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 FireSite

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)

"The majority of our time we spent prototyping rather than modeling, just because we knew what we had to work with but we didn't know the specific dimensions. Every firefighters pack is different. We did a lot of trial an error to see if this or that would fit or not and then we had to make our system work universally. It had to be easily modified depending on what it was going to be attached to."
— Chandler Nault

"We went with the fire department to their burn building and shot some video. It really helped to work with the fire department. We were able to more clearly see the problem and figure out what kind of product would work best for them."
— Mitch Nick

Innovators: Nick OBrien, Chandler Nault and Mitch Nick
This entry won first place in the Schoofs Prize for Creativity.