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

Tong Prototype Prize

You've thought of a great new invention. Need money to build it? A Tong grant could help you create a prototype.

Enter your idea in the university's Schoofs Prize for Creativity and you could also win the $2,500 Tong Prototype Prize for best prototype.

PREVIOUS WINNERS
Tong Prototype Prize 2008 — Portable Refrigerated Beverage Dispenser
Tong Prototype Prize 2007 — Ladder Cat
Tong Prototype Prize 2006 — Concentrating Solar Collector
Tong Prototype Prize 2005 — Robomouse
Tong Prototype Prize 2004 — Polymer Pellet Separation via Density
Tong Prototype Prize 2003 — Full Suspension Bicycle Frame, the AB-1

Contest Rules

Tong Prototype Prize (open only to students competing in the Schoofs Prize for Creativity)

1. Eligibility

The Tong Prototype Prize is available to all full-time undergraduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who are registered contestants for the Schoofs Prize for Creativity. Students must follow all rules for the Schoofs Prize for Creativity to be eligible for the Tong Prototype Prize.

2. Prototype Completion

The prototype must be completed and presented at the Innovation Day competition, in order to be eligible for the Tong Prototype Prize. (The prototype does NOT need to be completed by the competition entry deadline date.)

3. Awards

The Tong Prototype Award will consist of the following places, given at the discretion of the judges. All decisions of the judges are final.

First place: $2,500
Second place: $1,250
Third place: $700

4. Ownership/Disclosure

All owners of the idea must be represented on the team or the entry will be declared ineligible. Once materials are submitted, UW-TEC reserves the right to publish information about the work in university publications and to release information to the media. This will be considered a public disclosure of the idea.

5. Patenting

Award recipients may choose to file patent applications on their own or to disclose their inventions to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (610 Walnut Street, Madison, WI 53726-2336) before or after the competition.

Presentation of the idea at the competition should be considered a public disclosure of the idea. (In some countries, patent applications must be filed prior to disclosure. In the U.S. inventors generally have one year after disclosure in which to file patent applications.) The contest administrator cannot provide consulting on patent questions/issues. Students wanting to develop their ideas for commercial purposes should contact the following for information on patents and patenting:

The United States Patent and Trademark Office
http://www.uspto.gov

The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
http://www.warf.ws/index.jsp

Kurt F. Wendt Library
Nancy Spitzer, patent librarian
Room 313 Kurt F. Wendt Library
608/265-9802
spitzer@engr.wisc.edu