filename: "otr_competitions_1" contents: collection of stories and refs to other collegiate competitions, awards, etc in science & technology. with possible utility to thinking, rethinking, 10k's; -------- TI : Contest Demonstrates To Students That Inventing Has Its Rewards AU : EDWARD R. SILVERMAN TY : PROFESSION PG : 20 Three years ago, the staff at the National Invention Center (NIC)--a nonprofit organization based in Akron, Ohio, dedicated to fostering scientific creativity--faced what they thought was a serious problem. So, as any good inventor would do, they dreamed up a solution. NIC, which administers the National Inventors Hall of Fame, feared that young United States students were losing interest in the sciences and engineering. To fire up their enthusiasm, the center established the Collegiate Inventors Program, an annual contest for college and university students, with backing from the BFGoodrich Co., a leading manufacturer of chemicals and aircraft systems, also based in Akron. The goal was to encourage and recognize scientific problem-solving and to promote collaborative relationships between students-- whether undergraduates or doctoral candidates--and their advisers. "We want to keep these kids in the field," says Rose Heintz, director of NIC's BFGoodrich program. "Many students get little, if any, recognition, particularly those working on campuses, where the money isn't great," she says, referring to paltry student stipends. "A secondary bonus is that it [the contest] can enhance careers. And [the winners] become role models for others." Indeed, former winners say that the program offers a tremendous opportunity for aspiring inventors to refine their laboratory experiments and field work in the hopes of bringing home an award that may very well also provide a career boost. "In grad programs, you rarely get validation of the work you're doing, except the degree itself," says Jonathan Spindel, a doctoral student in biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia. Spindel picked up a prize in the 1993 BFGoodrich contest for inventing an implantable, electromagnetic hearing aid that transmits vibrations directly to the inner ear, eliminating acoustic feedback problems. "Moments of recognition are few and far between, so it's validation," he says. "And it's a big resume tag. I think it was instrumental in getting me a job offer to remain here as an assistant professor once I graduate." Spindel, who expects to graduate next year, is currently considering the offer. Encouraging Creativity The competition is open to graduate and postgraduate students, as well as undergraduates. While undergrads have always been able to compete in the all-collegiate category, beginning with the 1994 competition there will be a separate judging category for them, as well. Undergraduate entries will be automatically submitted in both the all-collegiate and the undergraduate category. "We're doing this to encourage more participation," says Heintz. "They [undergraduates] don't have the same resources to do these projects. There's no backing from a lab to sponsor their research." In addition to the prestige it confers, the annual contest, now in its third year, enables the students to obtain a cash award. In the all-collegiate category, up to three students or student teams each receive a cash prize of $5,000, with another $2,500 going to their advisers. In the undergraduate category, up to three winners or teams of winners each garner a $1,000 prize, with their advisers getting $500. This year, the contest sponsors expect to receive more than 100 applications. A preliminary judging panel will select the semifinalists; a national panel of eight scientists, physicians, environmentalists, and patent attorneys will pick the finalists and the winners. "We all look for the same thing: originality, uniqueness, creativity, and usefulness in the world," says research physicist and engineer James Hillier, a retired executive at RCA Corp. who holds 41 patents and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1980. "I don't think there's anything comparable to this," says Heintz. "About 75 percent of the entrants, of which more than half are graduate or doctoral students, are usually in the process of applying for a patent, anyway. This gives them even more encouragement. And that's the whole purpose." "[Winning the contest] certainly did give me a lot of recognition in the school," says James Versalovic, an M.D.-Ph.D. student at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Versalovic took a prize in the 1992 competition for his efforts in developing new techniques in DNA fingerprinting, which he is using to identify outbreaks of infectious diseases. "And it helps the patent application," he adds. "The U.S. Patent Office was impressed by the award. It was also a real support tool, because money is pretty thin here in academia." Another perk is being invited to the annual Hall of Fame ceremony in Akron, where the newly minted inventors get to meet some of the most prestigious names to ever hold a patent, such as Robert Ledley, a dentist who invented the whole-body computerized tomographic (CT) scanner and is now a BFGoodrich contest judge, and Baruch Blumberg, master of Balliol College, Oxford University, and Fox Chase Distinguished Scientist at Philadelphia's Fox Chase Cancer Center, a member of a team that developed the vaccine for hepatitis B, and a winner of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1976. "It's pretty awe-inspiring to be around those Hall of Famers," says Roger Ruth, who was Spindel's adviser and is director of the communicative disorder division in the otolaryngology department at the University of Virginia. "This made clear that inventors have status and that the act of inventing is an important thing, not just people tinkering in garages," says Spindel. "Inventors, oftentimes, have very little reward but struggle to make headway. And that's a spirit the U.S. needs to foster." The deadline to submit applications for next year's contest is February 15. For more information, call Rose Heintz of the National Invention Center at (800)968-4332. Edward R. Silverman is a freelance writer based in Milburn, N.J. (The Scientist, Vol:7, #19, October 4, 1993) (Copyright, The Scientist, Inc.) -------- eof; .