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

RoboMouse

First Place

RoboMouse: A fishing lure that replicates the appearance and movements of a live animal in the water.

2005 Tong Prototype Prize first place and Schoofs Prize for Creativity third place winner (large image)

"This design is designed to be prototyped. So the design is based on what I knew I could do. It's not designed for manufacturing. For manufacturing it wouldn't be assembled in nearly the same way. When it's redesigned for mass production the end result will be the same but the parts will be very different. I've not done anything this complicated before but I did do things for small production. I worked for seven years in structural design and drafting.

I came up with the design because I wanted to win the contest. I looked at being in the contest as a big resume builder and while I was taking summer courses I was deciding what I wanted my entry to be. I planned to design over the summer and built it fall semester."
— Sean McHone

Innovator: Sean McHone, $2,500 Tong winner
This entry won third place in the Schoofs Prize for Creativity.

The RoboMouse prototype; when a fish strikes, the hooks spring up. (large image)