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 Easy Measure Syringe

The Easy Measure Syringe: A syringe loading, dosing and injection apparatus that enables a person with a loss of vision and/or fine motor control to accurately set dosage on a disposable syringe.

The Easy Measure Syringe (large image)

"You definitely learn a lot from building it. You have to really experience how it all fits together. When you are just drawing something, you put pieces together but you don't really know how it all fits until it is in your hands. I had to learn a lot of machining and other things along the way. There is quite a transition in going from the computer to a physical model."
— Jeffrey DeLorme

Innovators: Christine Weisshaar, Elese Hanson, Andrew Wentland and Jeffrey DeLorme