What participants say …
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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
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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 2005 Competition
Nick OBrien, Chandler Nault and Mitch Nick won the $10,000 top Innovation Days prize for their invention, "The FireSite:" a transmitter/receiver system designed to guide firefighters out of smoke-filled buildings.
2005 Schoofs Prize for Creativity first place winner. With feedback from Lt. Mike Teff and the Madison Ladder 1 fire station, Nick O'Brien, Mitch Nick and Chandler Nault devised a transmitter-and-receiver system that can help guide firefighters out of smoke-filled buildings. (large image) |
2005 Tong Prototype Prize first place and Schoofs Prize for Creativity third place winner. Sean McHone designed the RoboMouse, a remote-controlled lure fish will find hard to resist. The lure can "swim" through the water just like a real rodent. (large image) |
The FireSite, a transmitter/receiver system designed to guide firefighters out of smoke-filled buildings, took the $10,000 top prize in the 2005 Schoofs Prize for Creativity, an annual innovation competition held on the UW-Madison campus. College of Engineering students Nick O'Brien, Chandler Nault and Mitch Nick developed their innovation in consultation with the Madison Fire Department. Sean McHone won the $2,500 first-place Tong Prototype Prize and a $4,000 third-place Schoofs Prize award for his invention, RoboMouse; a fishing lure that replicates the appearance and movements of a live animal in the water.
Recent College of Engineering and former Schoofs Prize winners Chad Sorenson and Matt Younkle sponsored two new $1,000 awards this year. The Sorenson Design Notebook Award was presented to Lynn Daul for her work in documenting the "Baseboard Booster" team's innovations. The invention is a collapsing stool that fits in the space behind the baseboard of a cabinet. The "Baseboard Booster" also earned a $7,000, second-place Schoofs Prize award.
The Younkle Best Presentation Award went to Mark Osbeck, Scott Haman, Kyle Larson and Anders Brown for best communicating the unique features and potential market of their innovation, the PortagePro. The team's device is designed to allow travelers on a portage to transfer the load of the canoe to most backpacks. Portage Pro also won the $1,250 second-place Tong Prototype Prize award and a fourth-place $1,000 Schoofs Prize award.
Winners of the 2005 competition were chosen from a field of 17 entries exhibited and displayed during Innovation Days, held Feb. 10 and 11 on the UW-Madison College of Engineering campus. Both competitions award cash prizes to those whose ideas are judged most creative, novel, innovative and likely to succeed in the marketplace.
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The complete list of winners is as follows:
Schoofs Prize for Creativity
- First place and $10,000 — Nick OBrien, Chandler Nault and Mitch Nick for "The FireSite:" A transmitter/receiver system designed to guide firefighters out of smoke-filled buildings.
- Second place and $7,000 — Ben Jaeger, Natalie Meagher, Mark Webb, Lynn Daul, Dominic Kasten for the "Baseboard Booster:" A collapsing stool that fits in the space behind the baseboard of a cabinet.
- Third place and $4,000 — Sean McHone for "RoboMouse:" A fishing lure that replicates the appearance and movements of a live animal in the water.
- Fourth place and $1,000 (tie) — Tara Jo Schiltz for "Interlocking Bowl and Tray:" An interlocking bowl and tray system for use with a baby's high chair. The system locks the bowl in the tray preventing the child from throwing the bowl to the floor.
- Fourth place and $1,000 (tie) — Mark Osbeck, Scott Haman, Kyle Larson and Anders Brown for "PortagePro:" A device designed to allow travelers on a portage to transfer the load of the canoe to most backpacks.
Tong Prototype Prize
- First place and $2,500 — Sean McHone for "RoboMouse:" A fishing lure that replicates the appearance and movements of a live animal in the water.
- Second place and $1,250 — Mark Osbeck, Scott Haman, Kyle Larson and Anders Brown for "PortagePro:" A device designed to allow travelers on a portage to transfer the load of the canoe to most backpacks.
- Third place and $700 — Augie Salick, Mark Street, Jonathan McCabe, Justin Biesboer and Trenton Kirchdoerfer for "Aqua Skimmers:" A human-powered recreational device used to walk on water.
The competitions are sponsored by the UW Technology Enterprise Cooperative. The Schoofs Prize is funded by Richard J. Schoofs, who received a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering in 1953 from UW-Madison. The Tong Prototype Prizes and grants are sponsored by the Tong Family Foundation, including COE alumnus Peter P. Tong, who received his master of science degree in electrical and computer engineering in 1965.
