Collegiate Inventors Competition Showcases Emerging Ideas & Tech for Our Future (w. giveaway)

This is part of a sponsored content series as part of my role as the exclusive 2014 Collegiate Inventors Competition Ambassador.

This Monday, November 17 college students will assemble at the United States Patent and Trademark Office to showcase emerging ideas and technologies at the Collegiate Inventors Competition (CIC). Since 1990 this competition has promoted exploration in invention, science, engineering, technology, and other creative endeavors that are designed to benefit our society in the future. In partnership with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Collegiate Inventors Competition is the nation’s foremost competition encouraging innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity by recognizing and rewarding college students working on cutting-edge inventions.

About the Collegiate Inventors Competition

Every year undergraduate and graduate level college students submit original ideas that represent the work of a student, team of up to four people, and a university advisor. Full time college and university students must submit entries that are clear, concise, and convince judges what their invention is and why it is an invention. They must also share what’s being contributed to the ideas and technology in the field.

Finalists are selected based on originality, process (or technology used), level of student initiative, and potential value and usefulness to society and travel to the USPTO offices to present their inventions to a final round of judges that include some of the most influential inventors and invention experts. Judges include National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees, USPTO experts, and AbbVie scientists. Immediately following the Expo, the Competition’s Winners will be revealed at an Awards Ceremony held at the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.

What’s at stake? Cash prizes. The top undergraduate winner will receive $12,500 and the top winner at the graduate level will receive $15,000. Cash prizes will also be rewarded to second and third place winners.

Perhaps this excites you or makes you run in the other direction. For students who are energized by the prospect of inventing something new that hasn’t yet been trademarked by the USPTO, this is the competition for them.

What excites me about Collegiate Inventors Competition

As a parent who fosters exploration of STEM topics in my children, I’m excited to join CIC as the exclusive 2014 Collegiate Inventors Competition Ambassador. I’ll be joining the Competition Finalists at the Collegiate Inventors Competition Expo at USPTO in Alexandria, Virginia to get a first look at the innovations that can change the world.

I’m excited to meet college students who are devoted to making a difference by helping people through their inventions. I’ll be getting to know them, asking what inspires them, how they conceived of their ideas, and sharing their inventions in my role as a digital correspondent for the competition, reporting on-location and sharing live updates through social media.

Attend the Collegiate Inventors Competition or FollowAlong via Social Media

DC area residents are invited to the U.S. Patent and Trade Office for Monday’s CIC Expo where there will be opportunities to meet the finalists while getting a first look at innovations that could change the world. The CIC Expo will be open to the public from 8-9:30 am and 3:30-5 pm.

Those outside DC can also follow the #CICExpo hashtag and these handles to get live updates via social media:

• Facebook: Collegiate Inventors Competition
• Twitter: #CICExpo, @CollegeInvent, and @InventorsHOF
• Instagram: Collegiate Inventors
• LinkedIn: Collegiate Inventors Competition

Giveaway

Do you have young inventors who would be inspired by the Collegiate Inventors Competition? Win a $100 prize package courtesy of the National Inventors Hall of Fame that will include items such as sweatshirt, polo, shirt, mug, etc. that will continue to inspire them to invent. Those local to the Washington, D.C. area can choose a $100 gift card instead to shop in person when visiting the National Inventors Hall of Fame museum in Alexandria, Virginia.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more information, visit the Collegiate Inventors Competition website or follow them on Facebook, Twitter (#CICExpo, @CollegeInvent, and @InventorsHOF, College Inventors on Instagram, and LinkedIn for live updates.

I am being compensated for my role as the exclusive 2014 Collegiate Inventors Competition Ambassador but all opinions are my own. Images courtesy of Collegiate Inventors Competition.