Local students win big at Invention Convention U.S. Nationals

Three Coeur d’Alene students were recently honored for their ingenuity at the 4th annual Invention Convention U.S. Nationals presented by United Technologies Corp.

They were among more than 500 award-winning K-12 inventors from across the nation and around the world who gathered inside Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Mich., on May 30-31 to compete for top awards in youth invention.

Katherine Barney, an eighth-grader from Coeur d’Alene, won the Jules Verne Award for Forward Thinking Award for “Limb Regeneration Apparatus.”

“My invention uses human cells harvested from the amputee, differentiates the cells, making them stem cells,” she said. “The cells are injected back into the body through an adapted OmniPod currently utilized by Type I Diabetic patients.”

The Best Prototype award was earned by Coeur d’Alene fifth-grader Quinn Holt. His “Wireless Energy Collector” is a device that produces wireless energy.

“It does that by taking the energy transmitted from a Tesla coil to my device that turns it into fluorescent light and is reflected to maximize efficiency,” he said.

Next, the invention uses a solar panel to convert the florescent light back to usable energy in order to produce an output as measured by a multimeter. Holt’s scaled model produces volts. In a slightly larger model, it will produce enough for a 110- or 240-volt outlet. This will reduce cost of buildings and houses by eliminating wires in walls by using less wires and cables leading to expansion of access to energy in remote areas including space, Holt said.

Grace Gardiner from Coeur d’Alene won third Place in the Ninth Grade Category for “Liliband.”

“My invention is a small, wearable device that aims to prevent heart disease and promote a good sleep schedule through daily utilization of its cardio timer feature, as well as its heart rate monitor and specialized alarm function, available through no other device on the market,” she said.

This wristband features a thin rubber strap, several millimeters thick, with a small LCD touchscreen for easy use. The side of the screen features a navigational button for navigation of the screens as well as adjustment of values as needed on separate screens.

Invention Convention provides students in grades K-12 an interactive and interdisciplinary opportunity to use the invention process to create and pitch an original product at a national convention. More than 120,000 students from across 23 states and representing four countries, competed for a chance to participate in the national event this year.

Info: www.inventionconvention.org/local-programs.