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Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: NCIIA's March Madness for the Mind shines spotlight on young inventors at the Smithsonian Institution
(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge)
RDATE:20032009
Today, a team of Rensselaer students is among several collegiate teams
from around the country that will showcase their innovative
technologies during the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators
Alliance (NCIIA) annual March Madness for the Mind exhibition in
conjunction with the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and
Innovation. The event will at the recently re-opened National Museum of
American History.
MineWerks is developing a groundbreaking, patent-pending detection
system that can sense the presence of many dangerous compounds from a
distance. The brainchild of Rensselaer undergraduate students
Alessandro Gerbini, Dane Kouttron, Kevin Menear, and Brian Zaik, and
graduate student Chris Scully, the device is being designed to help
solve the global problem associated with unexploded ordnances such as
landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
'We have been working on this project for some time,' said Chris
Scully, chief operating officer. 'Our team is very excited and grateful
for this opportunity to showcase our invention. The NCIIA has provided
our team with funding, coaching, and support that has been absolutely
crucial to our development, putting us one step closer to closer to
achieving our goal: a world without landmines.'
Scully also noted that with many explosives detection mechanisms
costing tens of thousands of dollars and requiring great expertise for
operation, the low-cost and easy to use MineWerks device offers a
paradigm shift from the state of the art.
The annual exhibition provides an opportunity for the nation's top
Excellence and Entrepreneurship Teams (E-Teams) - collaborating groups
of college students, faculty, and industry mentors who have received
NCIIA grants - to unveil their inventions to the public, many for the
first time. More than a dozen E-Teams will display their
state-of-the-art innovations during the public exhibition, as well as
at a private exhibition for conference guests attending the NCIIA's
Thirteenth Annual Meeting.
'Now more than ever the economy needs to be stimulated by innovation,
and these students are on the right path to making a difference,' said
Phil Weilerstein, executive director of the NCIIA.
'We developed this technology with the goal of providing a fast, cheap,
reliable, and safe explosives detection method that can be utilized for
both military and humanitarian purposes,' said Kevin Menear, director
of R&D. 'We believe that we can reduce the time and cost associated
with explosives detection, and open the doors for widespread use of our
device. The MineWerks vision is to get high-quality explosives
detection methods into the hands of those with the most need: the
soldiers on the battlefield wary of IEDs and roadside bombs and the
farmers and villagers in communities ravaged by landmines.'
'The best inventors look at the things we all take for granted and say,
this could be better,' said Burt Swersey, lecturer in mechanical,
aerospace, and nuclear engineering at Rensselaer and adviser to the
team. 'MineWerks was able to identify real-life problems and solve it
through self-motivation, creative thinking, and innovation. That is
what we strive for with all of our students.'
Other participating teams in this year's event will include:
- Intelligent Mobility International.
Safe, durable, and affordable wheelchairs made primarily from old
mountain bicycles for the millions of disabled people in the developing
world. (California Institute of Technology)
- Real-Time, High-Accuracy 3-D Imaging System. Software that completes
high-quality 3-D scans without the delays of current technology.
(Catholic University)
- Solar Turbine Group. Solar thermal technology that offers a
sustainable and affordable source of energy in rural areas, to be
piloted at a health clinic in Southern Africa. (Massachusetts Institute
of Technology)
- Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam 'Coyote Inventors.' A pressure-sensitive
illuminated computer cable - Torch Cord - will help users easily
identify when a cord is generating power. (Clarksburg High School, Md.)
The NCIIA works with the nation's leading universities and colleges to
help E-Teams move their innovative technologies from idea to market.
According to the organization, approximately 42 patent applications
have resulted from projects supported by NCIIA grants, which have also
helped to create 60 new businesses. The companies manufacture and sell
products in many industries including wireless technology, medical
devices, alternative energy, construction, safety, and transport, among
others.
In addition to March Madness for the Mind, programming for the NCIIA's
Thirteenth Annual Meeting, which brings engineering, science, and
business faculty together for three days of workshops, events, and
featured speakers, will include the kick-off event for Venture Well, a
new initiative of NCIIA intended to connect student teams with
investors and advisers.
For more information, go to: http://venturewell.org.
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.
About the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation
Since 1995, the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of
Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian's National Museum of
American History has explored the role of invention and innovation in
the United States. The Lemelson Center was established through a
generous gift from the Lemelson Foundation. For more information,
please visit http://invention.smithsonian.org.
About the Lemelson Foundation
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.
CONTACT: Jessica Otitigbe, RPI
Tel: +1 518 276 6050
e-mail: otitij@rpi.edu
((M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information
provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties.
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Copyright ? 2009 M2 Communications Ltd.
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