An extracurricular undergraduate invention television show and competition at Georgia Tech
Craig R. Forest, Merrick L. Furst, Ray Vito, John LeonardNCIIA 16th Annual Conference
March 22-24, 2012San Francisco, CA
2009 2010 2011 2012
students 200 300 400 500
faculty judges 30 60 80 80
prizes $15,000 $30,000 $30,000 $30,000
In-person audience 300 1000 1200 1200
TV/web audience 0 24,000 50,000 50,000
Demographics
476 students in the competition relative to 13007 undergraduates in spring 2012
ENGR and ARCH students are overrepresented. MGT students are underrepresented.
ENGR = 60% of students, but 74% of competitorsARCH = 3.5% of students, but 7.4% of competitorsMGT = 10% of students, but 1% of competitors
In ENGR: ME, EE/CMPE, and BMED students are overrepresented
ME= 12.4% of students, but 19.7% of competitorsEE/CMPE=9.1% of students, but 13.3% of competitorsBMED=8.2% of students, but 17.5% of competitors
Gender and under-represented minorities
Women are underrepresentedENGR = 32% of students, but 18% of competitors
Minority students are overrepresented Separately, both blacks and Hispanics are overrepresented.
MINORITIES (B,H,I,P) = 13.6% of students, 17.2% of competitors
BLACK = 6.1% of students, but 8.8% of competitorsHISPANIC = 6.1% of students, but 8.5% of competitors
50,000 households in GA watched TV show– More than CNN, Discovery Channel, etc
1,200 people in attendance– 200 K-12 students (80,000 teachers emailed)– Families, faculty, Georgia Tech students– Open to the public
InVenture PrizeSchool
Commercialize
Intent to C
ompete
Registratio
n
Prototype Awards
Preliminary
Round
Semifinal R
ound
Final Round
Provisional P
atents
September January March
9 weeks
“How To” Seminars
Coaching Sessions
SCHOOL
How
to
Be creativeThink like an inventorProtect your ideasAssess Risk, Market Size, MarketabilityObtain ResourcesMake a Pitch
3000 ft2 with $500k of free-to-use, cutting edge prototyping equipment
Student owned and operated
Open as much as possible (nearly 24 hrs/day)
A delicate balance of freedom and creativity with safety and responsibility
Highlights: guild system, workshops, fun, live/play/work
a course40 teams50 staff30 industry sponsors/judges16 wks$500 each
Invent something CREATIVITY
Design itANALYTICAL SKILLS
Build it, test it HANDS-ON
Document everything (lab notebooks, reports, presentations
Give to sponsor for use or patent it and start company
Uniqueness
• Creativity• A fail-forward model for innovation
education outside of the curriculum• High profile, emotional, live, on-stage• Focus on innovation, passion, and
business potential• Patent services• Inventor mentorship through The
InVenture Prize school
NO
T A
BU
SIN
ES
S P
LA
N C
OM
PE
TIT
ION
Recognized on air:
Future…
A partners program with industry, investors, faculty, alumni
National TV broadcast
Television Series
National university competition
Ray Vito Merrick Furst John Leonard
extra
Other competitions
• University of Wisconsin at Madison, “Innovation Days” – Undergraduate students presenting inventions to a judge panel
for cash prizes. This 15-year-old competition offers cash prizes up to $10,000
• National Inventors Hall of Fame Foundation – Annual Collegiate Inventors Competition sponsored by the Abbot
Fund and the United States Patent and Trademark office. – Open to students and their faculty advisors, has a large cash
prize of $25,000, many university participants • Business plan competitions such as at MIT and
elsewhere – focus on business planning, models for profitability, and
investment as the primary metrics for success. • Dragon’s Den like competitions at UK universities?
•Patrick Whaley
• Senior, Mechanical Engineering and going for MBA
• Born in Elmira, New York I am an Eagle Scout Went to Duluth High School Captan of the Swim team I was a semipro body builder I worked for Factory Automation Systems as a co-op My father owns PersonalAir, a commuter firm I will own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Name: Sarah Vaden• Class: Sophomore• Major: Aerospace Engineering• Hometown: Huddleston, Virginia
• Fun Facts about me:• There are 10 drums in my dorm room currently. • I love boats— my first playpen was on the family pontoon boat. • A warm, sunny day is priceless to me. • I convinced my best friend in second grade that my bike was a spaceship. • I’m hopelessly independent. • I backpacked an inflatable kayak to Venice, Italy. • In high school I was drum line Captain. • My mother is a classically-trained vocalist. • I want to be a researcher. I want to discover, create, and explore. • I’m a Vegetarian. • I’ve kayaked in six countries. • I write songs on keyboard.
How do you transform a culture?
How do you transform a culture?
I don’t know
How does an individual, company, or campus provide:
resources
structure
incentives
to foster this culture
Claw Hanging Systems, LLCAtlanta, GA 30308
Lessons learned
You have to learn innovation by doing it, failing, and trying again
Provide and/or use the resources, structures, and incentives to innovate
This is a tender plant at Georgia Tech, easily killed. So you must shelter it from inevitable challenges (tradition, etc) and find others who share this passion. Surround yourself with people you want to be like
UG Inventor participation by major
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
fct_division_abbr no yes (all)
ARCH 0.034 0.074 0.035
COC 0.073 0.087 0.073
COS 0.096 0.055 0.095
ENGR 0.597 0.741 0.600
IAC 0.057 0.032 0.057
MGT 0.099 0.010 0.097
PROV 0.043 0.000 0.042
(all) 1.000 1.000 1.000
Engr are 74.1% of inventure contestants but only 60% on campus, arch is 7.4% of conestants, but only 3.5% on campus
Office of the Provost
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
TEDD MUNCHAK CHAIR
OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Georgia Tech Class of 1934
sponsors
Impact
On competitors
On campus
On state?
On nation?
http://inventureprize.gatech.edu/
Also Twitter, Youtube, Vimeo, Facebook,….