What participants say …

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,
$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 2007 Competition

The Adaptive Fishing Kit, which converts a standard fishing rod and reel so that people can use it with only one arm, took the top prize and $10,000 in the 2007 Schoofs Prize for Creativity during the Innovation Days idea and invention competition on the UW-Madison campus.

Adaptive Fishing Kit, first place and $10,000, Schoofs Prize for Creativity and second place and $2,500, Tong Prototype Prize (large image)

The Adaptive Fishing Kit, a kit that converts a standard fishing rod and reel so that people can use it with only one arm, took the top prize and $10,000 in the 2007 Schoofs Prize for Creativity during the Innovation Days idea and invention competition on the UW-Madison campus. The kit, with an estimated retail price of $120, would provide a means for amputees, stroke victims, or others with injuries or paralysis to enjoy the sport of fishing.

Brian "Sunya" Nimityongskul got the idea for a system for one-armed fishing while recovering from shoulder surgery last summer. “I wanted to be fishing and not sitting at home,” he says. “Being an engineer, I decided I’d do something about it.” He worked on it during his free time, doing the design and machining himself, and then decided to enter his invention in the Innovation Days competitions Feb. 8 and 9.

The Adaptive Fishing Kit also won second place and $1,250 in the Tong Prototype Prize.

Ladder CAT, first place and $2,500, Tong Prototype Prize, and second place and $1,250, Schoofs Prize for Creativity. The team also won the $1,000 Younkle Best Presentation Award, and team member Mike Sracic won the $1,000 Sorenson Design Notebook Award. (large image)

The first place Tong Prototype Prize and $2,500 went to the Ladder CAT, a device for safely lifting loads up the entire span of an extension ladder. Students Dan Goesch, Elliot Haag, Logan Hamel, Mike Sracic and Dave Tengler created the device. The Ladder CAT also won second place in the Schoofs Prize for Creativity and the $1,000 Younkle Best Presentation Award. In addition, team member Sracic won the $1,000 Sorenson Design Notebook Award.

A panel of judges chose the winners based on creativity, innovation, and probability of market success. Twenty ideas and inventions were presented during the two-day event.

Other Schoofs Prize for Creativity winners include:

Third place and $4,000 — BugsTOP, a pond surface agitator that prevents mosquito breeding, developed by Paul Grogan, Kevin McMullen, Mike Tupek, Ryan Larson, Jacob Notbohm and Colin VanDercreek.

Fourth place (tie) and $1,000 — Smart Brake, an electronic device, invented by Adam Anders, that monitors wheel acceleration and applies brakes to prevent a rollator walker from rolling away from its user on hills or during a fall.

Fourth place (tie) and $1,000 — Motorcycle Lighting Innovations, a helmet-mounted indicator system and map light for motorcycle drivers, invented by Chris Meyer.

Other Tong Prototype Prize winners include:

Third place and $700 — BugsTOP, a pond surface agitator that prevents mosquito breeding, developed by Paul Grogan, Kevin McMullen, Mike Tupek, Ryan Larson, Jacob Notbohm and Colin VanDercreek.

BugsTOP, third place and $4,000, Schoofs Prize for Creativity, and third place and $700, Tong Prototype Prize (large image)

Chemical Engineering alumnus Richard J. Schoofs sponsors the Schoofs Prize for Creativity and Electrical and Computer Engineering alumnus Peter P. Tong sponsors the Tong Prototype Prize through the Tong Family Foundation.

Competition alumnus Matthew Younkle, president of Y Innovation, LLC, and president and CTO of Laminar Technologies, LLC, sponsors the Younkle Best Presentation award. Chad Sorenson, a competition alumnus and judge, founding principal of Sologear Corp. and founder of Fluent Systems, LLC, sponsors the Sorenson Design Notebook award.

Smart Brake, fourth place (tie) and $1,000, Schoofs Prize for Creativity (large image)

Motorcycle Lighting Innovations, fourth place (tie) and $1,000, Schoofs Prize for Creativity (large image)