NCIIA's Open Minds exhibition to feature over a dozen collegiate invention teams at the National Museum of American History on March 26
02.04.2011--Washington--The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) will host its annual Open Minds showcase of student innovation (formerly March Madness for the Mind) in Washington, D.C., on March 26, 2011 at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History (NMAH). The public event is an opportunity for the nation's top graduate and undergraduate students to unveil their inventions, many for the first time. More than a dozen teams and emerging start-ups, all funded or mentored by the NCIIA, will display their state-of-the-art innovations during the exhibition. This year's competition features a student group from DU working to improve water sanitation systems in Kenya.
"During his State of the Union Address, President Obama called on us as a nation to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world. Our goal at the NCIIA," said Phil Weilerstein, Executive Director at the NCIIA, "is to teach students to do just that, and in the process, to create technology solutions that can both achieve commercial success and improve lives globally, positively impacting the economy and boosting creativity within the U.S."
The NCIIA works with many of the nation's leading universities and colleges to help
student teams successfully grow their innovative technologies, from concept to commercialization.
Student prototypes--solutions for energy, medical, mobile and transportation industries--that
will be on display at this year's public event include the DU Kibera Working Group's
WATSAN Solution.
The lack of hygienic sanitation facilities in slums is a primary cause of 1.5 million
child deaths each year; improved sanitation facilities could reduce diarrheal deaths
in young children by more than a third. The Kibera Working Group, a collaboration
of University of Denver faculty and graduate students, Nairobi-based water and sanitation
organization Ecotact and Maji naUfinisi as well as the Rotary Clubs of Denver Southeast
and Langata-Nairobi is working toward the goal of improved sanitation facilities in
the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya.
The team believes that the high failure rate among water and sanitation (WATSAN) projects
in the developing world has much to do with settling for the construction of facilities
as the desired outcome instead of focusing on improving health outcomes and sustaining
operations through a framework that integrates hygiene, governance and business planning.
The team's model for Kibera relies on specific innovations in facilities management,
governance, and hygiene promotion that should constitute a replicable minimum standard
for sustainable activity.
The team is made of nine graduate students from three disciplines at DU. Kelly Fenson-Hood
and Ashley Peterson from Media, Film and Journalism Studies; Ursula Miniszewski, Lisa
Caputo, Leah Scandurra and Casey Russell from the Josef Korbel School of International
Studies; and Marco Rafinelli, Jay Matlack and Jenni Stanford from the Daniels College
of Business. Leading the project is Media, Film & Journalism Studies Chair Renee Botta,
who oversees the student project and spends time on-site with the students during
the summer. Korbel Assistant Professor Randall Kuhn, Senior Lecturer Peter Van Arsdale,
and Daniels? adjunct professor Karen Loef also oversee the project and serve as resources
for the student working group.
Inventors Digest, the nation?s longest-running publication for the inventing culture,
has partnered with the NCIIA for the second year to host a video competition for participating
teams. Public voting will run from February 18 to March 14 on inventorsdigest.com,
and winners, decided from the top three video finalists by a panel of judges--including
Robert Lemelson from The Lemelson Foundation; John Calvert from the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office; Gene Quinn from IP Watchdog; and Mike Drummond from Inventors Digest?will
be announced at the event. The top three video submissions will also be shown at NMAH,
near the exhibition.
Open Minds, the NCIIA's 15th Annual Conference, held just outside of the district at the Westin Alexandria in Alexandria, Virginia, brings the country?s leading engineering, science and business faculty and students together for three days of workshops, events and speakers.
About the NCIIA
The NCIIA achieves positive and sustainable social and environmental impact through
technological innovation by providing end-to-end service grants, mentoring and other
experiential resources to higher education institutions. With support from The Lemelson
Foundation, the National Science Foundation and a membership of nearly 200 colleges
and universities from all over the United States, the NCIIA engages more than 5,000
student entrepreneurs each year, leveraging their respective campuses as working laboratories
and incubators for businesses and ultimately helping them to bring their concepts
to commercialization. For more information, please visit http://www.nciia.org <http://www.nciia.org> .
Approximately 100 patent applications have resulted from projects supported by NCIIA grants, which have also helped create 100 new businesses, including many in New England. These companies manufacture and sell products in many industries?wireless technology, medical devices, alternative energy, construction, safety and transport.
About the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation
The Smithsonian?s Lemelson Center is dedicated to exploring invention in history and
encouraging inventive creativity in young people. The center is supported by The Lemelson
Foundation, a private philanthropy established by one of the country?s most prolific
inventors, Jerome Lemelson, and his family. The Lemelson Center is located in the
National Museum of American History. For more information, visit http://invention.smithsonian.org <http://invention.smithsonian.org> .
About the Lemelson Foundation
Established in 1993 by Jerome Lemelson, one of America?s most prolific inventors,
The Lemelson Foundation uses its resources to inspire, encourage and recognize inventors,
innovators and entrepreneurs to support invention-led economic, social and environmentally
sustainable development. It has donated or committed more than $150 million in support
of its mission to improve lives through invention in the U.S. and developing countries.
For more information, please visit http://www.lemelson.org <http://www.lemelson.org> .
