck boards. As the pool water cycles through the deck, the sun heats the water. Zahn says his design will heat a pool quickly and efficiently. Pool water can also be used to cool uncomfortably hot decks.

    $1,000 fourth prize winners were:

    • Mary Poupore for the "Acufill ll," a portable, rechargeable

      • device that can accurately fill a syringe for diabetics suffering side effects such as loss of vision or loss of feeling in their hands.

    • Louis Clark for a photo-catalytic fuel cell based on technology

      • created by Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor Marc A. Anderson. Clark's device would use sunlight to break down pollutants and produce heat. It could also be used to convert natural gas chemical energy to electrical energy. It would take the form of a solar collector modified to accommodate two gas streams on either side of a catalytic membrane.

    • Kervin Krause for a magnetic slip ring that uses induction,

      • rather than mechanical means, to transmit information from a stationary device to a rotating device.

    • David Overbo for a window-tinting process that uses a

      • variable-intensity screening material made with a flexible manufacturing process.

    • Matt Younkle and Mickey Ellis for an ultrasonic measuring

      • system. Fluids and sound waves combine in their system to measure thickness more quickly and safely than today's methods. By dispensing coupling fluid from the same device as the ultrasonic testing unit, a worker can take measurements with one hand.



    The college thanks Richard Schoofs (BSChE `53), chairman of Schoofs Inc., for his creativity and generosity in sponsoring the annual Schoofs Prize for Creativity. The Tong Prize is made possible by a generous gift from the Tong Family Foundation (UW-Madison alumni Peter and Janet Tong).
    An activity of the UW-Technology Enterprise Cooperative.
    Copyright 2008 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
    Content by innovation@engr.wisc.edu

    Date last modified: Thursday, 21-Feb-2002 12:41:00 CST
    Date created: Dec-1998